The way to win

Chapter I

Jack Hamilton was a New Yorker and his bachelor rooms were luxuriously furnished. He was alone and at his desk, absorbed in calculations and balance sheets. He went on with this work for a long time, when he threw down his pencil and, rising, said:

“Jack Hamilton, you are a failure and a fraud. Your father left you a handsome patrimony, of which fifty thousand dollars remains. When I unload these rooms, with their furnishings, pictures, bric-a-brac, et cetera, there will be, perhaps, ten thousand dollars more — and there’s the sum total of your earthly possessions. Yet you are supposed to be worth several hundred thousand dollars. You can’t go on, and what are you going to do about it?”

The soliloquy was interrupted with a rap on the door. Jack called, “Come in,” and Sidney Livingstone entered. He was a jovial, good fellow. He came into the room and, looking around, said:

“Why, Jack, I thought I heard you talking to someone — not talking to yourself, eh?”

“Well, Sid, a man can’t be always shunting the shuttle of life into a frolic, and I think he ought to be excused if, now and then, he prefers a rational conversation with a sensible man. The fact is, I was just composing my obituary and talking it over with myself, that I might form some idea how it would read when put into print.”

“It is thoughtful of you to point out your virtues before leaving us, for I suspect they are much after the fashion of the modern sermon, where nobody can possibly surmise the text without being told. So repeat, that I may know to what perfections you aspire before you go hence.”

“You insinuate unbelief, and that will prevent me from accepting you as father confessor. But, badinage aside, I want a business chat with you. I have heard you say you would like to domicile here and own the contents of these rooms. Everything is for sale, except what belongs to my profession. What say you and how much?”

“What’s up now. Jack?”

“The trouble with me, Sid, is that everything is down. In a word, I have reached the end of my money tether and I must go to work.”

There was a look of surprise on Sid’s face as he bantered: “Oh, crawl off! I don’t believe a word you are saying.”

“All the same, it is true. In the first place, I never had the money for which I have had credit. In the second place, I am now thirty-three years old, and for twelve years, as you know, I have been throwing my capital right and left, until now I am very near the bottom of the box.”

‘‘I can’t realize it! Your embarrassment can only be temporary. Tell me how much you want and hand me your check book.”

‘‘Come, Sid, none of that! The man who will accept a loan without knowing how he can repay it is no better than a thief. No honest man will permit it. However, my things here are for sale, my library and professional belongings excepted. I have an affection for these things and would much prefer to leave them in the possession of a friend. Do you want them, and how much?”

Sid took the check book, wrote out and handed a check to Jack. He took it, read it, and, tearing it in pieces, he said :

‘‘Sid, you have overdone the thing. Twenty thousand dollars is just twice too much. All I want is a quid pro quo, and ten thousand dollars is about right.”

‘‘Oh, well, well, keep the check — keep it. These things must have cost you about that figure.”

“They have cost me that sum, but they are not worth it. Sid, we were boys together and you were my college mate and chum, and I would as soon be your beneficiary as that of any living man. But, let me tell you, no man with brawn and brain can become the beneficiary of another and maintain his self-respect. It undermines character and weakens manhood.”

“There, there, don’t moralize ! You always did have a streak of philosophy in you that would lO crop out at the most unreasonable moments, and you always would have your own way. Here’s your check. Now, tell me what you are going to do?”

“We will canvass the question. What do you say to pugilism ? I stand six feet and one inch in my socks and weigh two hundred pounds, without an ounce of surplus flesh. I know that I am skilful with the gloves; that my foot work is more than good, and I can strike a blow that an athlete might envy.”

“Pshaw ! Let up with your chaff — I’m not swallowing it. I know that you are all that you say, and I will never forget your bout at Oxford, when we were wandering through England and impressing the people with our careless care for money. It was a beautiful night, with the moon at the full. As we strolled along the streets we came upon a mob — gownsmen and town in a riot. We fell in with the gownsmen, and at it we went. The acknowledged second best man in the kingdom was there in training for a fight. It was your fortune to find him in the melee, and I will never forget in how short a time you put him to sleep. You were the hero of the night, and for once I envied you.”

“Well, if you don’t like that line, what do you say to a position in a church choir? You know I have a voice.”

“Yes, your barytone is without a flaw — but it won’t do. You could never sprout wings, and you would soon be in a flirtation with the soprano.”

THE WAY TO WIN ii

“It seems I can’t please you. What would you suggest?’’

“Why not try your profession? The knights of the knife say you are among the finest of surgeons.”

“Did you ever hear the joke on Walter Hudson? No? Well, I will tell it to you. Hudson was one day talking to a friend and made a rough remark about Jim Bingham, which Jim, in passing, overheard. On the first opportunity he called Hudson to account. Hudson wanted to know what he had said, and when and where. Jim told him. Hudson denied saying it. ‘But you did,’ said Jim. ‘You are mistaken,’ said Hudson. ‘But you did, for I heard you.’ Hudson looked him over coolly and said, ‘Jim, surely you are not one of those fools who believe everything they hear. I always gave you credit for better sense.’ ”

“Just like Hudson,” said Sid, laughing. “He is a cool chap. The temperature of devildom will be lowered when Hudson gets there. But how did the matter end?”

“I don’t know. I left just about that time. But who can resist Hudson? And I never heard that any blood was shed?”

“But what of my suggestion — the practice of surgery?”

“If I can succeed in anything, I ought to succeed with the knife; for, after taking my degree here, I spent one year in London and three years in Paris studying surgery, as you know, for you were with me a good part of the time. I must admit that I did not devote my whole time to it. In fact, I picked up a knowledge of a good many things not essential to the structure of the human body — such as roulette, skill at cards, and other like accomplishments. Still, I think I know something of the anatomy of man and how to handle the scalpel. I will meditate on your suggestion.”

“Which means. Jack, that you have already considered it and made choice. You will practice here ; your many friends will stand by you, and you will do a rushing practice.”

Jack, with a smile on his face, looked intently at him for a minute, and said:

“Sid, do you really mean it? I thought you a better judge of human nature.”

“I don’t claim to be an adept, but what do you mean?”

“I mean, if I undertake the practice of surgery, I propose to do the cutting, and I do not propose to be cut.”

“Your friends will not desert you. Jack.”

“You are right, my friends will not desert me, but the great majority of my associates will — between the two there is a vast difference.”

“I don’t believe you. Jack.”

“Your want of belief speaks well for you heart at the expense of your head. You have eyes, but you see not. It would make no change in you and a few more that I might name. You have something that you value more than you do your money. You have an ancestry of which you are justly proud, and you can trace your lineage back until it is lost in the mists lying along the horizon. I believe in blood. It is just as necessary to true manhood as it is to the swift racer.”

“iVdmit all that you say, what has it to do with the question?”

“A great deal. Somebody has said that society is made up of the bores and the bored. True enough, and nine-tenths of it belong to the Jonah’sgourd-vine order. It was not there yesterday, but it is there today; like the fly in the amber, we wonder how the devil it got there. This Jonah’sgourd-vine society has its growth in lucre, and it comes and goes with black Fridays. This growth of a night is without real culture; without that gentle refinement which comes with the blood of many years. It is without ancestral pride, and it hopes with the thin veneering of a stylish toilet, a villa at Newport, a yacht and a trip abroad, to rid itself of the smell of the stable, the odor of the butcher’s shop, or the scent of the exchange. Its only pedestal is money, and if you haven’t got money, you are a nobody. As a rule, it is the women of this set that go to build up the waste places of the European nobility and gentry, and they are weak enough to think that they ennoble themselves by selling themselves.”

“Hold on. Jack, old fellow, hold on. You know there are some charming people in that set.”

“I was speaking of the set as a whole.”

“Jack, what has all this to do with your practice of surgery?”

“It has this to do with it. As soon as these plutocrats find out that my money is gone, they will barely tolerate me. Now, I don’t propose to be tolerated. I don’t belong to the ‘you come, too,’ class. I must receive the invitation as an equal or I’ll none of it.”

“Well, what do you intend to do?”

“I intend to clear out from here in search of other fields. I intend to reform and begin life anew.’

“Well, reform here and begin the new life.”

“It simply can’t be done. I thought your academical education would enable you to understand the meaning of the word re-forme. Re-forma — putting off the old and putting on the new. There must be a radical change. It is only the fool that thinks he can float on in the same old life-boat and yet change the current of his life. It is impossible to reform and continue in the old grooves, hold to the same associates and live amid the same scenes, and you know it, Sid. To begin the new life, you must cut loose from the old root and branch.”

Chapter II

Some three months after Jack had the conversation with Livingstone he was en route for the city of Denver. He was sitting in the rear coach, worn and weary with the journey, and almost asleep, when the train slowed up and stopped at a town about a hundred miles away from the city. Having spent an hour or more in an effort to get something for which the seat was never intended, — comfort in a reclining position, — Jack sat up, and in a minute after saw a lady enter the coach. She was dressed in a traveling suit of rich material, but plainly made. An air of refinement hung around her, and her easy and unassuming carriage was such as springs only from culture and good breeding. She was rather above the medium height, and gracefully fashioned. All this Jack noticed as she advanced along the aisle of the coach and took the seat immediately in front of him. She settled herself, threw back her veil, opened her satchel and took out a book. On the throwing back of the veil Jack became interested. He had never seen more delicately chiseled features or a face of more patrician mould.

The train was a few minutes behind time, and soon after leaving the station the engineer pulled the throttle open and made for the time table. On the seat in front of the lady sat a portly man. A countryman evidently, because he kept the window hoisted and did not pull down the blind. There was a suspicion of chill in the air, the weather was dry, and great clouds of dust gathered with the rushing train. The lady was disturbed, and nestled as close to the side of the car as she could for protection. The man, of course, had his face to the window, apparently looking upon the shifting scenery with an ox-eyed intelligence. Jack went to the fellow and, touching him, said :

“Please let your window down.”

“I’d ruther not,” was the reply.

“Shall 1 help you? They stick sometimes and are hard to lower.”

“I don’t want it down.”

When Jack made up his mind that a thing had to be done there was always a masterfulness about him hard to resist, and now there was a glint in his steel-gray eyes that was boring its way into those of the man as he said:

“Yes, you will, my good fellow. Don’t you see the dust coming into the coach and making the ladies very uncomfortable?”

As he was talking he took hold of the window and lowered it, saying:

“There, I knew you would as soon as you were informed the dust was annoying the ladies. Thank you.”

The lady had watched and had heard all that had been said and done, and there was just the glimpse of a smile about her perfect mouth as she inclined her head to Jack slightly in acknowledgment of his kindness.

For some time the train thundered on with tremendous speed, when there came the wild scream of the whistle, followed by jerking and jolting, and coach after coach went down an embankment. Jack gripped his seat underneath and held with giant strength. The seat tore away, but Jack’s fall was broken, while the momentum shot the other passengers from one end of the coach to the other.

It was a fearful wreck, and soon were heard the cries and groans of the wounded and dying. Jack was badly shaken up, but managed to escape from the wreck without any personal injury. He found the train hands gathering, and, taking charge, directed them to go to the nearest office and telegraph to headquarters at Denver. In the course of an hour the slightly injured passengers were all relieved and the seriously injured were placed in a near-by farm-house and in surrounding houses.

When the lady of whom we have spoken was passed out from the wreck she was found to be unconscious. When Jack saw her he hesitated for a moment, then, taking her in his arms, he carried her to the farm-house and requested the woman that met him to make her as comfortable as possible until his return. He went to the through baggage-car, succeeded in finding the trunk he wanted, had it carried to the house and opened it.

It was filled with medical and surgical cases. Finding his patient still unconscious, he went^ to work with restoratives, the woman assisting him. After a time there was a quiver of the eyelids, then they opened to find Jack gazing anxiously into them. They closed and Jack left the room, after giving some instructions to his assistant.

After Jack had left the room the unknown lady lay still for some time, and then asked :

“How did I come to this place?”

“Why, honey, you didn’t come. You was brought here.”

“I know. But how was I brought?”

“The gentleman what went away a little while ago brought you, and told me to take care of you and make you comfortable as I could. Then me and Mandy — that’s my gal — undressed you and put Mandy’s best night-gown on you.”

“But, my good woman, how did he bring me?”

“Honey, he just picked you up in his arms, like you was a little baby, and brought you here. He seems powerful strong, and when he laid you down on the bed you looked so pale and white I thought you was killed. He said no, you would come to, but you was bad hurt, and he looked mighty bothered and pestered.”

“Who is he? Do you know that man?”

“La, child, how’d I know him? I’se never laid eyes on him ’fore to-day. I thought he must be a friend o’ yourn. When he laid you down on the bed he went away and had his trunk brought here and got out some medicines and begun to work on you. His trunk is in the passage now.”

“Please look at the trunk and tell me if it has a name on it.”

“I’s done seen the trunk. It’s mighty big and fine, and it’s marked Dr. Jack Hamilton, New York City.”

She lay still for a few minutes with closed eyes, and then said:

“Ah! Dr. Jack Hamilton! Where did he go?”

“I guess he went to help ’bout the other folks that’s hurt. I sees him coming to’ard the house now.”

In a few minutes Jack entered the door, saying: “Well, Mrs. Jones, I hear that is your name, how is our patient getting on?”

“I think she’s doing right smart. She’s just been talking — ”

Here the patient interposed, fearing that Mrs. Jones might tell more than she was willing for Hamilton to hear.

“Yes, I am doing as well as I could expect, bu' I am in a good deal of pain.”

Turning to her, he said: “Will you be so kind as to locate the pain?”

“It is in my left arm.”

“Do you feel no pain elsewhere?”

“None; I feel sore and bruised generally, but I have no pain except in that arm.”

“Thank you. The small bone of your left arm below the elbow is broken. I detected that when — ^when I was trying to revive you from the shock which you had received.”

After what Mrs. Jones had told her, she knew very well when Jack had detected the broken arm, and her face flushed as she thought of it. But she only said:

“I wish someone would telegraph my father.”

“Certainly,” said Jack. “Where does your father live?”

“In Denver.”

“We have already telegraphed to headquarters in Denver. But give me your father’s address and I will see that a telegram reaches him. What street and number?’

“Thank you. The telegram sent will be quite sufficient.”

She lay still for some time, and then said: “My arm seems to pain me more and more. Can you give me any relief?”

‘Yes, I can give you present relief, but that will not amount to any real good. Your arm needs attention, and the sooner the better.”

“I know it does, and I suppose the train will soon be here from Denver with surgeons and physicians.”

Jack looked at her intently, saying: “We are here under peculiar circumstances. Suppose we act like sensible people and exchange names. Of course the acquaintance need not continue beyond today. I am Dr. Jack Hamilton.”

“You may call me Kate,” she replied after a moment’s hesitation.

“Miss Kate, it is my duty to tell you that your arm ought to have immediate attention. You ought not to wait for the Denver train. The longer you wait, the sorer and more swollen will the muscles become and the greater the pain in setting the bone. I have no doubt the Denver train will bring skilled surgeons, but it will be four hours before that train can reach here, and you ought to have immediate relief. If you will trust me, I know I am fully competent to take charge of your case, with Mrs. Jones to assist me.”

“You are a doctor, then?”

‘I believe I said as much when I gave you my name, and my offer indicates that I so consider myself. Perhaps I ought to say that I aspire to be a specialist — a surgeon.”

“The pain is very great, and I will trust you.”

He gave instruction to Mrs. Jones how to prepare the patient, and went out to his trunk. After searching for a time, he secured everything that he wanted. Returning, he found her ready, and the most perfect arm he had ever seen, bared to the shoulder.

“Miss Kate, you may suffer for a little while. Would you like to try chloroform?”

“No, I can stand it.”

Without further remark he went to work. She was surprised at the softness and gentleness of his touch, and felt instinctively that she was in skilful hands. Stopping only now and then to give directions to Mrs. Jones, he worked rapidly, but tenderly, until the last bandage was in place. Drawing back, he asked;

“Did you suffer much?’’

“Yes, it was very painful.”

“You did not even move the whole time.”

“No, I was trying to help you all I could.”

A look of satisfaction was on Jack’s face as he said:

“Well, I want you to rest while I go around and see how the others are getting on.”

He had gone some time, when he came into the room with the question, “How are you feeling now?”

“I have no special pain now, and but for the general shaking up I feel as well as I ever did.”

“Well, with Mrs. Jones’ help you can get up and dress and be ready for the train when It comes. In the meantime, I will prepare a sling for your arm. When you are ready, Mrs. Jones can call me and I will come In and adjust it. The break requires that the forearm should rest at a right angle to the elbow.”

Mrs. Jones called, and he came In with a white silk handkerchief In his hand. His patient was dressed, with the sleeve of the left arm slit from the wrist-band to the elbow. The handkerchief was converted into a sling and adjusted with the help of Mrs. Jones.

“If I can be of any further service, you can command me,” said Jack.

There was nothing more to do, so Jack dragged a chair into the front yard and took a seat in the shade of a tree. He lit a cigar and prepared to meditate and wait for the incoming train.

Blessed be the man that invented the cigar ! He was a benefactor — a philanthropist without knowing it! It is an inspiration to the student, rest to the weary, and a solace to the sorrowing! Who would miss the dreamy visions that we see and the beautiful castles that we build in the curl and the ring of its smoke !

Jack was communing with himself and blowing rings, in each of which he saw the framed face of his late patient. “Her form is perfect, and all of nature’s padding,” he said with a smile. “There is no fraud about it. Her hair is nut-brown, wavy and silky. Evidently there is no proletarian blood there — she is all patrician. I wonder who she is and where she liv'es? But what is she to me? A dream, merely a dream — only that, and nothing more.”

But all the same, he continued to dream until he was roused from his reverie by the scream of the incoming train. Several men got off when it stopped, two of whom, after talking with some of the hands, started directly to the farm-house. One of them was rather below the medium height, somewhat dumpy in his make-up, and moved with a short, quick, jerky step. The other was tall, of a well-proportioned and commanding figure, and advanced with a strong and resolute stride. Jack observed that silver threads were on the head of each, as they passed without looking at him. Mrs. Jones met them at the door and ushered them into the room. The lady stood up as the tall gentleman entered, and was clasped to his heart as he exclaimed in a broken voice :

“My child, my child, my precious child! God only knows how agonized 1 was when I heard of the wreck, knowing that you were on the train.”

While he was speaking she had twined her sound arm around his neck and, pulling him down, she had kissed him again and again, sobbing and saying:

“I knew you would come! I knew you would come! Oh, father, it was dreadful, so dreadful!”

Here the dumpy man broke In: “Come, Dick, turn that bundle of trouble loose and let me get at it. It seems to have got damaged In the mix-up. For a half-hour before starting its Dad’s face looked like a country grave-yard, and I had some hope of holding a post mortem, but just as we were leaving an unfortunate telegram came, directed to all the world, and I have been disconsolate ever since. Come here, let me into that sling — I must see why you are slinging that arm.”

With a face wreathed with happy smiles she went to him, saying:

“My dear old Uncle Gus, you can never know how glad I am to see you, but gladder still that you are forced to postpone your post mortem”

“Dr. Gustavus Blake, if you don’t attend to your duties and stop w'orrying that child, I will have a writ de lunatico inqiiirendo issued and put you where your fatuity will receive all necessary attention, and your too-confiding patients be In safety. Get to work, sir.”

‘‘Judge Richard Somers, you are a fraud 1 I have known you ever since we spent six years at Harvard together, and you have never had me fooled for a minute. You are nothing but an old relic of Coke, and when you were about burnt out at your profession you managed to hoodwink the Idiots, commonly called voters. Into putting you on the Supreme Bench.” While he was talking he had taken the arm from the sling and, on seeing that It was bandaged, exclaimed:

“Good God, child, have you fallen Into the hands of some country practitioner, who hardly knows how to shape a pill? This Is a matter too serious and Important for experiment,” and his face wore an anxious expression.

“My dear old friend, I think you are mistaken. Any port In a storm, you know. I was suffering horribly — much more than I made known. The man had dragged me out of the wreck, and when I was brought to this house he came with me. He examined my arm and told me It was broken below the elbow. He said the sooner It had attention the better, and assured me that his skill was sufficient to meet the requirements of my injury, and I think you will find everything properly and skilfully done.”

“Much you know about it,” muttered the doctor, loud enough to be heard. “I’ll be bound if he was young and had a handsome face it had all your attention.”

After examining everything for some time with great care and anxiety, he said: “By the shade of Aesculapius, the fellow knew what he was doing. He is no country pill-maker. Every appliance is perfect and of the up-to-date kind, and all beautifully placed. Where could he have gotten these things — not about here, that’s certain, for they are of modern make and used only by the few who keep pace with the profession. You bundle of luckl You seem to have fallen Into safe hands, and we will not disturb your tramp doctor’s work until we get you home. But tell us about the accident.”

In the meantime Jack had sauntered into the house, overheard a part of the conversation, and concluded that he had better vacate. He went out and gave orders for his trunk to be removed and put on the train for Denver.

When Kate had finished telling all she knew, her father said:

“Where is this man? I want to thank him for his kindness to you.”

“The last I saw of him he was in the front yard, sitting In the shade of a tree, smoking a cigar and blowing rings.”

“But he is not there now, for I can see all over the yard. What did you say his name is?

“\yhat is it, Mrs. Jones? You saw the name on his trunk in the hallway.”

“I will go and see.” Returning, he said: “The trunk is not there. Tell me, Mrs. Jones, if you can recall it.”

“My mem’ry’s not as good as it used to be, and I’s just been trying to think. Seems to me ’twas Henton — Dr. Henton. He’s some ’ristocrat, I can tell you that, ’cause when he rolled his sleeves up to work on Miss Kate’s arm I seed he wore silk next his skin, and he has a way of looking at you when he wants somethin’ done that just makes you jump and do it quick.”