Dr. Smith

“ Smith went into peals of laughter, and surrendered his pistol with perfect willingness. Moon raised the doctor to his feet, and then went and leaned sullenly on the garden gate. The girls were quiet and vigilant, as good women mostly are in instants of catastrophe, but their faces showed that, somehow or other, a light had been dashed out of the sky. The doctor himself, when he had risen, collected his hat and wits, and dusting himself down with an air of great disgust, turned to them in brief apology. ”

“ But we reached the door of the study. One of the most respectful knocks ever given proclaimed our presence,—or rather inquired if we could be admitted. The fine, manly voice which we so well knew, called on us to enter. We were received with that courteous dignity which characterized the doctor. All scanned the noble head, and no thunder-clouds were there. It is something to have seen Dr. Smith in the pulpit, in [Pg 202] the class-room, or in the study. He was somewhat taller than men in general, and had a frame of fine proportions. His countenance easily kindled with intelligence. ”

“ He declares the dead man to be [Pg 191] Dr. Smith. Now, Wigan, look at that notice," and he handed me a cutting from a six months old newspaper. "You see it is the obituary notice of a Dr. London, who was one of the doctors of the Meteor Insurance Company, and I have ascertained that it was he who medically examined Dr. Smith in connection with the life policy. He passed him as a first-class life. I do not fancy any doctor would have passed as a first-class life such a man as was washed up by the sea. ”

“ Among the first to succumb to the dread disease was Brevet Major J. Sim Smith, surgeon in charge. Dr. Smith, on his arrival at the post, which was but a few months before, corrected in various instances the abuse and reigning terrors which abounded there. He was, indeed, a man of humanity and kindness, a gentleman by birth and culture — the soldiers' and prisoners' friend and protector, and, his memory lives in the mind and the heart of all by whom he was then surrounded as all that was good, pure, upright, and noble. ”

“ And shoving Smith violently away he galloped after the cherry-colored car, caught it, swung himself aboard, and sank triumphant and breathless into the transverse seat behind that occupied by a wicker basket, a filmy summer frock, a big, white straw hat, and--a girl--the most amazingly pretty girl he had ever laid eyes on. After him, headlong, like a distracted chicken, rushed Smith and alighted beside him, panting, menacing. ”

“ It certainly was not Mr Smith, for he was out at his work; nor was it the doctor, our only other visitor, for he always came up two steps at a time, and his boots always squeaked. Who could our visitor be?
“Come in,” called Smith, as a knock sounded on the door.
To my utter astonishment and concern, Hawkesbury, with his sweetest smile, entered the room.
How had he found out my retreat? What did he want here? What would Jack Smith say? These were the questions which rushed through my mind as he closed the door behind him and walked into the room. ”

“ To you and I, the quiet which one finds here is vastly more inviting than it is to the friends who have just left us. The Doctor, of necessity, leads a life of activity, feeling physical weariness as the result of his labors, but little of that strong yearning for intellectual repose which those in your profession or mine so often feel. Smith's life demands excitement. The absence of the cares and toil of business occasions a restlessness and desire of change, which makes him discontented here. With them the great charm of this wild region is its novelty. ”

“ Present the Medical Center with a child, a Mekstrom, and a Carrier, and good old pappy would be no longer needed.
"Well, after I found out all about you, Steve, that's what I had in mind. But now—"
"Now what?" I urged her gently. I had a hunch that she was leading up to something, but ducking shy about it until she managed to find out how I thought. It would have been all zero if we'd been in a clear area, but as it was I led her gently on.
"But now I've failed," she said with a slight wail.
"What do they do with failures?" I asked harshly. "Siberia? ”

“ Her eyes were dancing, her cheeks like ripe peaches with all the bloom belonging to them in evidence, and something more, and her mouth all curves and dimples.
When the doctor reached her side—he had heard the sound of the wheels, and looking through the window had caught sight of the drag—she had risen from her perch and was about to spring clear of the equipage without waiting for the helping hand of either Bones or himself. She was still a girl in her suppleness. ”

“ Doctor Smith was born May 21, 1797, in the town of Cornish, New Hampshire, where his father, Nathan Smith—afterward Professor of Physic and Surgery in Yale College—had been for ten years in the practice of his profession. In a brief sketch of his father, Doctor Smith unconsciously drew the outlines of his own character. "In the practice of surgery," he said, "Professor Smith displayed an original and inventive mind. ”

“ Dr Smith, in his Lives of the Gresham Professors, characterizes him as a man of great probity, a contemner of riches, and contented with his own station, preferring a studious retirement to all the splendid circumstances of life. ”

“ Seeing their interest Smith went on to explain other marvels of the sun, and moon, and stars, and the roundness of the earth, until those who heard were quite sure he was a great "medicine man."
Thus Smith fought for his life. But at length utterly exhausted, he could say no more. So while the chief still held the little ivory compass, and watched the quivering needle, his followers led Smith away to his own camp fire. Here lay the other white men dead, thrust through with many arrows. And here the Indians warmed and chafed his benumbed body, and treated him with all the kindness they knew. ”

“ I replied. "And our deaths will not profit you, incidentally, because—" Smith's foot touched mine.
"Because?" inquired Fu-Manchu softly. "Ah! Mr. Smith is so prudent! He is thinking that I have files!" He pronounced the word in a way that made me shudder. "Mr. Smith has seen a wire jacket! Have you ever seen a wire jacket, doctor? As a surgeon its functions would interest you!" ”

“ Smith is allied are the American Institute of Homeopathy, of one of the bureaus of which she is the secretary, the Academy of Physicians and Surgeons, the Illinois Homeopathy Association, and the board of directors of the Illinois Training School for Nurses, in which she is a lecturer. In literary work Dr. Smith has always been active. ”

“ He graduated as bachelor of medicine at the university of London in 1840, and eight years later proceeded M.D. He became a licentiate of the College of Physicians, London, in 1850, and was elected to the fellowship in 1859. He began his career as a teacher in the private school of Mr. Dermott in Bedford Square, and became, despite an ungainly manner and bad delivery, an impressive and effective lecturer and speaker. When St. Mary's Hospital was founded, Smith was appointed obstetric physician and lecturer on obstetrics. ”

“ James McCune Smith, a graduate of the Scientific and Medical Schools of the University of Glasgow, has for the last fifteen years, been a successful practitioner of medicine and surgery in the city of New York. Dr. Smith is a man of no ordinary talents, and stands high as a scholar and gentleman in the city, amidst the literati of a hundred seats of learning. ”

“ The hard voice found even softness too loud; and in the silence which fell between the two men, only the Commissioner's pen could be heard.
"You'll look in at the palace, perhaps, and see all is right," came the brogue, after a bit, "and give my love to old Smith. I'm not sure but that I'd rather have seen him behind the door than anything else, for it must have been the hardest job--"
"Considering the circumstances, yes!" put in the doctor; so, with the pith hat turning him into an animated mushroom, he passed out into the blaze of dry yellow sunshine, on that dry yellow sand. ”

“ Pancras with him, had gone the way of all flesh, one had become an idiot, inconsequence of ill treatment; one girl was unable to walk without the aid of crutches; and the remainder were more or less crippled and mutilated in various parts of their persons. Smith was a sad spectacle to look upon, stunted in growth, his legs twisted by standing so many hours at the frames, his countenance haggard and care-worn; altogether he presented the appearance of a man of seventy years, who had seen much service, rather than a person of twenty-one years, just entering upon manhood. ”

“ For lack of such scholars this was granted to Clement Madely Smith, youngest son of Dr. Smith, the Head Master, who studied for the medical profession, in London. No further appointment however was made, as in 1848 the Governors decided that they had no authority so to employ the funds at their disposal.
On the death of Dr. Smith, in 1854, a new scheme of education, more suited to the requirements of the time, was drawn up by a committee appointed for that purpose, which received the sanction of the Charity Commissioners, and was approved by the Master of the Rolls in the same year. ”

“ I grunted. "As you say, I'm no medical person."
"Alive, your hair grows and must be cut. You shave and trim off beard. Your fingernails are pared. Now and then you lose a small bit of hide or a few milliliters of blood. These are things that, when injected under the skin of a normal human, makes them Mekstrom. Dead, your ground up body would not provide much substance."
"Pleasant prospect," I growled. "So what do I do to avert this future?"
"Steve, I don't know. I've done what I can for you. I've effected the cure and I've done it in safety; you're still Steve Cornell." ”

“ Smith was a great and good man. He never appeared to toil for professional fame, but to do good to his fellow-man: and in view of his virtues as a citizen and his justly preëminent skill as a physician, one of his surviving pupils of those early days, who now counts more than four-score years, feels impelled to exclaim,—Honored be the memory of Nathan Smith, the founder, father, and for many years the sustainer of the Medical Department of Dartmouth College; ever recognized by all his friends and acquaintances—and their name was legion—as an honest man and most useful citizen. ”

“ Smith could say nothing. The doctor, however, got to his feet and stretched.
"Phew!" taking off the brass bracelets and reaching for a handful of the Venusian books. "That was—going some!"
He located a passage in one of the books. "I guess we've had enough of people like ourselves. What do you say," eagerly, "to visiting a place where they're not even the same sort of animals as we are?"
He looked around enthusiastically. Smith made a brief sound of agreement, and remained in his chair. Both he and the doctor looked to Billie and Van Emmon for comment. ”

“ Smith, who wrote in 1758, when speaking of the profession of New York, says: “A few physicians among us are eminent for their skill. Quacks abound like locusts in Egypt, and too many have been recommended to a full practice and profitable subsistence; this is less to be wondered at, as the profession is under no kind of regulation. Loud as the call is, to our shame be it remembered, we have no law to protect the lives of the king’s subjects from the malpractice of pretenders. Any man, at his pleasure, sets up for physician, apothecary, and chirurgeon. ”

“ Pocketing his watch he beckoned to Jack:
“The worst is over, Breen,” he said in a voice of perfect calmness—the tone of a doctor after feeling a patient's pulse. “Our culvert is doing its work and relieving the pressure. This water will be out of here by morning. Tell the foreman to keep those planks moving wherever they do any good, but they won't count much longer. You can see the difference already in the overflow. And now go up to the house and tell Ruth. She may not know we are all right and will be worrying.” ”

“ You're Channing and were all doped up with gravanol and adhesive. Thank yourself a god for that, too. I'm going to need both of my nurses and we'll all need you."
"Hope I can do some good," said Don.
"You'd better. Or any good I can do will be wasted. Better start right now. Here," the doctor produced a set of keys, "these will unlock anything in the ship but the purser's safe. You'll need 'em. Now get along and do something and leave the body-mending to me. Scram!"
"Can you make out all right?"
"As best I can. But you're needed to get us help. If you can't, no man in the Solar System can. ”

“ Martha watched the doctor and Rex until they were out of sight, walked on to the top of the low hill, and finding a seat by the roadside—her breath came short these warm spring days—sat down to rest, the dog stretched out in her lap. The little outcast had come to her the day Lucy left Warehold for school, and the old nurse had always regarded him with a certain superstitious feeling, persuading herself that nothing would happen to her bairn as long as this miserable dog was well cared for.
"Ye heard what Doctor John said about her bein' a woman, Meg?" ”

“ SMITH: AN EPISODE IN A LODGING-HOUSE
"When I was a medical student," began the doctor, half turning towards his circle of listeners in the firelight, "I came across one or two very curious human beings; but there was one fellow I remember particularly, for he caused me the most vivid, and I think the most uncomfortable, emotions I have ever known.
"For many months I knew Smith only by name as the occupant of the floor above me. Obviously his name meant nothing to me. ”