Chapter VI

by James Fenimore Cooper

　　"And about his shelves,A beggarly account of empty boxes,Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds.Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses,Were thinly scattered to make up a show."-Shakespeare.

　　Doctor Elnathan Todd, for such was the name of the man of physic, wascommonly thought to be, among the settlers, a gentleman of greatmental endowments, and he was assuredly of rare personal proportions.In height he measured, without his shoes, exactly six feet and fourinches. His hands, feet, and knees corresponded in every respect withthis formidable stature; but every other part of his frame appeared tohave been intended for a man several sizes smaller, if we except thelength of the limbs. His shoulders were square, in one sense atleast, being in a right line from one side to the other; but they wereso narrow, that the long dangling arms they supported seemed to issueout of his back. His neck possessed, in an eminent degree, theproperty of length to which we have alluded, and it was topped by asmall bullet-head that exhibited on one side a bush of bristling brownhair and on the other a short, twinkling visage, that appeared tomaintain a constant struggle with itself in order to look wise. Hewas the youngest son of a farmer in the western part of Massachusetts,who, being in some what easy circumstances, had allowed this boy toshoot up to the height we have mentioned, without the ordinaryinterruptions of field labor, wood-chopping, and such other toils aswere imposed on his brothers. Elnathan was indebted for thisexemption from labor in some measure to his extraordinary growth,which, leaving him pale, inanimate, and listless, induced his tendermother to pronounce him "a sickly boy, and one that was not equal towork, but who might earn a living comfortably enough by taking topleading law, or turning minister, or doctoring, or some such likeeasy calling. Still, there was great uncertainty which of thesevocations the youth was best endowed to fill; but, having no otheremployment, the stripling was constantly lounging about the homestead,"munching green apples and hunting for sorrel; when the same sagacious eyethat had brought to light his latent talents seized upon this circumstanceas a clew to his future path through the turmoils of the world."Elnathan was cut out for a doctor, she knew, for he was forever diggingfor herbs, and tasting all kinds of things that growd about the lots.Then again he had a natural love for doctor-stuff, for when she had leftthe bilious pills out for her man, all nicely covered with maple sugarjust ready to take, Nathan had come in and swallowed them for all theworld as if they were nothing, while Ichabod (her husband) could never getone down without making such desperate faces that it was awful to look on."

　　This discovery decided the matter. Elnathan, then about fifteen, was,much like a wild colt, caught and trimmed by clipping his bushy locks;dressed in a suit of homespun, dyed in the butternut bark; furnishedwith a "New Testament" and a "Websters Spelling Book," and sent toschool. As the boy was by nature quite shrewd enough, and hadpreviously, at odd times, laid the foundations of reading, writing,and arithmetic, he was soon conspicuous in the school for hislearning. The delighted mother had the gratification of hearing, fromthe lips of the master, that her son was a "prodigious boy, and farabove all his class." He also thought that "the youth had a naturallove for doctoring, as he had known him frequently advise the smallerchildren against eating to much; and, once or twice, when the ignorantlittle things had persevered in opposition to Elnathans advice, hehad known her son empty the school-baskets with his own mouth, toprevent the consequences."

　　Soon after this comfortable declaration from his school master, thelad was removed to the house of the village doctor, a gentleman whoseearly career had not been unlike that of our hero where he was to beseen sometimes watering a horse, at others watering medicines, blue,yellow, and red: then again he might be noticed lolling under anapple-tree, with Ruddimans Latin Grammar in his hand, and a corner ofDenmans Midwifery sticking out of a pocket; for his instructor heldit absurd to teach his pupil how to dispatch a patient regularly fromthis world, before he knew how to bring him into it.

　　This kind of life continued for a twelvemonth, when he suddenlyappeared at a meeting in a long coat (and well did it deserve thename!) of black homespun, with little bootees, bound with an uncoloredcalf-skin for the want of red morocco.

　　Soon after he was seen shaving with a dull razor. Three or fourmonths had scarce elapsed before several elderly ladies were observedhastening toward the house of a poor woman in the village, whileothers were running to and fro in great apparent distress. One or twoboys were mounted, bareback, on horses, and sent off at speed invarious directions. Several indirect questions were put concerningthe place where the physician was last seen; but all would not do; andat length Elnathan was seen issuing from his door with a very graveair, preceded by a little white-headed boy, out of breath, trottingbefore him. The following day the youth appeared in the street, asthe highway was called, and the neighborhood was much edified by theadditional gravity of his air. The same week he bought a new razor;and the succeeding Sunday he entered the meeting-house with a red silkhandkerchief in his hand, and with an extremely demure countenance.In the evening he called upon a young woman of his own class in life,for there were no others to be found, and, when he was left alone withthe fair, he was called, for the first time in his life, Dr. Todd, byher prudent mother. The ice once broken in this manner, Elnathan wasgreeted from every mouth with his official appellation.

　　Another year passed under the superintendence of the same master,during which the young physician had the credit of " riding with theold doctor," although they were generally observed to travel differentroads. At the end of that period, Dr. Todd attained his legalmajority. He then took a jaunt to Boston to purchase medicines, and,as some intimated, to walk the hospital; we know not how the lattermight have been, but, if true, he soon walked through it, for hereturned within a fortnight, bringing with him a suspicious-lookingbox, that smelled powerfully of brimstone.

　　The next Sunday he was married, and the following morning he entered aone-horse sleigh with his bride, having before him the box we havementioned, with another filled with home-made household linen, apaper-covered trunk with a red umbrella lashed to it, a pair of quitenew saddle-bags, and a handbox. The next intelligence that hisfriends received of the bride and bridegroom was, that the latter was"settled in the new countries, and well to do as a doctor inTempleton, in York State!"

　　If a Templar would smile at the qualifications of Marmaduke to fillthe judicial seat he occupied, we are certain that a graduate ofLeyden or Edinburgh would be extremely amused with this true narrationof the servitude of Elnathan in the temple of Aesculapius. But thesame consolation was afforded to both the jurist and the leech, forDr. Todd was quite as much on a level with his own peers of theprofession in that country, as was Marmaduke with his brethren on thebench.

　　Time and practice did wonders for the physician. He was naturallyhumane, but possessed of no small share of moral courage; or, in otherwords, he was chary of the lives of his patients, and never trieduncertain experiments on such members of society as were considereduseful; but, once or twice, when a luckless vagrant had come under hiscare, he was a little addicted to trying the effects of every phial inhis saddle-bags on the strangers constitution. Happily their numberwas small, and in most cases their natures innocent. By these meansElnathan had acquired a certain degree of knowledge in fevers andagues, and could talk with judgment concerning intermittents,remittents, tertians, quotidians, etc. In certain cutaneous disordersvery prevalent in new settlements, he was considered to be infallible;and there was no woman on the Patent but would as soon think ofbecoming a mother without a husband as without the assistance of Dr.Todd. In short, he was rearing, on this foundation of sand asuperstructure cemented by practice, though composed of somewhatbrittle materials. He however, occasionally renewed his elementarystudies, and, with the observation of a shrewd mind, was comfort ablyapplying his practice to his theory.

　　In surgery, having the least experience, and it being a business thatspoke directly to the senses, he was most apt to distrust his ownpowers; but he had applied oils to several burns, cut round the rootsof sundry defective teeth, and sewed up the wounds of numberless woodchoppers, with considerable clat, when an unfortunate jobber suffereda fracture of his leg by the tree that he had been felling. It was onthis occasion that our hero encountered the greatest trial his nervesand moral feeling had ever sustained. In the hour of need, however,he was not found wanting. Most of the amputations in the newsettlements, and they were quite frequent, were per formed by some onepractitioner who, possessing originally a reputation, was enabled bythis circumstance to acquire an experience that rendered him deservingof it; and Elnathan had been present at one or two of theseoperations. But on the present occasion the man of practice was notto be obtained, and the duty fell, as a matter of course, to the shareof Mr. Todd. He went to work with a kind of blind desperation,observing, at the same time, all the externals of decent gravity andgreat skill, The sufferers name was Milligan, and it was to thisevent that Richard alluded, when he spoke of assisting the doctor atan amputation by holding the leg! The limb was certainly cut off, andthe patient survived the operation. It was, however, two years beforepoor Milligan ceased to complain that they had buried the leg in sonarrow a box that it was straitened for room; he could feel the painshooting up from the inhumed fragment into the living members.Marmaduke suggested that the fault might lie in the arteries andnerves; but Richard, considering the amputation as part of his ownhandiwork, strongly repelled the insinuation, at the same timedeclaring that he had often heard of men who could tell when it wasabout to rain, by the toes of amputated limbs, After two or threeyears, notwithstanding, Milligan's complaints gradually diminished,the leg was dug up, and a larger box furnished, and from that hour noone had heard the sufferer utter another complaint on the subject.This gave the public great confidence in Dr. Todd, whose reputationwas hourly increasing, and, luckily for his patients, his informationalso.

　　Notwithstanding Dr. Todds practice, and his success with the leg, hewas not a little appalled on entering the hall of the mansion-house.It was glaring with the light of day; it looked so imposing, comparedwith the hastily built and scantily furnished apartments which hefrequented in his ordinary practice, and contained so many well-dressed persons and anxious faces, that his usually firm nerves were agood deal discomposed. He had heard from the messenger who summonedhim, that it was a gun-shot wound, and had come from his own home,wading through the snow, with his saddle-bags thrown over his arm,while separated arteries, penetrated lungs, and injured vitals werewhirling through his brain, as if he were stalking over a field ofbattle, instead of Judge Temples peaceable in closure.

　　The first object that met his eye, as he moved into the room, wasElizabeth in her riding-habit, richly laced with gold cord, her fineform bending toward him, and her face expressing deep anxiety in everyone of its beautiful features. The enormous knees of the physicianstruck each other with a noise that was audible; for, in the absentstate of his mind, he mistook her for a general officer, perforatedwith bullets, hastening from the field of battle to imploreassistance. The delusion, however, was but momentary, and his eyeglanced rapidly from the daughter to the earnest dignity of thefathers countenance; thence to the busy strut of Richard, who wascooling his impatience at the hunters indifference to his assistance,by pacing the hall and cracking his whip; from him to the Frenchman,who had stood for several minutes unheeded with a chair for the lady;thence to Major Hartmann, who was very coolly lighting a pipe threefeet long by a candle in one of the chandeliers; thence to Mr. Grant,who was turning over a manuscript with much earnestness at one of thelustres; thence to Remarkable, who stood, with her arms demurelyfolded before her, surveying, with a look of admiration and envy, thedress and beauty of the young lady; and from her to Benjamin, who,with his feet standing wide apart, and his arms akimbo, was balancinghis square little body with the indifference of one who is accustomedto wounds and bloodshed. All of these seemed to be unhurt, and theoperator began to breathe more freely; but, before he had time to takea second look, the Judge, advancing, shook him kindly by the hand, andspoke.

　　"Thou art welcome, my good sir, quite welcome, indeed; here is a youthwhom I have unfortunately wounded in shooting a deer this evening, andwho requires some of thy assistance."

　　"Shooting at a deer, Duke," interrupted Richard-- "shooting at a deer.Who do you think can prescribe, unless he knows the truth of the case?It is always so with some people; they think a doctor can be deceivedwith the same impunity as another man."

　　"Shooting at a deer, truly," returned the Judge, smiling, "although itis by no means certain that I did not aid in destroying the buck; butthe youth is injured by my hand, be that as it may; and it is thyskill that must cure him, and my pocket shall amply reward thee forit."

　　"Two ver good tings to depend on," observed Monsieur Le Quoi, bowingpolitely, with a sweep of his head to the Judge and to thepractitioner.

　　"I thank you, monsieur," returned the Judge; "but we keep the youngman in pain. Remarkable, thou wilt please to provide linen for lintand bandages."

　　This remark caused a cessation of the compliments, and induced thephysician to turn an inquiring eye in the direction of his patient.During the dialogue the young hunter had thrown aside his overcoat,and now stood clad in a plain suit of the common, light-coloredhomespun of the country, that was evidently but recently made. Hishand was on the lapels of his coat, in the attitude of removing thegarment, when he suddenly suspended the movement, and looked towardthe commiserating Elizabeth, who was standing in an unchanged posture,too much absorbed with her anxious feelings to heed his actions. Aslight color appeared on the brow of the youth.

　　"Possibly the sight of blood may alarm the lady; I will retire toanother room while the wound is dressing."

　　"By no means." said Dr. Todd, who, having discovered that his patientwas far from being a man of importance, felt much emboldened toperform the duty. "The strong light of these candles is favorable tothe operation, and it is seldom that we hard students enjoy goodeyesight."

　　While speaking, Elnathan placed a pair of large iron-rimmed spectacleson his face, where they dropped, as it were by long practice, to theextremity of his slim pug nose; and, if they were of no service asassistants to his eyes, neither were they any impediment to hisvision; for his little gray organs were twinkling above them like twostars emerging from the envious cover of a cloud. The action wasunheeded by all but Remarkable, who observed to Benjamin:

　　"Dr. Todd is a comely man to look on, and desput pretty. How well heseems in spectacles! I declare, they give a grand look to a bodysface. I have quite a great mind to try them myself."

　　The speech of the stranger recalled the recollection of Miss Temple,who started as if from deep abstraction, and, coloring excessively,she motioned to a young woman who served in the capacity of maid, andretired with an air of womanly reserve.

　　The field was now left to the physician and his patient, while thedifferent personages who remained gathered around the latter, withfaces expressing the various degrees of interest that each one felt inhis condition. Major Hartmann alone retained his seat, where hecontinued to throw out vast quantities of smoke, now rolling his eyesup to the ceiling, as if musing on the uncertainty of life, and nowbending them on the wounded man, with an expression that bespoke someconsciousness of his situation.

　　In the mean time Elnathan, to whom the sight of a gun shot wound was aperfect novelty, commenced his preparations with a solemnity and carethat were worthy of the occasion. An old shirt was procured byBenjamin, and placed in the hand of the other, who tore diversbandages from it, with an exactitude that marked both his own skilland the importance of the operation.

　　When this preparatory measure was taken, Dr. Todd selected a piece ofthe shirt with great care, and handing to Mr. Jones, without moving amuscle, said: "Here, Squire Jones, you are well acquainted with thesethings; will you please to scrape the lint? It should be fine andsoft, you know, my dear sir; and be cautious that no cotton gets in,or it may pizen the wound. The shirt has been made with cottonthread, but you can easily pick it out."

　　Richard assumed the office, with a nod at his cousin, that said quiteplainly, "You see this fellow cant get along without me;" and beganto scrape the linen on his knee with great diligence.

　　A table was now spread with phials, boxes of salve, and diverssurgical instruments. As the latter appeared in succession, from acase of red morocco, their owner held up each implement to the stronglight of the chandelier, near to which he stood, and examined it withthe nicest care. A red silk handkerchief was frequently applied tothe glittering steel, as if to remove from the polished surfaces theleast impediment which might exist to the most delicate operation.After the rather scantily furnished pocket-case which contained theseinstruments was exhausted, the physician turned to his saddle-bags,and produced various phials, filled with liquids of the most radiantcolors. These were arranged in due order by the side of the murderoussaws, knives, and scissors, when Elnathan stretched his long body toits utmost elevation, placing his hand on the small of his back as iffor sup port, and looked about him to discover what effect thisdisplay of professional skill was likely to produce on the spectators.

　　"Upon my wort, toctor," observed Major Hartmann, with a roguish rollof his little black eyes, but with every other feature of his face ina state of perfect rest, "put you have a very pretty pocket-book oftools tere, and your toctor-stuff glitters as if it was petter for tereyes as for ter pelly."

　　Elnathan gave a hem--one that might have been equally taken for thatkind of noise which cowards are said to make in order to awaken theirdormant courage, or for a natural effort to clear the throat; if forthe latter it was successful; for, turning his face to the veteranGerman, he said:

　　"Very true, Major Hartmann, very true, sir; a prudent man will alwaysstrive to make his remedies agreeable to the eyes, though they may notaltogether suit the stomach. It is no small part of our art, sir,"and he now spoke with the confidence of a man who understood hissubject, "to reconcile the patient to what is for his own good, thoughat the same time it may be unpalatable."

　　"Sartain! Dr. Todd is right," said Remarkable, "and has Scripter forwhat he says. The Bible tells us how things may be sweet to themouth, and bitter to the inwards."

　　"True, true," interrupted the Judge, a little impatiently; "but hereis a youth who needs no deception to lure him to his own benefit. Isee, by his eye, that he fears nothing more than delay."

　　The stranger had, without assistance, bared his own shoulder, when theslight perforation produced by the pas sage of the buckshot wasplainly visible. The intense cold of the evening had stopped thebleeding, and Dr. Todd, casting a furtive glance at the wound, thoughtit by no means so formidable an affair as he had anticipated. Thusencouraged, he approached his patient, and made some indication of anintention to trace the route that had been taken by the lead.

　　Remarkable often found occasions, in after days, to recount theminutiae of that celebrated operation; and when she arrived at thispoint she commonly proceeded as follows:" And then the doctor tuck outof the pocket book a long thing, like a knitting-needle, with a buttonfastened to the end on't; and then he pushed it into the wound andthen the young man looked awful; and then I thought I should haveswaned away--I felt in sitch a disput taking; and then the doctor hadrun it right through his shoulder, and shoved the bullet out on totherside; and so Dr. Todd cured the young man--Of a ball that the Judge hadshot into him--for all the world as easy as I could pick out a splinterwith my darning-needle."

　　Such were the impressions of Remarkable on the subject; and suchdoubtless were the opinions of most of those who felt it necessary toentertain a species of religious veneration for the skill of Elnathan;but such was far from the truth.

　　When the physician attempted to introduce the instrument described byRemarkable, he was repulsed by the stranger, with a good deal ofdecision, and some little contempt, in his manner.

　　"I believe, sir," he said, "that a probe is not necessary; the shothas missed the bone, and has passed directly through the arm to theopposite side, where it remains but skin deep, and whence, I shouldthink, it might he easily extracted."

　　"The gentleman knows best," said Dr. Todd, laying down the probe withthe air of a man who had assumed it merely in compliance with forms;and, turning to Richard, he fingered the lint with the appearance ofgreat care and foresight. "Admirably well scraped, Squire Jones: itis about the best lint I have ever seen. I want your assistance, mygood sir, to hold the patients arm while I make an incision for theball. Now, I rather guess there is not another gentleman present whocould scrape the lint so well as Squire Jones!"

　　"Such things run in families," observed Richard, rising with alacrityto render the desired assistance. "My father, and my grandfatherbefore him, were both celebrated for their knowledge of surgery; theywere not, like Marmaduke here, puffed up with an accidental thing,such as the time when he drew in the hip-joint of the man who wasthrown from his horse; that was the fall before you came into thesettlement, doctor; but they were men who were taught the thingregularly, spending half their lives in learning those littleniceties; though, for the matter of that, my grandfather was acollege-bred physician, and the best in the colony, too--that is, inhis neighborhood."

　　"So it goes with the world, squire," cried Benjamin; "if so be that aman wants to walk the quarter-deck with credit, dye see, and withregular built swabs on his shoulders, he mustnt think to do it bygetting in at the cabin windows. There are two ways to get into atop, besides the lubber-holes. The true way to walk aft is to beginforrard; thof it he only in a humble way, like myself, dye see,which was from being only a hander of topgallant sails, and a stowerof the flying-jib, to keeping the key of the captains locker."

　　Benjamin speaks quite to the purpose, continued Richard, "I dare saythat he has often seen shot extracted in the different ships in whichhe has served; suppose we get him to hold the basin; he must be usedto the sight of blood."

　　"That he is, squire, that he is," interrupted the cidevant steward;"manys the good shot, round, double-headed, and grape, that Ive seenthe doctors at work on. For the matter of that, I was in a boat,alongside the ship, when they cut out the twelve-pound shot from thethigh of the captain of the Foodyrong, one of Mounsheer Ler Quawscountrymen!" *

　　* It is possible that the reader may start at this declaration ofBenjamin, but those who have lived in the new settlements of Americaare too much accustomed to hear of these European exploits to doubtit.

　　"A twelve-pound ball from the thigh of a human being:" exclaimed Mr.Grant, with great simplicity, dropping the sermon he was againreading, and raising his spectacles to the top of his forehead.

　　"A twelve-pounder!" echoed Benjamin, staring around him with muchconfidence; "a twelve-pounder! ay! a twenty-four-pound shot can easilybe taken from a mans body, if so be a doctor only knows how, TheresSquire Jones, now, ask him, sir; he reads all the books; ask him if henever fell in with a page that keeps the reckoning of such things."

　　"Certainly, more important operations than that have been performed,"observed Richard; "the encyclopaedia mentions much more incrediblecircumstances than that, as, I dare say, you know, Dr. Todd."

　　"Certainly, there are incredible tales told in the encyclopaedias,"returned Elnathan, "though I cannot say that I have ever seen, myself,anything larger than a musket ball extracted."

　　During this discourse an incision had been made through the skin ofthe young hunters shoulder, and the lead was laid bare. Elnathantook a pair of glittering forceps, and was in the act of applying themto the wound, when a sudden motion of the patient caused the shot tofall out of itself, The long arm and broad hand of the operator werenow of singular service; for the latter expanded itself, and caughtthe lead, while at the same time an extremely ambiguous motion wasmade by its brother, so as to leave it doubtful to the spectators howgreat was its agency in releasing the shot, Richard, however, put thematter at rest by exclaiming:

　　"Very neatly done, doctor! I have never seen a shot more neatlyextracted; and I dare say Benjamin will say the same."

　　"Why, considering," returned Benjamin, "I must say that it was ship-shape and Brister-fashion. Now all that the doctor has to do, is toclap a couple of plugs in the holes, and the lad will float in anygale that blows in these here hills,"

　　"I thank you, sir, for what you have done," said the youth, with alittle distance; "but here is a man who will take me under his care,and spare you all, gentlemen, any further trouble on my account"

　　The whole group turned their heads in surprise, and beheld, standingat one of the distant doors of the hall, the person of Indian John.