Country Doctor S Notebook Pdf Free 2021

In the mean time, the evening had been much enjoyed by the brotherswho were spending it together in Martin Dyer's kitchen. The housesstood side by side, but Mr. Jacob Dyer's youngest daughter, the onlyone now left at home, was receiving a visit from her lover, or, as thefamily expressed it, the young man who was keeping company with her,and her father, mindful of his own youth, had kindly withdrawn.Martin's children were already established in homes of their own, withthe exception of one daughter who was at work in one of the cottonfactories at Lowell in company with several of her acquaintances. Ithas already been said that Jake and Martin liked nobody's company sowell as their own. Their wives had a time-honored joke about beingcomparatively unnecessary to their respective partners, and indeed thetwo men had a curiously dependent feeling toward each other. It wasthe close sympathy which twins sometimes have each to each, and hadbecome a byword among all their acquaintances. They were seldomindividualized in any way, and neither was able to distinguishhimself, apparently, for one always heard of the family as Jake andMartin's folks, and of their possessions, from least to greatest, asbelonging to both brothers. The only time they had ever been separatedwas once in their early youth, when Jake had been fired with a desireto go to sea; but he deserted the coastwise schooner in the first portand came home, because he could not bear it any longer without hisbrother. Martin had no turn for seafaring, so Jake remained ashore andpatiently made a farmer of himself for love's sake, and in spite of agreat thirst for adventure that had never ceased to fever his blood.It was astonishing how much they found to say to each other when oneconsiders that their experiences were almost constantly the same; butnothing contented them better than an uninterrupted evening spent ineach other's society, and as they hoed corn or dug potatoes, or mowed,or as they drove to the Corners, sitting stiffly upright in theold-fashioned thorough-braced wagon, they were always to be seentalking as if it were the first meeting after a long separation. But,having taken these quiet times for the discussion of all possible andimpossible problems, they were men of fixed opinions, and were readyat a moment's warning to render exact decisions. They were not fond ofsociety as a rule; they found little occasion for much talk with theirneighbors, but used as few words as possible. Nobody was morerespected than the brothers. It was often said of them that their wordwas their bond, and as they passed from youth to middle age, and inthese days were growing to look like elderly men, they were free fromshame or reproach, though not from much good-natured joking andfriendly fun. Their farm had been owned in the family since thesettlement of the country, and the house which Martin occupied wasvery old. Jake's had been built for him when he was married, fromtimber cut in their own woodlands, and after thirty years of wear itlooked scarcely newer than its companion. And when it is explainedthat they had married sisters, because, as people said, they even wentcourting together, it will be easy to see that they had found lifemore harmonious than most people do. Sometimes the wife of one brotherwould complain that her sister enjoyed undue advantages and profitsfrom the estate, but there was rarely any disagreement, and Mrs. Jakewas mistress of the turkeys and Mrs. Martin held sway over the hens,while they divided the spoils amiably at Thanksgiving time when thegeese were sold. If it were a bad year for turkeys, and the tenderyoung were chilled in the wet grass, while the hens flourishedsteadily the season through, Mrs. Jake's spirits drooped and shebecame envious of the good fortune which flaunted itself before hereyes, but on the whole, they suffered and enjoyed together, and foundno fault with their destinies. The two wives, though the affectionbetween them was of an ordinary sort, were apt to form a leagueagainst the brothers, and this prevented a more troublesome rivalrywhich might have existed between the households.

Country Doctor S Notebook Pdf Free

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All that day the neighbors and acquaintances came and went in the lanethat led to the farm-house. The brothers Jake and Martin made journeysto and from the village. At night John Thacher came home from courtwith as little to say as ever, but, as everybody observed, lookingyears older. Young Mrs. Prince's return and sudden death were the onlysubjects worth talking about in all the country side, and the doctorhad to run the usual gauntlet of questions from all his outlyingpatients and their families. Old Mrs. Thacher looked pale and excited,and insisted upon seeing every one who came to the house, with evidentintention to play her part in this strange drama with exactness andcourtesy. A funeral in the country is always an era in a family'slife; events date from it and centre in it. There are so fewcircumstances that have in the least a public nature that theseconspicuous days receive all the more attention.

The horse knew as well as his master that nothing of particularimportance was in hand, and however well he always caught the spiritof the occasion when there was need for hurry, he now jogged along theroad, going slowly where the trees cast a pleasant shade, and payingmore attention to the flies than to anything else. The doctor seemedto be in deep thought, and old Major understood that no notice was tobe taken of constant slight touches of the whip which his master heldcarelessly. It had been hot, dusty weather until the day and nightbefore, when heavy showers had fallen; the country was looking fresh,and the fields and trees were washed clean at last from the white dustthat had powdered them and given the farms a barren and discouragedlook.

Marilla usually sat in the dining-room in the evening, though she wasapt to visit the study occasionally, knitting in hand, to give heropinions, or to acquaint herself with various events of which shethought the doctor would be likely to have knowledge. Sometimes in thecolder winter nights, she drew a convenient light-stand close besidethe kitchen stove and refused to wander far from such comfortablewarmth. Now that she had Nan's busy feet to cover, there was lessdanger than ever that she should be left without knitting-work, andshe deeply enjoyed the child's company, since Nan could give innocentanswers to many questions which could never be put to elder members ofthe Dyer and Thacher neighborhood. Mrs. Meeker was apt to be discussedwith great freedom, and Nan told long stories about her own childishexperiences, which were listened to and encouraged, and matched withothers even longer and more circumstantial by Marilla. The doctor, whowas always reading when he could find a quiet hour for himself, oftensmiled as he heard the steady sound of voices from the wide kitchen,and he more than once took a few careful steps into the dining-room,and stood there shaking with laughter at the character of theconversation. Nan, though eager to learn, and curious about manythings in life and nature, at first found her school lessonsdifficult, and sometimes came appealingly to him for assistance, whencircumstances had made a temporary ending of her total indifference togetting the lessons at all. For this and other reasons she sometimessought the study, and drew a small chair beside the doctor's large onebefore the blazing fire of the black birch logs; and then Marilla inher turn would venture upon the neutral ground between study andkitchen, and smile with satisfaction at the cheerful companionship ofthe tired man and the idle little girl who had already found her wayto his lonely heart. Nan had come to another home; there was noquestion about what should be done with her and for her, but she wasmade free of the silent old house, and went on growing taller, andgrowing dearer, and growing happier day by day. Whatever the futuremight bring, she would be sure to look back with love and longing tothe first summer of her village life, when, seeing that she lookedpale and drooping, the doctor, to her intense gratification, took heraway from school. Presently, instead of having a ride out into thecountry as an occasional favor, she might be seen every day by thedoctor's side, as if he could not make his morning rounds without her;and in and out of the farm-houses she went, following him like alittle dog, or, as Marilla scornfully expressed it, a briar at hisheels; sitting soberly by when he dealt his medicines and gave advice,listening to his wise and merry talk with some, and his helpful adviceand consolation to others of the country people. Many of theseacquaintances treated Nan with great kindness; she half belonged tothem, and was deeply interesting for the sake of her other ties ofblood and bonds of fortune, while she took their courtesy withthankfulness, and their lack of notice with composure. If there were ashiny apple offered she was glad, but if not, she did not miss it,since her chief delight was in being the doctor's assistant andattendant, and her eyes were always watching for chances when shemight be of use. And one day, coming out from a bedroom, the doctordiscovered, to his amusement, that her quick and careful fingers hadfolded the papers of some powders which he had left unfolded on thetable. As they drove home together in the bright noon sunshine, hesaid, as if the question were asked for the sake of joking a little,"What are you going to do when you grow up, Nan?" to which sheanswered gravely, as if it were the one great question of her life, "Ishould like best to be a doctor." Strangely enough there flittedthrough the doctor's mind a remembrance of the day when he had talkedwith Mrs. Meeker, and had looked up the lane to see the unlucky turkeywhose leg had been put into splints. He had wished more than once thathe had taken pains to see how the child had managed it; but old Mrs.Thacher had reported the case to have been at least partiallysuccessful.