Part 26 (2/2)
One of my earliest acquaintances in Metaotten, was Doctor John--familiarly called ”Doc,” except upon state occasions As I write, the vision of the Doctor arises before me out of the mists of the shadowy past His personal appearance was indeed re six feet six in his number elevens, without an ounce of superfluous flesh, a neck soe by an immense ”Adae and features a trifle exaggerated, and with iron gray locks hanging gracefully over his slightly stooped shoulders, the Doctor would have given pause to the McGregor, even with foot upon his native heather He first saw the light of day in the ”Panhandle” of the Old Dominion; the part thereof afterwards detached for the formation of the new State
How this all came about was to the Doctor as inexplicable as the riddle of the Sphinx; but he scouted the thought that he had ever ceased to be a son of ”the real old Virginny” He claimed to be a descendant of one of ”the first faered about hi of the old cavalier stock No entlelass of beer,” in a loftier manner than did the Doctor Not himself a member of the visible church, nor even an occasional attendant upon its service, the heart of the Doctor nevertheless, like that of the renowned Cave Burton, responded feelingly to every earnest supplication ”for the preservation of the kindly fruits of the earth to be enjoyed in due season” And with the Doctor, as with Cave, the question of the _quantity_ of the kindly fruits thus preserved was of far greater moment than any mere matter of sentiment as to their _quality_
The intellectual attainhest order He was a student ofthe flowery paths of literature He never gave ”local habitation or nae which had honored hiree
He was, as he often asserted, of the ”epleptic” school of medicine
In reply to my inquiry as to what that really was, he solemnly asservated that it was the only school which perood, and reject all that was bad, of all the other schools In his practice he had a supreme contempt for what he called ”written proscriptions,” and often boasted that he never allowed one of theo out of his office
He infinitely preferred to compound his own medicines, which, with the aid of mortar and pestle, he did in unstintedextreenerous spiritother lines No ”pent-up Utica” contracted his powers It has been many times asserted, and with apparent confidence, that no patient of his ever co received fullhis patients It was a singular fact in all the professional experience of this ee or sex, were all afflicted with a like malady Many a time as he returned from a professional visit,thrown across his saddle, in answer to ave in oracular tones, the one all-sufficient reply, _”only a slight derangeave Mr Lincoln the reply he oncea political speech
”Well, well, Doctor,” replied Mr Lincoln, good-hu from you _except your medicines”_
The Doctor was a bachelor, and his ”May of life” had fallen into the sear and yellow leaf at the time of which rite He was still, however, as he more than once assuredsect”
In one of hisfact that he had in early life been the victiuardedof a friend, in the whiteness of whose soul he trusted as in aDoctor, journeyed ard to seek a ho, Nor dreae of all our race” Upon his return after an absence of several moons, he found to his unspeakable dismay that that sa found lodgment in the Doctor's own sad heart
Too late he realized, as wiser men have done before and since, that
”Friendshi+p is constant in all other things Save in the office and affairs of love”
The Doctor was iven at times to what he denominated ”lon talks” such as are hen kindred souls hold close converse
Seated in my office on one occasion, at the hour when churchyards yawn, and being as he candidly adave expression to thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls, when I ment as a medical man is to be the final destination of the huether with the no less soleht
First carefully changing his quid frohtfullyhis words, replied: ”Brother Stevenson, _the solar systeiven very little reflection”_
It is a sad fact that in this world the best of men are not wholly exe of s of a spirit of professional jealousy That the subject of these brief chronicles was no exception to this infirard to a professional conteradually encroached upon the Doctor's beat Said he: ”They talk a good deal about this Doc Wilson's practice; but I'll 'low that ree of mortality than what hisn will”
The Doctor was one of the regular boarders at the historic inn alreadyand faithful service he had won the honored position of chief boarder, and his place by common consent was at the head of the table No one who ever sat at that delightful board could forget the dignified manner in which the Doctor would take his accustomed seat, and without unnecessary delay proceed to appropriate whatever viands race upon the part of the good landlady, an old-fashi+oned corn pone and a pitcher of sweet milk appeared occasionally upon the supper table of this arded, even by the veterans, as very oases in the desert of life Now, it so happened, that upon a cold Dece of the supper bell, the boarders in anxious expectancy were awaiting the final su-room To this asseentle time since we have been favored with pone bread and sweet milk I therefore move that Doctor John be appointed a committee of one to request Mrs Sparks to have these delicacies for supper to-iven by Whig Ewing, Esq, at a later day distinguished both as an orator and a Judge Without shadow of opposition the resolution was adopted, and upon summons the boarders were almost immediately thereafter in their accusto to the landlady as she slowly approached with a platter of cold biscuits, the Doctor in ularI was appointed a committee of one to invite you to have corn pone and sweet ” A deep frown at once encircled the fair brow of our hostess Unlike that of the late Mrs Ta to keep it war her emotion, she slowly articulated _”What did you say, Doctor?”_ Presaging danger in the very air, the Doctor repeated in husky tones, ”At a regular , I was appointed a committee of one to invite you to have corn bread for supper to-” At the repetition the frown upon the brow of the fair one darkened and deepened Advancing a step nearer the object of her wrath, she said, ”If _you_ or any of the _other_ boarders are dissatisfied with my house, you can leave, _and leave now!”_
With the thermometer at zero and Peoria seventeen miles away, and the Illinois out of its banks, there was little that was corave was upon that little asseth, to relieve the strain of the situation, if possible, the writer inquired, ”What was your remark, Doctor John?” to which the Doctor, in a tome somewhat hopeful but by noto our beloved landlady, brother Stevenson, that at a regularI was appointed a committee to invite her to have corn bread for supper to-ht” To which Ias that was ever held, _it is very strange that I heard nothing about it”_ This kindly observation only deepened the gloom, and perceptibly lessened the distance between the irate hostess and the chief boarder The latter in sheer desperation at length appealed for succor to Ewing, who until this h, had been an attentive listener Thus appealed to, the latter, with Prince Albert buttoned to the very top, and with the states to assure you, Mrs Sparks, that I a of the boarders as has been indicated Had I been apprised that suchwas contemplated I would have attended and used by utmost endeavor to secure the defeat of its ill-timed resolution Let me say further, madam, that I am not fond of corn bread The biscuits hich we are nourished from day to day are exactly to rees colder I would cherish theone by, uest at the Astor, the Galt, the St Charles, and at the best hotels in London and upon the continent of Europe None of thement are comparable to this I assure you solee month after month only because of my reluctance to tear er raised, step advanced, and eye fixed uncharitably upon the offending physician, the gentle hostess in voice little above a whisper, said, _”Doc, I think you made that up out of whole cloth”_ The crisis was reached; flesh and blood could endure noall for”
For reasons unnecessary to explain, I did not seek the Doctor that evening nor the following day Morning and noon came and went, but the chief boarder did not appear The vacant chair was to those who lingered a pathetic re, the surviving boarders gathered to their accustomed places, they beheld in wonderment a splendid pone, savory and hot, flanked upon its left by the old yellow pitcher filled to its brim with rich, sweet milk
A h which a once fa both arrasped the pone, and with the other the pitcher, and holding both aloft as he gazed upon each boarder in turn, exclaimed, ”I understand the boarders are not fond of corn bread” In the twinkling of an eye, the Doctor, _the pitcher, the pone had all disappeared fro-room,_ and the latter tere ne'er heard of more
The poetic justice of the situation, however, was so complete, that no word of complaint was ever uttered
Some weeks after the events last narrated, I heard the sound offro at his door, I soon learned that the tumult was occasioned by a discussion as to whether the Doctor could spell ”sugar” correctly The faction adverse to the physician was led by one William Hawkins, a country schoolered the old Doctor to their hearts'
content Rendered desperate at length by theirfrom his vest pocket a five-dollar bill--one I had loaned him an hour before hich to pay a couple of weeks'
boards--he offered to bet the full amount that he could spell the word correctly A like ath raised by the adverse faction, the question at once arose as to who should be the arbiter Observing me for the first tiness to accept me as ”empire”
It may here be remarked that the honorable office to which I was thus nominated is sometimes called ”uraphers give the latter pronunciation the preference But the Doctor being ”an old settler” and much better acquainted in that locality than either of the other authorities, his preference will be recognized, and ”empire” it will be to the end of this chapter At all events my nomination--for the first and only ti at once into the office and confronting the leaders of the opposing faction, I stated candidly that while I highly appreciated the distinction tendered, still I was unwilling to accept the responsible position of ”ereement that, _whatever the decision,_ there should be no coruntled hereafter; that ”empires” after all were only men and liable to the mistakes and errors incident to our poor humanity To the end, therefore, that an ”empire” act with proper independence, it was all ied
These reasonable require readily acquiesced in, the office was accepted and the money hazarded by each faction carefully deposited in the ”e the principal actor said: ”Doctor, the word is, 'sugar'; _proceed to spell”_