by Al Lacy
“We sure are,” said Betty. “I’m so glad you were able to fulfill your desire to become a medical doctor. And you must be thrilled to be partner to your adoptive father.”
A smile spread over the young doctor’s handsome face. “Words can’t even describe it, ma’am. Of course, someday I want to have a practice of my own, but until then, I’ll relish every moment working with Dad.”
Dane then looked at the clock on the dresser and glanced to Joshua’s bed where his sisters stood beside him. “Well, I’ll finish this cup of coffee and go to work on my patient.”
When the doctor drained his coffee cup and headed toward the bed, Betty sent Sarah and Ruth to their room, knowing that Joshua was still going to experience some pain.
A drowsy Joshua opened his eyes and looked up at the doctor when he felt him touch his arm. He gave him a searching, uneasy stare.
Dr. Dane squeezed the boy’s arm. “Son, I know this is still going to be painful for you, but I’ll do it as quickly and gently as possible.”
Joshua licked his lips and nodded. “Okay.” His voice cracked.
The parents moved up close to the bed and looked on, wincing, as they watched the doctor set the shoulder. As was expected, Joshua experienced some pain, especially at the instant the shoulder was snapped back in place.
Dr. Dane commended him for being such a brave boy, then wrapped the shoulder and put Joshua’s arm in a sling, keeping it close to his body. When he had finished, Joshua set dull eyes on the doctor and said with a slurring tongue, “Th-thank you, Dogtor. Thad wasn’ as bad as I thoud id would b-be.”
“You’re welcome, Joshua. Now, I want you to lie here quietly and let the laudanum relax you so you can go to sleep. And, Joshua?”
“Yes, sir?”
“No physical activities until I say so. And no horseback riding!”
A lazy, lopsided grin formed on Joshua’s lips. “Yez, zir.”
“I’ll be back to check on you soon. You are a very good patient, and you’re a brave boy. I’m sure your parents are proud of you.”
Abel and Betty smiled at each other, then at their son. Abel said, “We sure are, Josh.”
Joshua let another crooked grin curve his lips, then closed his heavy eyelids.
Dr. Dane stayed at the boy’s side until the laudanum took effect more heavily, and Joshua finally slipped into a deep sleep.
The doctor turned to the parents. “He’ll be fine. I’ll leave you some powders to give him when he awakes. They’ll keep his pain to a minimum. I’ll be back in three days to check on him.”
Betty glanced at the clock on the dresser. “Dr. Logan, it’s past noon. Would you like some lunch before you head back to town?”
The doctor grinned. “I’ll just take you up on it, ma’am.”
Checking his sleeping patient one more time, Dr. Dane followed the couple toward the kitchen. Betty paused at the door of the girls’ room to tell them Dr. Logan was staying for lunch, and she needed their help.
Earlier that morning, Betty had put a large kettle of navy bean soup on the kitchen stove, and while going after the coffee before Joshua’s shoulder was set by the doctor, she stirred up the fire under the kettle. When they entered the kitchen, the tantalizing aroma made the doctor’s mouth water.
The two men were ordered by Betty to sit down, and as Dr. Dane sat on the chair assigned him by Betty, he looked up and saw two picture frames on the walls that had Scripture verses printed on white paper. One read:
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
—Romans 6:23
The other one read:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
—John 14:6
A smile spread over the doctor’s face. “Hey, I love those Scriptures you have up there! Looks to me like I’m in a Christian home.”
Sarah and Ruth were standing at the cupboard. They looked at each other and grinned.
Abel matched the doctor’s smile. “You sure are, my friend. And since Dr. Jacob Logan and his wife are Christians, it doesn’t surprise me that their adopted son is!”
Dr. Dane laughed. “Well, I guess I’d better come clean. Mom told me you were Christians when she gave me the map Earl Monroe had drawn so I could find this place. I knew what kind of home I was coming to all along.”
“In a couple minutes, we’ll be ready to eat,” said Betty, “and we’ll see if our new doctor knows how to pray over a meal!”
While Abel Donaldson was laughing over Dr. Dane Logan’s touch of humor, Sarah placed a plate of hot cornbread on the table and Ruth set a small crock of butter next to it.
Betty ladled up the navy bean soup, sliced an onion to go with it, then poured milk for the girls and coffee for the rest of them. Smiling shyly at the young physician, she said, “This isn’t much, Doctor, but we’re happy to share it with you.”
“It looks and smells like a feast to me, ma’am. Breakfast was a long time ago.”
Abel scooted his chair a little closer to the table. “Well then, let’s eat! As Betty suggested, Doctor, will you pray over the meal?”
Dr. Dane smiled. “I think I can handle that.”
Heads were bowed, and the doctor thanked the Lord for the food, asking Him to bless it to the nourishment of their bodies. He also prayed for Joshua’s shoulder to heal quickly.
When the amen was said and they started eating, Abel said, “So you like our Scripture verses in the frames, eh, Doctor?”
Dr. Dane swallowed a mouthful of soup. “Sure do. Those exact same verses were on the walls of Dr. Lee Harris’s home in Manhattan. It was Dr. and Mrs. Harris who led me to the Lord.”
“They have to be special people to you,” said Betty.
Dr. Dane nodded. “They’re both in heaven now. But I’m sure looking forward to seeing them one day over there when we’ll never part again.”
“It’s wonderful to have that assurance, isn’t it?” said Abel.
Dr. Dane picked up a slice of buttered cornbread. “That it is, my brother. That it is.”
It was quiet for a minute or so while everyone worked at devouring the meal. Then Betty set her eyes on the young man. “Dr. Dane, you didn’t mention a wife when you were telling us your story. Are you married?”
Dane shook his head and swallowed more soup. “No, ma’am. I’m just waiting for the Lord to bring the right young lady into my life.”
Abel nodded. “Well, it’ll happen in God’s time, I assure you.”
“Yes, sir. Sometimes I get a little impatient, but I know you’re right. When the Lord is ready to bring her into my life, He will do it.”
“Well, it sure worked that way with me,” said Abel. “Someday when we have more time, I’ll tell you how God brought Betty and me together.”
“I’d like to hear about it.”
“Believe me, Doctor, the Lord has marvelous ways of working this kind of thing out in our lives. He has that special young lady all picked out for you, and when it’s time, He will bring her to you so you’ll have no doubt that she is the one He has chosen to be Mrs. Dr. Dane Logan.”
“That is encouraging, Mr. Donaldson. I can hardly wait for that banner day when the Lord brings her to me.”
As the meal went on, they talked about their churches. The Donaldsons explained that they belonged to a small country church a couple of miles south of their ranch, and that they loved it.
Dane told them he belonged to the same church in Cheyenne where his parents had belonged for over twenty years. He loved the pastor, and taught a teenage boys’ class.
When lunch was over, Dr. Dane went back to Joshua’s room and checked on him. He was still in a deep sleep.
Turning to the parents, Dr. Dane said, “Well, I’ll be going now. Thank you for the good lunch. I’ll be back on Friday to see how Joshua’s doing.”
Abel pulled his wallet from his hip pocket. “How much do I owe you,
Doctor?”
Dr. Dane smiled. “You can wait till the house calls are no longer necessary to pay me, if you wish.”
“I’d rather pay you as you make each call.”
“All right.” He touched fingers to his temple. “Let’s see. You owe me three dollars.”
Betty looked surprised, as did her husband.
“Now wait a minute, Doctor,” Abel said. “Three dollars can’t be right.”
Dr. Dane’s brow furrowed. “Oh. Well, let’s just make it two dollars.”
Abel chuckled. “Doctor, I didn’t mean three dollars was too much. I meant it wasn’t enough. C’mon now. You’ve had to ride all the way out here, and you’ve spent well over three hours in this house.”
“But a half hour of that time was spent sitting at your table eating Mrs. Donaldson’s fabulous cooking. Three dollars is plenty.”
Abel pulled out a ten-dollar bill and pressed into the doctor’s hand. “You take this with our thanks for taking such good care of Josh.”
Dane looked at the ten-dollar bill. “Mr. Donaldson, I can’t take this much for just one house call. I—”
“All right,” Abel said, grinning. “Let’s allow it to cover your house call on Friday too.”
“That’s better.”
Abel looked him square in the eye. “And I mean just Friday’s house call. Any more house calls after that will be paid by me when you’re here. Understand?”
The doctor looked at Abel, but before he could reply, Abel said, “I happen to know that you doctors on this frontier often treat patients who can’t pay you a nickel. Others pay you with beans, eggs, and dead chickens. God has blessed this ranch, and we’d like to make up for some of the calls you make when you don’t get much. Okay?”
“Thank you, and may the Lord bless you for it.”
The Donaldsons and their daughters walked out onto the front porch with the doctor and watched him climb in his buggy. He waved as he drove away, saying he would see them on Friday. They waved back, smiling.
As he drove toward the road that would take him back to town, Dr. Dane noted the great number of Rocking D cattle that were grazing as they were spread in clusters over the vast acres of the ranch. “I can see that you’ve blessed them, Lord. And I know one of the reasons why. Please bless them in a special way for what they did for me.”
It was then that Dane noticed the afternoon had turned warm. He pulled the horse to a halt, shrugged out of his suit coat, and laid it on the seat beside him. Taking up the reins, he thought about his father having been called to the ranch east of Cheyenne to deliver a baby. If Dad wasn’t back yet, there might be a waiting room full of people back at the office. He put the horse to a comfortable trot, with a warm breeze blowing on his face.
He looked up at the clear cobalt blue sky, and thought of his childhood in New York and his years at Northwestern University in Chicago. He told himself the sky was never as clear back there as it was here in the West. So much of the time it was overcast and gray.
A contented smile spread over his face. “Thank You, Lord, for letting me make this part of the country my home. Being a much-needed physician here in frontier America is great. It couldn’t possibly be better.”
He snapped the reins and put his steed to a faster trot. Easing back on the seat, he let his mind wander back to the conversation at the Donaldson table about the young lady the Lord had already chosen and would one day send into his life to be his bride.
With the warm breeze touching his face and the sound of the horse’s hooves pounding the soft surface of the road, Dane’s thoughts trailed back to lovely Tharyn Myers—the girl who had stirred his heart like none other.
Memories flooded his mind, and suddenly he was reliving how he met her and saved her life …
While living on the streets of Manhattan as an orphan, fifteen-year-old Dane Weston was hired at Clarkson Pharmacy by Bryce Clarkson as janitor and general hired man. Dane’s friend, Dr. Lee Harris, had persuaded Clarkson to hire him when Clarkson’s previous hired man had quit and moved away.
Dane’s first day on the job was a Saturday. He began his work at eight o’clock that day by mopping the floor while pharmacist Bryce Clarkson was behind the counter filling prescriptions his customers had brought in and left with him late in the afternoon the day before.
The pharmacy’s opening time was nine o’clock. At five minutes before opening time, Dane was wiping dust off the medicine bottles on the shelf behind the counter with a damp cloth.
Bryce Clarkson looked out the front window and saw a mother and her daughter waiting at the door. He told Dane he was going to open early for Mrs. Myers and her daughter. The Myerses were good customers.
From his place behind the counter, Dane observed as his employer opened the door and greeted Erline Myers and her daughter, Tharyn. Tharyn was very pretty, and had long auburn hair and sky blue eyes. Clarkson mentioned that he hadn’t seen Tharyn since her birthday in March and jokingly asked her how it felt to be thirteen years old. She giggled and said it felt good.
The pharmacist introduced mother and daughter to Dane, explaining that he was his new hired man. When they had shaken Dane’s hand, Clarkson told them how Dane recently became an orphan.
Erline and Tharyn both expressed their sympathy, and as Erline handed Clarkson two prescriptions, she asked Dane where he was living now. He replied that he was living among the thousands of other orphans on the streets and told her the location of the alley where he and nine other orphans in the colony had their cardboard boxes.
Dane told them the owner of the grocery store always made sure that the colony had plenty of water to drink and that they sometimes ate food that had been thrown in the garbage cans behind the café.
While holding the reins and keeping his horse to a trot on the rolling prairie, Dane smiled to himself. He could remember the sour look that came over Tharyn’s pretty face at his mention of eating garbage. She did not comment, however.
Bryce Clarkson looked at the prescriptions Erline had placed in his hand and told her he was out of the medicine required for one of them, but that the supplier was due later that morning. He was sure he could have the prescription ready by eleven o’clock.
Erline responded by saying she would send Tharyn and a neighbor girl just before noon to pick it up. The family was going to Grand Central Station to meet her husband’s sister, who was coming from Boston to spend a few days with them. They should be back home by 11:45.
Dane spoke up and told Clarkson if it was all right with him, he would deliver the medicine to the Myerses’ home and save Tharyn from having to come and pick it up. Clark told him that would be fine. Mother and daughter both thanked Dane for his kindness.
As Clarkson was taking the medicine from the shelf to prepare the other prescription, he told Erline and Tharyn that Dane’s goal in life was to become a physician and surgeon. Both of them commended him for wanting to be a doctor.
Dane knew they must be wondering how an orphan boy living on the streets of Manhattan could ever realize that dream. He brought this up to them, and said at that point he didn’t know how he would ever do it, but somehow he would.
Erline paid Clarkson for both prescriptions, and as he handed her the medicine he had just prepared, she told Tharyn they must hurry. As mother and daughter headed toward the door, Erline told Dane they would look forward to seeing him at the apartment.
As Dane held the reins, guiding the buggy toward Cheyenne, he smiled to himself once again as he thought of how excited he was when he left the pharmacy late that morning. He could hardly wait to see Tharyn again.
The tenement where the Myers family lived was less than three blocks from the pharmacy. At 11:40, Dane entered the block where the Myerses’ tenement was located, with a paper bag in his hand. He looked on with interest at a tenement where two workers were standing on a scaffold, pulling ropes through pulleys which were anchored at the top of the building. They were slowly nearing the fifth-floor balcony, which was p
artially finished.
As Dane passed the tenement, he glanced at a wagon parked in the street, which was loaded with building materials. His attention then went to the two big husky horses that were hitched to the wagon.
Just as Dane passed the team and wagon, he heard hoofbeats and buggy wheels in the street coming up behind him. As the buggy passed him, he saw Tharyn Myers sticking her head out the window. She called to him and waved. Dane waved back and quickened his pace.
The hired buggy rolled to a stop in front of the tenement where the Myers family lived. A man, whom Dane figured was Tharyn’s father, jumped out and helped Tharyn from the buggy first. She moved back a couple of steps toward the sidewalk while the man was helping her mother out.
Suddenly two wild cries were heard, and Dane turned to look over his shoulder. He saw the two workers who had been on the scaffold at the building’s fifth floor helplessly falling toward the ground. The scaffold was also falling.
The two men hit the ground not more than two seconds before the scaffold hit it a few feet away with a loud bang and clattering noise. The loud, sharp noise startled the team of horses hitched to the wagon loaded with building materials, and they bolted in blind terror.
For an instant, both Dane and Tharyn were frozen in place as they saw the wild-eyed team bolt. Erline Myers was suddenly looking that direction, eyes wide, face pale. At the same time, her husband was helping his sister out of the buggy, and the horse hitched to the buggy bolted. This sent Tharyn’s aunt flying. She fell on top of Tharyn’s father, knocking him down, and they both rolled against Erline’s legs, toppling her.
The blindly charging team was bearing down on them at full speed with the heavily loaded wagon fish-tailing behind them.
Frozen in place, Tharyn was also directly in line with the charging team. Dane’s reflexes suddenly came alive. He dropped the paper sack containing the medicine and dashed to the spot in time to grasp Tharyn and yank her out of the path of danger. The swift movement caused them both to fall on the sidewalk.