Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1884 — THE SURGEON'S COWARDICE. [ARTICLE]

THE SURGEON'S COWARDICE.

BY SARA B. ROSE.

It was in a handsome stateroom of the steamer Tenasserim that a lovely girl was sitting, with her beautiful eyes of the deepest blue lifted to Capfc. Harter’s grisly face with a look of indignant sorrow. She was Harrie Harter, the old Captain’s only child, whose lightest wish had ever been a law to her father before ; but now, in his daughter’s estimation at least, he was not only unkind but unjust. “The man’s a coward,” said Capt. Harter. “Why, he looked as pale as a sheet when Jack’s limb was set, and his teeth fairly chattered with fear. ” “But, papa, it might not have been fear. I’m sure my nerves would never allow me to stand by, even while a broken bone was set, much less set it.” “Why, you little ninny, the man pretends to be a surgeon, and a surgeon should delight in chopping and sawing into human beings just as if they were sausage meat.” “Why, papa! How horriblo! For my part, I like Dr. Harrington all the better for being tender-hearted.” “Tender-hearted!” sniffed the old sailor; “1 tell you the man is a coward, and you never shall marry him while I live. Why, if he gets into a quarrel or anything, he’ll sneak off like a whipped hound. I never will trust my girl with a man who would not dare to defend her if danger should arise,” said the old fellow, determinedly. “But that’s because he is a gentleman. father. Do you suppose he wishes to mix in all the low disputes with the sailors ?” “Upon mv word, Harrie, you take the part of the young saw-bones finely. Now I can tell you who you are going to marry, and I don’t want any more talk about it. You shall marry my first mate, Adams, as soon as we reach New York. He is a brave man, and will take care of you, and him you shall marry. ” So saying the Captain hopped upon liis feet and left the young lady to her own reflections. “He’ll see whether I will or not,” said Harrie to herself, with a spirited toss of her pretty head. And then she looked off over the blue rolling water from the little window of her stateroom until she grew drowsy with the undulating motion, and sank down upon the blue satin divan in a sleep as calm and sweet as an infant’s slumber. She made a beautiful picture as she slept, surrounded as she was by all that money could buy to make her home on the blue wave a pleasant one, and by all the beautiful shells and corals and curiosities that Capt. Harter had gathered in a lifetime of sailing on every sea upon the globe. She had been with her father for the last ten years since she was a child of eight, and she knew almost as much of a ship as the Captain himself, and she was the pet of everysea man on board, from the egotistic first mate to the boy who blacked the passengers’boots. But Mr. Harrington, the young surgeon of the, ship, alone had won her gentle heart, and it w r as a wonder to her that her father should so dislike the young man, and favor the addresses of his first mate, Mr. Adams, who, although a good was the most egotistic and sarcastic of men. She was awakened from her sleep by the voice of Joanna, the young Irish damsel who kept the staterooms of herself and the other ladies in order, who came in saying: “Shure an’ the sailors said to toll Miss Harrie the land was in sight, and Masther Haridngton told me to ax were you coming up to see the sunset.” Harrie sprang to her feet and smoothed out the folds of her dress of dark, w’avy blue blannel, arranged her tumbled hair, and the dainty coral ornaments among the soft white lace at her neck, seized her broad hat, and followed Joanna to the deck. There she found a group of ladies and gentlemen chatting pleasantly together, and thevoung surgeon came forward to meet her, regardless of the angry scowl with which the irate Mr. Admnm regarded him. *We shall be in the harborof Madras • little after sunset,” said he. “What • lovely landscape there is along the ”Y«s, indeed,” returned Harrie,

spiritedly. “And Madras itself is fuH of curiosities to one who has never been there before.” “I have never been in this port before,” answered Mr. Harrington. “This is the first voyage I have made as ship’s surgeon, you know.” “And will be the last on board the Tenasserim, I hope,” thought the mate, Adams, who was lingering just within earshot; and then, with a half-concealed smile on his face, he turned and went below. “I hear the Hindoos have temples very near to the outskirts of Madras,” said Mrs. Atherton, a pretty young married lady who was one of the passengers. “How I should-.like to see one!” “And you might see something you did not like; such as a boa constrictor or a lion,” added her husband. “Oh, there is no donger,” said the Captain. “Harrie has always been wishing to go and see one of them, and I have almost a mind to gratify her widi this time, and get up a party and go out.” “How splendidly nice that would be!” said Mrs. Atherton. “Don’t forget to invite me, Captain.” Ju-t then there was a loud report, at which everybody started, and Dr. Harrington sprang clear of the deck and his face became deathly white. “What is the matter, Harrington? You look as if you were scared,” said Mr. Adams, with a covert sneer, as he picked up the remains of a cartridge which had been thrown at Harrington’s feet. “What was that?” asked the Captain. “Only a cartridge which I dropped,” answered Adams. “You, must look out, Harrington, or people will think your nerves are out of order,” said the old Captain, bluntly. “I am a very nervous man,” returned the surgeon, coloring deeply. “I wouldn’t own it,” laughed the sarcastic voice of the mate. “We want only brave men on board ship.” “Nerves have nothing to do with bravery,” said the surgeon, regarding the mate with a steady look. Adams made no reply, for he saw the angry look in Harrie’s blue eyes, and thought he had gone far enough; but he did not know that Harrie had watched him ever since he returned to the deck, and saw him throw the lighted cartridge at Dr. Harrington’s feet, and know that he did it with a purpose. The ladies resumed their conversation about the excursion, and the captain agreed that if he could not go some of the others might, and Harrie waited until the sun had sunk behind the hills of Hindostan, and then she bade Jay Harrington good-night and returned to her stateroom. Joanna removed the pretty coral ornaments from her mistress’ neck and ears, and helped her into a dainty tucked and embroidered wrapper and was combing out all Harrie’s cloud of golden hair, when she burst out with, “My Jack tells me that docther is the divil’s awn coward.” “Why—for what reason?” asked Harrie, crimsoning. * “Bedad. an’ he says the min are all the time playing tricks on him, and tliryin’ to make him jump, as he did to-night upon deck." “But that is no sign he is a cowai'd.” “Shure an what sign is it, thin?” asked the girl. Harrie nude no reply, for she felt slie could not do the subject justice; but the conversation led her into a very unpleasant train of thought, and with the perversity of women she thought that she would marry him if he was the most arrant coward upon the earth. Then she wished'*he was not so nervons—or something. In the morning the good ship Tenasserim was at anchor among acres of great ships and smaller craft of every description, in the harbor of Madras, and the lady passengers were in a fever of expectation about the excursion, which was to take place in two or three days, after the unloading w..s finished, so that the Captain could spare some of the men to accompany them. The ladies employed themselves in shopping in the interval, and Harrie found both Dr. Harrington and Mr. Adams ready to act as her escort on any occasion, and it caused her not a little maneuvering to prevent collisions between the two gentlemen, and to avoid the irate Mr. Adams, who was horribly jealous of the handsome surgeon. Harrie was obliged to listen to many reports of the surgeon’s cowardice from her handmaid Joanna, whom she was almost certain was in the pay of Mr. Adams or her father, she did not know which; for the oldest people sometimes have the worst prejudices, and Capt. Harter often spoke out in the bluntest manner to his daughter upon the subject.

“Wliy, blast my eyes, the man is a coward. What any girl can want of suoli a milksop as that passes my comprehension entirely.” The sight would have been a novel one to our eyes eould we have but seen the little party of excursionists that set out one pleasant morning over the hills and through the jungles of modern Hindoostan, bound for the temple of Boodha, which was said to be about five miles from the outskirts of Madras. The ladies were seated each in her palanquin, with her four native bearers, while beside her rode her attendant cavalier, mounted upon the strangely accoutered horse of the country. In Harrie’s case the cavaliers were two, namely, Dr. Harrington and Mr. Adams. “Adams, I want you to take care of my girl,” said Capt. Harter, as the cavalcade started. But Dr. Harrington kept his place by his right of permission from the lady, and so it happened that there was a rider on each side of Harrie’s palanquin. The sights upon the outskirts of the city to foreign eyes were very interesting, but ere long they were traversing a more uninhabited country, where on each side of the pathway were large cinnamon gardens of the wealthy Hindoos, while tall palms and cocoannt trees bent their graceful branches above their heads. But at length they came to a place where all civilization seemed to cease, and they were in a thickly wooded country, with patohes of thick jungle in every direction.

“Now look out for a white elephant,” called out Harrie, merrily. “If we can find one, our fortune is made,” answered Mrs. Atherton, in the same voice. “The showmen are offering hundreds of thousands for a specimen.” But it was all so wild and new that the spirit of jest did not rule to any great extent, for every one was engaged in admiring the strangely be&utifnl plants and shrubs of this strange land, and gazing with wonder upon the exuberant vines that seemed to bind together clumps of bushes, of acres in extent. The path had grown very narrow through these bits of jungle when the bearers came to a steep hill, and there they stopped and dismounted. “We shall walk the rest of the way," annonnoed Mr. Adams, offering his hand to assist Harrie to dismount, but she was a little piqued at his attentions, offered, as they were, in the face of her accepted cavalier, and she quietly overlooked the outstretched hand, saying, “May I have the assistance of your strong arm. Doctor, in climbing this precipitous hill?” “Certainly, certainly,” answered the delighted Harrington, with a smile on his lips; but the angry Adams-walked resolutely on the other side of the young lady. “Mr. Adams has the tenacity of the ‘Otd Man of the Sea,’” said the amused Mrs. Atherton in a whisper to Harrie. “Yes, but I may find means to dislodge him,” returned Harrie, smiling in return. When the top of the eminence was reached, the whole party paused and gazed around them at the beautiful scenery which met their gaze. The conical hills, the high and abrupt mountains, and the deep, dark valleys covered with the heaviest forests, aad thick jungles almost impenetrable to the rays of the sun, made up a scene of great curiosity to American eyes. The s guide informed them that these forests were inhabited by elephants, leopards, hyenas, jackals, and monkeys, besides, many venomous serpents were to be found everywhere. This last assertion made little Mrs. Atherton shiver as she held up her white hand, saying, “No more, please; I declare, I am afraid to go back now!” The sable guide showed his white teeth, and at a word from Mr. Adams proceeded on the way. They found the temple situated on the south side of the eminence, in the midst of cocoannt trees. An old man went before them with a torch, and all were obliged to assume attitudes of reverence when they approached the hideous figure of Boodlxa. As he sat upon his pedestal he nmst have been eight feet in height, and was paintod in many grotesque colors, and ornamented with almost priceless diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, which were about his neck and arms. Upon either side was a smaller statue, the one of Vishnu and the other of Siva, while upon every side were paintings of different gods, and at the doors wore images of two giants and of two lions placed as guards. The party lingered about the place viewing the curious structure from the outside, and the attractive scenery, until the guide approached Mr. Adams, saying; “The sun hangs low in the heavens.” And then came the scramble down the steep hillside, and every one got into the conveyances, and the bearers began to retrace their steps. Mr. Adams still kept close by Harries’ side, and Dr. Harrington never left her, and despite the laughing glances of the rest of the party, started home in the manner they came. “Do you suppose I am going to trust her to the care of that cowardly surgeon V asked Mr. Adams, of one of the laughing gentlemen. “But what if she likes his company best?” persisted the gentleman. “You heard what her father said,” was the reply of the angry sailor, and then he bore the amused looks of the company with a determined look laughable to behold. They had lingered longer than they had thought, and the twilight was approaching before they had got out of the wooded country, and the hallfrightened looks of the ladies made the gentlemen look to their fire-arms, which every man carried. Dr. Harrington’s face was very pale. “I guess the Doctor is scared,” said Adams in a 16w voice, bending low toward Harrie as she sat in the open palanquin. Harrie had been very indignant at Mr. Adams’ actions during the day, and she would have given him a very angry answer had not the native bearers stopped at this moment, saying that a strap was broken by which the palanquin swung, and it would cause but a moment’s delay to mend it. Mr. Adams scowled fiercely at the Doctor as they sat waiting, but he kept his eyes fixed upon the moving cavalcade befoi-e him.

The rest of the company were a half mile in advance when they again started, and the shadows were beginning to fall around them. The bearers made an attempt to oatoh up with the others, and rushed along at a rapid rate; but they were obliged to go slower when going through the jungles, and they were about twenty rods behind the others when they heard a low growl, and a half-grown leopard sprang from one of the waving palms and alighted upon the pretty canopy over Harrie’s head. The cowardly bearers instantly dropped the palanquin and started by the shortest path so” the not far distant Madras, and the startled Mr. Adams, after seeing what the situation really was, put whip to his horse and was soon among the others of the company, shouting: “The tiger, the tiger has devoured Miss Harrie, and killed that cursed surgeon. ” “For heaven’s sake,” said the gentlemen, “we must go back at once.” “No! no! for God’s sake keep away from there or he’ll kill every one of you! To the ship! to the ship 1” and the excited mate never again looked behind him until safe on board the Tenasserim. Several of tho men turned and hurried back to the little jangle, where they found Hairie still in her palanquin, laughing, with the white-faced surgeon by her side with revolver in

hand, while near by was a beautiful picture—a young Hindoo girl with her pet leopard, led by a silken cord, w.tk the last famt light es day falling over her. The explanation was very simple: The Hindoo girl had been watching the strangers, with her tame leopard near her, and the beautiful animal ha! sprang upon the palanquin, perhaps mistaking Harrie for his gentle mistress, and, just as the Doctor had been about to send a bullet into his graceful side, the young girl had sprang forward and saved the life of her pet. When they reached the„Tenasserim, under the pale white light of the moon, they found a great commotion caused by Mr. Adams’ excited story, and poor Capt. Harter was indulging liis grief to the full, when the little boat came alongside, and Harrie and the surgeon came on board. “Harrie, my girl, I thought the tigei had killed you. How did yon escape ?” Mrs. Atherton told the whole story, including a graphic account of Mr. Adams’ excitement. “So you ran, did yon?” asked the blunt old Captain. “I rather think you must be the coward, after all.” “Lyin’ divil,” said Joanna, carried away by the turn of the tide. “Faith, an’ if it wasn’t for him nobody’d a said a word agin the Docther at all at all, an’ nary cent will I take for my part of the bizness." It was six months before Harrie became Mrs. Harrington, but during all this time Mr. Adams could not again accuse the Doctor of cowardice.