The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-27

been a leading physician of Per-
= tuis, town in the south OF
France. His professional reputation was
so high that he often was summoned to
distant places, and many people wondered
|why he persisted in hiding his light under
a bushel by dwelling in a country viii
lage; ;--but the doctor held that it is better
to be first in Pertuis than second in
Paris.
Personally he was not exactly popular,
because of his temper, over which he had
poor control. Small things exasperated
him to an unseemly degree and when he
was warm under the collar it took him
long time to cool down. So it hap
pened that when DR.. Tournatoire arrived
in Pertuis, announcing that he had come
to stay, and was prepared to furnish pills
in any quantity. many of the leading cit
izens, who were tired of Doc Eustachy' S
tantrums, gave the young man the glad
hand.
Tournatoire had been graduated from
the best of medical. schools, he was high
ly recommended and he soon demonstrated
that his skill was great. His manners
were most engaging and he had COM
forting way with patients that was quite
as effective as his medicines. He be-
came popular at once and his practice
grew in a manner that must have been
gratifying.
All this was gall and wormwood to old
Doc Eustachy, who found himself almost
abandoned by his townsmen. The calls for
his services became so infrequent that he
spent most of his time in his dingy office,
calling down maledictions upon his young
rival. He hadn't pride enough to keep
quiet He talked of nothing but Tourna-
toire, whom he denounced as auack, an
impostor, and everything else unpleas-
ant. He became such bore that people
avoided him, and when he went for a
walk he had the whole street to himself.
Meanwhile business was hummlng with
DR.. Tournatoire who frolicked over the
countryside, cutting off peoples limbs and
feeding them with pills in the merriest
way imaginable.
This went on for two or three years,
and in 1884 Tournatoire was urged to
run for a local office, so he placed him.
self in the hands of his friends, explain
ing that he always was ready to bleed
and die for the flag at a moments no.
tice This public spirited conduct was
more than Eustachy could stand. He de-
termined to be candidate himself, and
thus bring humiliation to his rival He
had the idea that he had enough friends
and sympathizers to elect him, but when
the votes were counted Eustachy was the
most pronounced kind of an also ran. He
didn't have look in. And he was so
mad over 1t that he howled like wolf.
A day or two after the election the peo-
pie of Pertuis woke to find the town plas-
tered with handbils in which Tournatoire
was held up to scorn as moral leper,
and a professional shyster, and a few
other things. All the wire-edged words In
the French language were used in the
effort to do him justice. The people were
called upon to rise as one man and run
the faker out of the community. DR..
Tournatoire stood by dead wall and
read the handful, and his lips whitened,
.Parbleu." said he, in the absence of a
good American cuss word. This is going
TOO fart
SO he had old Doc Eustachy arrested on
a charge of libel, and it was easy to prove
phis responsibility. The old doc was con-
victed and fined, and returned to his Of
flee madder than ever
Six weeks later Tournatoire invited some
of his friends to a little banquet at his
home, and ON the afternoon of the fes-
tive day a basket of game arrived at the
house. Half a dozen beautiful thrushes
were in the basket. The thrushes were
cooked, but there was such an abundance
Of good things at the feast that nobody
ate them. The guests dispersed at a
late hour, well fed and happy, and no
doubt Zone Who Was There" wrote
story of the Joyous occasion for the local
paper.
On the following morning Dr.. Tourna-
toiresreturned from his office to his home
on some errand, and upon entering was
astonished to find his wife trying to stand
on her head Assisting her to her feet,
he asked her what she was trying to do,
and she began explaining that all her rel
atives We're dead, her husband killed in a
duel and she wanted to die herself. The