Year: 1875




a my care, and if l then went to the oil
: country and graduated in medicine a
a British university, she would becom
I my wife.


"'Oh, Anna / pleaded, you ar
? cruel! Think of the terrible ordeal yo,
7 assign to me! An old, rough silve
miner, accustomed to savage men ant
5 savage ways, to 60 to study medicine a
, university? OhS tits cruel 1t is un
fair l must surely fail. / am owe
8 weighted in the rate. Be merciful! III
do anything at mining but at colleg'
) learning have little chance
: "Then she turned on me with he
proud, impetuous beauty and naughty
dignity:


Sir, if you do as have said, shall
marry yOu-nOt till then


There was flash and rustic of silk
and her father and were alone.
And here l am, working hard tt
become a doctor. Another year, and
hope to be in position to claim Aims


for my wife. Lovely Anna! Oh, how


good she is! Yes, you have guessed


right. That poor woman who was tc


have her hand amputated was so like


Anna that l could not stand it. That


was the reason why ran away"


l thought over his story as / traversed


the gas-lit city streets on my way to my


lodgings. l thought long and deeply on


the tender tale-for tender it was-and


all the more affecting that Jackson was


SO stern and rugged himself.


Ugly cold Jenny" let me in, and


gave me my frugal tea. went to bed,


feeling as if dream had been realized.


Time passed, and at length Jackson


and l found ourselves at the end of our


medical curriculum at the close of our


last session, and preparing to go up to


pass our final examination. In the


meantime Jackson had not recruited very


well after his terrible illness. He still


remained pale, shrunken, and emaciated.


l. could not help frequently thinking that
mental than to physical suffering. OF
one thing | was quite sure-while he
seemed continually writing and posting
letters to California, very few were sent
to him from that part of the world. At
times l almost fancied that poor old
Jacksons stout heart was being slowly
broken. / could read terrible agony in
his cold grey eyes. Twas indeed seldom
that he received note from Anna, and l
had reason to know that the few which
she did send were very short. One day
l found Jacson sitting pOring over one
of them as if in trance. / imagined
that he was trying to extract kindness
from it which the words of the message
did not express.


In spite of all this, however, my friend
made most marvellous progress in his
studies. He did not work like other stu
dents-he seemed to be possessed. He
was ill he was anxious; yet | was con-
scious that his attainments far exceeded
mine, although also worked very hard
and constantly, and possessed many ad-
yantages which he lacked. Then came
that anxious and terrible day on which
we must stand the trial of the final ex-
animation. In the evening we would
either be "plucked" or graduates of our
university, and qualified to practice our
profession. Jackson and l had read a
great deal together, and ground each
other well, and we were both conscious
of having worked honestly; still I con-
fess to very considerable degree of ner-
vous apprehension when the day dawned
which was to test our attainments. /
need not detail that days doings; suffice
it to say that both Jackson and were
pretty we'll satisfied with ourselves when
we came to compare notes in the even
ing. A week must elapse before the re-
suit would be publicly announced-week
of misery. But one day Jackson and /,
rushing up to the blackboard in the first
quadrangle, found the list of "passed"
men affixed thereon. With throbbing
heart and swimming eye I devoured,
rather than scanned, the roll. There
blessed joy! oh, happy relief oh, proud
satisfaction there was my own name
among the successful men; and a grunt
from Jackson told me that he was all
right. Then we pointed our names out
to each other, took last longing look,
then arm in arm walked away with feel
ings beyond description. That evening
Jackson wrote and posted letter to |
Anna, informing her of his success; then
he scanned the shipping advertisements
to see the earliest opportunity which he
would have of getting back to California |
to claim his bride; and having settled |
those affairs, he accompanied me to my |
lodgings. We enjoyed ourselves to the |
full-drinking t0ddy, smoking cigars,
chatting, or indulging in happy dreamy
silence till o'clock in the morning. |
Then we parted with mutual congratu-
lations and good wishes.


To my utter amazement and indigna-
tion, Just as was in the act of going to
bed, "old Jenny" thrust her mahogany
countenance into my room, and INDUCED
in prophecy to the effect that some
thing mo canny" would happen to
" Master Jackson" for she had Just had
had an awful dream about him, from
which she was awakened by the noise of
his departure. was somewhat puzzled
at first to decide whether this was sort
of revenge for the annoyance we might
have given her, or whether it was sly
and roundabout way to come at her
share of the toddy. At any rate, 1
ended by laughing and telling her to
take "nip." She thanked me; said
she would; then, asking if was all
right in bed, coolly turned off the gas
and walked out of the room, leaving q
strong impression on my mind that she
had walked off with the whisky-bottle
in the dark.


Next morning / had fearful headache,
and felt utterly PROSTATE. Bottles OF
soda-water and cups of tea formed my
only sustenance, and / kept my bed all
day. 1t was long, dismal day to me.
but through it all had the happy con-
sciousness that had "passed." The day
had been wet; in the evening il cleared
up little. Ihad just fallen into light
but refreshing sleep, when cold Jenny"
halfhopped, halflimped into the room,
and screamed out:


"Just as l told vel He's deed Com
mitted shuiside WI a pistol Miss Vine
gar has sent over for ye! The POLLS are
IN"


My heart faltered for moment, then
stopped. l gasped. II gave two great
tbumps, then futtered. Gradually re-
covered 30 as to be able to ask, "Who is
dead2"


"Yer freen-Mr. Jacksonl"


Heaven have mercy upon us! Jack