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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1886)
118 THE WEST SHORE. AT " THE POINT." DR. GEORGE HALL wu at "Tho Point" Hlowly gntting well after a severe experience with yel low fever Don't Lucy that I aiu going to inflict a romance built on the horrora of that scourge; the thing line been written out, done in every jxissiblo way. Hut Dr. Hall, aged twenty-seven, having no par ticular interest in living, and having alwayit felt a curious faacination in the disease, went South among the very firat who volunteered. He aatiHflnd his curiosity nml en thtutiaain fully. He took common-sense care of himself. He did not consider auiuide heroic. He ate and drank and slept juat aa wholesomely an ho could, but he never spared hia atreugth. He worked patiently, faithfully, intense ly. Tho fever pnsaod him by day afUir day, week after week, though he cared aa little alxmt living aa a anno man could. Purhnpe for juat that reiuton, not f oaring death, death took revenge by leaving him. At laat-I aay at hurt, though it wtis only August, the time had dragged ao liko an eternity -juat aa the little town bad liegun to believe that tho curao had burned iUelf out, partly for want of fuel, tho young Yankee doctor's profeaaionnl sense told him that hia turn had come. He made hia final arrangement, lay down and gave himaelf up, and throe weeka later went North -on a mattrona. I think lie had a little dixapiioiiited aenae of woari neaa in having to tako up hia lifo again, lint he did that, aa he did everything elae, without tho leaat unnec eaaary fuaa over the inevitable. And ao he waa at The Toint, very gaunt, very yellow, aa ugly a specimen of humanity aa a atrnight, well-mado young man can bo. Every aea-)ort haa it " Point" Cheater Point had boon tiaptiutd aomething fantastic and inappropriate, and waa juat aa aandy and rocky after aa More. It had alwayt remained "Tho Point" in the moutha of the old town dwellers, and came to that ahortly with moat of the new-comers. A great barn-like hotel had been built, but it had never boon a financial auceoaa. It had a curi oua look of unfinished diarepair, and ita empty corridora and galleries were alxmt aa forlorn aa a habitable house could be. Hlill a few people came back year after year -people who loved the aea or aolitude, or had need of quiet and in tint aeoure what they want4d incxiisivoly. They kept up a feeble lif nln.ut the place, but it waa Dot a cheerful, not to aay gay, roaort It would have been bard for Dr. Hall to tell what had brought him here. Homo oue told him to come, rhaw; ami, iu bia utter proration of mind and laxly, for the firat time in hi. bf,s -rhajas he did what he waa told unqueationingly. He bad an attendaut at firat and took hia moala by himaelf; but aa he became more humanized in appear net ha diainiaaod the man, and went down to the gen and table. The firat time he entered the long hall, there was a noticeable huah among the guests congregated there. He thought it was hia ghastly look, and was aa impa tient about it aa if it had been a personal injury. He did not know he waa a hero, and that the hush waa a tribute to him in that character. The man who had cared for him had been one of hia own patients, who had come North with him. With un bounded faith in, and gratitude to, the savior of hia life, the ignorant, good-hearted fellow waa never tired of sounding the praises and relnting the exploits of the in visible invalid. Hull would have been a good deal amazed at some of the things credited to him. Perhaps he had over-estimated his strength; perhaps the little flush of temper had been too much for him. There was a little rush toward him of the nearest wait era, and he sat blindly down in the first chair. A glass was pushed within the hand that rested on the table. "Driukl" a cool, imperative voice said, and he olieyed. The wine revived him at once. He turned to thank hia neighbor. It was a woman, thin, pale and weary eyed. She simply bowed in acknowledgement and went on with her meal. She was eating very little. He got through a very robust programme in very business-like style, and then he turned to her again. " I shall pair your ordor. Eat ! " A quick, surprised smile, an amused one, too, ran over her face and transfigured it for the instant " And be merry, for to-morrow "and then she stop ml and looked frightened " Not a bit of if he said heartily. " Clearly you are not professional or you would see that I am on the up grado instead of the down," They left the table then and went up the stairs to gether. He had to call on a waiter, and she stood at the top and looked distressed, but undomonstratively, till he was beside her. Thoy wont out on the veranda together. " As I have no one to do the honors, I must present myself. I am Dr. Goorge Hall, of Clairview, Connecti cut" "And I am Irene Roberts, of New York;apublio school teacher when I am well enough." He turned and gave her one full, level look. She waa thin, almost to attenuation; her face waa colorless, and the heavy hair growing low on the broad forehead made the pallor of hor akin the more noticeable. Her eyes were hollow and sad, but after all she did not look liko a aiok woman. "Overworked and overfretted, but with theendur ance of throe men yet," ho said to himself. . And thou he mado some trifling remark about the sand or water, or aomething else, just to hear hor Toice again. She talked without animation, a monotonous contralto-one of thoM voices that keep one expectant