41 Lure O Gold 1904

The Lure o 9
Gold
through all that. There was a time I couldn t sleep.
That was when I was working in a big hospital, years
ago, and had case after case to operate upon.
There
is
nothing a man can do that uses up
his nerve force so
A good many say they are schooled
fast as operating.
to it, and all that, but I notice that the butchers, as we
call the hardiest of the surgeons, are very often men
who take a great deal of stimulant to keep
Of course, that s a false backing, and they
em going.
don t last
long they soon cave in. Sleep ? Why,
I ve seen
the time after a hard day in the operating-room when I
could no more sleep than I could fly. I ve sat up all
night and read or walked the floor.
But I didn t take
any opiates. No, sir! They re the last resort. I got so
bad, though, that I had to give it all up and go away to
sea. It did me a world of good that first
voyage of
mine. I had often advised patients to go to sea, but
had never been there myself. I got
to like it so well
that I stuck to it like an old salt. I got a ship s doc
tor s berth on the old Ocean Queen, and was in her
when she was wrecked down near Melbourne in 67.
Then I got several places on other vessels, and finally
on the Modesto.
I ve stayed with her now so long that
I don t know what it would seem like on any other boat.
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