Doctor Barnes

“ Medjora, and looking him in the eye.
"Ah! As I thought. A strong will, for a youngster. I must use strategy." This so softly that Barnes did not comprehend the sense of the words. Then the Doctor spoke in his most alluring manner:
"You are plucky, Mr. Barnes. This is a gruesome place, and I have brought you here under such peculiar circumstances that you might well be alarmed. But I see that you are not, and I admire you for your courage. It is his courage that has made man the master of all the animal world. ”

“ The doctor did not realize as fully as Barnes what the sheer nimbleness of those fingers of the left hand meant to Carl. Like a good many country physicians, he was greater as a medical man than as a surgeon. ”

“ Barnes found the situation more disconcerting than he had anticipated. His self-confidence deserted him. He had no heart to play upon this big man’s credulity. Rather would he take him [153] into his confidence; rather would he speak fairly to those blue eyes resting in their nest of wrinkles. Here was a man used to seeing the unshrouded souls of his fellows. He was doctor, priest, and lawyer, and when these three get together in one man there is a great dropping off of cloaking rags. Such a man must see terrible things; at times beautiful things. ”

“ Barnes obeyed, satisfied that even though treachery were intended, his predicament could not be made worse than it already was. By the dim light which occasionally illuminated the passageway, as the flames flared up, momentarily freed from the smoke, and shone through the crack in the door, already burned considerably, Barnes now saw the Doctor stoop and feel along the wainscoting, finally lifting up a sliding panel, which disclosed a dark opening beyond.
"Fear nothing, but follow me," said the Doctor. "Step lightly though, as these stairs are old and rickety." ”

“ Barnes was intensely interested, and curious to know the plans of this singularly resourceful man.
"The law cannot reach the insane, I believe," said the Doctor, calmly.
"You surely do not suppose that you can deceive the experts by shamming madness?" asked Mr. Barnes, contemptuously. "We are too advanced in science, in these days, to be baffled long by malingerers."
"Observe me, and you will learn my purpose!"
Dr. Medjora went to a closet and returned with a hammer, a large staple, and a long chain. Mr. Barnes watched him closely, with no suspicion of what was to follow. ”

“ At seven twenty the doctor returned from a brief visit upstairs and John produced himself in the majesty of full regalia.
It was not until the soup was served that Barnes found himself in a position to size up the genial enemy. Among other reasons he was too elated over the necessity that had forced Aunt Philomela to seat him opposite her niece. Barnes saw a heavy [152] man of sixty with a round tanned face, and hands of remarkable beauty. They were tender hands backed by arms that might have been those of a Flemish warrior. ”

“ Keep cool and play your part like the brave little woman that I know you to be."
There was the sound of a hurried kiss, and then Barnes was horrified to see the door at which he was listening, open, and to find himself confronted by Dr. Medjora. But if Barnes was taken by surprise, the Doctor was even more astonished. His perturbation however passed in a moment, for he recognized Barnes quickly, and thus knew that at least he was not one of the police. ”

“ He isn’t as alert mentally as he used to be; his new joy in life would force back every doubt; your acceptance here by Aunt Philomela and Eleanor—”
“But Good Heavens that would mean a terrible crash in prospect. I can’t stay on here forever.”
“It’s too much for me, my boy,” the doctor answered soberly.
“But if he can see now, why doesn’t he say so?”
“These old men get strange whims. Perhaps he’s waiting to make sure of his sight so as not to disappoint the others by raising their hope. Or it may be just an old man’s joke.”
Barnes smiled. ”

“ Barnes held up the little pack of white cards. “I’ve got here the place cards for the party, which I gathered up from the table.” He began to read. “Mr. Winthrop—you’re not fifty. Miss Tellfair—I don’t need to ask. Doctor Parker—er—how about you?”
“Not guilty,” Parker said. “It’s not my birthday, and Mr. Drew wouldn’t have given me a party if it were.”
Barnes held up another card, and for a long moment gazed at the face of Carlotta Drew. He must have seen the lines and wrinkles that even the best of makeups could not completely hide. ”

“ She took a small package from him, and opening it, stood open-mouthed before a pretty little necklace of French beads.
“Oh, Doctor! Oh! I never saw nothing so grand!”
“You are a good girl, Maria, and this Mr. Barnes is a lucky man.”
“Thank you, sir,” and she went quietly out of the room, leaving the two men together.
“Now, Martin!” He turned to Dr. Barnhelm gravely. “Let us have it out.” He seated himself beside him and looked him squarely in the face. “You do not try to live? Eh?” ”

“ The present Father of the University and Master of Peter-house, Dr. Francis Barnes, upwards of ninety years of age, was one of the heads present. He sat out the first three quarters of an hour, but then began to be fidgetty. Another quarter of an hour expired,—the preacher was still in the midst of his discourse. The Doctor (now become right down impatient,) being seated the lowest (next to the Vice-Chancellor) in Golgotha, or the “Place of Skulls,” as it is called, he moved, first one seat higher (the preacher is still on his legs,) then to a third, then to a fourth, then to a fifth ”

“ I saw these complications coming from the first. Deceit never succeeds.”
“On the contrary, this has succeeded perfectly,” Barnes protested. “I’m quite sure the doctor thinks none the worse of us.”
“He’ll never believe another word I say,” complained Aunt Philomela.
“And will trust you in delicate matters as never before,” affirmed Barnes.
“To tell him was the only honorable thing to do,” broke in Miss Van Patten.
[165] “Then why don’t you tell Carl?” Aunt Philomela challenged. ”

“ That gave Kate a big reputation, and stirred the Station to the dregs. And even the doctor said it was only by the grace of God that Philury pulled through under the circumstances.
“Sister Sally Barnes had been laying up for nearly a year with a misery in her back, and the doctor had give her physic, and she had took up all the patent medicines she could borrow or raise money to buy, but there she laid, and expected to lay the rest of her days. ”

“ By and by Anthony and Roger Barnes came down. The former was pale, but as quietly composed as ever; the latter nonchalant, yet wearing that gleam of satisfaction in his eye which is ever the badge of the successful surgeon.
“Well, Mrs. Carey,” said the doctor, smiling, “why not relax that tension a bit? The youngster is right as a trivet.”
“I suppose that’s your idea of being right as a trivet,” Judith retorted. “In bed, with a trained nurse watching you, 212 and a doctor staying all night to make sure.” ”

“ The deep-breathing silence that followed was broken at last by the presiding officer.
"Control yursilf, O'Fallon. Let's think what we'd better be doin'," he said, in a futile effort to calm his own desire for self-obliteration.
"Takin' to our heels and crossin' the ocean," replied the medical adviser; "we're swamped entirely, high and dry."
"The police have Fitzpatrick," commented Mooney, "that's shure!"
"And phwat could he tell thim?" blurted the doctor. "It's Benton and the Dutch overseer I'm afraid of. . . . Perhaps we're watched now!" ”

“ To do so he concluded that he must get into the adjoining room, but he could not go farther upstairs without being detected, as the door was open affording the Doctor a clear view of the top of the stairway.
Barnes formed his plan quickly. Reaching up with his hands, he took hold of the balustrade which ran along the hallway, and then, dangling in the air, he worked his way slowly from baluster to baluster, until he had passed the open doorway, and finally hung opposite the room which he wished to enter. ”

“ The friendship existing between a physician and his patient must often disarm the former and incapacitate him for the strict dealing that is required in a treatment like mine. The mere fact that in caring for a friend or one of his regular patients the doctor feels unwilling to exact a definite charge in advance is a certain handicap here, as is also the fact that each patient needs continual watching, and no doctor can afford to devote his entire time and constant medical attention to one patient. ”

“ The sick man’s confidence in his doctor is one of the doctor’s greatest assets; it has saved innumerable lives. It is of the same general nature as the mysterious mental phenomena which frequently control physical conditions, and which have been capitalized by various bodies, such as Faith Cure and Christian Science; but if this is an asset to the physician, the general public knowledge that he carries in his case or in his pocket drugs which he can use without restraint of law for the relief of pain may become a general peril. ”

“ The medical profession is overcrowded, and perhaps the doctor needs the money. Even if he is swayed by nothing but financial need, he is likely to be tempted into the administration of pain-deadening substances when his patient urges him.
There is another powerful influence which works upon the most admirable of men—the pity of the temperamental physician for the human sufferer. Most men who choose the medical profession as the avenue for their life-work have the qualities of mercy, pity, and sympathy notably developed in their psychology. ”

“ The patient is likely to be as much inclined to this course as the doctor, for the doctor is his friend and confidant, and he dislikes intensely the idea of revealing what he regards as the shameful secret of his enslaved soul to strangers’ ears. Treatment in the doctor’s or the patient’s own environment must of necessity be an expensive matter, but if the patient can afford it, he is likely to desire it. ”

“ If diagnosis shows that a patient requires some operation, as in certain uterine troubles, or more especially in the case of bladder affections or gall-stones,—cases in which frequently only an operation can give relief,—and if that patient is aware that even if the operation is not performed, the doctor can still ease all suffering, that patient, loath to run the risk of the surgeon’s knife, horrified by the thought of hospitals and operating theaters, is likely to demand the relief which opiates offer, and refuse to risk the cure which surgical procedure alone would certainly afford. ”

“ As long as you obey him carefully he will be very good to you."
"Oh, I'll mind, Doctor," said Nichol, rising and assuming the respectful attitude of a hospital nurse. "We uns wuz soon larned that't wuzn't healthy to go agin the doctor. When I wuz Yankee Blank, 'fo' I got ter be cap'n, I forgot ter give a Johnny a doze o' med'cine, en I'm doggoned ef the doctor didn't mek me tek it myse'f. Gee wiz! sech a time ez I had! Hain't give the doctors no trouble sence."
"All right, Captain Nichol," said Dr. Barnes, quietly, "I understand my duties, and I see that you understand yours. ”

“ That which she can administer to herself by means of the hypodermic is closest to her hand, is easiest to take, and is least likely to be discovered. Again, too, it must be remembered that the nurse is as susceptible to pain as are the rest of us. Suffering, with the means of alleviation at her hand, and, like the doctor, ignorant of its true peril, what is more natural than that she herself should use the hypodermic for her own relief? Thus it comes about that probably a larger proportion of trained nurses than of doctors are habitual drug-users. ”

“ He had known what it was to come under the Professor's knife, and even at that moment, as he turned, Barnes could see the recent stitches in a comparatively new wound between the ape's shoulders.
"I wouldn't drive Crim too far, if I were you," he said. "Some of these days he'll do you a mischief. And he's powerful enough to do so, despite his gentleness."
Gride laughed harshly.
"I've flayed him a score of times," he said. "He'll never do any mischief—he hasn't got pluck enough. And I am not going seriously to hurt the best subject I've got. ”

“ Barnes assented; “but you're taking the whole business too seriously. I'm rather for the boy, all things considered. I despise his style of cranial decoration—his hair, I mean; but he dresses faultlessly—those quiet neutral shades that are affected by men of breeding, and he's the only man in the house who puts on a dinner coat with religious regularity. In fact, he's the most correct male in the whole bloomin' commonwealth He's certainly not making a nuisance of himself. The only member who ever speaks to him is old man Burrows who hitches on to him every evening for an hour ”

“ Strike wound a coil of light rope around himself as an abdominal support. It afforded some relief, but nothing could take the terrible strain from his heart, as it laboriously fought to pump the sluggishly heavy blood through pinched veins. He speculated dispassionately on how long a heart would hold up.
He glanced at Gerry. She lay with her face hidden in her arms, breathing asthmatically. Slowly, her head raised, as if it weighed a ton.
"Tommy," she spoke thickly, with a tongue that would not obey. "I'm going to—pass out. Head toward—equator—"
She slumped. ”