314 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



Ocioher 



UINAWAKE. 



I would not have you so kindly 

 Thus <;arly in friendship's year. 



A little tuo gently, blindly, 

 You lei me near. 



So long as my voice is culy 

 Calm as a friend's sliould be. 



In my eyes the hunger iinruly 

 You will not see. 



The eyes that you lift f^ 'orightly. 



Frankly, to welcur.rc mine 

 You bend them again as lightly 



And note no sign. 



I had rather your pale ch*>e!r rec^dened 

 With the flush of an angry price. 



That a look with disliking deadened 

 My gaze defied. 



If so in the spring's full season 



Your glance should soflen and fall, 

 When, reckless with fever's unreason, 

 I tell you all. 

 -The Late H. C. Eunuer in Scribner's Maga- 

 «ine. 



MY PATIENT. 



It was about 5 o'clock one Saturday 

 afternoon, a time when the east end 

 doctor sometimes, but not always, gets 

 a few minutes' rest. 



The inner door was pushed slowly 

 open, and the head of a thorough little 

 gutter urchin appeared. He was a cap- 

 ital specimen of the London "gamin" — 

 naked feet and legs up to the knee, rag- 

 ged trousers, a thin cotton shirt, opi u 

 at the chest, a ragged coat and no hat. 

 He was grcwsomely dirty, tut his thin, 

 almost delicate fingers told me at ouce 

 that he was a pickpocket. 



' ' I want Dr. Prebble, ' ' he said in a 

 hoarse voice. 



"Well, you've p'ct him," I answered. 



"Bill's fell down and hurt 'isself, " 

 he said slowly. 



"Who is Lill?" I asked. 



A shade of disappointment passed 

 over his face. I had evidently fallen in 

 his opinion. My not luiowing Bill proved 

 conclusively that 1 had not mixed in 

 the choicest society. 



" 'E's our lodger," he said cautious- 

 ly, "an I ain't a-goin to tell you no 

 more. ' ' 



"Why difln't he go to a hospital?" 

 _ "1 diuiuo, ' he said. " 'E was r,t 

 work, and fell off of somefing. Lo e 

 come 'ome. 'I hat's all " 



Luckily a meaicrJ man is fafe in al- 

 most any ueighLorhood. JNIoreover, I 

 was well known, and as I went along 1 

 heard the go.^sips saying: 



"There g(;i.s tlie doctor. He's come 

 to see after bill. " 



Clearly Bill was a celebrity. 



At last my guide stopped at a house, 

 and, nodt'.ing to a woman who stepped 

 on one side to let us enter, said, "It's 

 all right, old gal. " 



I found out subsequently that the 

 "old gal" addressed was the young gen- 

 tleman s motuer. Respect for parents is 

 not a leading feature in that neighbor- 

 hood. 



Without wasting a minute I knelt on 

 the floor to examine Bill's injuries. I 

 fovmd they were serious — a dislocated 

 shoulder, two ribs broken and internal 

 injuries, which might prove more seri- 

 ous still. 



On his fingers were the marks of oak- 

 um picking, which showed that Bill 

 was an ex-jailbird, and in the comer of 

 the room stood a suspicious looking bag, 

 out of which peered a jinnny. It was 

 then fairly safe to assume that Bill had 

 met with an accident while engaged in 

 his professional duties as a housebreak- 

 er. He was educated. One could see 

 that at once by the development of his 

 brow. In his face, too, there were some 

 lingering traces of refinement. 



I looked up at the boy, who was 

 watching me carefully, and, I have no 

 doubt, reading my thoughts. 



"You aiu t a-goin to tell no tales, 

 gov'nor?" 



"My Lusiness is to cure him if I 

 can," I said briefly. "Now, I want 

 your help. ' ' 



With some difficulty I managed to 

 get his shoulder lack into position. 

 Then 1 set his ribs. Beyond that 1 could 

 do nothing imtil 1 e recovered sufficient- 

 ly to an.swer a few questions. 



It was noceshary to find a nurse. The 

 man ought to have been in a hospital, 

 but it was impossible to move hiiu. In- 

 deed, it was almost a miracle that he 

 had ever reached home in such a man- 

 gled condition. 



Not far from my dispensary there 

 was a nur.sing institution, supported ly 

 some ladies, who devoted their time 

 and money to nursing the poor in t-ieir 

 own houses. The u^atron was a spleu-4 

 did wou.an, who never stopped to in- 



