Page 5 (1/2)

The nextdid not appear,

Doctor Gordon observed that she always took her rolls and coffee in bed

James followed Doctor Gordon into his office Clemency, who had presided

at the coffee urn, had done so silently, and looked, so Ja Directly James was in the

office, the doctor's man, Aaron, appeared He was a tall, lank

Jersey His lean, yellos appeared to have

acquired a perence

upon the doctor as he gave his orders

"Put in the tea to Haver's Corner Old Saone there yesterday, but I

didn't knohether that child with diphtheria at Tucker's Mill would

live the day out Now he has seen the worst of it, thank the Lord! But

to-day I ood ti on this afternoon, and I want an hour off if I can get

it" Again the expression of simple jocularity was over the ht before about again

running a race with hione out Gordon turned to Jareat

ht see to it that the bottles are

all filled," he said "You will find the medicines yonder" He pointed

to the shelf "I have to speak to Cle the bottles he heard di to Cleirl see

When Doctor Gordon returned Aaron was at his heels with an i a small quantity of red fluid "S'pose you'll want

this filled?" he said to Gordon with a grin which only disturbed for a

second his rotary jaws

"Oh, yes, of course," replied Gordon, "ant the aqua"

James stared at him as he poured a little red-colored liquid fro one "Now fill it up froy; be sure the cork is in tight," he said to

Aaron

Gordon looked laughingly at Ja what 'aqua' ht up to think it ater," said James

"So it is, water pure and si matter thrown

in Bless you, boy, the people around here want their ood-by to the doctor's job,

and ho for the undertaker! So the doctor is obliged to impose upon the

credulity of the avariciously innocent, and dilute the medicine Bless

you, I have patients ould accuseif I prescribed

less than a cupful of medicine at a time They have to be huood lot, but stiffened with hereditary ideas,

worse than by rheulass

of water, and order a teaspoonful at a ti which no randfathers and great-grandfathers of these people took their physic on

draft, the children must do likewise Sometimes I even think the

medicine would lose its effect if taken in any other way Nobody can

estimate the power of a fixed idea upon the body All the sa around the aqua I will confess, although I

see the necessity of yielding, that I have less patience with men's

stiff-necked stupidity than I have with their sins"

Ja with Doctor Gordon about the New Jersey

country It was a moist, da day with an athtly cooler than that of

midsummer Overcoats were oppressive, the horses steaed the wheels and made the hoofs of the

horses heavy "It's a da soain in his

unnatural, rollicking mood He hailed everybody whom he met He joked

with the patients and their relatives in the farh cart-tracks of eese, and dead leaves Now and then, stately ranks of turkeys charged

in line of battle upon the round, and snorted contemptuously The country people were

either saturnine with an odd shyness, which had so almost hostile

in it, or they were effusively hospitable, forcing apple-jack upon the

two doctors James was much struck by the curious unconcern shown by the

relatives of the patients, and even by the patients the from a bad case of measles, was

much interest evinced The ed, and they discussed, and heard discussed, their syht have discussed the mechanism

of a wooden doll If any eular

inverted pride "I had a terrible night, doctor," said one old woman,

and a smirk of self-conceit was over her ancient face "Yes, hter with a triu about the doctor looked

unconsciously proud because their old grandht The call of the two doctors at the house was positively

hilarious Quantities of old apple-jack were forced upon theh she was evidently suffering,

kept calling out a feeble joke in her cackling old voice

"Those people seem positively elated because that old soul is sick,"

said Jay

"They are," said Doctor Gordon, "even the old wo to live Did you ever think that the

desire of distinction was one of the most, perhaps the most, intense

purely spiritual emotion of the hu away at the soil like ants The most of the notice, the e, sickness and death With

the first they are hardly actively concerned, even with the secondto do There are h

the women want to marry, all the men do not There remains only sickness

and death for a stand-by, so to speak If one of them is really sick and

dies, the people are aroused to take notice The sick person and the

corpse have a certain state and dignity which they have never attained

before Why, bless you, ed woman,

who has been laid up for years with rheulorious, and so is her hter

If she had been merely an old maid on her hands, she would have been

ashamed of her, and the woman herself would have been sour and

discontented But she has fairly married rheumatism It has been to her

as a husband and children I tell you, younghis fellows, even if it is a hty

queer one, or he loses his self-respect, and self-respect is the best

jee have"

They were now out in the road again, the teah

the red shale "It's a damned soil," said the doctor for the second

tiain felt

that resentful sense of youth and inexperience "I don't kno you've

been brought up," said the elder man "I don't want to infuse heretic

notions into your innocent ive the other ood deal," he said "You need not be afraid

of corrupting hed "Well, I shall not try," he said "At least, I

shall not

that you ought not to be influenced by that Lord, only think whatthat I know as far as I

aht up to think that

whatever the Lord luey

New Jersey soil was darned bad, I earing the worst way I don't

want to haveabout my neck I was

quite up in the Scriptures at one tinity; "I think the soil

darned bad myself" He hesitated a little over the darned, but once it

was out, he felt proud of it

"Yes, it is," said Doctor Gordon, "and if the Lord ether succeed, and I see no earthly way of tracing the New Jersey

soil back to original sin and the Garden of Eden"

"That's so," said Jarew sober, his jocular mood for the time had

vanished He was his true self "Did it ever occur to you that disease

was the devil?" he asked abruptly "That is, that all these infernal

microbes that burrow in the human system to its disease and death, were

his veritable imps at work?"

James shook his head, and looked curiously at his coations

"Well, it has to

You have been brought up to believe that the devil's particular

residence was hell, haven't you?"

James replied in a bewildered fashion that he had

"Well," said Doctor Gordon, "if the devil lives here, as he must live,

when there's such failures in the way of soil, and such climates, and

such fiendish diseases, and crimes, why, this is hell"

Jaloomily, half-whimsically "It's so," he

said "We call it earth; but it's hell"

Jay was too much for him

Besides, he was not quite sure that the elderhim

"Well," said Doctor Gordon presently, "hell it is, but there are

compensations, such as apple-jack, and now and then there's so to take you to so

that enlivens hell this afternoon, if soet , the worst of it, so as to have

an hour this afternoon"

The two returned a little after twelve, and found luncheon waiting for

theht that she

did not look quite so ill as she had done the evening before She talked

htened, not

with the false gayety which James had seen, but he really looked quite

happy, and spoke affectionately to his sister

"What do you think, Tom," said she, "has co that she has not gone for a tramp,

rain or shine, but she has not stirred out to-day She says she feels

quite well, but I don't know"