The doctor was remarkably3 fond of music, and no mean performer himself upon the clarionet. Being at meeting for the first time since the arrival of Rich on the Sabbath when Deacon Starkweather made his exit, he was mightily4 tickled5 with the whole proceedings6; said the deacon ought to have his head shaved, and a blister7 drawn8 on it, and was consequently inclined to feel more kindly9 disposed towards Rich. While his prejudices were thus somewhat weakened, he was introduced to the latter by Perk10, and was so much charmed with the modest appearance, intelligence, and address of Rich, that he received him with all the cordiality of a parent.
"This young gentleman, Mr. Perkins," said the doctor to Perk the next morning, "is a very[Pg 171] different person from the great majority of those who profess11 to study medicine, having some respect for age and experience, and as amendable12 to counsel as he is intelligent and refined in his manners."
The doctor was not dependent upon his practice for a living, having inherited an ample property from his grandfather. His library was large, consisting of all the medical works then esteemed13, and a complete set of the instruments then used in this country. It is safe to say that the doctor consulted the length of his purse in the choice of books, rather than his mental needs, as Rich, after looking over, found a great portion of them with the leaves still uncut, although they had been ten, and some of them twenty, years in the doctor's possession.
Most physicians at that period were provided with more or less bones for the study of anatomy14, generally of the limbs, as they were most liable to be broken or dislocated: very few went beyond this. Dr. Ryan, however, had not even all these—only the bones of the lower extremities15; but the deficiency was in some manner supplied by plates contained in the anatomical works in his library; indeed, he felt very little interest in surgery, dreading16 nothing so much as being called to set a bone, amputate a limb, or reduce a dislocation, and frequently advised his patients to send for Dr. Slaughter17, who excelled as a surgeon.
[Pg 172]
In the course of his long practice, he had rendered many cripples for life by sheer carelessness in bandaging limbs that had been properly set, and once made a blunder that would have proved fatal to one less beloved.
He was called to a man who had recently moved into the place, who was afflicted18 with a tumor19 in his ham; the doctor, after examining, shoved his lancet into it. To his terror and astonishment20, the blood spurted21 in his face; he had cut an artery22! The new lights represented that he was so frightened the patient bled to death while he sent for his instruments. It was not so; yet not much better. The doctor clapped his thumb on the artery, and instructed the family to arrest the blood, in the meanwhile sent for his instruments and took up the artery; but the coats of the artery, where he applied23 the ligature, being diseased, sloughed24 in the night; and in a short time the ligature came away, and the man bled to death.
It was an old false aneurism, in which so many concentric layers of coagulum had accumulated that no pulsation25 could be perceived. Had the doctor inquired into the history of it, he would have found that it had pulsated26 in the past; but neglecting to do this, and unable to perceive the throb27 of the artery, he mistook it for an abscess. Notwithstanding his lack of surgical28 skill, he was versed29 in the properties and operation of [Pg 173]medicines, a close observer, could detect the nature of disease, and had acquired a great amount of experimental knowledge.
He made an agreement with Rich to superintend his studies, permit him the use of his library, with opportunities to visit patients, for thirty dollars a year.
It was now that Rich began to realize the deep-seated affection cherished for him by his scholars. There were many young men, the sons of farmers, from nineteen to twenty-one, who attended the academy in the winter term; in March they came together, and cut up the whole year's stock of wood for Mrs. Clemens, and put it under cover, thus relieving Rich, and affording him time for study. Dan Clemens and his mates also performed their part in smaller matters, so that Rich had really no more to do than sufficed for exercise.
There could not be a greater contrast than existed between Rich, earnest, ambitious, still farther stimulated30 by the pressure of poverty, and the genial31 old doctor, who loved a good story and a good joke, had an abundance of this world's goods, and cared very little whether his practice increased or decreased, so that it was not intruded32 upon by the new lights.
Yet they were great friends. Rich loved the doctor, though soon made aware of his deficiencies, and treated him with the greatest deference33; while the latter obstinately34 shut his eyes to the fact,[Pg 174] often brought to view by his fellow-physician, Dr. Slaughter, that he was nourishing a most thorough-going radical35 and new light in his own bosom36, although never obtruding37 his heresies38; for if ever there was a boy bound to go to the root of principles, that boy was Rich.
Mrs. Clemens was a lady after the doctor's own heart. She was intelligent, refined, benevolent39, and universally esteemed. Like most persons in delicate health, she was fond of having a physician round her, consulted the doctor in respect to every trifling40 indisposition, and was very conservative in her notions. She had one weak point, as who has not. This was a perfect passion for reading medical works and practising upon herself and the members of her family—a sentiment fostered by her delicate state of health.
This rendered it quite difficult for her to keep a hired girl, for though they liked her, and received good wages, they were not fond of the medicines she insisted upon their taking to keep them from being sick. Next to the Holy Scriptures41, she reverenced42 Buchan's Domestic Medicine,—a copy of which, elegantly bound, lay on her table beside the Bible,—abhorred innovations in medical practice, and would much rather have died under the hands of a regular physician than been cured by a quack44.
"Doctor," she said, one day, "how mysterious it seems, that my dear husband, who was a great,[Pg 175] stout45, healthy man, the very picture of health, and used to take care of me just like a baby, should be in his grave, and I still spared!"
"Invalids46, ma'am, live the longest of any people in the world."
"How can that be, doctor?"
"Because they take care of themselves."
The good lady, indeed, took excellent care of herself; but she was sadly tried in regard to taking care of her son Dan.
Dan was a robust47, red-cheeked boy, sound to the core, of fearless, sanguine48 temperament49, and it was the hardest work in the world for Dan to sit on a bench and apply himself to study. Nothing but their attachment50 to Rich would have induced him and his sworn friends, Ned Baker51 and Frank Merrill, to attempt and accomplish it. But much as Dan loved his mother, he did abhor43 medicine, and to be coddled up.
Richardson was often placed between the two horns of a dilemma52, as Mrs. Clemens invariably appealed to him when Dan proved refractory53.
One morning his mother insisted that he had taken cold, and Dan as stoutly54 maintained the negative.
"Daniel, you must wear your great coat to school; your face is flushed, and I think you are feverish55."
"It's always flushed, mother. I haven't one mite56 of cold, and I can't stand it to wear a coat this pleasant morning."
[Pg 176]
"Yes, you must, dear; your tongue is coated. I'll ask Mr. Richardson."
But Rich, who had overheard the conversation, made a bolt for the door, and escaped that time. In the course of an hour, Betty Gookins, the help, came in, bringing in her hand a garment.
"Only look here, ma'am. I went to pump a pail of water, and I couldn't, cause Dan's coat was in the pump-nose."
"O, dear, how that boy does try me! Well, I shall soon be in my grave."
But as the good lady had said the same for the last thirty years, there was evidently hope in the case. Dan, however, was not to escape so easily the watchful57 care of his mother. That night, when he came in to supper, he was regaled with the odor of salts and senna simmering in the corner.
"O, dear!" he said to himself; "have I got to take that awful, sickish, nasty stuff?"
The next morning, about half an hour before school-time, Rich wanted Dan.
"The poor child is not well, Mr. Richardson, and has gone into the unfinished room to take some medicine. He says he can take it better if he is alone, and nobody looking at him. I wish he didn't dislike to take medicine so much; if it was not such a trial to him, I should give him 'picra.'"
When Rich entered the room, Dan had got up[Pg 177] a brick in the hearth58, and was administering the salts and senna to the cross-sill beneath. He started like a guilty thing when the door opened, but, seeing who it was, completed his purpose.
"What are you about, Daniel?"
"Taking salts and senna, sir."
"Is that the way you always take them?"
"I never took any so before; but this is the way I mean to take them for the future. I expect to pour gallons into this hole."
"Are you well enough to get me a big log out of the wood-pile?"
"Certainly, Mr. Richardson. I never was weller in my life."
"But your mother said yesterday that your tongue was coated."
"So it was. I had been breaking a pan of cream. Mother don't like to have her cream disturbed after it is set. I licked the cream off my lips, but left it on my tongue."
"I think your mother'll have the best of it if she gives you salts and senna. She thinks highly of assaf?tida, and may give you that."
"I never will take that; I'll leave home first."
The next evening, as Rich was passing through the kitchen with an armful of wood for his evening fire, he noticed Mrs. Clemens seated before the fire, in her lap a pair of old-fashioned kitchen bellows60, on a chair beside her a skillet full of hot coals, a roll of sheep-skin, a junk of Burgundy[Pg 178] pitch, and a knife. After cutting from the skin a piece of the right size for a plaster, she placed on it a piece of the pitch, put both on the flat side of the bellows, made the knife hot in the coals, and spread the plaster; while Dan, with no very joyous61 expression of countenance62, sat awaiting the result.
"I am going to put this plaster between Daniel's shoulders, Mr. Richardson," said she; "it is a sovereign remedy for a cold; doesn't open the pores like a sweat, and expose one to take more cold."
The next morning the good lady declared the plaster had worked wonders; that Daniel's cold was very much better, and would soon be well.
"Perhaps I had better take it off, my son, wipe it, and wipe the perspiration63 from your back. The plaster will draw better, and it will prevent its itching64 and annoying you in school."
"O, no, mother; I shall be late. It don't itch59 one mite."
And he rushed from the house.
"It is very singular," replied his mother, looking after him, "my plasters always itch, and are very troublesome. I think they don't do much good except they itch."
Mrs. Clemens would have been less surprised had she known that the plaster began to itch the moment Dan was warm in bed. After enduring it awhile, he pulled it off and tucked it up [Pg 179]chimney. So he told Frank Merrill, with whom, on the way to school, he shared some guava jelly given him by his mother, after taking the salts and senna, to take the taste out of his mouth.
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1
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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pugnacious
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| adj.好斗的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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blister
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| n.水疱；(油漆等的)气泡；v.(使)起泡 | |
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8
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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9
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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perk
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| n.额外津贴；赏钱；小费； | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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12
amendable
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| 可修正的 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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14
anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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15
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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16
dreading
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| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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17
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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18
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
tumor
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| n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour | |
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20
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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21
spurted
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| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的过去式和过去分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺 | |
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artery
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| n.干线，要道；动脉 | |
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23
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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24
sloughed
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| v.使蜕下或脱落( slough的过去式和过去分词 )；舍弃；除掉；摒弃 | |
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25
pulsation
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| n.脉搏，悸动，脉动；搏动性 | |
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pulsated
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| v.有节奏地舒张及收缩( pulsate的过去式和过去分词 )；跳动；脉动；受（激情）震动 | |
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27
throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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28
surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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31
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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32
intruded
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| n.侵入的，推进的v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 )；把…强加于 | |
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33
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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34
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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35
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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36
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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37
obtruding
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| v.强行向前，强行，强迫( obtrude的现在分词 ) | |
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38
heresies
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| n.异端邪说，异教( heresy的名词复数 ) | |
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39
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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40
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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41
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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42
reverenced
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| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的过去式和过去分词 )；敬礼 | |
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43
abhor
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| v.憎恶；痛恨 | |
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44
quack
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| n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子 | |
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46
invalids
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| 病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 ) | |
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47
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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48
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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49
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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51
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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52
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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53
refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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54
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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55
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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56
mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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57
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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58
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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59
itch
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| n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望 | |
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60
bellows
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| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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61
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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62
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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63
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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64
itching
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| adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 ) | |
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