Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-05-12
The Doctors
Sacrifice
~
By R BLAIR
t@. 1891. western Newspaper union.)

~" SAS 40
Doctor Klein entered his patients
room and sat by his bed. "You are
resolved to take the chance of itY' he
asked.
His steel-gray eyes were fixed I'M
waveringly upon those of the cripple
beneath the sheets. The cripple
smiled back at him as frankly.
Perfectly" he murmured. my
chance is, I understand, on the whole
favorable. You say I am the fourth
who has risked this"
1.-The fifth" answered the great sur
geon composedly.
"And two of them dled?"
ooh, dear, no. Well, yes, two died,
out one of these would have died any
way from other causes. In his case
death was a merciful release. I am
firmly convinced that you will get up
as straight as I am"
And he went on learnedly to de-
scribe the details of his famous oper-
alton which was to cur the hunch-
back.
"And I suppose" the surgeon ended,
smiling kindly, that there is, as usual,
a woman in the case"
The hunchback's eyes lit up.
"Ill tell you, Doctor Klein" he said,
"for you have been my best friend in
the world. Yes-there is a m in
the case.
II haven't burdened you with my
early history, but / may as we'll say
that I am a man Of good family and
in my youth enjoyed the advantages
Of an excellent education. Ny early
life was, as you may imagine, a tor
ture of self-consciousness and suffer-
ing. Once, when I was about twenty
one, l fell in love. One day / dared
to tell her. I shall never forget the
astonished look in her eyes. She made
no answer but went out Of the room.
But when I met Esther Garvin
things were different. She made me
forget my infirmity. Ours was a real
communion of souls; I knew then that
I had met q woman who would marry
me in spite Of all, in spite of every
thing, whose love was to be as eternal
as my own. And because of this I left
her, three years ago, after a mad dem
onstration of love which left each of
us panic-stricken and ashamed. I,
because I knew that I had been q cur
to tell her; she, because she knew this
feeling in my heart. I left her and
never saw her again.
"For two years / tried to put her
out Of my heart, but in vain. Then l
heard Of your operation. And when /
am well I shall tell Esther, and she
will bless your name a ~hundredfold.o
The surgeon without a word pressed
the hunchback's fingers and left the
room.
"Ask Miss Garvin to step into my
Office" he said to the orderly, and,
five minutes afterward, the anaes-
thetist entered.
"Miss Garvin," he said, placing his
hand upon her sleeve, "are you still
quite sure that you can never love me?
Yes, see that you are. You gave
me to understand once that your heart
was pledged. I want you to tell me
one thing. and I do not ask it imper-
tinently. Where is the man you love?''
II don't Knows she answered.
"He has gone out Of your lifey'
"But I love him STILL" she cried
defantly. 81 love him and always
shall. O, Doctor Klein, I've all owe
so much to you. None of US but is
too conscious of your many kind
nesses, your goodness, your charity
and se%lf-sacrifce. Don't make it hard
err for me. I don't love you, I can't
love you" Suddenly she flung herself
upon her knees. do you know why
l was first attracted to you?" she
cried. "The man I love is a hunch-
back. His whole life has been poi
soned by his infirmity. I came here,
to be a nurse, to give my life to 9TH
ers. / met you, l learned of your op-
ovation and hoped that some day the
time would arrive when he, too, would
hear of you and would come to you
to be made a straight mar like other
men, and then
81 loved you" said Doctor Klein
hoarsely.
"You loved me-" she repeated me-
chanically.
Miss Garvin," he said slowly, five
minutes ago I contemplated the black
est crime that any doctor could mag
inc or dream Of. You have straight
ened out the mental kink in my own
brain as / shall straighten Mr.. Man
-ning's body tomorrow"
"Mr. Manning !" she cried, and stood
staring at him in terror. "You know.
then. He is"
MY DEAR" the doctor answered, "he
has told me everything. He loves you.
And he is under this root tonight.
But you must not go to him now. You
shall see him tomorrow, and you and
will cure him."
And Manning saw Esther's face,
smiling III him as he sank to sleep
under the ether; and Esther's vas the
first that he saw when he awakened
in his room afterward. But Doctor
Klein was standing at her side.