THE SURGEON'S DAUGHTERS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2000, 2 May 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE SURGEON'S DAUGHTERS.

By Mrs. HENRY WOOD.

TJieAutiiorof" East Lynne," in the "Argosy."

» LOVE. Do you happen to be acquainted with the Faithful City of Worcester ?— The loyal city which, in its trueheartedness, remained firm to ita unhappy king, Charles the Martyr, with his son, when all other of his towns had turned against him, and so earned the right to be called Faithful for ever ? If a stranger, you cannot do batter than pay a day's visit to it : you may go to many a town less worth seeing. Whilst your dinner ia preparing at the Star and Garter — at which dinner you must beg the host not to forget the Severn salmon, and tho far famed lampreys, fatal in his day to the First Henry — go on a tour of inspection through the city. Taking its cathedral first : and when you have looked at its renovated grandeur ; at its cold, handaomo monuments, erected to the memory of those who have long been colder than they are, and admired its beautious oast-window of many oolors, step into tho cloisters, where the irreverent Cromwell stabled bis horses, and there pause awhile over the gravestone bearing the solitary inscription " Miserrimus," and speculate upon its unhappy tenant's lifo and fate. Then, passing through the " Green," and the gate of Edgar Tower, turn to Chamberlain's China Factory — it has paßßed into other hands now, but the name " Chamberlain " still c)ing3 to it, and will cling, while present goneiations shall exist. Tho Worcestor china is epoken of all over the world, and it deserves its reputation : in point of art and refined beauty, it yields to none. You may have been all the way to Pekin, and bought up the curious teacups and saucers thero, so muoh lauded to untravelled people ; you may be at home in all the splendours of all the departments of the Sevres Porcelain© ; but you see now they cannot surpass, if they oan vie with, that produced at Woroester. Turning about a^ain, from the China-works, to stand in front of the Guildhall, you admire its facade, its statues, and its conspicuous motto, " Floreat Semper, Fidclis Civitas." Did you ever hear the anecdote connected with its bodycorporate of other days, when George the Third was king ' Ilia Majesty visited the Faithful City, staying in it a, few days : and this most loyal corporation exercised their brains devising waya and means of showing their fealty : aa, between ourselveß, corporations do still : which, it is eaid, were well aud duly appreciated. When the addressing, and tho feasting, and all the rest of it was over, and the king was preparing to leave the town, ono last and final attention was projected by the body corporate. A deputation of them waited on their august guest, obtained an

a>ilii?nc\ and solicited " the honor of c^c utiof( bis Majesty to the #a!lowV Tho Kta# Bfarfr],8 f arfr], laughed, and thought he would rather bo excused. They had omitted to explain that they merely wished to pay hii Mnpaty the uspact of attending him out of the town at far as the spot where tho gallows for the condemned criminal-} stood. It wa3 at the top of ll^d Hill. The King gave peini'ißsion to that. Tlif! inhabitants of Worcester are said to deserve the initials P. P. P. affixed to thoir names, denoting Poor, Proud, and Pretty. Whether, take them a* a whole, they are poor, I cannot say ; proud, they undoubtedly are, for that u the characteristic of all cathedral towns ; and you certainly cannot walk through 4ho city without being atruok with the remarkable pretty faces of the girls you meet. At a very long-past period, so long that we elderly people can but ju3t remember it, there lived in Worcester a surgeon and general practitioner, Mr. George Juniper. He was a little man, with a fair complexion and curly light hair ; Bkilful, kind-hearted, sensible, and much esteemed by his fellow citizens. Ho ha^ been in practioe many years, and his connection was extensive ; but ho was no longer young, and began to feel the need of a little rest and less responsibility. Mr. Juniper always kept a qualified assistant, who was generally a young man ; though latterly he had not been fortunate in respect to his assistants. One of them sent a poison in mistake for Epsom salts, which nearly coat the lady hor life ; another grew fonder, of the billiard-table than he was of the surgery ; and a third made love too conspicuously to the surgeon's daughters. So that of assistants Mr. Juniper grew weary, and thought he muqt try some other mode of help. Giorge Juniper rejoiced in Heveu daughters. " Seven daughters," ciiea the aghast old bachelor, reading this through his spectacles; " was he mad ?" Well, so netimes they did nearly enough to drive him so, had ho been K<m good-humored and indulgent. But he could not lay the claim of paternity to all the aeven. It happened in this way : There resided in Worcester, again many jeara back even from this, an old gentleman of the name Battlebrid^e. lie hid ma-ie a large fortune in business, and had retired to enjoy it, or a portion of it, in a great square handsome house with a large garden, keeping a cook, housemaid, and gardener, the two latter being man and wife. Up to one and-seventy year 3 of age Mr. Bittlebridge had not married; consequently, his dear relatives, evca to the twentieth cousin, although they were all well off, were excessively attentive and affectionate towards him, calling upon him and carrying him presents of jam and flannel nightcaps a great oftener than he wanted them. But one day it was disclosed to the old gentleman that a graceless nephew of his had avowed the previou^ night, in a mixed society, that not one of them " cared a rap for the old man ; all they wanted was that he should betake himself off, so that they might inherit his gold." Whilst Mr. Battlebridgo was digesting this n^reeable newa, there burst into his parlor his cook and housekeeper, Molly ; her cheeks crimson, and her voice angry. She had been having another breeze with the gardener and hia wife, such breezes being pretty common, and had come to give warning. Now Molly was a superior young woman and good girl, who looked after her master's ooraforts, and old Battlebndge would a3 soon have lost his right hand. " It's two to one," cried Molly, turning her comely face to her master. " What chance have I against them? They are always on nt me ; and Mark is the most ovarbearing man alive. If youdou't like to pay ma my wagcb, sir, aad lot me bo off this day, I'll leave without them." " I'll make it two to two for you, Molly, if you will and then you can have fair play," lesponded the old gentleman. " How will you do that, master ? " asked Molly, her passion a little abating, and her pretty mouth breaking into a Bmile." " Why, I'll marry you myself," returned old Battlebridge. " 1 am not m a humor to be joked with," retorted Molly, becoming wrathful again. I " Do you please to pay me, sir, or not? " "I am not joking," he replied. I'll get the license to-day, and marry you to morrow." And old Battlebridge did so : and from that time Molly sat in the parlor with him, and became as much of a lady as she could, and was Mrs. Bittlebridge. Worcester made a great commotion at the news ; the relatives made c greater. ll Married, indeed, when he onght to have died ! " they oried ; and they declared that had they known of it beforehand, they would have shut him up in the madhouse at Droitwich. Three little girls were born to old Battlebridge, and then he died, leaving his whole property to his wife and children. The relations threw it into Chancery, like the simpletons they were, for they had not a leg to i stand upon. One of them acknowledged that they had done it in a moment of exasperation : and exasperation, mind you, has been more productive to Chancery than any other passion. The money came out of it just halved in value, thanks to the oase being minus the said leg : had it possessed but the shadow of one, it would never have come out at all. But there was a great deal left yet ; quite enough to tempt many a smtir to pay court to the comely Widow Battlebridge. The suoces3ful ono was Surgeon Juniper ; and the Faithful City wondered. It wondered that he, being a gentleman in mind and manners, should take to himself a vulgar wife ; but the surgeon, without so much as a wry face, gulped down the pill for the sake of the gilt that covered it. That the new Mrs. Juniper was in a degree vulgar, nofiody could deny. She was growing plump ; she had not abandoned her homely speech and grammar, and had not tried to ; but she possessed many redeeming qualities. She was gentle-tempered, kindhearted, benevolent to the poor, an excellent wife, mistress, and mother ; and many a-well-born lady in the city was glad to shake hands with her, aud to pay her the respect aha deserve;?. At the time of Mr. Juniper'a marriage with her hn was a widower, and the father of three little girli ; her three little damsels made six; and one, who was born after the double aeoond marriage of the parties, made tho seventh. So that 13 how Mr. Juniper counted hie daughters. The little girls grow up in course of time to be young women, well educated and ladylike, but full of fun amidst themselves. Two of them— the eldest in each family — soon married ; Ann Juniper to a merchant in Liverpool ; Mary Bittlebridge to a gentleman-far-mer in Worcestershire. It was about this time that the following advertisement appeared in the Worceiter Journal and also in the Times, ouch advertisements being less common in those days than thay are in these : — " To the Medical Profession : A gentleman fully qualified as surgeon, <&0., possessing money to purchase a share m a practioe, may hoar of something desirable by applying to G J., Post Ollice, Woroester " The advertisement was Mr. Juniper's. He reoeived sundry answers to it, and concluded a negotiation. Mr. Juniper's house, large and commodious, stood in one of the prinoipal streets. Entering from its pillared portioo, rooms opened on each hand : the dining-room on tho right, the parlor on the left, the drawing-room was above. All theso rooms faced the street. Mr. Juniper's p'r'ofeVsional roorai and iur*

' -,'^iy were at the back, cb3o tj t'u si 1 j enI trance. J Tru parlor wa<3 appropriated to th-3 ',onng Udies, t ) their occupations ail &mij is rr-nr-i. You never saw bo unduly a placo 1.1 jour hie ; one with the bump o? order woal 1, upon en- ] terinj; it, have run away in dismay. An old I piano stood on onu nvle, a key or two missing and a dozen of its wires — it h*d b*. % n the girls' practising piano when they were cnildren ; a set of bookshelves lose op)O«itr), pile 1 with books in the greatest confusion ; vmtmg deaka lay about, some on the flu >r, soraa tumbling off chair* ; sheets of mu-ic, n all stages of tearing and copying ; work.b:>x»3 stood open, some without lid^, others without bottoms, their contents, all entang'ed together in one appalliug m^si ; ppnj, penails, paints, French orayony, pallette?, chalks, work, thimbles, keys, notes, and scrap bjota were scattered everywhere ; whilst the chair? and the carpet were worn, and tha table-eovera frayed. in tai« room, one evening in-aprin?, were all the girls, gathered round a blazing fire, sitting, kneeling, or standing. Tha two Miss Junipers were little, fair, slender young women, rery near-sighted, with hair remarkably light ; whilst the daughters of tha lata Mr. B-ittlebridge were taH, bux'Jin girls, with dirk ejes and. arched eyebrow* ; and the youngest, Georgians, half sister to all the others, was the beauty of tba family. She was now eighteen, and was tnought a gt"eac deal of by her siaters in geuoral, and by herself in particular, and she had always been indulged. They were bustling, accomplished, good-natured girls, much liked in society: but their mother possessed stricter notions of right and wrong than doss many a one who has been better born, and she " kept Inetn under," and saw mow strictly after ttam thua I the girls liked. Sd they looked toiwanl ?itu ardent hop^ to the time wliea tiuy nuould be married, and become their own ißHtreiies. Are there many girh who do not ?— especially when they Hid tney have left their teens behind them more years than they would care to tell. Oa this evening, ia their own parlor, they were chattering by firelight ; j Ist the nonsense that girls do chatter. Their theme was their father's new partner, who was expected oa the mrrrcv. "I'll tut you' vrhat, Julia," observed MUs Elizabeth Juniper, "I have got him in my mind's eye exactly, just his portrait.'' " Let u% have it, Bassy," was the response of Miss Battlebridge. " You remember that precious assistant papa had two yeara ago, with a tune like a monkey's and a waist like an elephant's ? Id not mind betting a new fan he will ba just such another man." " Green spectacles and all ? " " Green spectacles and all ; or, perhaps an eye-glass by way of a change. We will turn him over to Cicely ; ah? used" to admit j tha elephant ; and he admired her, I thiik." " You may call him an elephant and a monkey now," cried Misj Cicely Juniper, nodding her head, " but you were all setting your caps at him then." " Just hark at Cicely 1 " "Hs will not concern mo," interrupted Gsorgina, tossing back her pretty auburn curls, in the self-suffijianoy of uer youth and beiuty, " for I know be will be as old as papa. I shall begin to call him ' uncle ' as sjou as he cornea." " Who's this ? " exclaimed Kate Battlebridge, turning sharply round as tha door opened, and a lady, attired in grass green eilk nnd white lace oap with pink ribbjus, entered. 11 It's 03ly mamma. Wnat are you coming in hero for, mamma ? " " Wny, tha truth w, girls, I d)zVl asleep in the twilight, and the tire went almost out, so I am come in while they blow it up," replied Mrs. Juniper. She was stout now and pretty red, and Bhe would dress in bright oiors; but her face was comely yet, and her voice kindly as ever. " Move away a bit, B issy, and let one see the fire." Miss Elizabeth, pushing her sisters oloser together, made room for Mrs. Juniper, without losing her own place in the circle " We hare been wondering whit the new doctor will be like, mamma." " Just like your silliness, girls : wondariog your time away to waste, it I were you, I'd rather spend it putting tun room straight. He'll b^here to-morrow nigat, and then you'll see I have been thinking what I had better get for his supper." "Tea, niammi," interrupted the young ladies. " Tea, indeed 1 " ejaculated Mrs. Jjaiper, indignantly. "If any of you took a jjumey of six-and-twenty miles on a sia^e caaoh, you'd bs glad of something substantial to eat at the end of it. What do you think of » tine savoury duck, nicely stuffed with aaga ond onions?" The girls screamed, laughed, and did not approve of the dish at all. Ba&y Jumper suggested an improvement. " Have the tea nicely laid, mamtna, with watercress and small rolls," she saul, " and get a little potted meat " " Potted donkey I " interrupted her mother sharply. "Dj you think your papa h gjitig to take a partner to starve him ? " " Potted meats are the fashion now," B^ssy ventured to remark. " " For full paople ; uot for empty on?s," retorted the hospitably-inclined lady. Bit bsfore the diacu^sioa aould be continued, the door again opened, and a servant, looking in, said, " Mis 3 Erakine's here, yoari^ ladies." The five girls started up, and hu tha visitor nearly to death. Sac was a very lovely girl, even for Worcester, with lur darii Dlua eyes, her exquisite complexion, and her raven nair : and tnougu aoe waa youn^, aai sight, and gentle, uhe had a se'.fpjdacs^d tnaauer and a haughty step. " Ttiis is kind, Florence," they cried ; "we have bsen so stupid all the evening I Take your things off. We wurs q ting to dend lot you to-morrow nitmt, to sue the lion nrri/e." " The what? " aaked tho youn? lady. " Papi's new partner. Ha i^ cotiiinq by the Cneltenham coach. Be«y vov/s ho ll bo an elephant. And we are atiaid he's >A I." "And in the name of fortune, wuat ailY'renca should it make to you *_;irl sit tit- 1 j oid . ; " demanded Mrs. Juniper, turning uju'i i uu):i them, after sbalun^ iiuid^ v7hu t'lT.cjjod. " Oh— he may not hivo our nti? , <>ur music, and that, if hu is oil,' aui vnc 1 X it,-,', glanoing at the rent. "The preliminaries are arraTig-l, then 1 " remarked Miss En-kine. "Yes they are, ray dear,"aaid M'-.. Juniper. " So far as that the gendaman h coming fjr six months upon trial. A trial fur boui parties, you know, Mhs Flordnae, wtiuh n only fair." (To be continue I.)

Let na imagino (siayd Al s i>. . 'lCii\ r Jj\) two hostile fleets appro^u'i'ii ,'»..., i Ov^r £,» sea. Eioh would (or dhouli) o> a', -ahl by numbers of torpedo boit-i, ucneriii^ loini-i, watching an opportunity to dart n- \c cuoajU —that is withiu GOO or SOD >• L -r j <Ihcharge their torpedoes. Suu'lotij u 3 ojccedsful in so doing, she miy f-e.id an irouc'ad to the bottom. It is evident t^t tad it o iclads dare not close in for b-iU!-, &jd cictica the smoke which would couu tiio appriMuu of hostile torpedo bo&ta, until tho re^eo'uive mosquito fleets had fought out men: preliminary engagement. No nation ciu-aifjrd to risk ita ironolada where torpedo boat* exist, unless it supplements the<n oj *p arnpia m »• quito fleet for their own prOMftbn.— British TrdSe JoHntal. '' '