A CROOKED DOCTOR'S CRIME.

 ARREST OF THE CULPRIT, AND HIS CUNNING ATTEMPT TO PUT

HIS CAPTOR OUT OF THE WAY IN AN EFFORT

TO MAKE HIS ESCAPE.

 

In 1873, Mrs. Boardman, a widow woman with a large family of grown children, resided on a small farm in Venango County, Pennsylvania, a few miles east of Oil City. She became acquainted with a Hebrew doctor, who called[Pg 333] himself Dr. Solomon Steinman. He practiced medicine for a short time in and about Rouseville, Pennsylvania.

 

There were a number of producing oil wells on Mrs. Boardman's farm, and she, from the royalty¹ obtained from the products of these wells, had accumulated quite a sum of money. The doctor, representing himself as a bachelor, managed to grow into the good graces of the widow, notwithstanding the fact that she was the mother of two sons who were almost as old as himself. In a remarkably² short space of time the doctor succeeded in obtaining ten thousand dollars of the widow's money, having represented to her that he would invest it for her in property that would yield fabulous³ profits; but instead of making the investment, he quite suddenly left for parts unknown.

 

The widow's sons, on hearing that their mother had been swindled, reported the matter to me, I being Chief of Police of Oil City. They requested me to locate and cause the arrest of the doctor on the charge of obtaining money under false pretense⁴. I undertook the task of learning his whereabouts, and it seemed impossible to get any trace of him. He had disappeared from his boarding house, telling no person of his intention of leaving, and no trace could be found that would indicate where he had gone. He was at his boarding house for supper on the evening of his departure, and quietly left, after eating his evening meal, as though he was going to a cigar store or a barber shop, leaving what wardrobe he had, grip and other articles, in his room, and disappeared as effectually as though the ground had opened up and engulfed⁵ him.

 

The evening trains had all left the town before he had left his boarding house, so that he was obliged to have left the town on foot. No one around Rouseville had ever[Pg 334] seen a picture of him. He was a small man, dark complexioned⁶, about forty-five years of age, five feet, six inches in height, and weighed about one hundred and thirty pounds, was smooth shaven, had black curly hair sprinkled with gray, and had a decided⁷ Hebrew countenance⁸. About five months after his disappearance⁹, in looking over one of the morning papers, I noticed a short article, giving an account of a Dr. Lewis who had been arrested on the charge of malpractice, at Bay City, Michigan, the day before. This article gave a minute description of the man arrested, and from this description, which answered the one that I had of Dr. Steinman, I concluded that I had found the person I was looking for. I took the first train to Bay City and found Dr. Lewis in his office, he having been released on a two thousand, five hundred dollar cash bond, which he had placed in the hands of the committing magistrate¹⁰. I also learned that the man giving the name of Dr. Lewis was none other than Dr. Steinman.

 

He had already been indicted¹¹ in Venango County, Pennsylvania, for obtaining money under false pretense, and the prosecuting¹² officer of Bay City, being willing to surrender him to me, I had no trouble in obtaining the necessary requisition papers. After getting the papers I left Bay City with my prisoner.

 

I searched him carefully and took charge of all his personal effects. We took the train for Detroit, Michigan, arriving there in the afternoon. I locked him up in the police station until ten o'clock that evening, when I took him to the dock and boarded a steamer for Cleveland, Ohio. It was the old steamer Northwestern, and our state room was on the upper deck, pretty well forward.

 

We left Detroit about ten-thirty o'clock that night, and[Pg 335] were due to arrive at Cleveland in the morning between four and five o'clock. We retired¹³ about midnight. I assigned the upper berth¹⁴ to the prisoner, while I occupied the lower. As I said before, I had searched him thoroughly¹⁵ before leaving Bay City.

 

About two o'clock in the morning, after leaving Detroit, I dozed¹⁶ off to sleep, when I suddenly awakened¹⁷ and smelled the strong odor of chloroform. The stateroom was dark, but I reached up towards the upper berth and my hand came in contact with the doctor's. He was holding a cone¹⁸ that he had made from a towel, and had reached down from his berth and was holding this cone over a four ounce bottle of chloroform, and was trying to put me to sleep for good, but the first breath that I had inhaled¹⁹, after he had placed the chloroform over my face, aroused me. I grabbed his arm, pulled him out of his berth onto the deck in front of the room, and would have thrown him into Lake Erie, were it not for the fact that he yelled at the top of his voice, and aroused the lookout²⁰ on duty at the forward end of the vessel²¹, and also the wheelman, both of whom reached us in time to prevent me from drowning the doctor. If I had carried out my intention of throwing him overboard, nothing could have saved him from drowning. I then made him dress himself and took him down to the forecastle, where the captain placed two of the crew to guard him until we arrived in Cleveland.

 

I have never learned how, or where, the doctor secured the bottle of chloroform, as I had searched him thoroughly, and I am positive he did not have it on him when we left Bay City, and have come to the conclusion that he must have secured it while he was in the lock-up at Detroit. Of course, I did not search him there.

 

During the Civil War, on December 20, 1861, I received[Pg 336] a gun shot wound above the right knee, at the battle of Drainesville, Virginia, and before the doctor began to dress the wound he administered chloroform to me. The after effects of the stuff were very disagreeable and I did not get over it for a long time, and resolved that I would never again take chloroform under any circumstances. I really suffered more from the nasty stuff than I did from the wound. This, I presume, accounts for the shock the odor of the chloroform produced on me.

 

I arrived with the prisoner at Oil City in due time. He was tried at the first term of court thereafter, and convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary²² for a term of ten years.

 

I succeeded in locating and recovering nearly five thousand dollars of the money the doctor had fraudulently secured from the widow. This was returned to her by due process of law.

1 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

2 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

3 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

4 pretense   

n.矫饰，做作，借口

参考例句：

• You can't keep up the pretense any longer.你无法继续伪装下去了。
• Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。

5 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 complexioned   

脸色…的

参考例句：

• My aunt Ablewhite is a large, silent, fair-complexioned woman, with one noteworthy point in her character. 艾伯怀特表姨妈是个身材高大，生性沉默的人，为人有个突出的地方。
• Both were fair complexioned and slenderly made; both possessed faces full of distinction and intelligence. 两人都脸色白皙，身材苗条，两人都相貌非凡、一副聪明的样子。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

9 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

10 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

11 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

12 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

13 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

14 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。

15 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

16 dozed   

v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He boozed till daylight and dozed into the afternoon. 他喝了个通霄，昏沉沉地一直睡到下午。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• I dozed off during the soporific music. 我听到这催人入睡的音乐，便不知不觉打起盹儿来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

19 inhaled   

v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
• Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

21 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

22 penitentiary   

n.感化院；监狱

参考例句：

• He worked as a warden at the state penitentiary.他在这所州监狱任看守长。
• While he was in the penitentiary her father died and the family broke up.他坐牢的时候，她的父亲死了，家庭就拆散了。