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Doctor Cavallo
EUGENE F. BALDWIN and MAURICE EISENBERG
COLLABORATORS
PEORIA, ILLINOIS
1895
» . -• > o
Copyrighted, 1895,
By Eugene F. Baldwin and Maurice Eisenberg.
[All rights reserved.]
PRESS OF
J. W. FRANKS & SONS
FBORfA. ELt,
Doctor Cavallo
CHAPTER I.
"Sore throat? Unable to swallow? High fever r
Flushed cheeks? Little white patches in the throat?
Margaret has the diphtheria! That's what ails her,"
said Bob Lawrence, bringing his hand down on the
table in his excitement.
It was a little family group of three. Mr. Lawrence,
a staid and respectable merchant in the the city of
P , Mrs. Lawrence, a matronly woman, and Robert,
their son, in business with his father. Margaret, the
daughter, younger than Bob, had not come down to
breakfast, and in response to Bob's questions her
mother had been describing her symptoms.
44 Get a physician at once" said Mr. Lawrence, ad-
dressing his wife.
M Whom shall I call?" she inquired.
u Dr. Blake," said the father.
"He is the best of the old school," returned Mrs.
Lawrence, "but I rather prefer homoeopathy for these
throat diseases."
436342
4 ,;DOCT0^ CAVALLO
"Oh!" returned Bob, "it isn't the system, it's the
man. The only good thing about homoeopathy is that
it keeps a stream of something going down your throat
all the time, and the patient has his mind occupied
thinking which glass he took the last dose out of, and
getting mixed up and being afraid that he is taking one
remedy all the while, so that he has no time to think
of the malady, and nature does the rest, as she gen-
erally will if let alone."
"Well, then," returned his mother, "Dr. Blake?"
"Yes, Dr. Blake," whose whole idea is quinine and
podophyllin" said Bob. He gives quinine for a cold
and leptandrin and podophyllin for everything else.
It isn't the system that you want, it is the man. Get
Dr. Cavallo."
"Dr. Cavallo? He has'nt much of a practice, has
he?" queried his father.
"What do . you know of him? 1 ' Mrs. Lawrence
put in.
"Why," said Bob, "he was a demonstrator in the
college; but every one there said he was smart, and
the 'medicos,' who are generally a rough set, were
wrapped up in him. Since he has been here he has
been very successful. I have met him several times
and renewed our acquaintance."
" I don't like," said his mother, " to call in a new
doctor."
"There you are wrong," returned her son. "With
all due respect to you, he is not what you would call
new, as he has been practicing for some time, and as
for your objection to new physicians, let me tell you,
Mother, the doctors fresh from college come out with
all of the new ideas, and where there is no question
DOCTOR CAVALLO 5
in regard to the malady, as seems to be the case with
Margaret's trouble, a new doctor is better than an old
one. The only advantage that an old doctor has over
a new one is, that he knows all the laws of heredity
and so can keep track of the cranks. He knows,
when old Mrs. Jones calls him in and tells him that
she is dying, that she can't last ten hours, that she is
good for fifteen years yet; while when Bill Smith tells
him that he * coughed up a little blood last night which
he thinks must have come from a tooth,' the doctor
knows that the case is serious, for all of the Smiths
have died of consumption and poor Bill's life is meas-
ured by months."
"All of this doesn't help Margaret," said his mother.
"What are you going to do?"
• " I am going to call Dr. Cavallo," said her son, and
stepping to the telephone he found that the Doctor
would be in his office in a few minutes, and that he
would go over and attend the call.
Having settled this matter to his satisfaction, Bob
resumed his seat at the table and having had his cup
of coffee replenished, began:
"You see, Mother, it is this way: diphtheria is a
poison caused by microbes — little germs that float
around in the atmosphere. You can breathe them in
with perfect impunity if there is no way in which they
can get to the blood, but you catch cold and you cough
until you tear loose the little blood vessels in the
throat and then brother microbe comes along and
buries in the spot, gets into the blood and there you
are."
"What nonsense [are you talking, Robert?" said his
father.
6 DOCTOR CAVALLO
rt Fact ! " said Bob. M Latest development of science.
The microbe multiplies by fission ; that is by breaking
in two; the halves grow to the length of the old one
and then break in two again, and thus multiply. The
first two become four, they become eight, then sixteen,
then thirty-two, then sixty-four, then one hundred and
twenty-eight, and so on. In a few hours, from a single
pair, they increase to millions.'"
" Robert, how you do run on," returned his mother.
"But what makes the white patches in the throat ?"
said his father, who secretly admired his son.
"That" said Bob, "is because the microbes bury in
the mucous membrane and destroy it. They produce
a poison in the blood that causes paralysis of the
heart."
His mother smiled upon him with that mild ap-
proval which mothers are wont to express, and then
said in her quiet manner, " How did you come to know
all this?"
"Til tell you that, too," said Bob in his off-hand
way. " I had a l medico ' as room-mate at college part
of the time. Good fellow he was, too, and greatly
stuck on his profession, on Dr. Cavallo and on bacteri-
ology. He had diphtheria as a theme, and the way
he pored over it, and dinned it into me, and had little
messes of veal broth where he cultivated them — I
believe that he would have inoculated himself with
them if I had not stopped him."
" Robert ! " said his mother reproachfully.
His father only laughed and added : "What would
your Aunt Jane say to this?"
"Aunt Jane being a Christian Scientist," said Bob,
" is not going to be astonished at anything that can
DOCTOR CAVALLO 7
be told her. If she can fasten her mind on a point it
is settled."
"I expect her in this morning," added Mrs.
Lawrence.
" For Heaven's sake don't let her into Margaret's
room or she will fasten her mind on a crack in the
floor, and there will be no getting rid of her for two
weeks."
As he rattled on, a domestic opened the door, and
announced, "Dr. Cavallo." Bob arose, and greeting
the new comer introduced him to his parents.
As the two men stood side by side they offered a
marked contrast. Bob was a manly fellow, with his
square shoulders and his round head, set off by his
brown hair, cut short. There was laughter in his eye,
a sense of humor playing about his mouth and his
open, frank face. He was one that you instinctively
liked and took on trust at once.
The doctor was somewhat his elder, but he was
graver. His olive complexion, black eyes and hair
well became him. His face showed marks of long
and profound study. His athletic figure, the hand,
lithe, flexible and slender, but strong, the slope of the
shoulders, the well made hips, while these gave evi-
dence of tremendous power, all bespoke the man of
refinement, the man of action, and the man of thought.
He seemed with his steady poise, the resonant tones
of his voice, the straightforward look out of his eyes,
the manly firmness of his walk, the very grasp of his
hand as one who possessed great reserve powers.
While one admired Bob at the first glance, Dr.
Cavallo instinctively inspired respect and confidence.
Perhaps his great power lay in his wonderful sympathy.
8 DOCTOR CAVALLO
You felt this in his magnificent eyes, in the grasp
of his hand that thrilled one as if the owner possessed
strong magnetic power, and that indefinable some-
thing that for want of a better term we call personal
magnetism. He impressed you as having a will strong
enough to pursue its object through difficulties and
dangers and great enough to be able to sink his own
personality in the effort to succor others.
As he stood quietly conversing with the two elderly
people he presented a perfect type of the professional
man, grave, dignified, yet sympathetic.
CHAPTER II.
Mrs. Lawrence took the doctor at once to the
chamber of the sick girl. Bob fidgeted about and
then said : "The trouble with these contagious dis-
eases, father, is that you never know what to expect.
A person may have a 'very mild attack of diphtheria
and yet may give it in its worst form to another. What
a pathetic story it is, that of Queen Victoria's daughter,
the Princess Alice. Her little child was sick and dying
with the awful malady, and it asked her to give it a
parting kiss. She knew the danger, but she complied,
and printing a kiss upon the little thing's lips, took
diphtheria in its worst form and died."
'* Horrible," said Mr. Lawrence.
"This," said Bob, "is what gives me a pain, when
I hear people talk about diphthretic sore throat, as if
the disease, in a mild form could be fooled with. I
think," he said, "that it's a case where the microbe
isn't so active, that's all." Then he added, " I sup-
pose we ought to report it to the Board of Health."
'* Not so fast," replied his father, " let us know what
it is first."
"Well we will have a chance to know all about
it now," said Bob, looking out of the window, "for
here comes Aunt Jane." Even as he spoke a fat little
10 DOCTOR CAVALLO
body, long past middle life, came toiling up the walk and
Bob good naturedly opened the door, allowing her to
enter. She panted up the steps, walked into the room
and flinging herself into a chair, said, " I never had
such a dreadful time in all my life. I really thought that
I should die. The wind blew so awfully that positively
I was afraid I should blow away. Why it was a perfect
cyclone."
"Why didn't you exert your will power and stop the
whole gale, Aunt Jane? " said Bob, with a twinkle in his
eye. "What is the use in having these annoyances
when you can will them all away?"
" If our faith was equal to our desires," said she
gravely, " we could easily say to this mountain depart,
and it would be moved into the sea."
"Yes," said Bob, "but how about the wind?"
"The wind bloweth where it listeth," said she, "and
no man knoweth whither it is bound."
" There is where you differ from the weather depart-
ment," said Bob, " although from the blunders that
they have been committing lately they had better fall
back on Job and give the whole thing up, as a bad con-
undrum, too much for them.
"Robert," said his father, gravely, "do not be so
irreverent."
"Irreverent?" echoed Bob, "I am the most devout
duck to be found within four blocks, except that I
take no stock in weather prophets and I am beginning
to lose faith in the government itself. It has been prom-
ising us a cold wave for a week and it has been as hot
as Tophet all of the time.
"Where is your mother, Robert?" inquired Aunt
Jane, " I haven't seen her in an age. Is she never going
DOCTOR CAVALLO II
to return my call? I must positively give up visiting
her."
"She is up stairs attending to Margaret who has the
diphtheria," replied Bob.
"The diphtheria," returned Aunt Jane. "Oh how
horrible, and what is she doing for it? Do let me
call Mrs. Wilkins. She is such an eminent authority
in these matters. Her cures are perfectly wonderful."
l< No, she has Dr. Cavallo. No Christian Science
for us, if you please."
"Dr. Cavallo!" shrieked the woman. "What will he
give your poor sister? Nothing but drugs and drugs
and drugs. Why will you depend on such things when
what you need is faith? Oh, how I wish I understood
the science better; I must try and persuade your mother
to send for Mrs. Wilkins. Why, she never gives the
slightest thing at all, but just sits and prays by the sick
bed, oh, such lovely prayers, and her patients get
right up and are cured."
"Yes," said Bob, **I have heard of her. She is that
old lady that doctored Mrs. Toohey's baby for the
croup. The little thing died and I had hard work to
keep the medical society from prosecuting Mrs. Wilk-
ins. Served her right too, only I am a great deal of
a crank myself and I take all of the fraternity under my
protection, especially if they are women. 1 '
"Prejudice, mere prejudice," said the little body.
" There is not a pain, disease, habit, sin, infirmity, fear,
accident or heart ache that cannot by means of Chris-
tian Science be relieved or entirely cured."
Bob gave a low whistle.
"That this sweeping statement seems incredible to
the common sense does not change the fact," said
12 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Aunt Jane. "The living witnesses are with us and
they will gladly tell or write their wonderful experi-
ences. When you understand that the power that does
this work is Infinite Mind, you will say that all things
are possible with God."
44 And you think that Mrs. Wilkins has a section of
this power, that old snuffy female. Holy smoke!"
said Bob, "give us faith."
"If materia medica was the right thing God would
have given it authority and sanction," said Aunt Jane.
"Your argument proves too much, Aunt Jane,"
said Bob. " Now for instance, if God had believed
that the steam engine was constructed on the right
principles, he would have made Adam a present of one
in the garden of Eden. As he didn't do it the steam
engine must have come from the devil," and Bob
laughed at his own wit.
"Robert," said his father, "do not mock at sacred
things."
" Mrs. Mary Eddy has gone to the root of the whole
matter," said Aunt Jane, "when she said 'Mind is all-
in-all. Divine Mind and its ideas are the only reali-
ties'"
"Do you believe that Christian Science can set a
broken bone?" asked Bob. " Now let us get down to
the plain facts."
"Certainly I do," said Aunt Jane, firmly. " Did
Jesus say to his disciples, take the Gospel and dissect
a man; become thoroughly acquainted with his ana-
tomy and physiology and then if he is sick you can
heal him; or, go into a chemist's laboratory, analyze the
material elements of a dead body and matter will
instruct you how to heal a man? Did Jesus say to his
DOCTOR CAVALLO 1 3
disciples or to Christian Scientists, go study anatomy,
number the bones, understand the joints, consult the
marrow, that when a bone is broken or a joint dislo-
cated you may take Christ, who never studied anatomy
or bade anyone study it to set, replace or heal?"
41 Go on, Aunt Jane," said Bob with mock gravity,
" this reads like a leaf out of a book. Go on, and you
may make a Christian Scientist out of me yet."
"You are dead in sin, I fear," said the little' body,
" and I must be going. Tell your mother that I called
and that I was very sorry to learn that Margaret is
sick, but we are to have a meeting this afternoon and
I will bring up her case before the class, 1 ' so saying she
bustled out and was gone.
When she had gone, Bob burst into a fit of laughter
and said, " as soon as I mentioned the word diphtheria
she began to be uneasy. You couldn't have kept her
in the house with a yoke of oxen. Strange that these
people who have so many and such infallible cures for all
diseases are frightened to death when it comes to catch-
ing anything themselves. The trouble, I suspect, with
Aunt Jane is, that she sticks to Christian Science
because it's cheaper than any other system."
What more Robert would have said was lost to the
world, for just then his mother came back followed by
the Doctor, and Mr. Lawrence's inquiry as to what the
trouble was with his daughter was met by the physi-
cian, saying "I do not think there is any cause to fear.
Miss Lawrence is very weak and the prostration was
sudden and great, but I have no fear but she will re-
cover."
11 Is it as bad as that? " said Mr. Lawrence.
44 Diphtheria is not a thing to fool with," interposed
14 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Bob, "and I want you, Doctor, to do your best; see
Margaret twice a day and don't spare any effort to
bring her around."
"You seem to be somewhat of a medical man your-
self," remarked the Doctor, smiling.
" Yes," said Bob, " I roomed with Seidel; you remem-
ber him?"
The Doctor nodded assent.
"Awful smart fellow. Ran wild on bacteriology.
Went West after graduating, became a great mining
expert and made a fortune. Now, father we must
attend to business. The Doctor here will come around
this afternoon, and Margaret will be all right in two
days. Come, Doctor, we will all go down town to-
gether, 1 ' and the three passed out of the door and
down the steps, bidding good-bye to Mrs. Lawrence
as they departed.
CHAPTER III,
"It is the noblest of professions and the meanest
of trades, v said Dr. Maurice Cavallo to himself, "and
if that is the way old Father Hippocrates found it
what can a fellow expect in these degenerate days?"
and so saying, he drew forth a match, searched in his
pockets, found a cigar, and lighting it, proceeded to
pour forth a cloud of smoke. In this occupation
he was standing before his window contemplating the
street and watching it rain, when he saw Bob Law-
rence go by and he hastily knocked on the window
to attract his attention. That individual, on seeing who
it was that was calling to him, stopped, closed his
umbrella, and soon could be heard stamping up stairs.
He opened the office door, stood his umbrella up in a
corner where the surplus water would run into a tin
basin in which the Doctor had "a culture." Dr. Cav-
allo started at first to stop him, but as the special
bacteria had long since died out, a result of too much
crowding, he desisted, and watched the other settle
himself in a chair, pull a cigar out of his pocket,
light it, and then fish around for a match. This
found, he joined in, and they steadily sent out a cloud
of smoke together.
Finally, the Doctor found time to put the question
that he had been aching to ask and yet hesitated
from some unaccountable impulse to do.
l6 DOCTOR CAVALLO
"How is your sister? 1 '
"Oh," said Bob, "she is all right; no worse since
you dismissed the case. Ugly thing this diphtheria.
Do you know that I had half a notion to be a doctor
myself? Seidel talked so much to me about it that I
had a great mind to become a 'dig' and try for a
profession."
Cavallo laughed. " Let me congratulate you on your
escape."
"Oh yes," said Bob, "I know all about it. Settle
in some town, go in and physic the poor ; treat every-
body, pay or no pay, live on one potato a month,
and keep a fast horse and drive around like thunder
to give people an idea that you are rushed with
work. Go to church and hire a boy to run in, right
in the midst of the second lesson, go up the aisle and
whisper to you that you are wanted; then you tumble
out, knock over all the hats in the aisle, and drive
around as if you had half the lives of the city in your
medicine case."
"What a physician you would have made," said Dr.
Cavallo, smiling in spite of himself.
"I had the whole thing down fine, 1 ' replied Bob.
"Every time a boy cut his finger, rush around to the
newspaper offices and report an astonishing case of
surgery. ' The son of our well-known citizen, Mr.
Thomas Smith, met with a serious accident yester-
day, but the timely arrival of the great surgeon, Dr.
Lawrence, saved the lad's finger and undoubtedly, by
preventing the effusion of blood, remedied what might
have been a serious affair.' Oh, I know all the arts by
which the modern doctor gets free advertising and
cheats the newspapers."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 1 7
"Instead of which profession," said Dr. Cavallo,
looking at him from across the table, " Mr. Robert
Lawrence chose to devote himself to business, to the
sordid acquisition of wealth, and thus robbed the pro-
fession of what might have been its brightest ornament
and the world of a savant who would have conferred
luster upon science itself."
"It is all right," replied Bob, "but, my dear sir, the
secret of practicing medicine is like everything else,
what you can get out of it. If I practiced medicine I
would do it for money just the same as any thing
else. This notion that a doctor must work for nothing
and trust to the Lord is one of the foolish ideas born of
the monks of the middle ages. They gave every
man a mug of ale, a half a loaf of bread, and doctored
him when he was sick, all for nothing. We stick to
the idea that he is still to be doctored free, but we
charge him for the ale and the bread. Now I am abso-
lutely without prejudice, and I would as soon be a
doctor as a lawyer or preacher or anything else."
" Without prejudice," repeated Cavallo, bitterly.
" Is there any human being who can truly say that he is
without prejudice?"
u Prejudice, said Bob, " is merely a question of op-
portunity and condition. For instance, every nation
has at some time been under the yoke. I am a Saxon
and I have the pleasure of knowing that less than a
thousand years ago my ancestors wore a yoke around
their necks that had the name of their Norman
master marked on it. The negro is mobbed in the
South, sneered at in the North, but treated as an equal
in England, where he has no trouble to get a white
wife. The Chinaman is regarded as a howling nuisance
1 8 DOCTOR CAVALLO
in San Francisco, but he is looked upon with favor in
New England, where the best ladies will take him
by the hand and welcome him to Sunday school and
teach him his letters and the sublime principles of the
Christian faith. Take the Jews."
The doctor made a gesture of impatience and
offered his visitor a fresh cigar as if the subject were
distasteful to him.
Bob stopped long enough to light it, and then went
on without noticing him.
"Now in England, Disraeli, Moses Montiflore, the
Rothschilds, and George Eliot in 'Daniel Deronda,'
have thrown a romance around the name of Jew,
so that England's best and bravest, the most exclu-
sive nobility in the world, headed by the Queen, a
great stickler for precedent and form, sets apart one
day in every year in which to strew with flowers the
grave of England's great Jew, the man who maintained
peace with honor."
"You have not lighted your cigar," said the Doctor.
u Now wait until I get through, because I have a
theory on this," said the other. a How is it in Russia ?
There the Jew-baiting frenzy has broken out with the
greatest virulence. The accounts of the persecutions
are as awful as anything mentioned in the days of
Ferdinand and Torquemada in Spain. Now why?"
" Race prejudice," said Cavallo.
"Not a bit of it," replied Bob. "The real trouble
is the despotism of the Czar is so galling and oppres-
sive that the people wait to see on whom they can
lay the blame. Kick a boy for chalking your fence
and he will throw a stone at the first friendless dog he
meets. The outrages against the Russian Jews repre-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 19
sent the measure of tyranny that the common people
are getting at the hands of the bureaucracy."
"How is it in Germany?" inquired Cavallo, with a
show of interest.
"There you are again," returned Bob, "with a
stronger illustration of my theory. Germany owes
much to the Jews. With such names as the Mendels-
sohns, of Carl Marx, of Eduard Lasker, of Heine, of
Auerbach, the cultivated German knows that literature,
art and science have all been benefitted by the Jew, and
yet such is the pressure of military despotism and such
the repressive tendencies of the present government that
an uneasy feeling is creeping through all classes. The
government keeps it down by appealing to the patriot-
ism of the people. Feeling the harness gall, they
in turn look about for some means of venting their
ill-humor and they have fallen afoul of the Jews. The
violence of the attack shows, not that the Jews are in
the wrong, but measures the force of the despotism
of the government. Some time the pot lid will blow
off and then look out.
"For my part," continued Bob, "I do not see why
the Germans in this country should continue their un-
reasoning prejudice against the Jews. The Germans
come here in many cases to escape the galling military
service in their own land. They are made welcome.
Every facility is given them and yet they often display
an unreasoning adherence to their old notions. Why,
only the other day in St. Louis a crank delivered a long
diatribe against the Jews as a race, and the Westliche
Post, formerly considered to be the organ of such
liberal and enlightened statesmen as Carl Schurz, ac-
tually printed seven columns of the stuff. I am an
20 DOCTOR CAVALLO
American and am willing to accord every man his full
measure of rights, but I am unwilling to see the old
prejudices of the old world foisted upon us and taught
in the public prints as if they were something to be
proud of."
" The Jew," said Cavallo gloomily, "has been in all
ages the Messiah to humanity and he has been re-
warded by the fagot and the torch."
"I don't know about the Messiah," returned Bob,
laughing, '* and I rather think my father would dispute
you on that point, but the Jew has done a good deal that
is a fact. He did give us banking and exchange."
"And medicine and law, and he is the author of mod-
ern science," interrupted Cavallo.
"Modern science," replied Bob, "how do you make
that out?"
"Why, when the Arabs, having embraced Islam,
swept over the world, they were an ignorant race of
barbarians. The first thing that they did was to burn
the library at Alexandria. The Jews became their teach-
ers, and they taught the Arabs the science of numbers,
which we call the Arabic notation; it is really the
old Chaldean system taught them by the Jews. They
founded the universities in Spain at Valladolid, and at
Seville, where Pope Sylvester himself graduated. The
monks thought, because Sylvester knew something of
science he could tell where all the treasures of the
world were located. It was from the great Spanish
universities that the Renaissance started and the Italian
schools began. The Bologna university owes its ex-
istence to the scholars started and educated by the
Spanish Jews. They are the ones that translated the
old Greek classics and who brought to light the hidden
learning of the ancients,' 1
DOCTOR CAVALLO 21
"Good for them," said Bob, "but what gave them
their start in medicine?"
"Because," returned Cavallo, "the church insisted
that disease was either the work of devils or special
punishment for sin and, in either case, it could only be
cured by exorcism or prayer. When a man had the
colic or rheumatism they rubbed him with the bones
of a saint, if he had fever they had no other remedy.
The Jews, not being under this rule, were forced to
study the laws of nature, They investigated the quali-
ties of plants and herbs. Their love-philters contained
phosphorus long before the pharraacopceia contained
the drug as an aphrodisiac. Belladonna was known
to them long before the Gentile had any conception
of it. They prescribed pqdophyllin long before 'the
mandragora's moans 1 was known to Europe. In fact.
Leah knew something about it as you can see, if you
will read the book of Genesis and she put it to a strange
use, for she came it over Rachel with a lot of man-
drakes. Old Albertus Magnus says that he had dis-
covered the secret of Solomon's Seal which was im-
parted to him by a Jew, as you can see by the name, for
he was pupil of the great Maimonides."
"That must be so," said Bob, "for I remember read-
ing that Queen Elizabeth had a Jew, Lopez, for a phy-
sician, and it is said he gave Shakespeare his idea of
Shylock. 1 '
" Every great man had a Jew doctor, for it was soon
found that where the bones of the saint refused to
act, that the rhubarb of the Jew expert was pretty
certain to produce the required result," said Cavallo,
grimly.
The high chamberlain of Ferdinand and Isabella of
22 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Spain was a Jew, Don Isaac Abarbanel, and he narrowly
averted that bloody persecution of the Inquisition.
He was a great man and he offered Ferdinand a large
sum of money to forego his purpose. Torquemada
heard of it and breaking into the room where the con-
tract was being discussed, elevated a crucifix, yelling
at the top of his voice: 4 Behold the modern Judas
Iscariot who would sell his Lord for thirty pieces of
silver.'
That was enough, and the consequence of letting
the old pirate loose was the massacre of three hundred
thousand Jews, the best intellect of Spain. Perhaps it
is some compensation to reflect that Spain has never
recovered from the blow."
"Why do you talk in this way ? " said Bob. "You
are a Spaniard yourself, as I have heard."
Cavallo's cheek darkened and his brow flushed.
He shut his hand hard down on the palm, and then
he answered slowly :
" I am of Spanish descent." After a pause he added :
M My immediate ancestors came from Holland. Hol-
land," he continued, "the parent of freedom where the
Pilgrim Fathers learned their lessons in liberty and
in government.'"
"Yes, there is another illustration of my theory,"
said Bob. "The Pilgrim Fathers, knocked around
from pillar to post, driven from England, sent over into
Holland, kicked, maltreated and abused, finally won
the respect of the world by going out and doing
something, and then they were never ashamed of
their faith."
Cavallo started.
"A Pilgrim was willing to stand up and let them
DOCTOR CAVALLO 23
hack off his ears and put him in pillory, and pelt him
and wool him in all possible ways. To be sure
when he got a chance he showed them that he could
shave off heads himself, but he always stuck to his
colors.
"So of the Irish. They are the finest soldiers in
Europe and have shown it on every battlefield, and yet
when Cromwell captured three thousand of them
at Drogheda he knocked them in the head solely
to save ammunition. William III 'of pious, blessed
and immortal memory, who saved England from brass
money, wooden shoes and Popery ' called them savage
kerns. Why it is not so very long ago that the legend
1 No Irish need apply ' was attached to every want in
the newspapers when the parties wished a hired girl."
"I have often thought, 1 ' said Cavallo gravely, u that
the Irish ought to the most outspoken race for human
liberty and the Brotherhood of Man of any in the
world."
"This is in accordance with my idea," said Bob.
"They have been oppressed and they turn on some
one beneath them. Like the story of the Irish stow-
away from Dublin. The colored cook found him the
second day out and saved him by making him his
assistant. He fed him all the way over, but Pat,
by mingling with some of the other passengers, learned
that it was not the thing for white people to mix
with colored ones in the new country. As they landed
the colored cook fixed up a good breakfast for his
fellow assistant, and as they parted the cook slipped
a quarter into the other's hand. The Irishman re-
fused it, saying with a gesture of contempt : ' I wush
to receive no assistance from your degraded race.' "
24 DOCTOR CAVALLO
"God's vengeance does not sleep, and he punishes
all crimes,' 1 said Cavallo, gloomily. " The nation that
fosters injustice shall perish by injustice. No people
can afford to cultivate a spirit of class hatred, for as
certain as the sun rises and sets, so shall they learn
that these are but bloody instructions that shall return
to plague the inventors. Many peoples have tried it.
and the end has been that it has eaten out the national
spirit like a canker and left it, as Spain is left to-day,
a poor, shattered hulk in the highways of the world.
Italy tried it and in tears and sorrow is she endeavor-
ing to throw off the yoke.
"The Saxon race is proud of its achievements, and is
proud that it to-day stands in the foremost ranks of
civilization ; that it has wrought out its own independ-
ence by its own right arm, and that in science, in art,
in all that constitutes true progress it stands without a
compeer — the one great branch triumphant on the sea,
the other equally invincible on the land.
11 But let it reflect that it has gained this freedom and
this independence, not by its own efforts, but because
there was breathed into the souls of its fathers as with
the breath of life, the inspiration, the lofty devotion,
the high and unshrinking purpose, found, not in its own
traditions, not in its own literature, but in the old Jew-
ish Bible, and in the old Jewish Bible alone."
"That is great," repeated Bob, enthusiastically ham-
mering on the table. " Hear, hear. It sounds like
a chapter from Isaiah. You must have a trace of the
old prophetic blood in you, Cavallo?"
The dark shade again swept across the doctor's face
and he made no reply. The other continued:
" I say, come up to-night and spend the evening at the
DOCTOR CAVALLO 2$
house. I want the governor to get started on the future
of the Jews. He is simply immense and when he gets
going there is no holding him. I must go to business
now."
So saying he threw the cigar stump into the grate
and shaking out his umbrella, with an air of mock
gravity, put on his hat, saluted the doctor, and in reply
to the other's half amused response to his salutation
went down the stairs whistling a stawe of the latest
popular melody.
When he had gone the gloom deepened on Cavallo's
face and he shut his teeth hard. Then he broke out :
u What a fool and coward slave am I, to sit here and
deny my race and creed, to hear the epithet 'Jew 1
bandied about without opening my head to defend
the faith or the blood of my fathers. 1 '
He paused, and then he burst out with that bitter
epigram by Heine, the great German poet.
" It is not a crime to be a Jew but it is a terrible
misfortune."
With these words he drew on his riding coat and
putting his medicine case in his pocket went off on
his rounds to visit his patients.
CHAPTER IV.
Doctor Maurice Cavallo sat before his grate fire in
a discontented mood. The thought of the conversa-
tion in the morning galled him. He felt that he was
acting a part. He hated himself for not having made
a frank avowal to Bob and then — if he had — he stop-
ped and saw in imagination the friendly doors of the
Lawrence house closed against him and the fair face
of his gentle patient rose before him. What had
he to do with her? He was of an alien race.
An alien race! The world does not yet accord
him full social recognition or greet him with the respect
that is due a man. It tolerates but it does not welcome
him. The stigma of contumely still hangs over him.
Wherever he may go, in what ever country he may cast
his lot, he is everywhere an alien and he feels that he
is regarded as an outcast. He was depressed and
he arose and paced back and forth in his office. " Hath
not a Jew, hands?" he said to himself. "'If you tickle
us do we not laugh, if you prick us do we not bleed?" '
A Jew ! and then the fair face of Margaret broke
in upon his vision and her radiant beauty passed before
his mental gaze. He shook his head as if he could not
bear the thought of her face being turned from him
with disdain and aversion.
44 But, then, what is the use of all this? I am an
DOCTOR CAVALLO 2J
American citizen," he said, u why should I go about
proclaiming my ancestry?
11 What is this great American nation anyway but a
composite race, formed of all the blood of the earth?
It is the future, not the past, that counts. 'I am the
Rudolph of Hapsburg, of my family,' said Napoleon,
and why should not every ambitious soul say the same?
11 After all what is the golden rule of philosophy but
silence? Well did the old Greek and Egyptian sages
enjoin upon their disciples a silence of seven years.
It was Ben Franklin who said that he had often re-
pented for opening his mouth, never for keeping it
shut. What does a man's pedigree amount to anyway?
He simply has to strive against heredity all of his life
and if he is lucky he will outgrow his tendencies."
The more his mind ran on in this strain the calmer
he grew. Yes, he would say nothing about it, but he
would go ahead and live like other people. As for
his race, that was a thing that he could not help,
but that man is a fool who will allow such things to
overmaster him or stand in his way. " Now truce
farewell and ruth begone," he said to himself as he
got up and made his toilette. He felt that a burden
had been litfed from his mind and he took his hat and
cane with a certain sense of gaiety and freedom.
He walked out into the starlit ni^ht and inflated his
lungs with a feeling of physical pleasure. The quiet
evening and the early darkness relieved his soul of its
burden. He wanted sympathy and almost uncon-
sciously he took his way to the Lawrence mansion.
'He said to himself that he ought to call and see how
his patient was getting along for he had dismissed
the care of Margaret for some days.
28 DOCTOR CAVALLO
He mounted the steps and his heart swelled within
him as the door swung back and the invitation to enter
was given in hearty tones.
There was something in this family that soothed his
temper and acted like a sedative to him.
He was shown into the sitting room and he noted
that he was greeted with pleasure and the home-like
feeling of being almost like one of the family satisfied
him still more. It was a new experience to him, from
having been a wanderer for so long. It took him back
to his own home life, and the careful affection of his
own mother, but this made him wince again. Was he
the man to disown the flesh and blood that bore him?
So when Mrs. Lawrence came forward and greeted
him, he answered mechanically and took her proffered
hand, mentally thinking what she would say if she
only knew.
Then he turned to Margaret and aroused himself to
ask after her health. He found her convalescent but
looking all the lovelier for the slight pallor that mantled
her cheek. She greeted him warmly, for if there be
anything that stirs the affections even in the coldest
breast it is that which we feel towards the physician
who has brought us from pain to health.
The effect on a young and ardent girl, therefore, is
so much stronger as the affections are glowing, the
spirits high and the imagination active and intense.
She blushed a little as he took her hand, gravely felt
her pulse, and said with a smile, "All that we need
now is a little care. 1 '
"Ah, doctor, I consider that we were very fortuni
ate to get you when we did. The disease was fully
mastered, sir, at the start," said Mr. Lawrence.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 20,
"What did I tell you," said Bob, "it is not the sys-
tem, it is the man. The fact is that the doctors now
lay it down that manners in a sick room are a good
and more efficacious than medicine."
"When I was a boy," said Mr. Lawrence, "they did
not have diphtheria, they called it putrid sore throat
and they used to bleed people for it, and blister them."
"And kill them before they got through," added
Bob.
"Oh, I don't know as they did any worse than they
do now. People were sick, and then they were well.
There isn't much difference. When they were crazy
they thought they had devils, but this has the sanction
of Scripture for that. Christ cast out devils, and if he
did then, why not now?" said Mr. Lawrence.
-"The Salvation Army believes in this, only they
thump a drum to scare him away," said Bob. "The
Indians do the same."
"Moses used to have the walls scraped for leprosy.
We think that it is a blood disease, but in view of the
recent researches in microbes, why was not Moses
right?" continued Mr. Lawrence, earnestly.
" There is no doubt that most of the old lawgiver's
precepts are founded upon the highest sanitary wis-
dom," said Dr. Cavallo. " Modern science is coming to
think his way, even to the practice of killing animals
for food, for the German army regulations now are about
adopting them almost in their smallest detail ! "
"The Jews," said Mr. Lawrence, "are a curious peo-
ple. There is no doubt in my mind that the time
will come when they will acknowledge Christ and
be gathered into the kingdom. Then they will reas-
semble in Jerusalem and we shall see the greatest
30 DOCTOR CAVALLO
spiritual government on earth. That they have been
reserved all of these years is only another instance of
the truth of Christianity. Only their own blindness of
mind and hardness of heart has kept them from the
light of the 'Holy One of Israel.' "
Cavallo made a gesture of dissent and then fell into
his gloomy fit again.
Bob laughed and said, "I told you, Doctor, that
when the governor got started on the Jews there is no
•whoa' to him.''
" Robert, I wish that you would learn to treat your
father with more respect," said Mr. Lawrence.
"Go on, father," said Bob, "I won't interrupt."
With the air of a man who has found his favorite
theme, Mr. Lawrence continued.
,l You must know, Doctor, that the early Puritans
in New England conceived the idea that their case
was similar to the Jews and so they took up the teach-
ings of Moses and applied them to themselves. I was
taught when young that it was wrong to have a fire on
the Sabbath day unless it was a case of necessity. The
meeting house was never warmed except by a foot
stove for the comfort of the very old. We used to
shiver all through the sermon, which sometimes would
be three hours long, and was never less than two
hours. 1 '
"Holy smoke," said Bob, rt these fifteen minute chaps
would not have stood much of a chance to get a con-
gregation then, would they?"
"Saturday afternoon we had to put away our things
when the sun went down and come into the house and
read our Bible until bed time. Sundays, a slight meal
in the morning, then church, then a cold lunch if we
DOCTOR CAVALLO 3 I
got any thing, then afternoon service. Then we stood
up around father and said the shorter catechism or we
sang psalms until dark and then we went to evening
meeting. But after sundown the strictness was re-
laxed and all the young fellows went to see their girls."
11 This was some compensation, at any rate," put in
Bob.
M In the week days we went to Wednesday evening
prayer meeting and monthly concert, where we heard
about the heathen. This was the way that the New
England youths were brought up, and it is the found-
ation, sir, of the sturdy men and of the independence
of this nation. All of the quotations were made from
the Bible, and the dagger of Ehud and the sword
of the Lord and of Gideon had a good deal to do
in achieving the independence of these colonies."
u I believe that I have imbibed some of father's
spirit, for I have always felt the greatest enthusiasm for
the Jews," said Margaret.
Cavallo turned upon her a glance of astonishment and
admiration.
" If I were a Jewish maiden," she continued, " I should
be proud of such a glorious race. I should prize above
everything the descent from Miriam and Deborah.
Here is a patent of nobility that far outranks any
other, — a patent that comes down in the very word of
God himself, and has the divine sanction. The deliver-
ance of women comes not from the texts of the latter-
day philosophy, but from the very inception of the
race ; from her who ' sounded the loud timbrel oyer
Egypt's dark sea ;' from her 'who judged Israel forty
years. 7 To be ashamed of this heritage, as were some
of my Jewish schoolmates, is to be ashamed of all
32 DOCTOR CAVALLO
that is greatest and best in history, to be ashamed of
the influences that have blessed the world, and given
rise to the greatest prophets and the greatest law-
givers, the wisest statesmen and the loftiest poets ! "
" Hooray, hooray ! Hear, hear. Daniel in the lion's
den ; Judith with the head of Holofernes ; Lot's wife
and the pillar of salt. Who had supposed that
Meg had so much poetry wrapped up in her soul ?
What do you say to that, doctor ? Doesn't that stir
your blood ?"
Cavallo had risen, and his pale cheek glowed with
the flush of his feelings. The girl whom he had thought
would despise and spurn him because of his race, had
risen to point out to him the path of duty. It sud-
denly showed him a strength of character, a purpose
lofty and heroic, that thrilled him like an electric
shock.
"Stir my blood ? indeed it does," he cried. "It is
a voice to me out of heaven, for I — I am a Jew."
CHAPTER V.
There was a pause, and for a time no one spoke.
The kitchen girl had come in with coal for the
grate, and as she stirred the ashes and shook down the
embers, every one felt a sense of relief for the inter-
ruption. Cavallo, himself, experienced a great feeling
of exultation. His secret was revealed, and he drew
himself up with a proud air of defiance. His nerves
tingled, and he realized that emotion which comes to
a man after the first shock of battle has passed — as if
he wished now to rush inter the fray. He had erected
the barrier which the prejudice of past ages had fur-
nished, and he felt, for the moment, how great was the
interval which those few words had made between
them.
Mr. Lawrence was the first to break silence. " My
dear sir, I am very glad to know this. Now, tell me all
about the Talmud."
Bob burst into a fit of laughter. u Father reminds
me of the little daughter of a Presbyterian clergy-
man. A visitor called one day to see her father,
and found no one at home but this little girl, aged ten.
He asked if her father was in. 'No,' she said, 'you
poor sinner, but if it is your sins that you come to in-
quire about, come right in. I understand the whole
scheme of salvation, and I will give it to you.' "
" I do not see, sir," remarked his father, "what there
is wrong in asking about the Talmud."
34 DOCTOR CAVALLO
"You seem to think," said Bob, "that the Talmud
is a book that you can read in the course of two days. 1 '
"Well, if it is not that, what is it?"
" Why," he answered, " it is a series of books. There
are some one hundred and twenty-nine in number. It
took a thousand years to compose them, and they com-
bine all the wisdom of a thousand years, — text, com-
mentary, parable, deduction, with a smattering of
everything under the sun — history, geography, soci-
ology, a treatise on all knowledge."
With the habitual reticence of the Jew on matters con-
cerning his faith, Cavallo had listened with ill-concealed
impatience. Finally, he said, "The true Jew does not
seek to impose his religious views upon others. He is
not engaged, like the rest of the world, in proselytizing.
His religion is a matter between himself and his God,
and he seeks no intermediary. We believe that religion
is a question of individual conscience. We do not seek
proselytes." ,
"The fact is," laughed Bob, "our people are always
trying to convert somebody. The Methodist is trying
to convert the Baptist, the Presbyterian is trying to win
over the Universalist ; the Episcopalian who believes in
high church looks upon the low churchman as little
better than an outsider ; while, when all is done, the
Salvation Army comes along, and sweeps in every one
who has escaped from the churches and taken to the
streets. As for the Christian Scientists, they do not
believe in anything but perfect absorption in their work,
and relegate everyone else to the ' demnition bow
wows/ "
" Why do not the Jews believe in conversions ? "
asked Mrs. Lawrence.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 35
"The lofty conception of the Jew," replied Cavallo,
" is too great to stoop to the arts of the propagandist.
His God lives serene and high, the Ruler, the Creator
of heaven and earth. Time and again the old prophets
inculcate the idea that he was only satisfied with a con-
trite heart and an humble spirit. To live in strict
obedience to the law, to worship him, with a life of jus-
tice, charity and peace to all men ; to contemplate him
was the highest conception of perfection, and to study
his law with the sole endeavor to continually reach a
purer and higher ideal. This is true Judaism, a practice
that is consistent with every advance in civilization,
every discovery of science, every step made for
humanity. ' Be of them that are persecuted rather than
of them that persecute,' may have been startlingly
new to the pagan Roman, but it was known to the Jews
long before the advent of Christianity. With this feel-
ing, the true Jew shrinks from the noisy clamour of the
sects whose only stock phrase is 'believe. 1 With him
religion is progressive, and is to be realized only by an
uncompromising life of piety and virtue. To depart
from it in a single instance is to profane this sentiment,
and to defile his thoughts is a sin. As for himself, he
does not understand how it is possible for a particle
of bread, under certain conditions, to transform the
whole physical frame, and without contrition or acts
indicating a desire for a higher life, take the partakers
into heaven — winning it by a trick, so to speak."
Margaret listened with absorbing interest. It was to
her a revelation, for she had no idea that the ancient
religion was anything more than unmeaning rites.
As for Mr. Lawrence, he was bewildered. He had
an idea that all the matters of belief, all the higher
36 DOCTOR CAVALLO
sentiments, had come in with the new dispensation, and
that the Jewish ceremonies were a mass of puerile
forms to which the race clung because they were under
a curse, like the spell of the witches of the middle ages,
which they would one day shake off, when the right
moment came. To find that they were actuated by
pure morality and an earnest desire for truth was some-
thing that never crossed his mind. He always prayed
for the Jews, coupling them and the heathen together,
but he had never been instructed as to why they
specially needed his prayers, except that they would
not see that the Messiah had already come.
"Judaism," said Cavallo, thoughtfully, "is the in-
spiration of humanity itself, for it alone satisfies the
conditions of a pure conception of the Creator, high,
serene, faultless, merciful, but dealing with his children
by means of immutable law. Upon this tenet is the
faith founded — immutable law. Sin must and will be
punished. To escape it the sinner must not sin. He
must keep the law, and to keep the law he must lead a
pure and blameless life. The essence of Judaism is
therefore not in leading a life of indifference and care-
lessness and then at the last moment by mumbling
some prayer or by purchasing the favor of the church,
get into heaven by a side door and thus cheat the devil.
High, lofty and ennobling, the Jew rises to the full con-
ception of his duty. By a life of study and thought
he prepares his mind for instruction and removes it
from the gross and heavy cares that afflict the soul and
weigh it down.
"Long before Humboldt enunciated it, the rabbis
taught that the universe is law. Long before Newton
demonstrated that the principle of gravitation operated
DOCTOR CAVALLO 37
upon all things, the rabbis insisted that the universe is
held in place by eternal principles, the violation of any,
even the smallest of which, would produce chaos. 1 '
"Almost thou persuadest me to be a Jew, 1 ' para-
phrased Bob.
" It was this lofty ideal that inspired the mind of the
great Baruch Spinoza,' 1 continued Cavallo, " and guided
him on in his pursuit of that philosophy by which he
lighted the torch of investigation and illuminated the
path along which Goethe, following after, transformed
modern Europe and set in motion a train of events that
have not yet ceased to operate. Why the great Mai-
monides himself said that the Bible must be construed
in line with known facts. If it differed from these its
saying must be conceived to be allegorical. This was
in the twelfth century. He is the great light of medi-
aeval Judaism. So far was he ahead of any Christian
writer that it is doubtful if any of the sects that then
filled Europe could even understand him, much less
follow in his footsteps."
"Why, this is certainly extraordinary; but my
dear doctor, where in the world is a man to find all of
this, for this is something quite new?" inquired Mr.
Lawrence.
" Consider for. a moment what Jewish philosophy
means, 1 ' replied the other. " Any other nation numbers
its writers by a small group and their work is crowded
into a few years. The whole Grecian cult is but about
six centuries. The Roman literature does not coyer
a much longer period, for it speedily became corrupt
under the imperial rule. German literature was so
rude even in the days of Frederick the Great that he
would not speak the language of his mother tongue,
38 DOCTOR CAVALLO
but said it was only fit for the pigs. English literature
dates from the days of good Queen Bess, and she lived
in the sixteenth century. The Jewish literature comes
down in an unbroken line from the days of Moses, for
there is no doubt that the great lawgiver laid down
those rules that have been the admiration of all suc-
ceeding ages. These rules were given seven hundred
years before Homer, and how they dwarf the senti-
ments expressed in the old Grecian bard with its sav-
age details of slaughter — its ill-treatment of its cap-
tives and its private revenges."
"The Jews were not much behind. See how Samuel
served Agag," Bob put in.
"Yes, all of which proves that the code was far in
advance of the age. The Mosaic code says 'thou shalt
not oppress the stranger, for thou wast a bondman in
Egypt.' "
"What a magnificent rule of mercy is that," replied
Cavallo. " No other creed ever came up to it and it
was given when all the world was wrapped in bar-
barism. Can any one blame the old rabbis for be-
lieving that a thing that was so far advanced, so great, so
beneficent, so filled with the highest truth, must have
been communicated by God himself in the thunders of
Mt. Sinai."
" I believe it was," said Mr. Lawrence.
" Be careful, father, or the doctor will have you in the
synagogue with a praying shawl around your neck
chanting Hebrew," interrupted Bob. "You would make
a fine old rabbi."
"In addition to this," said Cavallo, continuing, for
he saw that Margaret was listening to him, and this was
a direct spur to his thoughts, "the Jewish faith is the
DOCTOR CAVALLO 39
only one that is progressive. Every other one starts
with the idea that the whole truth has been revealed,
that man has been told all that he can ever know, and
there is no progress possible. For two thousand years
the Christian church has been steadily fighting science.
When it was not roasting Jews, it was hunting victims
who taught that the earth was round, that the sun is
the center of our solar system, that the sun and moon
did not stand still and that the phenomenon of nature
cannot be changed by the exorcism of a priest. The
Jews were constantly enlarging the bounds of knowl-
edge. The doctrine of evolution with them had full
play. The code of Moses was enlarged by the oral
law. The oral law was enlarged by the commentaries
and those in turn were supplemented by new declara-
tions. Such men as Maimonides laid down principles
far in advance of their time, and their teachings were
received by the great body of their countrymen. The
vitality of Judaism consists in this fact, that it has ad-
vanced not always as rapidly as it should, but as
rapidly as it was able to perceive the truth. It has, to
use an expression, grown like a tree, always at the top,
and the lower branches have steadily decayed and
dropped off. This is what makes it the hope of the
future. 1 '
"The hope of the future," objected Bob. "You are
putting it pretty strong."
" Because it, and it alone, offers the conditions of
advancement. The religious principle is the one thing
in man's nature that has resisted the shock of time. It
is a necessary part of him, and it must and will make
itself felt. Judaism is the only belief that matches the
latest scientific facts. That is, the feeling that there
40 DOCTOR CAVALLO
is an overwhelming, overmastering force in the world,
who rules it by means of fixed and definite laws. This,
science is beginning to express and formulate. Now,
it is impossible to prevent the human mind from ex-
pressing its sense of depending upon this force in some
form or other. The notion that it can be propitiated
by some sort of subterfuge, by saying so many prayers,
or by telling beads, or by professing that by means of
a mediator its laws can be set aside and the punish-
ment that follows sin avoided, is to the Jew rank heresy
— nothing more nor less."
"This is deism pure and simple," interposed Mr.
Lawrence, on whom this philosophy was almost lost.
"You may call it what you like, but it is modern
Judaism, and it is consistent with the broadest humani-
tarian ideas. This sentiment does not content itself
with flinging a penny to the beggar, and satisfied that
it has condoned a sin by its charity, takes its way along,
giving the subject no further thought, but it goes down
into the slums and cleanses them. It feels that as long
as one human being lacks the necessities of life its mis-
sion is not fulfilled. It brings to this work the best
scientific instruction. It protests against corruption in
the government, against filth in the streets, against ill-
crowded apartments, against oppression everywhere.
It lifts its voice against wrong, and it is not satisfied
with temporary measures, but it wants to go to the root
of the matter. I say, as the rabbis said of old, that
every one engaged in the work of uplifting humanity
will have a share in the future life, no matter what
church he belongs to, what creed he professes ; for
he has subscribed to the great principle, the vital, liv-
ing soul of Judaism ! "
DOCTOR CAVALLO 4 1
" It is not Judaism, but Christianity, that should re-
ceive the credit for this/' insisted Mr. Lawrence.
" All that is best in Christianity, 1 ' replied Cavallo,
41 it took from Judaism ; its charity, its fellowship, its
elevation of women, its hope, its better impulses.
When it absorbed the domineering principles, the old
beliefs, the worship of images, of dependence upon a
mediator, it fell away from the old faith, and, in this,
fails to answer the altered conditions of the human
mind. In so far it is not progressive. The Jew has
always been as far in the vanguard of religious thought
as he has in commerce, law, medicine and the arts, and it
is because he is progressive that he represents the high-
est aspiration, not only of this but of all ages. People
who see him with his curls plastered on his temples and
his phylacteries bound on his forehead and his arm,
may laugh at him, but these are the links that bind him
to the past and that save him from being swept en-
tirely away. They teach him, at all events, respect for
law."
"Well," said Bob, " this is as good as anything that
St. Paul ever wrote. I am going to copy it off, and
head it, 4 The Gospel of St. Cavallo to the Lawrences.' "
The doctor felt annoyed. He had been carried away
by the warmth of his feelings, and his pent-up spirits
led him to say far more than he intended, and far
more than he would have done at any other time and
place. He detested discussion and hated debate, most
of all a discussion upon these matters. He had pon-
dered over them long and thoroughly, and he had come
to some conclusions about them, but Bob's remark
smote upon his ear.
Mr. Lawrence took up the thread of the discourse,
42 DOCTOR CAVALLO
and gave a long lecture upon what he considered the
true status of the question, openly saying that the time
would come when the Jews would seek the promised
land.
This led Bob to make a good-natured calculation as
to how many the promised land would hold, and what
they would do when they got there, and various other
sarcastic remarks tending to discredit his father's
theory.
Mr. Lawrence, however, was too full of his subject to
mind the reflections cast upon his ideas by his son.
Having conceived that the Jews were ultimately to be
redeemed and saved according to the formula laid
down in the books, it was now merely a question of
time with him. To be sure certain contingencies came
up, such as the battle of Armageddon, the beast with
seven heads and ten horns, the valley of dry bones, and
the other mystic notions, much dwelt on by those
writers who wish to reduce the visions in the books of
Daniel and Ezekiel to the exactness of a mathematical
formula.
Little heed did Cavallo pay to them. His thoughts
were far away. He leaned his head upon his hand and
gave himself up to reverie.
Margaret alone saw that he was disturbed, and she
said, timidly :
'* Doctor, you have given us all new light. What you
have said is, indeed, a revelation, and I can understand
what is meant when it speaks of one whose lips have
been touched with a live coal from off the altar.
What a glorious future you have before you."
Cavallo looked at her inquiringly.
She went on: "Why, to live this ideal life — to ex-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 43
emplify it, to show the world that the conception of
the Jew is a higher and nobler one than those who
sneer at him ; to be able to say with just pride ' I am a
Jew, and as such, I challenge all the world to surpass
me in the high attributes that adorn humanity, and that
illustrate the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood
of Man.' "
His enthusiasm rose, his eye sparkled, and his breast
heaved. "You recall me to myself," he cried. " I will
do it. To live this life, yes, this is, indeed, god-like ;
and one who strives, even though he falls short, may
well say, i I have done all that may become a man !' "
The subject was too much, and he stopped. Then he
added, in a lower tone to her, "You have been my in-
spiration, my better angel."
She held out her hand to him. "You need no in-
spiration," she softly answered, " but no wavering."
The conversation lagged. Bob descended to trivial-
ities, and, finally, the doctor took his leave.
As he went out no one spoke, until Mr. Lawrence
arose and stirred the fire in the grate vigorously. Then
he said :
"Splendid fellow, that doctor, and can't he talk,
though. What a great pity it is that he is a Jew."
"Oh, I don't know," said Bob. "It don't make
much difference nowadays. These Jews get on. They
all make money and enjoy themselves. For my part,
I think about as much of a man if he is a Jew as if he
isn't."
"A man is pretty much what his mother's creed
makes him. He may think that he has outgrown it,
but in middle age and in old age, particularly, he comes
back to it. Heredity is a great deal stronger than
44 DOCTOR CAVALLO
grace. Put four thousand years of breeding behind
a man, and what is he going to do ?"
"What do you think of him, now, Margaret ?" in-
quired her mother.
Margaret did not reply for the moment. She was
engaged in looking into the fire. Then she said,
slowly, " I think as father does, that it is a great pity
that he is a Jew, but what a mistake there would have
been if he had been born anything else ?"
CHAPTER VI.
Mr. Timothy Dodd sat in Dr. Cavallo's office looking
the picture of solid satisfaction. He wore one of the
doctor's cast off suits which fitted him tolerably well.
He had a silk hat on his head which he always put on
when the doctor went out. and carefully took off
again as soon as he saw the doctor coming back. Now
he had swept the office, dusted it, built a fire, and draw-
ing up a chair, he proceeded to light one of the doc-
tor's cigars and smoke it with an apparent relish.
Timothy had begun life at the very foot of the lad-
der. As soon as he could toddle he sold papers; then
he blackened boots. He was getting a little too large
for this occupation when he attracted the notice of Dr.
Cavallo, who took him in as stable boy, and all around
helper generally. He was very subservient at the be-
ginning, but lately he had begun to put on airs, and
now whatever the doctor owned he considered belonged
to them both ; he smoked his cigars on the sly. and
was rapidly growing into a vast conceit with himself.
He picked up the morning paper and settled himself
down in the chair with due professional gravity, when
the door opened and a thin, pale faced woman came in.
She bore the marks of hard work ; her hands showed
that she had spent many a day at the wash tub, and her
face was marked by those heavy lines that come early
and stay late on people of her class.
46 - DOCTOR CAVALLO
Timothy saw her and he became twice as dignified as
before, and only said, "Take a sate, Mrs. O'Hara. It's
the dochter ye want, I'm thinkin'."
Mrs. O'Hara broke out at once :
" It's him, the blessed man; I'm that sick I cud faint,
and there's me old man doubled up with the rheuma-
tics, and wid a pain in his back."
"Pain in his back?" echoed Tim. "He have plum-
bago, luk out, its ketchin'."
" Phat's that ye say, Tim?" she inquired anxiously.
"Mrs. O'Hara," returned Tim, "whin a man is de-
votin' his days to the interest of his profession and his
noits to the study of the principles of science, its little
enough that you moit gev him a title showin' jue re-
spict, if not to the man, at laist to the intilligence that
he's sthrivin' after. There air people in the worrld that
do be callin' me Misther Dodd."
"Saints preserve us," rejoined the old lady. "Whin
did the young rooster get his spurs. Luk at that, and
luk at that. I, who was prisint at his birth whin his
mother, God rist her sowl, did'nt have the wealth of a
second-hand blanket to wrap him in. ' Misther Dodd,'
indade. Could ye git a bucket large enough, young
feller, to soak yer hid."
" Janious is ever the child of poverty, Mrs. O'Hara,"
said Tim, who knew that it would never do to get the
old woman started on his pedigree.
"The Doddses have been nursed by affliction and wint
hungry through want, but they niver complained and
they always came to the fore with ideas, which is, in
the long run, worth more than dollars. It is not boast-
in' I am," he added, seeing that the old lady was about
to start in again, "but I am studying the science of
medsin."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 47
"Ye air, air ye. Well, now, Tim, that's a good thing,
too, an' I trust ye'll do well at it."
"Its not a light thing, Mrs. O'Hara. In the first
place, ye have to master the essentials, then ye take up
the corporosities, and after ye have that ye are in a fit
condition to ondersthand the perdicamints. Ye air then,
Mrs. O'Hara, as ye might say, on the very treshold
of the science. After that, when ye have the essen-
tials and the corporosities and the perdicamints down
foine, as ye may say, ye may begin on the treshold of
the thary of medsin. No sooner do ye get that,
then, but not till then, do ye begin worruk on the
practice. You may do all of this, havin', as I said be-
fure, the essentials and the corporosites and the pre-
dicamints and the thary, but widout the practice ye
might stharve to death.* There air those, to be sure,
who begin at the practice without having mastered the
others, and thim, Mrs. O'Hara, is quacks. But ye hev
to study, Mrs. O'Hara. Take the dochter, now, he
knows siven languages."
"Does he, and phat are they ?"
"In the furrst place, he knows American, and thin he
knows English, and after that he knows German, and
thin comes High Dootch, and following that is low
Dootch and thin Dootch. 1 '
"That's six," said Mrs. O'Hara, who had kept count.
"Yes, in addition to that he knows how to write
orthers for the droog sthures. Ye might go up and
down, and down and up, Mrs. O'Hara, and find men
otherwise well educated who couldn't by any man-
ner of means read the orthers on a droog sthure."
"They's writ in Latin," remarked Mrs. O'Hara,
"same as the blissid prayer book."
48 DOCTOR CAVALLO
"There's where ye make a mistake and fall into an
error, Mrs. O'Hara," said Tim. " I asked the dochter
if they was Latin, and he said anything but Latin, an'
he knows."
"Tim," cried the old lady in a burst of admiration,
"ye talk like a scule master. Air ye far on to it? 1 '
"I am jist troo wid the essentials and am gettin' on
to the corporosities. A man came in here the other
day, and sez he to me, sez he, 'Misther Dodd,'" for
Tim wanted to impress the old lady that she ought to
call him by his title. "'Misther Dood,' says he, 'I
do be bavin' an appendix.' Ah, ha, says I, cut it aff,
says I, and Dr. Cavalloo burst out laughin', says he,
•Tim, ye couldn't hev giv a better answer nor that, if
ye had all the laming of the siven colleges in your
hid.' "
"It's an aisy life," said Mrs. O'Hara, looking around
and contrasting it with what she knew of the hardships
of a laborer's lot.
" Is it," sneered Tim, contemptuously, " much you
know about it. In the first place, you have to be that
quick that a minit a man comes in here you can clap
yer eye on him, and say, 'That man is sick.' "
" Af coorse," replied Mrs. O'Hara, contemptuously, in
her turn, "he wuldn't be comin' here unless he was
sick."
" Wudn't he," returned Tim, triumphantly. " Listen
to the ignorance of her. Why, here's the place they
come ; and the doctor sez, sez he, there is siveral kinds
of disayses that affects us. There's fevers and there's
colds, and there's janders and there's sickness. Now,
ye hev to be that quick that you can tell whin a man
has janders or whin he is only sick. 1 '
DOCTOR CWALLO 49
" But what wuld a man be comin' up here for pro-
vidin 1 he was well ?"
Tim looked cautiously around to see that no one was
listening, and then he said, mysteriously, " Insurance."
"Whin his house burns down? 1 ' said she, with a
puzzled air.
" No," said Tim, more mysteriously than ever, "whin
he is a chate. Sh — h. Mony a man with a big policy
has cum up these stairs pretendin' to be dead, demand-
in' his money, whin the docther takes wan luk at him,
and sez, sezs he, fixin' his glitterin' eye on him, ' Ye're
a liar,' says he, 'git out,' and they go down that there
stairs as well as ever they was in their life. Mrs.
O'Hara, if it wasn't for the honesty of that man and
his assistant, if I do say it meself, there wuldn't be wan
sthroke of wurrk done in this town, but every man wuld
be livin' on weekly wages, drawn from the insurance
societies. Whin a man devotes his time and his bodily
powers, Mrs. O'Hara, to buildin' up his intilligence, it's
little enough that people can do is to takeoff their hats
to him. It isn't that I care to be called l Misther'
Dodd, but it's the rispict due to the profession."
Mrs. O'Hara paid no attention to this hint. She
wasn't going to call a boy that she had known ever
since he was able to build mud pies, and whom she had
often chased out of her back yard with a broom, by any
such title. So she sighed heavily, and said, "I wish
the doctor would come. My old man is that sick that
I fear to lave him alone."
"It is plumbago," said Tim again. "What he needs
is physic."
" For a pain in the back ? Get out," returned the
old lady. " Phat he needs is something to rub on."
50 DOCTOR CAVALLO
"Ye'll axcuse me, Mrs. O'Hara," said Tim, "thesay-
cret of disayse is to expel the humors from the body.
Physic is the groundwurrk of the thary of medsin,
and widout it the noble profession wud fall to the
ground."
" Get out, 1 ' she said, " it's little you know about it."
"Ye don't know me, Mrs, O'Hara," returned Tim.
" Before many years that sign that now hangs out of
dures will contain the names of 4 Cavalloo & Dodd,
Physicians and Sturgeons. 7 "
"Sturgeons," laughed Mrs. O'Hara. "Ye don't
know the name of yer own business ; sturgeons is fish."
" Fish it may be in wan sinse," said Tim, unwilling
to acknowledge that he had made a bull, "and yit, in
another and larger sinse, it manes a man of sience,
who cuts up people alive, clanes their insideswith acids
and ointments, and then sews them up as well as ever."
14 Saints preserve us," said the old lady, shuddering,
M ye don't do that here ?"
44 We don't, maybe, and then, again, maybe we do.
Luk here," and Tim, swinging wide open the closet
door, showed to the astonished woman a skeleton.
She gave one yell and sank back in the chair. Tim
closed the door and went back to his seat, chuckling
under a grim demeanor. " That," said he, " was a man
like you, who came here only last week, and sez he to the
doctor: * I am that sick I can't walk ' ; and the doctor
says he to him, ' lave yer bones here till next week,
and come around, and I'll have time to study up yer
case and attind to the matter, I think, sezs he, that yer
sick' ; and that man did that same, and after scrapin'
the bones and washin' them we found out what ailed
him, and we shall get him sthraitened up in good shape
against he comes back."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 5 I
" Phat ailded him," querried the old lady, visibly im-
pressed by the sight.
"Well, he had miasma, and had it bad, but we've got
the better of it now, and the remedies that we have
applied is that powerful that it'll niver come back."
" It's mighty funny ye are, Mr. Tim Dodd,and smart
to try to froighten me, but don't be too top-minded
wid yer talk. Ye think that ye'll be in partnership wid
the dochter, but I cud tell ye that about him that wud
make yer two eyes bug out, mind that."
"Ye can tell me nothin' in regaard to that man. I
know him better than he knows himself," said Tim.
* I know his goins out and his comins in, what he aits
and what clothes he wears, and how he spinds his
money. Be gad, I know that, too."
"Oh, ye do, do ye; very well, did ye know, then,
that he was a Jew. Moind that, Mr. Tim Dodd, moind
that; 1
" I moind that, an' I know it's a lie," said Tim. " He
is an Eyetalian."
" An Eyetalian — a Dago," she returned with scorn,
" and peddles bananas, does he. No, he is a Jew."
11 It's a lie, that's what it is ; he is a gintleman, furrin'
born, and a man who would scorn such a dirty insinu-
ation, Mrs. O'Hara. I demand yer proof."
"Oh, ho, ye know so much. Thin I have it from his
own mouth. He was up at Lawrence's the other noight,
and when they abused the Jews, he got up, and said
he, ' I am a Jew,' said he, roight before them all ; and the
gurrl, who is my own niece, heard him at the time, for
she was putting some coals on the grate."
"Ah," said Tim, with an air of indifference, "he is
no Jew. Ye niver see a Jew in the larned professions.
52 DOCTOR CAVALLO
They sell clothin', or they buy old iron, or they peddle
segars. He was declaimin', that's what he was doin'.
He will get up here and talk out of book for hours.
I've heard him say it more times than there are hairs
on yer head, Mrs. O'Hara, 'I'm a Jew, give me me
pound of flesh.' D'ye spose he wanted to ait the mate
that he called for in that way ? No, it's in the play."
44 It's not in the play ; for when he said it, he stood
up bold-like, Nora said, and it kem out wid thot force
and foire that scared the gurrl, she bein' but a young
thing, and she kem over and tould me, and me old man,
sez he, 4 that's it, he's a Christ-killer. 7 "
"Holy Mother," said Tim, "phat if it should be
thrue. He's a villain in disguise, and I've been waitin 7
on him and tratin 7 him like wan of us. There's no
thrustin 7 to appearances. He maybe a Toork, — and
why do ye come to him, Mrs. O'Hara ? "
u It's aginst the grain that I do, but I only found it
out last noight, and he do be so kind and tinder.
The rist of the dochters they come in, and they gev a
prescription and go out, and say, * get this filled,' whin,
perhaps, phat wid Pat's sickness, there won't be the
forty cints in the house to get the medsin wid, and
we that poor that the childer hav'nt got shoes to go to
choorch. It lay sore aginst my haart that he shud be
that kind of a man, and we lovin' him so. Here he
comes now."
Even as she spoke Dr. Cavallo came in.
Tim slipped his hat off his head and into a drawer,
and when the doctor entered he was the same servant
that he had been, but there was a puzzled look on his
face, and it was easy to see that it cost him an effort to
pay the doctor the same respect that was his wont.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 53
His idol had been shattered, and he was unable for the
moment to erect another in its place. He slowly went
down stairs shaking his head.
The doctor drew up a chair, and asked the old lady
after her maladies.
She began querously enough to give her troubles,
but as she went on she resumed the old tale of distress.
" Pat was sick ; the oldest boy had gotten out on the
street and was a member of a tough gang of hoodlums,
and she was fearful that any night she would hear of
his arrest. The girls had gone, to work in a factory,
but it had failed, and they had lost two weeks 1 wages.
She was sick and discouraged, and she had a pain in the
breast, that prevented her working over the wash-tub,
and the Chinese laundries took all of her best custom-
ers. Pat had had a job as laborer on the streets, but a
change of administration had dropped him, and in
working for a private contractor, a bank of earth had
caved in and injured him, so that now he had a pain in
his back that prevented him from working, and winter
was coming on, and starvation stared them in the face. 1 '
The doctor listened with sympathy, although he had
heard the tale many times before. He gave her some
medicine for Pat, and told her that he would call to
see him in the morning ; bid her to be cheerful and not
be cast down, that times would mend, work was cer-
tain to be plenty in the near future. Finally putting
something into her palm, he said, gently, " Now, Mrs.
O'Hara, promise me that you won't scrub any more
this week ; promise me this before you go. Take one
week off, and try and get rested."
She opened her hand, and saw in the palm a five-
dollar bill. She burst into a passionate storm of weep-
54 • DOCTOR CAVALLO
ing : " Ah. dochter, dochter, an' I said ye were a Jew."
She cried again in going down the steps, and said, " An'
I called ye a Jew ; God bless ye."
At this remark a bitter smile flitted across the Doc-
tor's face. He felt that this was the beginning of his
contest.
CHAPTER VII.
Dr. Cavallo had had a hard day's work and he entered
his office just at dusk with a sense of utter weariness.
He had been down into the lower part of the city and
the scenes of want and destitution that he had wit-
nessed angered and disgusted him. He felt that every
member of the city Board of Health was criminally
neglecting his duties, and he determined that he would
take the whole matter in hand at an early day and see if
he could not do something towards alleviating the
misery of a nest of wretched souls that inhabited a
long conglomeration of buildings known as "Abbott's
Row." It was with this thought in his mind that he
saw on his table a telegram, and picking it up and
opening it he read the following :
On train, Oct. 12th, 189 — .
Maurice Cavallo.
Look for me on train 6:30.
Your Uncle.
This recalled to his mind the fact that he had, a week
before, received a letter from his maternal uncle, Abra-
ham Mendez, telling him that he would be in New York
on business and that he might come west and call on
him. So the telegram, while it was a surprise, was not
wholly unexpected. This uncle he had not seen since
56 DOCTOR CAVALLO
he was a lad in London. Mendez was a kindly soul,
his mother's brother. He came over weekly from Hol-
land following his calling, which was that of a diamond
broker, and in these weekly pilgrimages he seldom for-
got his young nephew. Cavallo also smiled to himself
as he now recalled how exact his uncle used to be in
the performance of his religious duties and how he had
once rebuked his nephew with some asperity for omit-
ting some part of his morning prayer.
He looked at his watch. He had fifteen minutes in
which to make the train. To jump into his overcoat,
get into his carriage and drive towards the depot was
the work of a second, and he had no trouble in getting
there before the train came in.
There was the usual bustle as the train made its ap-
pearance, and as it gave the preliminary toots and then
drew into the depot he stationed himself where he
could see the passengers get off. He watched the
effusive greetings that ensued between a family party,
some of whose members had returned from a visit and
the rest that had come down to the depot to greet
them with much noise and demonstration of wordy
welcome. He saw the whole coach empty itself, and
he was about turning away when from the rear end he
saw a man whose looks showed that he was past sixty
but his step still had the elasticity of middle life. He
was compact and heavy set. His dress indicated that
his clothes were foreign made. He was loaded down
with portmanteaus, but Cavallo recognized him in an
instant. While years had passed since he saw him, his
features had not changed, and Cavallo went up and
greeted him. The old man grasped him by the hand
and then imprinted a kiss on both his cheeks, exclaim-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 57
ing in Hebrew, in a broad, resonant voice, "Shallom
alaichem." (This is, M Peace be unto you," the common
salutation.)
After this he held the doctor out under the gas light
and took a long look at him, turning around and gazing
at him as if he were a gem. Then he kissed him once
more and said, "Well, it's the same face. You have
grown taller, but I would have recognized you any
where. You look like your poor mother, " Olehu
hashalom (" May peace be to her." No pious Jew ever
speaks of a departed female relative without saying
-Olehu hashalom.")
Cavallo finally broke away long enough to gather his
bundles together, put the old man into his vehicle, and
soon landed him at the office door. He brought him
in, helped him to remove his overcoat, and sat him
in a chair. Then followed inquiries about his trip and
his health and the doctor suggested that they go to
supper. The old gentleman, not heeding the invita-
tion, looked about, keenly scrutinizing everything.
The orifice, while not gorgeous, was comfortable, show-
ing great taste. There were two or three rare prints
on the wall, the rugs had been carefully dusted by Tim,
and every thing was in place. The instruments which
Tim always took great delight in exhibiting, were dis-
played so that they could be easily seen. A cheerful
fire was burning in the grate, and Cavallo took a secret
pride in seeing that his uncle's eyes took in everything
and that he was making a mental note of his surround-
ings. The old gentleman completed his inventory of
the things in the room and then rising from his chair
he went to the book case, evidently loooking for some
familiar volume, but he seemed to miss something, for
he^came back and stood musing by the fire.
58 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Cavallo said to him again, that as he was hungry
after his long ride, they better get supper, and they
went out together. The old gentleman, on going out,
stopped as they passed the door, turned back and
shook his head sadly, but said nothing and followed
Cavallo down stairs and on the sidewalk. Cavallo
walked along with a feeling of pleasure. Here was his
only relative on this side of the water. The kindly
manner of the old man sent a glow through his soul.
It brought back to him again the days of his childhood
and the hours that he had passed as a youth when some
of his pleasantest recollections were, when under his
father's roof, this good old man had been so great a
delight and when his visits had been so warmly wel-
comed. He could hardly express his joy as they
walked along and he recalled to his uncle's mind the
days when he was carried on the old man's shoulder
and when he used to play his boyish pranks about
him. In memory of those days he burst into a musical
laugh, at which his uncle inquired, " Why do you laugh,
Maurice?" Cavallo said, u Uncle, I was just thinking,
do you remember when you came on ' Chanukah' and
you brought me a 'tendril,' and then I told you that
I would rather have a Christmas tree. I shall never
forget the horrified expression of your face and how
poor mother shrieked. Uncle, I have laughed at that
more than once."
"Yes, Maurice, you were always noted for your good
memory," replied his uncle, with the air of a man ab-
sorbed in thought.
By this time they had reached the fashionable res-
taurant of the city, and entering, Maurice sat his uncle
down at a table, and placed a bill of fare in his hand.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 59
The obsequious waiter came up, and said to the old
gentleman, "Let me take your hat."
The other shook his head, replying, " Oh, I will keep
mine on."
The waiter stared, and then nodded, and remarked
under his breath to the doctor, u Quaker?' 1 but the
other made no reply.
Turning to his uncle, he facetiously remarked, " I
had almost forgotten, I see that you have not changed
much since the last time you boxed my ears for having
skipped a page of the 'Benschen' (grace after meal),
but never mind, see what will you have ? "
It seemed that all Cavallo's exuberance was entirely
lost on the old man. He was absorbed in brown study,
apparently directed to the bill of fare, for he studied it
as if it were a diamond, and he was trying to detect
a flaw in it. Finally, he laid it down, and said, sternly,
" Maurice, are you mocking me ? "
"Why," replied Maurice, laughingly, "mocking you,
uncle." Then checking himself, as a new light sud-
denly dawned upon him, he said, apologetically, "Well,
this is the very best restaurant in town, I surely would
not take you to any other place, uncle, and believe me,
I had forgotten all about ' kosher.' You see that I
have been away from home for so many years that I
have almost outgrown all the old customs."
Here he was interrupted by his uncle, who said : " I
knew that, in America, Judaism was lax and destructive,
but, on my life, never could I believe that my own
sister's son had so far forsaken his father's religion."
" Forsaken his father's religion, uncle ? "
"Aye, aye, what else, what else do you call this I At
your office I noticed in coming in, that the sacred
60 DOCTOR CAVALLO
1 Mezzuzah ' was not on your door post." (The " Mez-
zuzah" is a piece of parchment with a glass eye in
the center, and the word "Shaddai" on it.)
" AmoHg your books I in vain looked for the l Torah'
or any other holy book." (The " Torah " is the
Pentateuch.)
" Now, in addition to this, you take your old uncle,
who has come over the sea a long distance to see the
child of his only sister, you take him to a Trafe res-
taurant." (That is, ritually, forbidden. Trafe is the
opposite of 4I kosher' 7 ; the latter represents things
that the Jews may eat, and the other that they may
not.)
" I am sixty years of age," added the old man, " trav-
eled have I extensively, much I have seen, but praised
be God, never was I culpable and guilty of eating any-
thing that was ' trafe.' "
Cavallo attempted to speak, but the old man went on.
"Think of how your poor mother's bones would
tremble in her grave if she could realize what a depth
of sin her son has descended to. You, Maurice, the
descendant of Rabbi Yechiel Ben Mannaseh — l Zich-
rono livrocho ' (may his memory be blessed) — the
Tzaadik who defended Israel's religion ; whose soul was
so holy that, like Daniel of old, the flames had no
power over him, and he went dancing to his death
mocking his tormentors, and whose mind left ' Yeru-
shah ' (a legacy) of large volumes of 'Meforshim'
(commentaries) — that you could have fallen from that
holy influence."
The doctor, dreading a scene in that public place,
suggested that he could eat something, and that they
would discuss these points in his office. The old man
DOCTOR CAVALLO 6l
ruefully told the waiter to bring him some eggs, tea,
and toast without butter.
Cavallo, respecting the prejudices of his uncle, gave
a similar order, and they ate their meal in silence.
After this had been done, Cavallo inquired after his
home folks, his cousins and the family gossip, so dear
to the heart of the Jew, among whom the family ties
are the strongest of any people on earth. Then they
returned to the office. Here the doctor pulled out his
box of cigars, and asked his uncle to take a smoke.
The old man joined him, and then Cavallo said :
"Uncle, I am sorry that this thing happened to hurt
your feelings. It was unintentional ; knowing that
everything else has changed in the last twenty years, I
had thought that these forms had suffered change, too,
as they have in the United States."
" Change," echoed the old gentleman, " do you mean
that the laws of God are liable to change ? When God
laid them down in his own l Torah' (the law, or scrip-
ture.) And is it not written that this 'Torah' will
never be changed ? "
" So," replied Cavallo, u you really mean to say, uncle,
that it is necessary, in order to remain a Jew, for one to
stick to all of the old customs and ceremonies and
forms that were given to a people whose civilization
was so unlike ours."
" Necessary ! " repeated the old gentleman, " it is
necessary. This is Judaism, it is obligatory."
" Now, uncle, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but
I can take you to some of your co-religionists in this
city whose whole life is wrapped up in this ceremonial
law. They live l kosher,' indeed, but they are any-
thing but a credit to their religion or their race. On
62 DOCTOR CAVALLO
the other hand, I can show you Jews who do not care
for the small details, but who lead upright lives filled
with charity and humanity. With the one Judaism is
simply dead legalism, with the other, it is a high and
lofty guide, dealing with the love of humanity."
"You," said the old man, slowly, "are losing your
Judaism."
" And you," returned the other, " are losing your
hold upon the rising generation. They will not sub-
mit to these little ceremonies. Now, you will, if you
cling to them, have no following. You must come up
to the recognition of this fact, that Judaism must keep
step with the age. If it doesn't it will be lost."
The old man seemed absorbed in thought. He
smoked slowly, and finally he asked :
"Is there no Jewish congregation in the city?"
" Oh, yes, there is a Jewish congregation, but I must
confess that I have no time to spare to idle away in
their society. I know some of the people of our faith,
some of them are capital fellows, one family in particu-
lar here, I am on very good terms with, but I have
never told them and they do not suspect that I am a
Jew."
''Don't suspect that you are a Jew?" retorted the old
man. "Are you then ashamed of it? Look at your
fathers in Spain? When they were forced to wear a
yellow badge ; when to be a Jew was a disgrace and
they were in danger of the stake. Did they swerve?
When whole committees were expelled from that land
the choice was offered them to retain their faith and
be driven out, or give it up and keep their high posi-
tions. Did they bend the knee? And are you ashamed
of this glorious ancestry?"
DOCTOR CAVALLO 63
"Oh, ashamed," answered Cavallo. M I have never in-
timated that I was, uncle. When it comes to that I am
as proud of it as you or any one, but I am not called
upon to proclaim my religion from the house tops. I
am not given to boasting of my own deeds, but I am
trying to live up to the teachings of the prophets. To
me, Judaism is not confined to the utensils of the
kitchen. It is not stored away in certain books, nor is
it wrapped up in obsolete customs."
a What do you mean by your Judaism, "almost sneered
his uncle.
M My Judaism," quietly replied Cavallo, "is a religion
of broad justice, of far reaching humanity, of uncom-
promising virtue, of abounding love to all who are in
need of sympathy and help as set forth by our teachers,
Moses, Isaiah, Amos and the other great lights."
"Tut, tut," retorted his uncle, curtly. "What is the
difference between a Christian and a Jew, then?'
"Difference ! none that I know of," said Cavallo.
"None," shrieked his uncle, "none, you say. Have
I lived these years to have my religious feelings out-
raged by mine own nephew? None! Have we Jews
been persecuted, slaughtered, spit upon, and mal-
treated these hundreds of years for nothing?"
"You mistake, uncle," answered Cavallo, with calm
dignity, "I meant to say that the Christian who prac-
tices broad charity and benevolence and lives up to the
principles of justice and mercy is in my humble opinion
a better Jew than the Jew who lives up to the dietary
law, believes in the old ceremonies, hugs the old ritual,
clings to the old dead husks of the superstitious ages,
but is indifferent to the principles of humanity. It is
these people that have rendered the name of Jew ob-
64 DOCTOR CAVALLO
noxious to society. They have in the past thrown the
Jew into a Ghetto and to-day he is looked upon by
many with prejudice and even with hate.
" No difference, hey ! No difference between a Jew
and a Christian? 1 ' murmured Mr. Mendez, in whose
mind these words seemed to have burned their way
and to whom Cavallo's outbursts were entirely lost.
He relapsed into a stage of profound astonishment,
only stopping occasionally to stare at his nephew, and
shake his head. Finally he said, " How is the teach-
ing of our holy religion? Doesn't it say we are a holy
people, the chosen people, and only us did God select
from all the nations of the earth?"
"Science does not mention any selection, except
' natural selection,'" said Cavallo. "The blood of the
Jew doesn't show under the microscope to be any
different from the blood of the Gentile, nor is there
any difference in his anatomy. The psychologist has
not discovered that there is any difference in the mind
of the Jew from that of any other race except it be
that he is a little quicker to think."
"What did our prophets then mean," retorted his
uncle, "by calring us a chosen people. Are you deny-
ing this?' 7
•'The Jews were a chosen people, just as other races
like the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans were
chosen to perform certain functions. So far as the
Jew is concerned he took upon himself in the dark
ages of the world to teach lessons of religion. Hence
he has had greater responsibilities thrust upon him,
which, if he is true to his calling, he must exemplify to
the world."
Mr. Mendez could only shake his head, and after
DOCTOR CAVALLO 65
pulling at his cigar, he found that it had gone out. He
lighted another, and after getting it fairly started, he
uttered, in a voice of deep dejection: "No difference ;
no difference between a Jew and a Christian, and he
mine own nephew ! "
"Uncle, you seem to take my remarks very much at
heart," added Cavallo. "They were innocently made,
but let us be a little more serious about it. Wherein
have I sinned ? It would be useless for me to enter
into an argument against your idea of special selection
from any other but a Jewish view. Of course, I could
•cite such characters in support of my ideas as Geiger,
Stein, Holdheim, Einhorn and many others, but you
would answer, 'These were reformed rabbis, destructive
teachers,' notwithstanding that these men have ad-
vanced the standard of Jewish culture, have, by dint of
their intellects, demanded a recognition of Jewish
ideals from a hostile world. Notwithstanding all this,
you would regard them as renegades, would not accord
them any Jewish authority. Very well. You ac-
knowledge the binding force of the Talmud, do you
not?"
"Well, go on," said his uncle.
" No ; answer me, in all fairness, answer me. Do
you not acknowledge the Talmud as the highest
authority ? "
"Well," peevishly replied the other, " of course I do,
next to the ' Torah.' "
"Well, then," continued Cavallo, u does not the Tal-
mud maintain that everyone who repudiates and denies
idolatry is a Jew? And in another place the sages
taught that the righteous of the Gentiles will enjoy
future life. Were they apostates because their religion
3
66 DOCTOR CAVALLO
was not narrow ? Were they renegades because they
taught that even the state in the future life depended,
not on faith, not on birth, not on creed, but on conduct ?
You readily understand, uncle, that the advanced Jew
of to-day regards the Talmud as literature, merely recog-
nizing it as a sort of anthropological development of Jew-
ish culture ; yet, I must say, that these very Talmudic
sages who maintain ideas so far in advance of their
age, would blush to see the deification made by some
of our co-religionists of their plain interpretations.
" I could cite, too, many passages in Sacred Writ,
which you will admit impose far superior and more
binding authority on the Jew than any works written
since, in support of my argument, that before God there
is no difference between man and man."
11 So ! you can, can you ! Cite passages from the Bible,
where the Jew is not superior to the Christian ?"
11 Of course, there are no such passages in the Bible
about Christians, but what I mean to convey, uncle, is
that the Bible, while laying special duties on Israel,
emphasizes throughout, the teachings of conduct and
life in preference to creed, dogma and form. It makes
no distinction in the performance of duty between man
and man. But before I go any farther, uncle, a thought
just strikes me as an illustration in point. Nearly two
thousand years ago, the Talmud tells us, a dispute
arose among the learned rabbis as to which was the
most important verse in the Bible. One held that it
was ' Love thy neighbor as thyself,' another cited
another verse. Finally, a sage said that neither of
these filled the idea, but that the holiest verse was the
first verse in the fifth chapter of Genesis, which says :
'This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the
DOCTOR CAVALLO 67
day that God created man, 1 mark ye, he created man —
not Jew, not Gentile, not black, not white, but man —
4 in the likeness of God made he him. 1 Conclusively
showing by this that before God all men are equal, and
that all men have the same origin. 11
"So," said the old man, "why do you cite the
Talmud ? You don^ believe in it. 11
" I do believe in it ; that is, I believe in that part
where the rabbis have shown a broad spirit of tolerance
and fraternal love," said Cavallo.
The old man was perplexed. He seemed at his wit's
end, and again he murmured, "No difference between
a Christian and a Jew ! "
This exclamation was lost on Cavallo, who went on:
" Uncle, do you believe that the Psalmist was a Jew ? "
The old man's eyes shone, and he shouted, "What
else was he ? — a Christian ?"
The cut passed unheeded by Cavallo, who continued.
" Since this Psalmist was a Jew, we may safely ask
him for a definition of Judaism. I remember, uncle,
how deep these words, that I am about to cite to you,
sank into my heart when a lad, while the minister
chanted so impressively in the old Portugese syna-
gogue on the eve of our New Year, 'Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his
holy place,' which put into our every day talk would
be another way for putting the question, 'What shall
we do to be saved? 1 "
" Mark his answer. He says nothing about l Kosher '
or ' Trafe,' ' Mezzuzah,' or anything about our forms
and rites but ' He that hath clean hands and a pure
heart. 1 Now, uncle, do you want anything broader?
Do you find any difference between the born Israelite
and the Gentile in this?' 1
68 DOCTOR CAVALLO
The old man groaned and muttered, " No difference,
eh, no difference ! "
" I could go on, but it is useless," pursued his nephew.
" Let me cite you one or two more prophets. The
life and customs of the Jews in the time of Amos are
not unknown to you. They scrupulously, it seems, ob-
served all of the regulations and the rites of the Temple,
but they lacked two littje things : humanity and justice.
How this prophet lashed them for their misdeeds !
Listen to what this great Jew says in the name of
Jehovah :
" ' I hate and despise your feast days and I will not
delight in your solemn assemblies ; take thou away
from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the
melody of thy viols, but let justice run down as water
and rightousness as a mighty stream.' How is this,
uncle, as a definition of Judaism?"
The old man moved uneasily in his seat and feebly
said, " No difference ! " and shook his head mournfully.
Cavallo went on, •■ Micah, another of our great teach-
ers, after denying that God wants sacrifices and bribery,
says 4 He hath showed thee, oh, man, what is good and
what the Lord doth require of thee (nothing more)
but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly
with thy God.' Now, you see, he does not mention
the word Jew even, or Israelite. I tell you this is the
greatest gospel of human brotherhood ever advanced
by anyone, and if this does not make one a Jew, I
would like to have you tell me what will. This is the
Judaism in which I believe."
The old man shook his head again, but he secretly
admired the brilliant intelligence of his nephew, and
although he was not wholly convinced, the new light
DOCTOR CAVALLO 69
that had been thrown upon the subject set him think-
ing and he only said :
"What a pity, dear Maurice, that you don't make
better use of your knowledge of our sacred literature.'"
Maurice replied, " I do not understand you. Better
use?"
"Aye," rejoined the old man. "Why do you separ-
ate yourself from your people?"
"My people," echoed Cavallo. "My people! In-
deed, uncle, if there be anything that I am proud of, it
is that I am not separated from my people. My
belief is, every man who practices humanity, who be-
lieves in justice, who loves his fellow man, who has
hope in the future, and works for the right in the
present — such men are my brethren whatever their
creed, their color, or their race. The sooner our co-
religionists recognize this divine principle, the sooner
will race prejudice and religious intolerance disappear."
The old man seemed lost in thought. His head fell
on his breast.
Cavallo, looking at his watch, added, "Why, dear me,
I had no idea that it was so late. It is thoughtless of
me to keep you up after your long journey. When
you are ready we will retire."
The old man arose slowly and said, "Yes, you are
right. A night's rest will do me good."
Putting on his hat and overcoat they started for the
hotel. When they went up to his room, as they parted,
the old man said, " Maurice, I am glad, indeed I am,
that I came. I am glad that we had this talk to-night,
and be it far from me to sit in judgment on you, but
there is one thing I would like to have you promise me.
Now, will you?"
70 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Cavallo, smiling, said, "That depends, uncle, if you
are not too hard on me.' 7
"Promise me," entreated the old man, "that you will
connect yourself with the congregation, and take a
little deeper interest in your brethren, and in our faith.
Now will you?"
Cavallo hesitated. "Uncle, I will think of it, you
are not going to leave right away ? I will see you in the
morning."
"Yes," said the old man, "I must take the first train
back. I only came here to have a look at you, that's
all. Promise me now!"
The old man's voice trembled, and to pacify him,
and to atone for the pain that he had unintentionally
caused him, Cavallo replied :
"Well, uncle, sleep well. If this will be a source of
pleasure to you, I will do so, to please you."
Abraham Mendez, overcome with emotion, em-
braced his nephew, and placing his hand on his head
with reverent benediction, blessed him, and they bade
each other good night.
CHAPTER VIII
Timothy Dodd had not recovered his spirits. He
went about his work mechanically. He polished up
the furniture in the office, but he no longer did this
with his old-time enthusiasm. The sight of the surgi-
cal instruments, as they lay in their polished cases,
afforded him no delight. When he looked at the little
sign that hung out in front, it did not fill his soul with
swelling ambition, and he no longer saw in his mind's
eye the words, " Cavallo & Dodd, Physicians and Sur-
geons," in gold letters, as he had once fondly imagined
would one day be the case. He even wore the Doctor's
second-hand clothes with reluctance, and a particular
vest that he had long fancied, he did not lay away as he
intended, thinking that he would wear it himself when
the Doctor had forgotten it. Instead of these things,
he only shook his head sagaciously and mournfully,
and ejaculated, " An' him a Jew." Only one thing af-
forded him solace, he pilfered more of the Doctor's
cigars out of the box than he did before, and smoked
them without stint. Even when the Doctor began to
suspect something, and inquired where his cigars had
gone, Tim responded, "The rats must hev tuk thim, 1 '
and he did not even afflict his soul for the sin of lying.
Now he paused, and eyeing a picture of the Doctor on
the wall, shook his fist at it, wrathfully, and said, "An 1
J2 DOCTOR CAVALLO
ye are a Jew," as if the photograph was responsible for
the whole race question.
He was aroused from this reverie by a noise on the
stairs, and going to the door, he admitted Bob Law-
rence and a companion of about the same age, a broad-
shouldered man, with a massive head and an air of
assurance. They came in, and Bob, showing the other
to a seat, asked, "Tim, where's the Doctor ?"
" At prisint, sor, he's out," replied Tim.
" I know that," said Bob, " any one can see that. I
asked you where he was ? "
"Whin he's not in, he's out," explained Tim, "an'
whin he's not out, he's in."
"Do you know where he is?" inquired Bob, im-
patiently.
"He's halin' the sick, puttin' eyes into the blind, fas-
tenin' legs onto the lame, and pullin 7 the teeth out of
the poor. Small use hev they for teeth, wid mate and
things so high."
" The Doctor is nicely fixed here," quoth Bob's com-
panion. " Fine case of instruments there."
This warmed Tim's heart at once. u Luk at thim,"
said he, "ain't they daisies. There's saws there that
wud cut a man's leg off so slick that it wud be a comfort
to him."
Both of his listeners burst into a peal of laughter.
Bob added, u I suppose, then, to make a man com-
pletely comfortable, you^would have to saw off both of
his legs ?"
U I tell ye, Misther Lawrence," explained Tim,
gravely, "thim instrumints is a very satisfyin' sight.
Whin a man comes in here groanin' wid pain, and the
dochter ain't in, I say to him, go to the case there,
DOCTOR CAVALLO 73
sez I, and select the saw or the huk that you wud
fancy you wud have thrust into yez, sez I, and whin
the dochter comes in, we'll stretch ye out on the
operatin' table in the back room, an' I give ye my wurd
that ye'll have no raison to quistion the fidility of the
wurrk done on yez."
" This ought to make them more than satisfied," said
Bob's companion, gravely. " It ought to make them
uproariously happy.'*
"They ginerally go away wid a great calm in their
moind."
"The saycrit of medsin," continued Tim, earnestly,
"is to so afflict the patient that he does'nt suspict what
ye are about to do to him, and thin ye jab him and git
the insthrumint into him, an' begin twistin' it around
before he comprehinds the plan that ye are purshuin'."
"You have got the thing down fine, Tim," said Bob,
encouragingly.
"Ye see," added Tim, oracularly, "there is two
branches in the practice of medsin — thecertin and the
oncertin. Whin ye saw a man's leg off, ye know what
ye have done ; the leg is off ; that ye can see, and so
can he, that's certin. But whin ye gev him physic, ye
don't know what ye are doin'. Ye are, in a manner,
wurrkin' in the darrk. Ye have to wait. Somethin' de-
pinds on the medsin, and somethin 1 on the man's pidi-
gree. If his grandmother culdn't take casthor ile, the
man can't, in nine toimes out of tin. What are ye to
do ? This is the oncertin side."
"I thought," interrupted Bob, "that the uncertain
side was when the man took the medicine and then
refused to pay his bill."
"That's the calamitous side," replied Tim, "but we
74 DOCTOR CAVALLO
are not discussin' now the finances, but the thary of
the professhun. There's dochters and dochters ; the
wan studies the finances solely, but we are not on the
make."
"You must be quite a doctor by this time, Tim," said
Bob, quizzingly.
" The thary of medsin consists, first, of the essentials,
thin of the corporosities, and, lastly, of the predica-
mints. I got into the corporosities," responded Tim,
"and thin I wuld'nt be let."
" How was that, why wouldn't you be let ? "
" Well, it was ould Mrs. Marks who had a pain. She
kem up here, and she sat the whole furenoon, and
finally, sez she, l The dochter was to lave me a com-
pund,' did he do it?"
"A compund, sez I to meself. 'Now a compund is
exactly what I kin make.' So I sez, k he did,' and I
wint to the dochter's case, and I made her up a bottle
with a little of everything in the case. I was that particu-
lar about it, I didn't put in anything more of wan kind
than another. It was as foine a compund as iver wint
out av any shop, and I gev her the full av the bottle,
and charged her forty cints. She wint aff, and whin
the dochter kem back I gev him the forty cints, and
tould him what I had done."
"What did he do ? " laughed Bob.
11 He dhruv down to the ould lady's house as fast as
he cud dhrive, an' tuk the bottle away from her be-
fore she had a chance tothry the compund, an' he kem
back an' he booted me all aroond the place. I niver
seen him so mad as he war that day."
"You should have tried it on the dog," said Bob's
companion.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 75
"I did," replied Tim.
" Ah, ha ! and what became of him ? "
" He wint ded."
" You're a treasure," remarked Bob's companion, " you
ought to be a drug clerk."
" It's all right about the thary of medsin, but I have
discovered this," returned Tim, "it's not physic that
does the wurrk — it's moighty little to do wid it."
" What does it, then ? " asked Bob, desirous of drawing
Tim out.
" It's sthyle."
" Style," echoed Bob.
" That's phat it is," "Ye see wan of these big doch-
ters drivin' aroond about wid a cupay and a driver wid
a black hat. He comes up to a house, an' he goes
whiz up to the dure, an' he opens it, an' he goes prancin'
in wid his brist swellin' out in front, and he a smellin'
of peppermint and ashfetidy an' droogs, as if he was
gevin' his mind wholly to physic, and he sez to the
sick man, ' How are we to-day ?' An' he talks, an' he
uses big wurrds, an' takes upon himsilf half the dis-
ayse, an' he bounces around, an' he gives direcshuns,
an' sez he, l take a tayspoonfui out of this glass ivery
half hour, an' a tablespoonful out av that wan ivery
fifteen minits,' and he puts a termomether undher the
man's tongue, and he smiles softly to himself ; and the
man, sez he to himself, the ' disayse is bruk, or he
wudn't be that confident ;' an' thin he gits up, and
sez: 'O'll tackle a little soup/ an' he recovers. He
pays the dochter's big bill wid saycret satisfacshun,
whin all he needed was a little starvation and soup in
the first place."
M Is this the way Dr. Cavallo practises ?"
?6 DOCTOR CAVALLO
" Ah ! the Dochter is that kind an' careful that whin
he goes into a sick room he stheps so gintly and
quiet loike that the man sez, ' Oi'm ashamed to be lyin'
here sick whin I ought to be at wurrk,' and so he gits up
at wance."
"He hypnotizes them, eh?" said Bob's companion.
" He does nothing of the kind," echoed a deep voice
behind them, and they turned, for Dr. Cavallo had
walked in, and going up to Bob's companion, slapped
him on the shoulder, and said, "Seidel, old man, how
are you ? "
"I did not suppose you would know me," replied
Seidel, answering to his name.
"As if I could ever forget you? Where have you
been ? How's bacteriology ?"
The other laughed. * Bacteriology has had to yield
to more pressing business. I am now an honest miner."
Tim had been sliding near the door. He had at last,
after repeated efforts, attracted Bob's attention, and by
an expressive pantomime, had indicated to him that he
must not reveal anything that had passed between
them.
Bob, good-naturedly, gave him back, in the same
pantomime, the assurance that they might saw both his
legs off before the secret should be torn from him, and
then Tim discreetly slid down the back way to chat
with the driver and have a look at the doctor's horses.
When this had been done, Bob arose and said :
" Now, gentlemen, I must attend to some business.
Seidel is staying with me, Doctor, and you must come
up. You haven't been to see us for a long time. I
will leave you two to talk over old times, and when you
get through, Seidel, drop into the office where you
were this forenoon."
DOCTOR CAVALLO J J
With this Bob took himself away, leaving the two
together.
Cavallo looked at his old friend and pupil with a
pleased expression on his face. " Old fellow, it does
me good to see you, and they tell me that you have
grown rich."
Seidel laughed a hard, metallic laugh. "I have
made some money. I went west, as you know, tried
the practice of medicine. Too slow. Then I dabbled
a little in mines, got hold of some mining stock, sold
it, got hold of some more, sold that, began to make
money. Finally threw my practice to the winds and
started out as a stock broker, a promoter, or whatever
you call it."
"What is there in selling mining stocks?" asked the
doctor.
k4 A big commission," promptly responded the other.
" Mining is like a lottery. You may succeed, and you
may not. You are perpetually on the eve of striking it
rich. The very next day you may hit a perfect bonanza,
but in the meantime you need money. It takes money
to dig through porphyry and quartz and to follow a
lead that may after all be a false fissure. If you hit it,
you are all right. I don't want any more in mine.
My specialty is in selling stocks, not in operating the
mines."
u But are the mines worth anything?" inquired
Cavallo.
" Oh, some of them are, but I am not furnishing
brains for both ends of the trade. If the mine is a
good one, some one will make money out of it, if it is
a bad one, they only follow the experience of ten thou-
sand others."
78 DOCTOR CAVALLO
"Seidel," returned Cavallo, 1< I would rather practice
medicine."
The other blushed under the steady gaze of his old-
time friend. At last he replied, " Now, my dear fellow,
this is as legitimate a calling as any. The world values
you for what you have, not what you can do. The age
of philanthropy has gone by. Make your pile and then
preach. 'Laugh and the world laughs with you.
Weep and you weep alone. 1 The motto nowadays is
4 Chisel your neighbor if you can, he'll do the same by
you.' The new gospel is, ' Do your neighbor or he will
do you.' "
"And your duty to humanity?" said Cavallo.
"Duty to humanity! my dear sir. Don't you know
that Vanderbilt voiced the new gospel when he said,
4 The public be d .' Of course ! What does the law
of the survival of the fittest, mean? Why, to crowd the
weaker ones to the wall and get what you can. 1 '
"The law of the survival of the fittest, Seidel, is
that the noblest will survive. To follow your gospel,
as you call it, is to render the race unfit to survive and
it will be overborne.' 1
u Science shows us that life is a warfare. The strong-
est lives, the weak perish. This is all that there is
to it. r1
"And God," added Cavallo.
The other burst into a fit of laughter. "And you, a
medical man, spring that old chestnut? God? what is
he but a mere abstraction, a figment hatched in the
brains of priests in order to rob the people and make
them pay tribute. Show him to me under the micro-
scope and then I will believe in him."
"Your philosophy on this point is as bad as your
conclusion," replied Cavallo.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 79
Just then the telephone sounded, and the doctor
went to it. Seidel arose with: "Well, I see that you
will be busy professionally ; I will come around again.
Good day." And out he went.
CHAPTER IX.
The day was dark and muggy. There was a heavy
feeling in the air that rendered it difficult to respire.
As Dr. Cavallo reached his office, a call on his slate
made him stop and pause. "Another time in Abbot's
Row, with the O'HaraV he muttered wrathfully to
himself. Then he went into his office, filled up his
medicine case, and started off, for he knew that he
should need a full supply. The Row was the terror of
the city. It stood in a hollow. A drain had been be-
gun some time before, and had nearly reached it, but
when it came to the Row, Mr. Abbot, a wealthy prop-
erty owner, fought it off, refused to pay his proportion,
and had it stopped, on the ground that it would be a
detriment to his property. So the drain, qi* sewer,
stood with its open mouth, a few feet under ground,
discharging a perfect flood of horrors into the neigh-
borhood. The Row was a long and irregular pile of
buildings that fronted it, and occupied a good deal of
ground. Of architectural beauty it did not and could
not boast. The owner was penurious, and he had con-
structed it by buying every old barn and dwelling-
house that he could purchase cheap, and fitting them
up for dwellings that would rent, and so had made an
odd, patched-up, tumble-down place enough, but he
contrived to make it immensely populous. The Board
DOCTOR CAVALLO 8 I
of Health had once or twice condemned it, but Abbot
had influence enough to prevent them from going to
any extreme measures with it. He was always going
to build, and he was on the point of havirtg it pulled
down. He was so excessively philanthropic in his
talk, that to listen to him, one would think that he was
about to overflow into a very benevolent channel, but
none of his schemes in this direction ever materialized.
On the contrary, every year saw him getting more and
more selfish. He fought every public improvement,
was opposed to water-works, preferring to use wells,
although the danger was often shown him of taking
water from the contaminated soil. He was eloquent
upon the building of cisterns. He was against all street
paving. He dwelt continually upon expense, and he
was always present at every meeting called upon to
take action upon anything that looked like costing
money, no matter what it was. Under the pretense of
being excessively public-spirited, he was as mean and
grinding a miser as it was possible to be. He attended
a hide-bound Presbyterian church where every man sat
stiff and upright, and believed, with himself, that
they were the elect, and that having been singled out
from the world by a crowning act of mercy, it was their
duty to keep the rest of mankind in subjection. To be
sure, it was argued by the Board of Health, that if
they let the Row alone it would eventually burn or rot
down, but in the meantime it was a perfect nest of dis-
ease, and under the conditions, it made Dr. Cavallo
grind his teeth every time he was called to attend any-
one there.
This time he pulled his hat down over his eyes with
the air of a man engaged or about to engage in a very
82 DOCTOR CAVALLO
unpleasant duty. He walked down the small incline
at the bottom of which lay the Row. It arose up
before him in all its unpleasantness. He stopped at
the first room, where Mrs. O'Hara lived. The poor
woman had made a brave fight to keep her little flock
together. Her old man, Pat, sat by the fire nursing his
lame back. When he saw the doctor he arose, and
Mrs. O'Hara, with many apologies, dusted out a chair
for him to sit in. In spite of their poverty the little
room was tolerably clean. Mike, the hope of the
family, a heavily built youth of about twenty, sat by
the fire with a sullen look on his face.
When the doctor came in he moved just enough to
let him pass by him. The doctor had attended so long
on the family that he knew every detail of their daily
life, so he asked Mike, "What are you doing now?"
"Nothing'' growled Mike, "can't get no work."
"Why, have you tried?" responded the doctor.
Mike arose, ejected a quid of tobacco from his
mouth, and then grunted: "The Trades Union won't
let me in."
" What are the girls doing?" asked Dr. Cavallo, of
two rather bright, pretty girls, the eldest of whom
must have been eighteen.
"We hav'nt been doing anything since the factory
closed," responded the eldest. " I tried to get into
the Ten Cent store, but they only pay two dollars a
week. I won't work for that."
" Isn't there anything else that you can do?" inquired
Dr. Cavallo.
"No, there isn't," she answered with a tinge of defi-
ance in her manner. " I will starve before I will do
housework. I won't go into anyone's kitchen, that's
flat."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 83
The old man broke in : " We always did well until
these times kem on, and I lost me place wid the city,
and thin I got me back hurted by the cavin' in on me.
Then the gurl's factory closed, and Moike, the domnd
lazy loon, got to running around the shtreets, doin'
nothing but divilment and belongin' to the Ham Head
gang. The police will run him in wan of these days
and then he'll remimber what his ould faather tould
him."
"You bet yer sweet life, the police won't run him in,
either, 1 ' retorted Mike. "The police wasn't made yet
that could handle me. I don't take no back seat for
any duffer that ever wore a star."
"Mike, you ought to be ashamed of yourself," re-
turned the doctor, "to sit here, a burden on your poor
old father and mother. Why don't you go out and
get into some honest occupation, instead of being a
tough and loafer?"
Mike bristled up with all the pugnacity of his class.
"See here, Doc', I don't take no back talk from a
Sheeney. Now d'ye moind that. I attend to my own
business. See!"
This was too much for his father. " Ye young thafe,"
he roared, "do you sit there and insoolt your faather's
frinds. Git out!" and with that he raised his crutch
and brought it down with such force on Mike's head
that he laid him out on the floor.
This set them all off afresh. Mrs. O'Hara was quite
sure that Mike was killed, the girls cried and wrung
their hands, while the old man laughed, "Ah — h, a little
rap like that! Manny's the time I've had me hed laid
open worse nor that, an' I niver kicked."
Dr. Cavallo stilled the commotion, He got some
84 DOCTOR CAVALLO
water and bathed Mike's head and found that he had
received a scalp wound which made it necessary to
bandage it. Then he had to attend to Pat's lame back
and show him how to rub the liniment on it. This was
interspersed with running remarks from Pat on the
general worthlessness of " Moike " and how since he
had got to running with the Ham Heads, he was rap-
idly going to the bad. "All that domnd b'y talks of
now, dochter, is prize foights and scrappin' schrapes.
He foight a prize foight ! He wud run like a loon at the
first soight of a good man's dookes."
Then Mrs. O'Hara had to be looked after. She had a
pain almost everywhere in her body and in fact she was
getting the rheumatism. The doctor saw to all of his
charges and was about leaving, when he heard a shrill
voice say, u Won't you please come and see my Mamma?"
He turned and found at his side the smallest mite of a
child. Her blue eyes, her infantile face, her air of gen-
tle care and the sad notes of her voice showing that
misery had already set its seal upon her. young as she
was, made the doctor reply, M Certainly, my little one,
show me where your mamma is."
"God bless the child," cried Pat, "It's little Daisy."
CHAPTER X.
Dr. Cavallo followed her out into the passage
and into a small back room and there lying on a bed
was the form of a woman. The place was small and
the ceiling low. The floor was rotten and in one cor-
ner it had given way, so that the foundation could be
seen between the boards and the base. The open
window allowed the fetid smell of rotting cabbage and
the offal that had been thrown out |om the rooms
above to fill the apartment. The back yard had been
the receptacle time out of mind for all the waste of the
Row. The place was filled with old tin cans, beer bot-
tles in great number and variety, even a stray keg or two
testified to times when some inhabitant of the Row had
been able to gather enough together to afford a sym-
posium. There was little in the room but an old
stove, cracked and broken, with one of its legs entirely
gone and the missing member supplied by a brick and
the other three in various stages of rickety dilapidation.
On the stove were the remains of some baked potatoes,
looking as if the person who had last prepared the
meal had used the top of the stove for a dining table.
There was a table on which there were a few dishes,
but these were all dirty and filled with odds and ends,
a few crumbs of bread here and there and some milk
in a pitcher, which had been suffered to sour. The
86 DOCTOR CAVALLO
ashes had been taken out of the stove and had been
dumped in a corner. The torn paper, the soiled walls,
the broken furniture, testified to the last degree of pov-
erty and want. When he first went in the doctor saw
nothing but the outline of a woman on the bed and she
lay so still that he thought that she was dead. He
went to the bedside and explored her pulse mechanic-
ally, for the room was dark so that he could not see at
first, but as his eyes became used to the gathering
gloom he was shocked, for before him on the bed was
a well known face.
It was that of a woman who had, some years before,
come to the city as the wife of a railroad line agent.
He was a good fellow and he had a good position, but
he began to drink, and after a time he lost his place,
and began to descend lower and lower in the scale.
A slight noise in the corner of the room attracted
the doctor's attention, and he looked to see what
it was. To his astonishment, he discerned that this
was the husband, the once popular and witty James
Dayton, who showed, by the looks of his face, that
he had been drinking heavily, but he had slept it off
to some extent. He got up from the floor, where
he had flung himself, and steadying his steps with an
effort, he came forward, looked at the doctor, and then
came up to the bedside extending a dirty hand.
All that remained to him was his boisterous off-hand
way — the last touches of a manner that had formerly
made him the prince of good fellows. He was clothed
in a coat that showed the worst stages of decay, and his
shirt was matted with dirt. His pants were a pair of
old overalls, held up by a belt around the waist, the
belt consisting of a piece of harness. His shoes had
DOCTOR CAVALLO 87
been thrown away by some more fortunate wearer, but
anything was good enough now for Jim Dayton.
"Doc.," he stuttered, " how are ye? Ye see we're in
pretty tough luck, but if ye kin do anything for the old
woman, do it, and I'll make it all right yit."
"James," entreated the sick woman, " do be quiet."
"That's all right," returned the drunkard, " I know
Doc. and he knows me. I aint flush just at present,
but, you mark me, I'll strike it rich yit. If I had a
little money, I know of a deal I could go into that
would give us money enough to allow us to run over
the people in this town, and tell 'em to send in their
bill."
11 Dayton," returned the doctor, " I am shocked.
Pray be quiet. I wish to hear what your wife wants."
" It's all right, Doc," answered the inebriate. " Any-
thing she wants she ought to have. She's stuck to me
through thick and thin, and you bet yer life I won't go
back on her now."
" Oh, God ! " murmured the poor soul from her bed,
" has it come to this ? James, I wish that you would
go out, I want to speak to the doctor."
11 All right," replied the other, M I'll go. I tell you,
Doc, we've got to do as the women say. When they
set their foot down, you bet we've got to knuckle to
'em," and with this he staggered out.
The poor woman moaned. " Oh," she said, " Doc-
tor, it is this terrible drink. He is that way all of the
time ; he is never sober. He never gave me an unkind
word ; always good-natured. He never struck me, or
even offered to do so, but when he gets liquor in his
head, he is this same good-natured, shiftless, incompe-
tent fellow. Any one can do with him what he likes.
88 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Oh,' 1 she said, and she wrung her hands, " what am I
to do with Daisy? Doctor, doctor, promise me that
when I die you will look after my little girl. It is
dreadful to think of leaving her here with all of these
low people."
While this conversation had been going on, the little
girl had drawn near her mother and held one of
her hands. As she heard the request that her mother
made, she turned such a mute and appealing glance
upon Dr. Cavallo that the sight nearly unmanned him.
The poor little thing had seen too much misery to
weep. She had passed all of that, for she had tasted,
to its fullest extent, the wretched life of a druukard's
child. Her little dress scarcely concealed her form.
•She was pinched by starvation, but through it all she
strove to keep up a perfect composure. She only
pressed her mother's hand and looked at the doctor.
" Have you no friends? 1 '
"None, none," she murmured. " My father cast me
off because I wpuld live with Mr. Dayton, but I thought
when he gave me his solemn word that he would not
drink that he would keep it, but the moment he is with
his old associates he forgets everything that he has
promised. 1 '
The doctor was moved, accustomed as he was to
scenes of woe. Going to the door, he called Dayton
in, and as that individual came rollicking back, he
said, with his air of easy indifference, "Well, have you
two got the whole thing fixed up?"
" Dayton ! " said the doctor, " stop your talk and
listen to me. Your wife wishes me to take your little
daughter and find a home for her. Do you understand
what this means? 1 '
"All right, 1 ' he replied, with a laugh. "If it suits
DOCTOR CAVALLO 89
my wife, it suits me. I can see Daisy when I get in
luck again. I tell you that it will only be a few days
now when this thing will be different. It's a long lane
that has no turning, and you can bet that by and by my
luck will come out. Daisy will ride in her carriage
yet."
With many a wise shake of the head and curses on
his luck, Dayton repeated, over and over, that his luck
would change, and that when it did, he would not for-
get his friends. Those who had stuck to him he would
recompense. His wife should wear diamonds and
Daisy should have a new silk dress every day. He sat
down at the foot of the bed and went over and over
this until he wearied them all.
Finally, Dr. Cavallo went out and returned with Mrs.
O'Hara. He made an arrangement with that woman
and her two daughters lor the care of poor Mrs. Day-
ton and for the attention that little Daisy so sadly
needed. He then left some medicine and gave direc-
tions for some clothing for the little girl.
CHAPTER XL
He completed his act of charity and congratulated
himself that he was through, but he was not to escape
so easily. As he went into the yard to try and take a
shorter cut to the street cars, a head was thrust out of
the window and a voice said, u Oh, Doc, come up and
look at the kids."
He turned back and mounting the stairway he
groped his way into a hall, and as he came along
the passage a door was opened and he went into it.
It was a long, low room filled with cribs in a row
against the wall. A man was anxiously looking into
one of the cribs, and as the doctor came in he ex-
plained:
"This is old Mother Wooley's nursery and these little
things have been crying until I could not stand it and
I came in." At this half a dozen children set up a
piteous, wailing cry and the doctor inquired: "For
heaven's sake, what is this?"
There was dirt and squalor everywhere. The in-
fants were in cradles, some wrapped in rags, some with
coverlids over them. There was a dish of milk on the
stove and a few remains of food on an old table, but it
looked like a chamber of horrors, while on the bed was
an old crone fast asleep, evidently in a drunken de-
bauch.
DOCTOR CAVALLO gi
The doctor shook her roughly. " So this is old
Mother Wooley's baby farm, is it," he said to himself.
"Great heavens, to think that this old hag is suffered
to run this establishment under the very nose of the
police!" He continued shaking her until at last she
sat up and began to make a clucking noise. "There,
there ; lie still. There, there ; that's a deary. Lie
still ; nursey will rock you to sleep." Then, as she
further opened her eyes, she saw the doctor and sat up.
"Oh, doctor," she began in a whining voice, " I'm so
tired looking after my little dears that I just laid down
to get a little sleep."
"Get up," replied the doctor sternly, " something
is wrong here !" He struck a light with a match that
he had in his pocket and, finding a broken lamp,
which he lighted, went over to the crib, lifting one
of the little things out, held it up to the light.
"Just as I thought," he said, "diphtheria. Why, the
whole town will be infected within a week if this nest
isn't cleaned out. Why haven't you reported this to
the city physician? "
"It's nothin' but croup," whined she, "and I can
always cure croup with onion syrup. There's no
danger."
He was disgusted and disheartened. Here in the
very heart of civilization and in a wealthy com-
munity, this old hag had been allowed to carry on her
traffic, for it was evident that her profit lay not in
bringing the children up, but in sending them down.
He did what he could, but that was very little. At
last he called the old hag up to him and said :
"Now, I want you to attend to this. See. that no
other children come into this room until the health
officer has been here."
92 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Then he turned to his male companion, who had
been looking on at the arrangements, and asked,
"What are you doing here?"
14 Repairing the roof," returned the other. " Old
Abbot gives me so much a year to patch his buildings,
and he has a standing order to fix up this old rookery
when there is nothing else to do. So when it leaks
too bad, I come up here and daub some tar on the spots
and that does until the next rain."
" It's an awful place," said the doctor, in disgust.
The other laughed, "You haven't seen it yet. Why
that old hag has probably a thousand lives to answer
for. When they come to make up the slaughter of the
innocents, her order wHI be running over. But you
can see sights that would make your heart ache any
time. Look at that now."
The doctor looked out of the window and he saw a
little child tumbling along with a tin pail in its hand.
" What d'ye think of that? " said the roofer.
"What is it?" asked the doctor.
"That little thing, it can't be more than five years
old, has been rushing the growler, that is, getting beer
in its can," he said apologetically, seeing that the doc-
tor did not understand him, "and the fellows down in
the saloon have been getting the little thing drunk.
See, it can hardly walk."
"Good God!" ejaculated Cavallo.
"There is no telling what that Ham Head gang won't
do," said the roofer. "The Row don't wake up until
about midnight, but from that until four is the most
God-forsaken place in the city. Women crazy drunk,
fighting and screaming. Men yelling at the tops of
their voices. Little children running in and out of the
DOCTOR CAVALLO 93
saloons with cans, into the rooms. Every sort of wick-
edness and crime is carried on here and allowed to run
riot."
44 Why do the police not shut down on it?"
14 Because, 1 ' replied the roofer, M some one has a pull."
The doctor frowned and then added, " Some one else
will have to have a 'pull,' too." With this he went off
to find the Board of Health.
The gentlemen who constituted this body were in
their rooms in the City Hall, and as Cavallo went in they
greeted him. He briefly stated his errand, that there
was a bad case, in fact, several bad cases, of diptheria
in Abbott's Row. They made a note of it and then
promised that they would have the necessary warning
put up the next day. This warning consisted of tack-
ing up a large card with the word " Diptheria" on it on
the building. Then there was a pause. Finally Dr.
Cavallo remarked: M Gentlemen, there is another thing,
I wish to enter formal complaint against Abbott's Row
as a nuisance, and I shall insist that it be torn down."
The members of the Board looked at each other,
finally one of them replied: "Well, you know how it is,
Doctor, I don't want to have the old man on my back.
If you make this complaint you must sign it yourself."
" That is what I will do," replied Dr. Cavallo. " I
shall stand to my guns. Now I want you to do the
same."
11 Of course if you press this matter we shall have to
act, but now, see here," said the physician of the Board,
taking Cavallo aside, " can't you put this off until after
the meeting ot the Board of Supervisors? They elect a
County Physician next week and I am a candidate. I
tell you frankly, between us, that I don't want to go
9'4 DOCTOR CAVALLO
into that fight with a row on my hands with old Abbott."
u l insist upon some action being taken at once," re-
turned Cavallo, "and it must be attended to."
u Well, you know the old man as well as I do and
you know that this will make an awful row.'"
" Let it make what row it will. I am not going to sit
still and see this thing carried on any further," insisted
Cavallo, adding, "Abbott's Row will have to come
down. 1 '
He was not satisfied with this, but he himself filled
up a printed form stating that complaint had been
made that Abbott's Row was a nuisance and a menace
to the general health, and he made it still more binding
by stating that this action was taken on a complaint
made by Dr. Cavallo and then he made the president
of the Board sign it. Still fearing that the exegencies
of ward politics would defeat the whole scheme, he took
the notice and dropped it into the mail himself. This
done he went to his room and slept the sleep of the
just, feeling that he had enlisted for the fight and that
he was now ready for the fray.
CHAPTER XII.
The next morning he had hardly had his breakfast
before he was waited on by no other than Mr. Abbott
himself. He was a tall, lean man, excessively digni-
fied and important. As he stood in the office, a little
bent with age, he was the very embodiment of the
Presbyterian idea. He looked as if he had swallowed
the five points, and with them the spirit of John Calvin
and the ghost of Michael Servetus into the bargain.
While he was dignified, there was a suggestion of
cringing servility in everything that he said. It was
evident that he wished to make a good impression
upon the doctor, and he rubbed his hands over and
over with that air of washing them that an insincere
person often uses. He asked, with a smile on his face
that was little short of ghastly, if this was Dr. Cavallo.
"That is my name," replied the doctor.
"Ah, well sir, I am glad to see you. I am a man of
business and in my morning mail was a notice that a
complaint had been lodged against me on account of
Abbott's Row. I simply wished to say to you that I
am now having plans prepared looking to erecting
upon that site commodious and comfortable apartment
houses. I believe, sir, in homes for the poor. I have
always taken a deep interest in this subject, and I have
now come to the fruition of a scheme that has been
96 DOCTOR CAYALLO
long in my mind. I shall
model homes."
" I am pleased to know that," replied Dr. Cavallo
dryly, u for those buildings have been a nest of disease
and a nursery of filth long enough."
"No doubt, sir, no doubt,' 1 assented Mr. Abbott,
"and yet they have been a great accommodation to
many poor people who could afford no other place;
but for the shelter of those rooms many a poor family
would have suffered, sir, suffered."
" I hope you will attend to the sewer, too, Mr. Ab-
bott, when you build," added Cavallo.
"I certainly shall, sir. I intend to leave nothing
undone. Perfect sewerage, water, gas — and — and — n
he added, as if the thought just struck him, "electric
light."
"I am exceedingly glad, 1 ' returned Dr. Cavallo, "and
I shall be proud to think that I was instrumental even
in a small degree in hastening forward so great an im-
provement,"
"Yes, sir; yes, sir, 11 responded Mr. Abbott, "and
now I shall ask you to kindly recall your complaint
until I get my plans perfected. I assure you, sir, it
will only be a few days." As he said this a grin of
satisfaction overspread his face and made him look
ten times uglier than before. He was a picture of
avarice, of craft in thinking that he had overreached
the doctor as he had many others. For years he had
used these same promises to keep the hand of author-
ity off Abbott's Row. He knew that if the doctor
pressed his complaint he was likely to be indicted for
keeping a nuisance, for allowing a saloon to run with-
out warrant of law, and for harboring females of ill re-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 97
pute. He had maintained this place in spite of every-
thing that had been done. When he received the
notice from Dr. Cavallo he was seriously alarmed, but
now this was done away with. He had conquered
again, and his grin of satisfied pride deepened as he
waited for the doctor's reply.
"Oh," replied Cavallo good naturedly, "there is no
necessity for doing that. Let the workmen go ahead
and tear down the buildings. Then the ground will be
cleared for the new improvements."
"Tear down the buildings," echoed Abbott, "why
should they tear down the buildings?"
"So as to get the ground cleared for the new edi-
fices."
"I tell you," roared Abbott, " that those buildings
don't pay two per cent, on their cost. No man can
afford to put up buildings in this town tor rent. What
with taxes and insurance and repairs it will bankrupt
anyone who tries it."
"Then you are not going to put up those model
houses that you spoke about ?" asked Cavallo, quietly.
44 I will sell the whole thing out at once, if I can get
enough to guarantee me one per cent, on my money,"
he shouted, getting more and more angry.
"Very well," assented Cavallo, " I will find some one
to take you up on that proposition."
"Ah, ha," yelled the old man, "I see it now, it is a
Jew trick, and you want to get hold of that property
cheap. This is your boasted philanthropy. It is a
scheme, a plot to try and make me sell out. This is a
real estate swindle, and I know it."
44 Mr. Abbott, you have made half a dozen statements
here that are false, and this is like all of the rest.
98 DOCTOR CAVALLO
I shall not recall my complaint. On the contrary,
I shall press it, and of this you may be assured, that
Abbott's Row must come down."
The old man boiled with passion. He shook with
rage, and for a time he was unable to speak. When
he did find voice, he burst .out, "You sneaking and
infernal Jew, you outcast and worthless fag-end of a
detested race, you talk of trying to help your fellows,
when you are simply arranging to steal my property ;
yes, sir, steal my property. I have lived in this city
for sixty years, and I have always paid my debts. You
are the first man who ever dared to bring a charge
against me. But I tell you don't go too far, don't you
aggravate me, sir. I will not stand everything. I will
publish you, sir, to the world as a Jew. I will show you
up to the whole city, I will destroy your practice, I will
drive you from town."
He had talked until he was out of breath, and he
now stopped, and stood panting with rage, the white
foam of passion 'on his lips, and his teeth snarling in
his head like a disappointed wolf, the picture of baffled
greed, of disappointed avarice, of malice and of spite.
Dr. Cavallo looked at him with contempt. M Mr.
Abbott, you poor craven, words are useless, for you
are past all expostulation. You have for years
fattened on the misery of your fellow-creatures whom
you have crowded into that infamous Row. You have
made it a nest of villainy, the hiding place for fraud
and the cover for crime. You have stood by and seen
men destroyed, women debauched, and little innocent
children murdered. As long as you could get a single
cent, you have allowed this to go on, and you have
steadily checked and stopped every effort to cleanse
DOCTOR CAVALLO 99
' the foul ulcer. It has been a breeding place for dis-
ease and a lazar house of suffering. You cannot rail
the seal from off this bond, and your Row must and
shall go."
" Now, sir," he added, "you will oblige me by getting
out of my office with your utmost speed." As he said
this, he drew himself up, and the miser, yelling,
11 Don't, dont, I'll go," pattered downstairs as fast as
his legs could carry him.
A few hours later a very dignified gentleman called
to see Dr. Cavallo. He introduced himself as Dr.
McHale. He was very cordial, and after beating
about the bush awhile, told Cavallo that he had
called on a particular matter of business. ** My vener-
able friend, Mr. Abbott, a warm hearted, but eccentric
soul, was seriously hurt at some little misunderstanding
that had occurred. Really he had in mind extensive
improvements, but he is, my dear sir, I assure you, a
man who can be coaxed, but cannot be driven. We
have to be very careful with him in -church matters.
He is liberal to a fault if you stroke him the right way,
but, sir, he is like an enraged tiger if he is aroused.
Now, really, my dear Doctor Cavallo, I wish that you
would yield a little in this matter. If you will with-
draw your complaint, I shall, I am confident, be able to
show him his duty, and he will then take this action of
his own accord."
" Dr. McHale," said Cavallo, "with all due respect to
your cloth and your profession, I do not believe that
Abbott will ever build anything better than he has now.
He has evaded this thing and whined and begged off
for years and the Row is just what it always has been,
a disseminator of disease, a nuisance to the city and a
menace to the public health."
100 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Dr. McHale was a large man with a tremendous
head and mutton chop whiskers. He was a minister
of the gospel and this fact was proclaimed in his manner
of looking at you, in the way he carried his cane, in his
clean shaven chin, in his high cheek bones, in his majes-
tic manner, and in the very fit of his cravat. He had
another sign of Presbyterianism, too, that was apparent
at once. He had no stomach and he looked, with his
large head, as if nature had spent so much material on
that organ that she had nothing left for the rest of him.
He now assumed a benevolent aspect, as of a man who
knew all the social questions and had them at his fin-
gers 1 ends and could tell them off at once. He put on
an air of deep wisdom, and when it came to looking
wise, no one could equal Dr. McHale.
41 Oh, well," he replied, " I'll tell you about that.
You have to have these places. Every large city con-
tains them. Why, I went to New York once, and an-
other clergyman and myself went through the slums,
as they are called, with a policeman. It was perfectly
awful, the dens of vice that we saw. It made me sick,
but still you have to have them.' 1
M Not in this city at any rate."
14 Oh, yes, you do. Now, my dear sir, I am an older
man than you and you ought to listen to the wisdom
of age. If you give these people more comfortable
quarters, you simply fix them so that they can earn
more money to give to the priest. Every effort that is
made to lift these people up from their condition is
only pouring so much more money into the pockets
of the Catholic church."
44 Dr. McHale," replied Cavallo with dignity, "you
disgrace your cloth by such arguments. Your words
DOCTOR CAVALT.Q 101
are instinct with savage bigotry and oppression. For
my part I blush for you. I do not wonder that Mr.
Abbott lives the life of miserly greed that he does, if his
spiritual teacher is constructed in so narrow a mold.""
The reverend doctor grew very red in the face and he
could only mutter that he trusted that he had not been
misunderstood. But Cavallo was boiling with rage
and only bowed him loftily out. He had not recovered
his equanimity when the door 'opened and the Mayor
came in.
Mayor Sawyer was a good fellow, always ready to
do anyone a favor, and as he promised everybody
everything, he was continually in hot water, but he
managed to get out of every scrape as fast as he got into
them, by making more promises. He came jauntily in
and began at once, "I say Doc, about this Abbott
matter. The old man is as mad as a wet hen. He
wants me to see what can be done about getting you
to withdraw your complaint. You know that Row of
his ? I told him that they ought to come down, which
is all true, but I kind o' want to satisfy him. He's a
power with the Presbyterians and I got a big pull out
of them the last time I ran. You see I agreed to shut
up the saloons Sunday if they would vote for me, and
then after I was elected, the boys kind o' wanted me to
be liberal and I had to kind o' shut one eye ye know.
Now, if I can get this matter fixed up it will square me.
You'll be wanting something of me, City Physician or
County Physician, or something of that kind. Dr.
McHale has been around and old Abbott himself.
They are a pretty powerful faction."
u So they want the saloons closed on Sunday, do they,
and allow a pest-house, an unmitigated nuisance, a
102 DOCTOR CAVALLO
chamber of horrors, a place where baby farming and
all unclean things fester and rot, to run ? Well,
I hardly know which is the greater sinner in the sight
of heaven," said Cavallo " Abbott or his preacher ?
But this I am determined upon, Abbott's Row must go.
I will pursue this unrighteous old man until he removes
that place from the sight of the sun. I will not abate
one jot, and he shall find one man in this city whom he
can neither lie to nor dissuade from his purpose."
The Mayor rejoined : " Well, I have done all that I
agreed to, and have exerted my influence. If any one
says anything to you about it, you say that I called on
you. You understand how it is with me? "
As he went out, Cavallo smiled grimly to himself.
CHAPTER XIII.
Having thus carried his point. Dr. Cavallo did not
rest until he had seen the Board of Health condemn
the Row as a nuisance, and in spite ot the efforts of
Abbott to stop it, they gave orders to level it to the
ground. Then the doctor found himself confronted
with a new problem, what to do with the tenants ?
Some of these were like Pat O'Hara, indifferent to
their surroundings, but occupying the Row because
the rent was cheap. Others were on the border line
between the good and the bad, but would live
upright lives if the environments were good. Some
were wholly bad, and were made worse by the oppor-
tunities for evil that surrounded them. With a saloon
near at hand, and every chance for supplying their evil
appetites, they drifted down lower and lower, like Jim
Dayton, with every succeeding year.
Mr. Abbott, with the cunning of his craft, claimed
that he was really sheltering a lot of poor, who would
otherwise be put upon the street. He induced some of
his tenants to goto the newspapers, and state that, were
it not for him, they would be thrust out in the cold.
One of the papers, edited by a man who was always
sneering at everything that smacked of progress, openly
denounced the doctor's efforts, and insisted that he
was only trying to get cheap notoriety.
104 DOCTOR CAVALLO
In this emergency, Cavallo bethought himself of Mrs.
Bernheim. The Bernheims were the leaders of society,
Christian and otherwise. Mr. Bernheim was a reserved,
quiet man, but with the unmistakable manners of a
leader. His word was as good as his bond, and what-
ever he said was regarded as law throughout the city.
His many business ventures did not allow him much
time to devote to society, so he gave his wife carte
blanche, which she used to good advantage.
Mrs. Bernheim was a worthy helpmeet for such a
husband. She was a pronounced type of a Jewish
beauty, and, in addition, she was lively, vivacious,
pleasant, hospitable and fond of society. Both of them
were lovers of art, and he was particularly well read,
and both were exceedingly fond of the drama. He de-
lighted to see his beautiful mansion thrown open to
their friends, and he encouraged his wife in every way,
so that there was a heartiness about their hospitality
that added zest to its enjoyment. Mrs. Bernheim was
a lover of literature, and the literary people who visited
the city were always welcomed to her home.
She was the soul of charity and this she extended
with a bountiful hand. She paid the rent of some, she
advanced funds to others to embark in business. She
looked after the sick, she sent wine and fruit to the
convalescent. There was nothing loud about this, nor
did she stop to inquire into creed or religion. Every
suffering soul received her kind attention. She did
not content herself with sending out money lavishly.
She went in person, and her carriage was as often at the
door of some poor family in the lower part of the city
as it was before some fashionable mansion in the
aristocratic part of the town. She had these traits by
DOCTOR CAVALLO 105
heredity. Her mother was widely known as a noble
woman, large-hearted in all her ideas, and her daughter,
with greater opportunities, had simply carried out the
mother's impulses. The household shared this feeling.
The children took up the work laid down, and the
Bernheim mansion was not only the scene of joyous
festivities, but of pure almsgiving, based upon the high-
est conceptions — -that of rendering the objects of aid
self-supporting. It was thus large-hearted, but dis-
criminating and just.
Dr. Cavallo had seen her work among the poor and
had attended to many of her patients, and a warm
friendship had sprung up between them.
In his present dilemma he could think of- no one
who could or would assist him so well as she. So he
jumped into his carriage and called on the Bernheims.
The lady received him with a smile. " I have just re-
turned from the East, but 1 see by the papers, doctor,
that you have won quite a reputation since I have been
gone. That is right. I have always said, If you can't
be popular, why, be notorious."
"Not so bad as that, I hope, Mrs. Bernheim," he re-
plied, " I am very glad, indeed, that you are familiar
with this errand of mine. You have read all about it?"
"Oh, yes," responded she, "I know all about it. I
know Abbott, too. He is always full of promises but
he never carries them out. I went the other day with
Mrs. Willits to get subscriptions for the Home of the
Destitute and we called on Abbott. What do you
think he gave us, doctor? Why, his sympathy and a
tract showing that salvation is free, and that the poor
could become self-sustaining, only by leaning on the
cross, and he promised that he would send his pastor,
Dr. McHale, around to preach to them."
106 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Pleasantly chatting, she invited the doctor to a seat.
He said: "You know, Mrs. Bernheim, that I can
hardly leave my office at this time of day, but the case
is pressing, and my errand, therefore shall be briefly
stated.
" I'm all attention, doctor."
"You are aware of the necessities of those people
in Abbott's Row. I need not tell you what a nuis-
ance and menace to public health this place is. Now
it has to come down, and I am worried to know
what to do with the poor people when forced out of
their homes, if we can allow such a term in connection
with their hovels. Now, Mrs. Bernheim, I can
provide quarters for the entire thirty families for sixty
days. They can be put in the barns at the fair grounds.
Then the extreme cold weather will come on and they
will have to move."
"What do you wish me to do, doctor?"
41 1 have roughly sketched out a plan for model
dwelling houses. They can be erected in rows and en-
larged as occasion requires by simply adding to them.
At present, while building, we can provide enough
rooms and accommodations, nicely ventilated and
warmed, for seventy-five families, furnishing them with
everything necessary, plenty of ground for the children
to play, plenty of fresh air. These are to be rented
to the deserving poor, not the shiftless and the lazy,
still the rent will not be more than they are paying
now for their miserable shanties. Then they can be en-
couraged to buy their holdings at so much a week in
payment. In short, make these not the ordinary
tenement houses, but attractive places, with trees and
shrubs. Land in the lower part of the city is cheap,
and this plan can be easily carried out."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 107
Her black eyes sparkled. " Doctor, doctor, what a
romantic scheme ! You wish me to organize a colony
and become its queen. I should be the Empress of
Cavalloville, but the only trouble is, that it will take
the fortune of a Rothschild. I suppose that we shall
need a synagogue, a church and a chapel to minister
to their spiritual needs?"
"Jesting aside, Mrs. Bernheim, I am in earnest."
"Gracious alive! where do you expect to get the
money from? "
" Nothing simpler or easier. Roughly calculating,
the whole scheme will not cost so much. Land can be
purchased in the neighborhood of the factories for
three hundred dollars an acre. As soon as these houses
are built the street car line will build an extension to
them. The houses can be put up for five hundred
dollars each. This gives each house a front room,
dining room, bed room and kitchen, with pantry on the
ground floor, small cellar below, with two good bed
rooms above. We will start in with thirty houses at
first, just what we have tenants for. Then we can add
to it with the exigencies of the case. Each home will
have its own coal house and outhouse, with yard room,
cut off from its neighbor by a fence, a good supply of
water from the waterworks, and a sewer under the
whole, properly trapped. 1 '
She laughed. u What a contractor you would make.
Why don't you go into the building business? 1 '
"This is what I am doing right now, Mrs. Bernheim.
The whole scheme will not cost twenty thousand
dollars. Now, as fast as the houses sell on these
weekly payments, we can build more homes and make
it an interest-paying investment, self-supporting, and,
108 DOCTOR CAVALLO
at the same time educating the tenants to own their
own fire-sides, and above all, this takes them away from
the slums and the vice-breeding sinks, giving the
children fresh air and ground to play on. This is sys-
tematic charity. It doesn't pauperize."
She reflected. "I will talk it over with Mr. Bern-
heim."
This was just what Dr. Cavallo wanted, and he
bowed himself out.
That night, when Mr. Bernheim came home, he was
in unusually good spirits. He had made a great deal
of money that season and the prospect was roseate
for the future. When they had left the tea table
and he was settled in the drawing room, she began,
woman-like:
"Henry, you know you promised to buy me that
diamond necklace that we saw in New York, for a
present on my birthday. 1 '
"Yes," he responded, "do you want it now?"
"No, but I wish to know what it will cost."
"Never look a gift horse in the mouth, my dear."
11 But I wish to know the cost for a very particular
reason."
"Well, then," said he, "the price is twenty thousand
dollars."
" I want that money for a different purpose. I have
jewels enough now."
So she took her pen and paper and began with the
figures that the doctor had given her. Her husband
listened at first with indifference, then he took a lan-
guid interest, then he sat upright, and taking out his
pencil, said :
"After all it isn't a bad investment. That property
DOCTOR CAVALLO IO9
will double in value as soon as the street cars are built
to it, and the factories will always give desirable ten-
ants. The result, my dear, will be this : The sober
and industrious will go in and buy the property on
those terms, and then where will your charity be?"
u This is just the purpose of the plan, to make people
sober and industrious. Charity consists, as you always
preach, not in giving people something that they do
not earn, that makes paupers of them, but in showing
them how they can earn what they need."
"Take the case of the O'Haras," Mr. Bernheim
added. "You can never do anything with Mike
O'Hara. He is a natural born thug and bum."
11 His two sisters will work in the factories and the
old man can get a job as watchman, so that the rest of
the family will be saved, even if the boy does go wrong
and grows up worthless. As it is, the whole of them
will, under their present conditions, be paupers or
worse."
They discussed the matter in its varied bearings, and
the next morning she reminded him of it.
He took the idea down town with him and it so
happened that his architect dropped in to consider an
extension to one of his mills. After the architect had
finished the work, Mr. Bernheim spoke to him in re-
gard to the project that he had in mind. The other
agreed to sketch out something of the sort and the up-
shot was that finally Mr. Bernheim got a plan to his
liking, although the cost was a little more than the doc-
tor had figured.
Little by little the project grew, and at last the
ground was purchased and the contract was let. Mrs.
Bernheim was greatly delighted, and before the houses
110 DOCTOR CAVALLO
were erected she had, with the doctor's advice and
counsel, selected the tenants.
This was not difficult to do. The idle and lazy would
not stir. They clung to the slums and slouched off
into tumble-down places near the river bank, for this
class of people, like vermin, hate the light of day and
seek concealment. Pat O'Hara, with his wife and
family, were the first to move. And, as they put their
humble furniture into the new edifice, Pat was as happy
as a king. He went down to Dr. Cavallo's office and
there ran across Timothy Dodd.
He astonished that worthy by paying so flattering a
tribute to the doctor that even Timothy's grandilo-
quent and flowing phrase was silenced.
"He was that deloighted," said Tim, " ef the angel
Gabriel had kem in that minit Pat wud hev made him
gev up his horn and turn it over to Cavallo as the best
entitled to it in pint of merit, jist."
CHAPTER XV.
If Dr. Cavallo had been a vain man or one easily
elated by flattery, he would have had his head turned,
for he was overwhelmed with praise. He knew, how-
ever, how unmeaning are the compliments that are
showered upon anyone who, for the moment, has at-
tracted public attention. He pursued the even tenor
of his way, only responding courteously to those who
met him and shook him by the hand, asserting that his
victory over Abbott was the best thing that had occur-
red in the history of the city.
He knew that he had a foe in the old man whose
hate was unrelenting, and who would follow him in
every line that he undertook with the malignity of the
wolf.
Nevertheless, he felt he was so greatly in the right,
that he scorned Abbott and his threats. As for those
who followed in Abbott's wake, the most that they
could do would be to sneer. He was walking along the
street considering the matter, and turning the whole
question over in his mind, when he saw Miss Lawrence
before him, he quickened his steps, and overtaking
her, courteously greeted her.
She smiled as she met him, and they walked on to-
gether. What was the burden of their discourse ? Let
every reader of this tale himself answer the question.
112 DOCTOR CAVALLO
What do youth and beauty always talk about ? The
lisping language of love is enchanting enough to us
when we are at the other end of love's telephone, but
it is stale, flat and unprofitable to the hearer. What is
a more beautiful sight than a mother crooning to her
babe ? What is more absurd than a translation of her
words when depicted in cold type? Cavallo was a man
who had seen much and had reflected deeply, but he
was no more exempt from an invasion of the affections,
if we may so call it, than you would be in his place.
All the world loves a lover, and all the world laughs
at him just the same.
What is more simple, to carry out the parallel farther,
than to sit and listen to one side of a conversation. To
hear one over the telephone say, "Yes." " No, I
think not." " Not at all." "You won't." So, in lis-
tening to the conversation of lovers, the bystander only
gets half of it. He misses the inflections and the im-
plications that are the missing links, and that make the
conversation not only intelligible, but interesting to the
other party.
Cavallo told her the story of little Daisy Dayton, for
one thing, and how he had seen the poor mother
buried, and had provided a home for the little
girl. The recital brought the tears to Margaret's
eyes, for she was sympathetic, and she remembered
when Mrs. Dayton had first come to the city, a blush-
ing bride, and when the unhappy wreck that now shuf-
fled along the street was one of the best known men in
the city.
They talked of art and literature, and of everything
but themselves, and yet the under current, the secret
sympathy, that ran through their talk, gave to it that
interest that added weight to their words.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 113
Inasmuch as every reader of this story will have an
experience of his own to fall back upon, and can recall
dozens of times when he was in this same state, walk-
ing with the girl he loved, it seems needless to try to
point a moral and adorn a tale with the conversation
between this couple. The doctor had a set purpose in
life, and he had received from this girl a strong im-
pulse to shape his career along the line that he was
pursuing. Whether she was actuated by any stronger
motive than a desire to see him grandly heroic, he did
not know. He felt sometimes that the interest she
manifested in him was purely sympathetic. While she
might regard his race with admiration from a historical
point of view, would she care enough for the individual
to sink the question of race ?
This puzzled him, but he was very happy as it was.
To listen to her praise as they walked, as she told him
how she admired his conduct in the late affair with
Abbott, was pleasure enough, and he took delight in it.
It soothed him, annoyed as he had been with the
strain of the last few days' contest. He felt that here
he was appreciated, and if it led to nothing else, he
would enjoy this to the full. So he walked on by her
side, feeling refreshed in the pleasant autumn air, in the
cool breeze, in the presence of Margaret ; the very
rustle of her dress, the soft tones of her voice, gave
him a sense of exquisite pleasure. He responded to
her sweet and gentle influence, and his soul was soothed
and calmed.
From this he was rudely awakened, for, as they came
to the crossing of a street they were joined by Seidel.
That individual was in the highest spirits. He joked
them both with his good natured badinage, addressed
114 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Miss Lawrence with easy familiarity, once even calling
her Margaret, at which Cavallo winced. He had the
easy swing of audacity and gave his tongue full vent.
While it seemed to Cavallo to be the perfection of
friendly talk, there was a subtle undercurrent of sar-
casm, a finely disguised effort to belittle him. He dis-
puted some of Cavallo's remarks with grace, yet with
an air of superiority that nettled the doctor, but it was
done so deftly that he could not take umbrage at it. He
brought up something that happened at college and as-
sumed that Cavallo was in some of the students' esca-
pades. There was nothing bad in it and nothing to
which one could seriously object, but the intention
seemed to be to show Margaret that Cavallo was act-
ing a part, — that he had led elsewhere a different life.
Cavallo returned short answers to this badinage,
whereupon Seidel would beg his pardon, telling Miss
Lawrence not to mind his talk, that he would be the
last one in the world to reveal things that had been
done in moments of youthful indiscretion. Then he
would end in a hearty laugh, that, while it was insin-
cere and metallic, a laugh peculiar to Seidel, yet it
served his purpose in making him pass for the mo-
ment as a good fellow who only saw the ridiculous
side of life and meant to get all the enjoyment out
of the world that he could.
He openly, before Cavallo's face, paid Margaret the
little gallant attentions that beauty demands and re-
ceives from her admirers without a thought other than
that they are her due, for she has always received them.
Cavallo shrank from this exhibition and it seemed to
him profanation for Seidel to venture upon little famil-
iarities on the street, which, innocent enough, he himself
DOCTOR CWALLO 115
would never have thought of offering. He walked along
silently listening to the conversation between Margaret
and Seidel, for she, noticing Cavallo's manner, strove
to hide it from the other as much as she could, and she
laughingly parried Seidel's remarks and rounded off
the shafts of his wit with brilliant repartee. This only
aroused Seidel to more effort, and he rattled on in a
stream of mocking satire and fun, even sometimes ma-
liciously put, until they came to the Lawrence home,
when he escorted her into the house, for he was still
stopping with Bob.
The doctor bowed and parted with them, but he
thought he detected a triumphant smile in Seidel's face
that sent the blood to his own brow, and he turned
back and sought the security of his own office. He
was provoked. He felt that in the battle between him-
self and Seidel that had just passed, he had been
worsted and humiliated in the eyes of the one he
loved. He instinctively discerned that he was to have
a rival in this brilliant young fellow, this man who
posed at one moment as a man of business and the
next as a shrewd student, and perhaps again as a
thorough man of the world. What chance did he have
against this trained athlete, so to speak, in all matters of
society, against one who knew all the avenues to a
woman's heart, and who practiced upon the affections
of the young maiden with the experience of a veteran,
not hampered by any consideration of love. Seidel had
no feeling that it was descecration to approach Miss
Lawrence. To him she was simply a good alliance. If
he married her, and the doctor winced again at the
thought, it would enable him to use the Lawrences to
further his schemes. All of these things made the doc-
Il6 DOCTOR CAVALLO
tor ill at ease. He tried to read, and pored over a vol-
ume in which was a case that he wished to study, but
he found that he had lost interest in the matter, and
after reading one page over two or three times, he
closed the book and went out of doors.
CHAPTER XVI.
When the intelligence was noised about that Ab-
bott's Row had been condemned and the order given
to demolish it, it created a stir in the community.
Abbott had defied public sentiment so long in this
matter that the gratification that he had been worsted
was general and widespread.
The editor of the German paper was a man of broad
sympathy and generous impulses. He had a profound
contempt for hypocrisy in any shape. Herr Muller
rather fancied impaling fellows of this sort on his pen,
and he had gathered around him quite a following.
His German subscribers believed in him and loyally
supported him. He was an authority on art, and on
music, for he was himself a fine singer. He was a ready
and eloquent speaker, and he had recently delivered
an address at the grave of a fellow comrade that was
the talk of the city. He was sympathetic as a
woman, yet sturdy as a lion, detesting shams of all
sorts, and fighting them with all his power and vigor.
He had many a time called the attention of the pub-
lic to the nuisance of Abbott's Row, but he had failed
to remove it. He now came out and, in a glowing
article, recounted the work that Cavallo had wrought,
and by way of giving Abbott a further stab, said that
Il8 DOCTOR CAVALLO
this great reform had been achieved in spite of Christian
influence by a Jew.
The publication of this in Herr Muller's paper
created an intense sensation. The next morning a
number of influential citizens called to congratulate the
doctor. Many of these had signed his petition. Prom-
inent among them was Mr. Aaron Tobias. This gen-
tleman had been connected with the fortunes of the
city for over thirty years. He was an active, genial,
public spirited man. He was placed on every com-
mittee and at the head of every movement for the
benefit of the city. He held advanced ideas on all
social and religious questions, and was withal gen-
erous and hospitable. Now he was effusive. He did
not, before he read it in Herr Muller's paper, suspect
that Dr. Cavallo belonged to his race, and the thought
that a work that every one else had failed in had been
wrought by one of his own people so pleased him that
he ran over with feeling.
His evident delight touched the doctor himself and,
he responded to the compliments of his new friend
with some warmth. This gratified Mr. Tobias still
more, and he went off and brought back Mr. Philip
Herman whom he introduced as president of the con-
gregation. Mr. Herman was a good man. This was felt
in the grasp of his hand, in the tone of his voice, and
in the benevolent aspect of his face. They talked of
different matters, and the interview ended by Mr. Tobias
arranging a dinner party at his house for the next
Sunday at which he invited the doctor to be present.
The latter pleaded his profession, which made it ex-
tremely difficult for him to promise to attend a social
gathering, but Mr. Tobias would not take ' no,' and
DOCTOR CAVALLO I I 9
ended by obtaining the doctor's consent, no intervening
circumstance preventing, to be present, and the two
gentlemen took their leave highly gratified.
As the days went by, Dr. Cavallo found no reason
why he should not fulfill his engagement, and
Sunday found him walking up the steps of the Nus-
man residence.
Home is always a delight to the Jew. The family
and the household are very dear to him, and these
have interwoven all the little ties that bind the mem-
bers together, and act upon the Jews with tenfold
force because of their isolation.
Mr. Tobias and his wife were never so happy as
when dispensing hospitality, and the dinner was a great
success. Mr. Herman and his wife were there and the
conversation ran upon religious matters.
The doctor was introduced to the rabbi and was de-
lighted with him. He found that he was a learned man,
not only in his specialty, Hebrew literature, but in
various other branches, and with it all he possessed the
modesty that distinguishes the true student from the
pretender. The rabbi spoke of the difficulty of keeping
the congregation together when such diverse ideas pre-
vailed, and added that the true reason is, beeause the
thinkers, the men of advanced ideas, do not affiliate with
the congregation. They drift away and may often be
found scoffing at a state of things which they might
remedy if they would but exert their influence and throw
their efforts into the scale. Dr. Cavallo reflected. His
promise to his uncle came up before him. Perhaps he
was taking this very position. It was not by sneering
at them, but by leading them, that Moses brought his
people out of the land of Egypt. Suppose the great
120 DOCTOR CAVALLO
prophet had stood afar off, satisfied with having mas-
tered all the learning of the Egyptians, what would
have been the result to his race?
Then Margaret's words of inspiration rose up before
him.
He said : rt Perhaps we are in fault in this matter. I
feel that I have been derelict myself. I think that I will
join your congregation."
The eyes of Mr. Herman shone with pleasure. " I
shall take pride in presenting your name," he said.
Cavallo's mind was now made up. He had taken the
last step that was lacking to identify himself with his
people, and he had done this at the suggestion of the
girl he loved. If she wedded another, if this should
be an additional barrier between them, he had, at least,
been true to the purpose which he had chosen as
the guiding impulse of his life. He felt all the better
for having made his choice, and he took part in the
conversation, feeling that he was one of the little
group.
The rabbi, too, felt strengthened by the accession.
He was a very treasure house of fancy, and he gave se-
lections from the Midrash, little fables, and touching
stories of love and suffering, all pointing a moral, or
conveying between the lines some great truth.
The Midrash is filled with this delicate poetry, the
garnered wisdom of centuries of thought and study.
It is as yet, to the Christian, an unexplored region,
and as the rabbi unfolded it and dwelt upon what it
taught, the doctor was astonished to find how deeply
those old Hebrew seers had pondered upon that Provi-
dence that guides the actions of men, and, at a time
when the rest of the world was wrapped in the dark-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 121
ness of barbarism, they had demonstrated the principles
of eternal justice, and embalmed them in these little
parables for the benefit of posterity.
He was delighted that the rabbi stood on this high
plane. It was a solace to find that he had gone over
the same ground that he himself had traveled, and
had arrived at the same conclusions.
Tobias, too, surprised him, for he found that he pos-
sessed fine literary taste, and was a man cultured in his
manners and refined in his ideas. As for Herman, no
one could be in his society long without feeling that in
the affections, in the sterling qualities of the soul, the
old man was fully entitled to the respect in which he
was held by the community.
When the doctor had left the house and was on his
way to the office, he thought that there was little sense
or reason for any Jew to be ashamed of his people.
"Here," he said to himself, "are three men that in in-
tellect, in culture, in the higher qualities that adorn the
character and give standing to a community, are fitted
to take their place with the best." The thought gave
him real pleasure. His task would not be so hard
after all.
The main trouble, he mused, lies in their isolation.
What should be done by this people is to affiliate with
their neighbors ; to take an active interest in affairs ;
to take hold of the questions of the day ; to show that
they are Americans, citizens of the great republic,
and not caring for anything beyond. "The reproach
against us," he said, "is that we wish to return to Jeru-
salem, when this is as absurd a proposition as if it were
said that we wish to go back to Egypt. The Jew is a
Jew because of his religion, not because of his country.
122 DOCTOR CAVALLO
His native land is here, and there is nothing to pre-
vent him from being the very highest type of an
American citizen."
He began to speculate upon the best way to bring
out his idea, and to elevate his people along this line.
It was evident that it could not be done simply by
making distinctively Jewish societies, but by encourag-
ing the young men to mingle with their neighbors.
In short, he thought, we must make the Jew take the
same plane as any other religious body, convincing the
public that it is a religion with him and not a nation-
ality. We do not continually throw up to a man that
he is a Methodist or Baptist. The second gener-
ation that is coming up must be Americans by birth and
Jews in religion, because this embodies the grandest
ideas of God and the most enlarged type of humanity.
He f jit under this new light that he could go to the
synagogue and take part in the service, seeing in the
old ceremonies only the fossil roots of things that once
had a vital meaning, rescuing the people from idolatry,
but which now are only the reminder of past and
and buried regulations.
He felt that this was the plane on which the rabbi
stood, and that on this platform he could meet both
Tobias and Herman.
14 Observances," he soliloquized, 4t appeal strongly to
some minds. Look how Masonry has, by its fidelity
to certain sentiments, maintained it's place in the world
and is still a moving force bound together because it
offers the largest expression of human brotherhood."
The more he pondered upon this subject the stronger
he grew in his feeling that here was the work laid out
for him. He felt that he could show Margaret that
DOCTOR CAVALLO 1 23
along this line his career lay, and to develop it must
be the purpose of his life.
To be a Jew, in this large conception, was to be the
pioneer of advanced thought and the prophet of a
larger life and more glorious hope.
CHAPTER XVII.
The weeks drifted by with little incident. Dr. Cav-
allo had gone on his way unostentatiously, but he felt
that his influence was extending. His practice had
enormously increased. The poorer classes looked
upon him with affection. Abbott still nourished his
hatred and showed it even when they passed on the
street. Bob broke the monotony of the doctor's hum-
drum life by now and then dropping in on him and
talking metaphysics, science, religion, politics, and
lastly, mining, for by this time his head began to be
611ed with mining schemes. Seidel was at times effu-
sive, and at times distant. He was paying open atten-
tion to Miss Lawrence, and people began to whisper
that he meant something more than the attentions of a
friend. He accompanied her everywhere.
Timothy Dodd had wholly overcome his prejudice
against the Jews and had taken a warm interest in
the cottages of Mrs. Bernheim, but this grew more out
of his attachment to the elder O'Hara girl than from
any other motive. He spent many an hour at the
cottage arguing with Pat on the " essentials, the cor-
porosities and the perdicaments.""
Between his work at the factories as watchman and
arguing with Timothy, Pat expended the rest of his
time in scoring M Moike" for his worthlessness in join-
ing the Ham Heads and studying " divilment."
DOCTOR CAVALLO I 25
41 That dom'd by'e," he said, " would rayther be rush-
in' the growler than ingaged in an honest occypay-
shun."
The doctor went to the synagogue, for Messrs. Tobias
and Herman dropped in on him one Friday even-
ing, saying that the rabbi would speak on an important
subject that night, and since the doctor was already a
member of the congregation they would feel happy in
having him accompany them, which he did.
The rabbi spoke on " The Inspiration of the Penta-
teuch." After paying a glowing tribute to the ethics
and moral precepts scattered throughout its pages, and
after showing the amount of good those teachings have
accomplished in the upbuilding of civilization, he cau-
tiously, yet with scientific accuracy, showed the com-
posite structure of that book. He brought out the
fact, which must have been startlingly new to most of
his hearers, that many of the events ascribed to Moses
never could have been written by him, since they refer
to a period long after his time. An inspired book,
the rabbi said, must be historically, geographically and
scientifically true in its every detail, and here citing
contradictory passages, and glaring anachronisms, he
conclusively proved to the satisfaction of the thinking
portion of the congregation that the entire Pentateuch
could not have been the work of inspiration.
Withal he presented a platform broad enough for all
mankind. This was a new departure to most of the
rabbi's flock, who were accustomed to regard the
Pentateuch as divinely revealed. Dr. Cavallo listened
with interest. It was in harmony with his own thoughts,
but he had no idea that he should find such opinions
boldly proclaimed from a Jewish pulpit.
126 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Dr. Cavallo had been a close student in his reading,
and had kept in touch with the reform movement, but
years had passed since he had been inside of a syna-
gogue, and his chief recollections were those of his boy-
hood, when he was sent to an ultra-orthodox one where
the men and women were separated and the women
were screened from the men. The men were wrapped
in woolen and silken praying scarfs. Services were
conducted exclusively in Hebrew, many of the prayers
were shouted without any regard for rhythm, melody
or harmony. The minister would once in two months,
seldom oftener, deliver a sermon which acted as
a perfect soporific. It was filled with quotations
from the Talmud and commentaries and dealt largely
with dietary laws, ritualistic observances and ceremo-
nial rites.
Here the scene was entirely different. The families
sat together. The praying scarfs had been laid aside.
The men sat with uncovered heads. The noise gave
way to decorum and devotion. The prayer book,
while by no means modern enough to suit him and
his views, was hundreds of years in advance of the
old ritual. The music was melodiously intoned by
a cultured choir, most of whom were Gentiles, but
recognized masters of their art in the community.
That which pleased him most was the large num-
ber of Christians, of both sexes, who listened atten-
tively to the discourse of the rabbi. On the whole he
felt glad and pleased. He said to himself, "I will
come oftener." The two gentlemen who accompanied
him were more than recompensed when, at the close
of the service, Cavallo frankly gave them his views
and the pleasing impressions that he had gained. He
DOCTOR CAVALLO 1 27
also interchanged ideas on sociology and religion with
the rabbi. He became more impressed with the fact
that he had been passive these years, while Judaism
was actively engaged in the work of the Renaissance.
A strong attachment grew up between himself and
the rabbi, for he found him pleasant and congenial.
One day, after Cavallo's usual round of visits, he
sat down with a feeling that he had earned a little
time for himself. He recalled the look that Seidel
had given him when they last parted. Then he thought
of Margaret and he felt that he ought to call on the
Lawrences. Then the picture of Abbott came up be-
fore him and the bitter hate that the old man cherished
for him, and the pen picture of old Trapbois in Scott's
portrait of the miser in u The Fortunes of Nigel," came
into his mind. He was in this state of reverie when
the door opened and the rabbi came in. His arrival
was opportune, for Cavallo wanted some one to talk to
and the rabbi was just the one whose conversation gave
him relief.
Cavallo told him that he was sorry that he could not
hear him last Friday night, but there were some points
in his published address that met with his hearty ap-
proval. The subject was, "The Brotherhood of Reli-
gions," in which the rabbi had taken the ground that
the elements of truth are contained in all beliefs, and
that no one religion can claim a monopoly of the truth.
That all religions have more or less the essence of re-
velation. With all of this the doctor, being in close
sympathy, expressed his hearty concurrence.
41 Your sermons, as far as I have heard and read them,
hardly harmonize with your ritual. In your ritual you
are exclusive, while your addresses are inclusive. I
128 DOCTOR CAVALLO
have been estranged from the synagogue some years
and ought to be the last to cast the first stone, yet per-
mit me to remark that the English translation of some
of the prayers is strained and the prayers, too, smack
of medevial and oriental notions."
"My dear doctor," replied the rabbi, " I fully agree
with you. No one realizes the situation, the glaring
inaccuracies, the unpresentable methods which most
congregations struggle under more than do I. Full well
do I know that our prayer book was mostly composed in
an age of wailing and tears, and is not apt to be strik-
ingly inviting, nor fit the changed condition of the
times. But you must not forget that it is yet within the
recollection of many when the word reform was the
scare crow and bug bear of all of the congregations.
Now see how vast have been our improvement in this
direction. You and I no longer could be induced to
follow the methods that were in vogue when we were
lads. So you see, little by little the spirit of the age
broadens the horizon of the Jew.
"It seems to me," remarked Cavallo, " that from
what I have seen of your members you will have
very few obstacles placed in your way in furthering
these advanced views."
The rabbi smiled significantly. "It is true, doctor,
that most of my congregation are honest, sincere, good-
natured, and some of them are even thinkers. The latter
stand with their faces toward the sun. While born in
the orthodox faith, they have long since left the
wilderness, and are ready, as it were, to cross
the Jordan, but like all communities there are some
who are stumbling blocks. We have factions here,
a few that are self-assertive, opinionated, wrong
DOCTOR CAVALLO 120,
headed, and conservative, but these men wield a con-
siderable influence in the community, and rather
than quarrel with them they are allowed to crush
almost every proposition that would benefit the cause.
It isn't that they mean to do it, for I believe that they
are, in their own way, somewhat conscientious, but the
fact remains, all the same. At congregational meet-
ings they make it so intolerably unpleasant for the ad-
vanced element that the latter frequently remain away,
so that the others have the field all to themselves.
What this congregation most sadly needs is leader-
ship:"
"This is discouraging," sympathized Cavallo, "for
there is a great possibility in this very community of
building up a religious sentiment."
"That's it," replied the rabbi, "I know this to be a
fact and, without a tinge of egotism, I feel this to be
my mission. I am endeavoring, all that I can in an
humble way, to weaken the walls of race prejudice, and
undermine the social barriers which are erected by in-
tolerance and hate, but there, again, how galling it is
to me, doctor, when looking over the audience from
the pulpit, seeing some of the very best Christians be-
fore me, I am compelled to read prayers that are
tinged with narrow and tribal ideas."
" I know it, and I feel for you, and I will gladly do
all that I can, for I believe that the time has come for
us to present the intellectual and the ethical side of
our religion to the world at large that will bring us de-
served recognition."
The rabbi mused for a moment, looked his friend
steadily in the face, then said: "We have known
each other but a short time, still there seems to be an
5
130 DOCTOR CAVALLO
understanding between us, for we are both working for
the improvement of the community."
" I sincerely hope so," answered Cavallo.
"Well, you wish to help me, do you ?"
"With all my heart."
"Then start right now. Next Sunday a general
meeting of the congregation will take place, when some
very important changes in our ritual will be suggested.
The new Union Hebrew Prayer Book will come up for
adoption. I shall need strong backing, for, while Mr.
Jacob Kinofsky has agreed to work for the prayer
book, he is so uncertain that the chances are that he
will work against it."
Dr. Cavallo reflected. Some one must come to the
assistance of the venerable rabbi. He did not particu-
larly care to have a quarrel on his hands, but he could
at least go and see for himself, and be then in a posi-
tion to judge how great this sentiment was. Then, as
a member of the congregation, he ought to take up his
share of the burden and actively affiliate with them. He
therefore slowly replied, "I will assist in this work to
the utmost of my power, and I will be there as a
listener, at all events."
The rabbi, thanking him earnestly for his good will,
bade him a warm good-bye.
CHAPTER XVIII.
When the president rapped for order every member
of the congregation was in his seat. They felt that
this was to be a red letter day in the annals of Ohabei
Shalom. The new prayer-book was to come up for
consideration. There was an air of expectancy over
the whole assembly. The president briefly stated the
object of the meeting, and hoped that harmony would
prevail throughout its deliberations. "The prayer-
book," said he, "has been before you for some weeks
past, and has been adopted by most of the leading
congregations in the land," and he hoped that the
members of Ohabei Shalom would not be found in the
rear of this advanced movement.
After the applause had subsided which the presi-
dent's remarks elicited, Mr. Shultheimer moved the
adoption of the prayer-book. This motion was
seconded by at least one-half of the members present.
Mr. Einstein said that he wanted to say a word.
Mr. Einstein was a large, fat man, who wanted to pose
as a great reformer and benefactor of his race. In the
matter of swelling words he was perfectly at home,
and on this occasion he was full to the chin. He said
he was in favor of reform in pretty nearly everything
except when these bigots wanted to close all the bar-
ber shops on Sundays and shut up the clothing stores
132 DOCTOR CAVALLO
so that a man couldn't get a clean shave nor a clean
shirt when he came in off the road. Every man ought
to have his religious scruples respected, but they were
carrying this closing business too far.
Here the president called him to order and inquired
what barber shops had to do with the prayer book.
"There are people, 1 ' said Mr. Einstein, "who want a
new set of prayers." For his part he was willing to pray
out of any book, so that the people were satisfied. It
was all the same to him. He had noticed this, that
those who didn't pray at all were the ones who stuck
closest to the old ritual.
Mr. Ikelheim said that he fully agreed with every-
thing that Mr. Einstein had said. Mr. Einstein had
put it very nicely. He wanted something new. He
wanted to be advanced. These old things must be
dropped and advanced ideas taken up.
Several other members spoke strongly urging the
adoption of the prayer book.
Then a call was made for the rabbi.
He briefly explained its origin and contents. It was
the outcome, said he, of careful study. He showed
that congregations in this country had, in the last years,
multiplied prayer books so much so, that it became
necessary for an Israelite, who left his own home and
desired to worship elsewhere, to take a trunk load of
various prayer books if he desired to keep in touch
with the services at the places he visited.
After many years of earnest work by the rabbis, the
new prayer book has been adopted by their conference,
the most representative body of its kind in the world.
These men are scholars, devoted to their duties, pro-
found thinkers, in love with their calling, champions
DOCTOR CAVALl.O 133
of progress. The prayer book is in line with the spirit
of modern Judaism. All oriental notions and all ref-
erences to a return to Jerusalem have been eliminated.
In fact a broad spirit of catholicity breathes through-
out its pages.
There was a pause and then Mr. Kinofsky arose.
He was a thin, wild looking man with a short figure,
a haggard face, black hair, a pair of restless eyes and a
beard that ran out straight from his pointed chin. His
huge nose, hooked like a parrot's beak, and his narrow
forehead with its heavy crop of coarse black hair,
down low, gave him such an air that lately he went in
the city by the nickname of " Svengali." He had
come to the city as the van guard in the great Russian
persecution some years before. He started as a ped-
dler, and from having a pack he had now risen to the
dignity of two horses and a cart, and a peddler or two
under him, and he began to traffic in rags, in old iron,
and in all the waste of the city. He became the leader
of the Russian Jews, and assumed authority over them,
so that he represented that element in the congrega-
tion. This gave him a sort of power and influence
which he was not slow to use. He stoutly opposed
every innovation, regularly bound the phylacteries on
his arm and forehead, kissed the tzitzis (the fringe on
the praying shawl) when he prayed, and kept all the
fasts and feasts religiously. It hurt him when the
praying shawls were laid aside. At every new idea he
raised his voice in angry protest, and he always man-
aged to stir up strife over it. The congregation sus-
pected that the proposition to introduce a new prayer
book would arouse his active opposition.
He had begun by being subservient to his superiors,
134 DOCTOR CAVALLO
now he had outgrown all of this. He was dicta-
torial, and loved to give his commands in a loud voice.
His favorite phrase was, "You hear me."
He was short, but lean, and he hobbled as he walked.
Now, he arose and said : " Meester President" and
every one turned and looked at him."
Seeing this, he went down in front, and looked at
the congregation. Some of the audience laughed, but
he stopped this by waving his hand at them.
Then he repeated, " Meester "President: I haf nod-
ings to say. Eef dat book suit you it suit me," at
which remark he received a round of applause.
He went on, "Veil, veil, not so geshvind (jargon
for fast), my frents. Dat vas a goot book, I hav no ob-
jection in beleeving it. Unt eef dat book goomes into
der skoal (synagogue) out goes Yacob Kinofsky. You
hear me. Mine frent, Mr. Einstein, says giv de peeble
vat dey vants, unt mine frent, Mr. Ikelheim, vants dat
book too. Veil, veil let dem hav dat book vid mine
gompliments, but, you hear me, dat book will nefer
gum into dat shool ven I knows mineself. Mine frent,
der rabbi, gets on de ground unt says, dat book is goot,
it's nice, it's great, it's vine, it vas made by dem rabbis
vots knows all about our neets unt our vants. Who is
dem rabbis vat goomes up unt tells us ve vants you to
take dot book for to pray ? I am a Jehudi (Jew),
Meester President unt shentelmens, unt do you mean to
tell me, 1 ' (here he adjusted his spectacles, and holding
up the prayer book before the congregation, shook it
at the rabbi, exclaiming, at the top of his voice),
" Ees dis die book dat you vants our childrens to take ;
vy die book stharts upside down, dere is no mussif
(part of the prayer) ; I finds no kedusha (sanctification
DOCTOR CAVALLO I 35
prayer), unt many more dings I dont finds any ; dis
vas gomposed by dem rabbis dat is so great. Vat dey
doos ? Dey shmoke on Shabbas (Sabbath), dey eat
trafe, dey talks of Chaysus, unt dem otter fellows from
die pulbit. Dey vant us all to begum goyim ('gentiles),
Gatholics ! Gatholics ! ! Gatholics ! ! ! dey vant us all
to begum."
Here he was interrupted by Mr. Tobias, who inter-
posed an objection that the gentleman should be a
little more guarded in his expressions.
At this, Mr. Kinofsky nearly lost his head, vehem-
ently retorting that Mr. Tobias was no good Jehudi,
and telling that gentleman to shut up. Shaking his hand
before the rabbi's face, he shouted, M You vants new
prayer-book, eh, eh, to begum Gatholics ! Gatholics ! ! •'
The rabbi good-naturedly remarked, "Will you
kindly explain, Mr. Kinofsky, what you mean by this
insinuation ?"
u I takes no insults from you," roared Mr. Kinofsky.
" I leave it to die people here, you did say before dat
dat prayer-book was full of Gatholics."
Here they all burst out in a good-humored laugh, and
Mr. Tobias remarked that Mr. Kinofsky evidently
alluded to the fact that the rabbi stated that the prayer-
book breathes a broad spirit of catholicity. " I would
suggest, Mr. President, that for the benefit of the gen-
tleman, we secure a copy of Webster's Unabridged Dic-
tionary, and he will find that the word our rabbi used
is the broadest expression of universal love."
At this Mr. Kinofsky was furious. He approached
Mr. Tobias, and roared, "You teach me, you tells me
to gets Vebster's Dichionary unter die bridge. You
hear me. You, your'e a vine chudge, a vine oxample
I36 DOCTOR CAVALLO
of Yehudaism. You gets up here die last meeting unt
say, ve don't vants no more shofar, no shofar (ram's
horn). Eh, you hear me. Vat's goin 1 to begum of
you. For a man likes you, ve don't vants no more
Yehudaism, ve don't vants no more relichion ; you don't
vant no more shofar. Die next ding you vill vants a
Ghristmas tree, and then you vill vants a grucifix on die
outside of die shool. Ah, ha ! You hear me. Ah,
ah ! Vat you say, now, you fellows ? "
Mr. Rixman, a progressive man, here interposed, and
said : "We are not a set of school boys, Mr. President,
to be tortured by this gifted Demosthenes. I, for one,
will no longer submit to it."
" Vat," shrieked Kinofsky, u you calls me names.
Ah, ha. I show you who made you. Ven you gums
into me, asking me to vote for a prayer-book, you don't
speaks dat vay ; you shust vait, I get even vid you some
day. You hear me."
11 I call Mr. Konifsky to order," said Mr. Davids, a
young professional man.
At that Mr. Kinofsky turned on him, and his voice
was hoarse with rage. "Orters," he said "orters.
Who gives me orters. I give orters. I send my mens
after orters. You give me orters. Ah, ha ! I show
you. I takes orters from no boty."
"You are not speaking to the question," said the
President of the congregation, mildly.
"Keveschion ! Keveschion," screeched Kinofsky,
wildly. u Who asks me keveschions? Ah, ah, you vants
dis prayer-book, haf dis book ; I vill not haf none. I
vants mine old sidder (prayer book).
Dr. Cavallo was disgusted, and he showed it so
plainly in his face that Mr. Tobias came over to him
and whispered, "This is fun, isn't it?"
DOCTOR CAVALLO 137
The doctor was annoyed more than he cared to own.
He had had an idea that his work lay in the direction
of advanced Judaism, and he was at the very outset
brought face to face with the most repulsive features
of the whole subject.
He replied to Mr. Tobias, "Why do they not stop
such an outrageous performance?"
"My dear sir," responded Tobias, "he is a member
of the congregation and has the right to talk, but I will
speak to him."
So Mr. Tobias arose and suggested that Mr. Kinof-
sky had spoken about long enough and fully as long
as he was entitled to.
Kinofsky turned on him at once. M Ah ha," he
yelled. " Because I don't pay but tweluv tollar unt a
halup a year, you tinks you put me down. Ah ha, you
hear me. I vas a Jehudi and I vill talk. I vill say vats
is in mine het."
He went on working himself up into a towering
rage walking up and down the aisle screaming at the
top of his voice, Pausing in front of one man he
shouted : M You don't want no shofar, you don't keep no
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). You are no gut
Jehudi" He swung his fists, and at last one member
said :
"There is no longer any sense in tolerating this
man's abuse. He means to rule or ruin."
This was as fire to tow. He shouted ten times
louder than before. "Yes, ah, ha, thatvosme. Yes, I
vill rule or ruin. Ah, ha. Yes, I vill ! No shofar.
You hear me, no Yom Kippur. No nodings, all gone.
I vos a Choo. Tarn dat prayer book, you hear me. I
vas Yakob Kinofsky, unt ven the new prayer book
I38 DOCTOR CAVALLO
gomes in, I goes out. Ven Yakob Kinofsky goes out,
everydings goes too, you hear me. I vos all vool unt
a yard vide on prayer books unt dings. I don't takes
a back seat from no man." And he ended by shaking
his fist under the nose of a new member and wanting
to fight. The uproar increased. Every member was
on his feet and wanted to say a word. Mr. Kinofsky
became more and more excited. He vowed he would
start another congregation, he said that he was the
only true Jew in the city and he knew more Hebrew
than the rabbi. Tobias whispered to Cavallo that,
while he could read a little Hebrew, he did not under-
stand what a word of it meant.
All of this time Mr. Kinofsky was prancing up and
down, waving his hand and shouting.
By this time Kinofsky had found an ally, a man with
a deep Russian brogue who had to leave his native
home near Wilna while quite a young man. Fortune
had smiled upon him in a small way. He had led a
life of strict economy and he had, with the shrewdness
of his race, convinced the community that by means
of fire sales he sold clothing cheaper than any one
else. He was a true bigot and he gloried in it. For
years he was a member of a little Russian-Polish con-
gregation conspicuous for its quarrels and its pen-
chant for dragging its dirty linen through the police
courts. These men were a set of uncouth individuals,
driven away from their native home, and while hard-
working and sober, they were anything but an honor
to Judaism. They practiced the old rites, intoned the
liturgy in traditional melodies and their entire re-
ligious life smacked of Palestine rather than America.
They all wanted to be leaders. They all posed as rab-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 139
bis and teachers. The members of the Ohabei Shalom
did not recognize them, but they would, out of
kindness, contribute to the support of the Shochet
(ritual butcher). In this congregation Mr. Abram-
ovitz was a shining light, but he had finally quarreled
with his Polish brethren and then affiliated with
Ohabei Shalom. He prided himself on his perfect
mastery of Hebrew literature and in all his dealings
and conversations he flaunted some quotations from
the old masters, but never with any accuracy. In fact,
he was the most superficial fellow in the congregation.
He had a few smattering sentences, picked up in his
boyhood, when he was sent to a Hebrew school. When
Abramovitz became excited he relapsed into "Yid-
dish" (Hebrew jargon).
When he first attached himself to Ohabei Shalom he
was a fawning follower of the rabbi, but the latter soon
incurred his enmity. In delivering a series of ad-
dresses he made a plea for advanced thought. One of
these discourses troubled Abramovitz.
In this the rabbi made a strong appeal for a closer
union between the different denominations, and he men-
tioned the name of Jesus from the pulpit, lauding him
as a great teacher. This was enough for Abramovitz,
He declared that the rabbi was an enemy of Israel. Here
now was his opportunity to display his friendship for
Kinofsky, exhibit his marvelous acquaintance with Jew-
ish literature, and give his spiritual guide an under-
handed slap.
" Brooder Fres'idem*," he began, u I vas broud dat I
livs, unt I vas broud dat I vas here to listen to die vords
of mine goot frent, Meester Yakob Kinofsky. He vas
a Jehudii vat I calls a Choo, and so vas I. Who vants
140 DOCTOR CAVALL0
to tell me about sidder ? Vill dese rabbis write prayers
for us ? Mine frents, gib a look in dat book (singing
his words), unt tell me eef dem Goyim (Gentiles), eef
dem Shabbes-breakers, chazer fressers (swine eaters), is
fit to make tfillis (rituals). The Anshe Keneses hagado-
lah (the men of the Great Synagogue), (still singing
the words as he spoke), the makers of the goot tfillah,
vas men zaddikim^ landonim (pious scholars), ai, ai, ai,
unt dat book our footers unt our mooters vent mit it,
day unt night, shlept mit it, unt vaked mit it, unt
valked efry hour unt efry minit. Dem vere Choo
rabbis, by golly, dat knows vat is vat. Dis book
(opening the book widely and almost breaking it) is a
Chooish book, eh ; it is a Anglis book, unt, Meester
President, mine heart unt mine soul vas vid Mr. Kinof-
sky, unt eef dat book gums in here, I, too goes out."
Having exhausted himself, the speaker sat down.
Here a number of gentlemen tried to catch the presi-
dent's eye, but Mr. Kinofsky jumped to his feet, and
continued his remarks, giving no other one a chance,
but his voice was so hoarse with shouting and scream-
ing, nothing could be understood.
An uproar set in, and the president, fearing that it
might break up in a melee, adjourned the meeting, and
the members gathered in little groups, and discussed
the unfortunate occurrence in an excited manner.
Cavallo was joined by the rabbi, Herman, and Tobias,
and together they walked out of the synagogue,
leaving Kinofsky and Abramovitz berating the whole
thing, the members, the rabbi, the prayer-book, and
everybody connected with it, to such members of the
congregation as would listen, either from sympathy or
for the humor of the scene.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 141
As the little group walked away, Cavallo said, "And
this is the sort of men by whom we are judged. These
noisy, disagreeable, screeching fools, stamp the name
of Jew with opprobrium, and make us a taunt, a byword,
and a reproach in the eyes of the world ! "
"My dear sir," replied the rabbi, "think that that
man represents years of repression and persecution.
His ancestors and himself have been fairly ground into
the earth. He has been condemned to every sort of
indignity, and every kind of epithet has been heaped
upon him. Through it all he has been taught that he
is in a state of exile. The time will come, he
was told, when he would be rescued and taken back to
the promised land. Everything depended upon his
keeping up the old customs and the old observances.
It was because his fathers neglected these that they
were first enslaved by Babylon. The time that they
have been outcasts and captives cuts no figure, for
were they not four hundred years in the land of Egypt?
Were they not for seventy years in Babylon? The
longer the time the more glorious the deliverance. To
speak, therefore, of change to such a one as Kinofsky,
is to shock all of his sentiments and to arouse all of
his prejudices. He does not see the tendencies of
modern thought. He does not see that restoration is
impossible, and that if the command to go back to
Palestine were received to-morrow, he would be the last
to go, in fact, he would not go at all. He simply re-
sists all change. He would like to feel that everything
is just as it was, and when this is done he is satisfied.
It is possible to elevate his children. It is not possible
to move him. 1 '
44 And Abramovitz ? " asked Tobias.
142 DOCTOR CAVALLO
"The same thing with Abramovitz, 1 ' returned the
rabbi. u He has a little more superficial culture than
Kinofsky, and a little more sense of propriety, but he
has not enough to take him out of the same rut. In
fact, he represents the old maxim that a little learning
is a dangerous thing. Then he wanted to pose as
the friend of Kinofsky and get a dig at me. He knows
better, but when he thought that he could make a
point, he sacrificed everything else and took up a posi-
tion that he knew he could not sustain. In fact, the
evolution of these great ideas have not reached either
of them ; the one is protected by his ignorance, the
other by his conceit."
" I can say these things," continued the rabbi, "for I
am a Polish Jew myself, and received my early educa-
tion at Warsaw. The history of the Jews in Poland is
one of the most romantic and pathetic that can be con-
ceived. You know that for hundreds of years and all
through the Middle Ages, the Polish Jew occupied a
position of prominence throughout that kingdom. He
was then progressive and in advance of his times even.
He was the teacher. It was to Poland that the Jews in
France and Germany looked for their rabbis. The
names of Shalom Shachna, Solomon Lurya and Moses
Isserles are beacon lights in the line of classical scholar-
ship. To them were submitted all the difficult questions
that the Hebrew scholars in Germany, in France and in
Italy were incapable of answering. Since the terri-
ble persecution of the Czars, a great many of them
have been forced into narrow grooves, but even today,
nowhere in the world is the love of study so intensified
as it is among these Polish and Russian Jews. Many
a father and mother have denied themselves the neces-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 143
saries of life to procure some education for their chil-
dren. I can well remember, some forty years ago, seeing
this great thirst for knowledge displayed even by the
poorest class. The mechanics, the workingmen, con T
gregated in their synagogues, which were provided
with plenty of books, and devoted at least one hour
every day to the study of the law. Many of these
people being denied by the government a secular edu-
cation, have been forced to fall back upon the Hebrew
literature alone for their intellectual development, and
this has made them all the more scrupulous in the ob-
servance of the law, and opposed to the slightest
change.
"A few years ago when I went back to Poland on a
visit, I was struck with the sight of old, white haired
men pouring over Shakspeare, Milton, Goethe, Schiller,
and others, whose works had been translated into
Hebrew, showing, that with all of their disadvantages,
they were endeavoring to reach out after higher culture.
It is almost a common thing in all Polish and Russian
cities which Jews inhabit, to find them repairing night
after night, and almost the entire day Saturday, to the
Beth Hamedrisch (House of Learning). They them-
selves, no matter how poor they are, superintend, to a
great extent, the education of their children. In Rus-
sia and Poland some of these very Jews, notwithstand-
ing their disabilities, have risen to the very highest sum-
mit of culture and learning. This is particularly the case
in literature, in art, in law, in music, in philology, in
mathematics, and in many other branches of culture.
While we sneer at the Polish peddler, did you ever re-
flect, doctor, that these Jews have the spirit of the mar-
tyr in them ? They are pushed out in the world. They
144 DOCTOR CAVALLO
have been driven from their own land, and nearly all
other countries have closed the door against them.
Even their own brethren in other lands sneer at them for
their manners, for which they are not to blame. They
have been crushed in their own home and derided in
every other, and yet they could, by renouncing their
faith, have been allowed to live in their own country,
and could have had all honors conferred on them.
That they have chosen to accept degredation, starva-
tion, scorn, contempt and misery rather than to forsake
their own faith, is the strongest tribute that could be
adduced that the spirit of Judaism is not yet dead, but
is an ever living and vital principle. Those who say
with a sneer that there is no spirituality in Judaism,
ought to take off their hats to the next poor Polish
peddler they meet and ask his pardon, for his shoe
latchet they are unworthy to loose."
"It seems to me, 1 ' said Tobias, "that these two are
like blocks of granite. They are partially embedded
in the soil ; trees grow above them, flowers spring up,
blossom and bear seed ; grass fringes their base, and
the sky and sun put on their wonderful changes over
them, but the granite changes not, and remains, year
after year, solid, fixed and immovable."
" Yes, 1 ' said the rabbi, " but, after a time, even the
granite yields to the gentle influence of the summer
showers, and little by little they change the outline of
the boulder, wearing away a rough corner here and
smoothing down a rugged edge there, until at last the
lichens begin to grow upon its surface, and finally it,
too, shows the effects of cultivation."
" I did not know that you were a poet, Tobias, I
knew that the rabbi was given to this, but I never ex-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 145
pected to hear it from you,*' Mr. Herman laughingly
remarked.
Then, addressing the doctor, he added : M I am, in-
deed, sorry that this should have occurred when you
made your first appearance officially. There are in all
communities, as you well know, men who, while they
are boisterous and obstreperous, are still not bad fel-
lows at heart. They are well meaning in their way, as
our friend remarked justly. They had a different train-
ing, different bringing up. Why, even the devil, they
say, is not so black as he is painted. These people
will come around in time, and I have no apprehension
as to the adoption of the Union Prayer Book. Every
thing will be all right in time. For the present, we
must let matters cool off some. Let this not, how-
ever, estrange you, as you see we need you more than
ever."
Shaking hands warmly, they parted.
CHAPTER XIX.
When the doctor reached his office, he found on his
table a note from Mrs. Bernheim asking him to come
up to the house to meet Ram Chunder Sen, the great
Brahmin, who would deliver a discourse on the Occult
Science. The doctor smiled to himself. He cared
little for this sort of thing. There are enough mystic-
isms in real life to satisfy him, but he would not dis-
appoint his good friend who had stood by him in his
philanthropic measures and given them such enthusi-
astic support, and so he wended his way to the Bern-
heim mansion and soon was in the parlors of his host-
ess. He found Ram Chunder Sen, the perfect type of
a Brahmin after the most approved idea. He was a
tall, dark man, speaking fairly good English, with a
pleasant accent, but with a dignity that manifested it-
self in every wave of his hand, in every intonation and
inflection of his voice.
When the doctor came in, the eminent Hindoo was
delivering a discourse upon the world's cycles. If we
take two dice, he said, after so many throws we shall
see that we shall have double sixes once in so long,
and we can depend upon these coming up with the
sixes uppermost once in so often. If we take three
dice we shall find that once in so long the sixes will
come face uppermost. It will take longer with three
DOCTOR CAVALLO 147
than with two. The same law holds good with four.
If we take a dozen dice we shall discover that in so
many throws we shall find all of the dice fall with the
sixes uppermost.
If we take ten thousand dice the same law holds
good. After so many throws, it may be ten thousand,
it may be a million, all of the dice will fall with the
six face uppermost. So we, in this room, are composed
of so many atoms of matter. We meej; here in a cer-
tain position. Now, in time, all of the atoms compos-
ing our systems will come together in the same posi-
tions that they are in now, and we shall be doing just
the same thing that we are now doing. It may take
millions of years or millions of millions of years to do
this, but this does not count in eternity.
This was delivered in a dreamy tone, suggestive of
the very deepest of the occult sciences, and Cavallo
listened with an amused interest and watched the
effect on the audience. Most of them were painfully
interested, and took in the words of the mystic as
those of a prophet.
When the lecture was over the guests were presented
to Ram Chunder Sen, and then they strolled about the
rooms. One man particularly attracted Cavallo's at-
tention. He was of medium size. His countenance,
heavy and characterless, was illumined by a pair of
sleepy eyes and his face was set off by a tremendous
mouth. He was introduced to the doctor by the name
of Mr. Lurello Nagle. Mr. Nagle greeted him with
one of those lifeless hand shakings that feels fish-like
in its deadness.
The doctor asked him how he liked the lecture.
Mr. Nagle sighed disdainfully. " I can only say, in
the language of Lincoln, ' For those who like this sort
I48 DOCTOR CAVALLO
of a thing, this is pretty much the sort of thing that
they would like. 7 "
Cavallo stopped to analyze his new-made acquaint-
ance. He found that Mr. Nagle had an ill opinion of
everything and everybody. When he could not openly
sneer, he maligned and he damned with faint praise
everything that came under his notice.
Mrs. Nagle was entertaining a group of friends in a
corner. She gracefully greeted the doctor as he was
presented to her by her husband. She was a tall, regal
woman, with heavy black hair, and eyebrows that met
across her nose. She responded to the doctor's formal
compliments by saying that she had heard of him, and
was proud to meet him.
She was extremely gracious and vivacious. She told
him that she believed in science, that "she and Lurello
took nothing on trust." She made fun of both Jews
and Christians, of everything and everybody, but she
contrived to intersperse so many compliments to the
doctor, and even Nagle aroused himself to except the
doctor from his sweeping denunciations, so that
before he knew it himself, they had extracted a promise
from Cavallo that he would do them the honor of
taking dinner with them the next Sunday. He noticed
after he had given a somewhat reluctant consent, a sig-
nificant look pass between the two, and this puzzled
him. They were, however, so very polite, and Mrs*
Nagle so " deared "Mrs. Bernheim, and was treated by
that lady with such courtesy, that he felt ashamed of his
doubts. He did not like Nagle's face, but that, he said,
was probably owing to his tremendous mouth, and
after all, this was a mark that no one, he said to him-
self, ought to find fault with, that Nagle could not
help it.
CHAPTER XX.
The Sunday following saw the doctor on his way to
the Nagle dwelling. He found that they lived in a flat,
somewhat pretentious in its outward appearance, but
in the interior there was an air of shoddy, and of
an effort to make the most of everything. One felt
this in the furniture, in the carpets, in the cheap books,
— little articles on the mantel and tables. It was one of
those places where, to use a French phrase, the differ-
ent articles in the room u swear at each other."
The doctor was surprised to find his old acquaint-
ance Seidel there as the sole guest. He seemed to be
on very intimate terms with the husband and wife.
The meal was eaten with a great apparent flow of good
humor. The doctor remarked that both Seidel and the
Nagles made special efforts to win his favor. They
laughed at everything humorous that he said, openly
flattered him to his face, and dwelt at length on his
efforts with Abbott's Row in such a way that it annoyed
him. He disclaimed their compliments, loaded with
effusive remarks, in which Seidel seemed to join, and
while unsparing in criticisms of everything else, they
made an open exception to him. Even Mrs. Bernheim
did not escape.
"I like her, 1 ' said Mrs. Nagle, "but I would like her
very much better if she were not so pronouncedly
Jewish."
150 DOCTOR CAVALLO
The doctor looked at her with an air of grave sur-
prise. " I thought that you were a Jewess," said he.
" Surely, the grand niece of the great Rabbi Helsfelder,
the greatest authority on the Talmud in this country,
cannot be ashamed of her race ? "
" I simply detest it," she said, M and I wonder how
you can bear to identify yourself with this people, who
are so gross, so coarse. I threw them overboard long
ago."
Nagle smiled his malevolent smile, in which his mouth
seemed ready to take in all the world. " You will find
no superstition here. We believe only in what we can
see. As for those ceremonies they are simply stupid.
The Talmud is a pack of trash, and the Bible is not
much better."
His wife eagerly seconded his assertions, and to-
gether, they ridiculed all the old beliefs. Seidel joined
in occasionally and assisted them. The doctor thought
he saw, that while Seidel was secretly encouraging Nagle
in his talk, he was sneering at him all the time, and
finally, Mrs. Nagle, as if she were acting a part, openly
snubbed her husband, and 'appealed to Seidel for
authority for her remarks.
The doctor watched this by-play, and wondered why
he had been selected for the bystander and witness in
this strange domestic drama. For Nagle did not relish
the position, and while he seemed to be afraid of his
wife, he ventured once or twice to enter his protest, at
which she snubbed him more remorselessly than ever.
He made it up by abusing all of his acquaintances, in
which she encouraged him.
Finally, as the meal wore away, Seidel began to con-
dole with Cavallo for the fate that had thrown him into
DOCTOR CAVALLO I $ I
active practice, and said, openly, that with his talents
he could do much better. Then he showed how Nagle
would make a small fortune by getting hold of some of
the mining stock, and that the chances now lay open
and fair for any one to embark.
Mrs. Nagle joined in, and with her feminine curiosity
wanted to know if they would not pay her a commis-
sion if she sold some of the stock. And Seidel went
on to show that in the West women brokers were quite
common, and great fortunes had been made by getting
hold of stock at a low figure, and unloading when the
time was ripe.
Doctor Cavallo smiled to himself at this bait so
thinly disguised, and seemed to acquiesce in all the
propositions that were started. He said that he had no
doubt that a great deal of money had been made that
way.
Seidel at this, brought up the career of the bonanza
kings, of a great many cases where men, poor one
week, had, by means of a lucky strike, accumulated
enough to last them all of their lives. He went on to
say that with the modern methods of business, any man
was a fool to slave at a profession when he might, by
one lucky investment, realize enough to keep the wolf
from the door forever.
To all of this the doctor, by his silence, seemed to
give assent.
Then Seidel went on to show that in this age and day
what is needed is something to speculate with. The
intrinsic value is nothing. Here is Reading stock,
The stock cannot pay a dividend for years, no matter
how well it may be managed, and yet there is always a
market for it. They buy and sell it with avidity, and
all because it fluctuates in value.
152 DOCTOR CAVALLO
"So," replied the doctor, "you are really doing the
community a service by unloading on them a lot of
stocks that will not be worth anything, but that will, in
their rapid decline or fictitious advance, give them some-
thing to speculate with."
"It is not quite so bad as that," Seidel laughed, "be-
cause some of these stocks may be worth something
at some time. If they make a lucky strike the stock
will be worth all we ask for it. Of course they have to
take their chances."
Little by little the conversation drifted around to
the part that each was to play in the affair. Seidel
was to pose as the capitalist. Nagle was to play the
chemist and assayist and to give glowing reports when-
ever they were to ask him, and he was to be sent out
to the mines by a committee to be appointed by the
stockholders. This Seidel undertook to manipulate.
It was not without many explanations and misgivings
and tacking and filling that, after a time, it all came out.
They needed some man of character to head the enter-
prise and they had selected Cavallo to take this place.
If he would go in, they thought that he could interest
Bernheim and Tobias, and with these two names
Nagle felt sure he could float a large block of the
stock.
This was, in brief, what they hoped to do, but Seidel
was too good a student of human nature to spring this
upon the doctor without a vast deal of preliminary
talk. He even attempted to put it to him on his be-
nevolent side, and talked learnedly in regard to the
policy of the country in opening mines and developing
the west.
The doctor declined the proposition. He never
DOCTOR CAVALLO 153
speculated and he did not know anything about min-
ing. He had always understood that it was a calling
that took an expert, and he did not care to embark
in it.
They pressed the matter, appealing to his cupidity.
Here was an opportunity to make more money in one
week than he could make in his practice in a year or
five years. Why not embrace it? Everyone specu-
lated more or less, and this was as legitimate a deal
as any.
Mrs. Nagle even appealed to him to do it for her
sake because she wanted to make a little money.
If anything more were needed to disgust the doctor, it
was this open expression of avarice, and he positively
declined. Conversation lagged after this. The meal
had long since been finished and they had adjourned
to the parlor. Cavallo, pleading an engagement, soon
after took his leave.
As he went down the steps Seidel looked at him and
muttered under his breath, "The infernal Jew." Turn-
ing, he saw Nagle watching him with his cavernous
grin.
"He didn't bite, did he?" he sneered. Nagle could
not help making an ill-natured remark, even when it
told against himself.
" No," said Seidel, "but I will put a tack into him
yet,"
On his way home the doctor stopped a moment at
Tobias's. That gentleman was in high good humor
and asked him where he had been.
"I have taken dinner with the Nagles."
At that Tobias burst into a roar of laughter.
" Who are they?" asked Cavallo. "I have been
154 DOCTOR CAVALLO
told that Mrs. Nagle was the niece of Rabbi Hels-
felder, and I expected to find them enthusiastic over
the future of the race."
"And you found them the very opposite. Well,
they are, in a word, renegades. They profess not to
be Jews. He is a bookkeeper holding a position in
one of our establishments. He also sets himself up as
a scientist. He professes to be a microscopist, and he
has filled his wife with the same sort of nonsense. She
is dying after social recognition. She runs after Mrs.
Bernheim for what favors she can get out of her, and
abuses her behind her back. She courts the society of
Christians, and is roundly snubbed by them, of course.
They are both of them soured and unhappy, berating
every one, and while professing to be no Jews, they
get the epithet, Jew, thrown in their faces at every
turn. For my part I am sorry for them, but you will
find this class everywhere. There are a set of fellows,
who, the moment they make a little money, begin to
have Christmas trees, and to imitate the Christians,
without daring to wholly forsake the customs of their
fathers. They are a sorry set of citizens, and you will
find that their acquaintance will profit you very little,
because they are continually trying to make money
out ot every one with whom they associate. They
have only one idea, and that is, to get out of everyone
something to better themselves ; either social position
or cash. This is the price of their friendship, and
their whole aim. 1 '
Cavallo smiled, but said nothing.
CHAPTER XXI.
Seidel had been, as we have seen, making his home
with the Lawrences. He had drawn Bob, out of the
very good nature of the latter, into his mining schemes,
but not to such an extent as he had hoped. For
Seidel could not keep money. It flowed through his
fingers like water. If he sold a little stock to-day, he
spent the money to-morrow.
He felt that Mrs. Lawrence did not fancy him much,
and that she rather deprecated the influence that he
had over Bob.
While he treated Margaret with deference, he as-
sumed a certain air of superiority that Mrs. Lawrence
did not like. If Margaret noticed it she did not betray
it, but repaid Seidel's talk with good humored gaiety.
He had discovered that Dr. Cavallo loved the fair and
gentle girl, and, partly to revenge himself upon the
latter, and partly to lay the train for an advantageous
alliance, he now began to pay Margaret more open and
marked attentions than before. He hoped that even if
he did not compromise her in some way by doing this
it would give Cavallo pain.
When, however, Cavallo refused his offer to go into
his stock schemes, Seidel felt that he had no time to
lose and his attentions began to be more demonstra-
tive. He dropped his superior airs and put on the
I56 DOCTOR CAVALLO
character of a lover. Bob saw all this and was heart-
ily amused at it, but he did not interfere in the matter,
for he thought that Seidel was not much to his sister's
liking.
One day Seidel found Margaret alone in the library
and he took the opportunity to declare his sentiments.
He described his lonely life. How from boyhood he
had fought his way up, getting an education and win-
ning his diploma, as a doctor, in spite of every effort
to prevent him on the part of his own people who
wanted to make use of his services.
He thought to himself, "If I can win her sympathy
I am safe."
He grew warmer and warmer as he went on, telling
her that he had never seen any woman who was so
much a part of his life as was hers, and that she had
been to him the one bright spot in his later existence.
He was now in such a position, he told her, that he
could offer the woman of his choice all the comforts
and luxuries that would make existence enjoyable.
He was perfectly at home in this, for he could simu-
late a passion that he did not feel, and he was a good
actor, besides, Margaret flattered his vanity. He
thought that she would look uncommonly well as
his wife.
As for love, he laughed at that, and believed that
marriage was like any other contract entered into for
the mutual profit of both parties, and it ought to be
dissolved the moment it became irksome. He did not
avow these sentiments while seeking Margaret's hand,
but he set forth in the most roseate light, as likely to
affect her, all the advantages from his standpoint, and
ended by asking her flatly to tell him whether she ap-
preciated his affection, and would grant his suit.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 157
Margaret was no coquette, but she listened to Seidel
with the utmost composure. There was such an air of
insincerity in all that he said, that she felt here was no
soul desirous of finding a congenial companion. It
was the cool calculation of the speculator, making as
good a bargain as he could, and haggling over the de-
tails to show that he was giving more than he received.
She, therefore, told him that he did her too much
honor. She was only a simple maiden, not worthy of
so great a place as to be the bride of the rich Mr.
Seidel. That she hoped he would recall his words, for
she felt sure that they must have been uttered without
due consideration. She was certain that they did not
have the slightest affiliation in either temper or taste,
and while she might be gratified at his proposal and
condesension, she could not accept it.
He grew a little angry at this, and charged her with
having acted the part of a coquette.
This she repelled, saying, that she had treated him
as her brother's friend and guest, and that if she had
displayed any interest in him, it was only to try and
make him feel at home — mere hospitality — such as she
would have accorded to any stranger. Then she added
that it was his vanity that spoke, not his affections.
He saw that he had made a mistake, and begged
her pardon, but he wanted her to consider his case for
a moment. He was in earnest. He wanted her for
his wife. If he had not been demonstrative, it was
because he had been taught by a long intercourse with
the world to conceal his feelings, and not to allow
every one to scan his heart. If she needed more time,
he would cheerfully give it to her, but he wanted her
to give him hope.
I58 DOCTOR CAVALLO
To this she returned a decided negative. She did
not love him, she told him, and she never could bring
herself to regard him with that feeling that she must
bestow upon the man whom she would select.
He grew angry at this, and asked her if this refusal
arose because her affections were already pledged.
She refused to allow him to catechise her. It was
enough for him to know that she did not love him and
never would.
Then he grew exceedingly angry, and tauntingly told
her that she would do well to remember that she might
go through the woods like other maidens, and pick up
a crooked stick at the last.
She gave him no reply.
He went on with increasing bitterness and sarcasm,
and said that when a girl was willing to overlook a
question so great as a difference in race, there was no
telling what to expect.
She turned her indignant glance full upon him, and
swept out of the room.
He cursed his folly as soon as she had gone, and
thought that he would apologize for his rude and un-
courteous speech. Then he reflected that the best
thing he could do would be to say nothing. She would
not marry him, this was certain, and the only thing
left was to do the next best thing. He saw Mrs.
Lawrence, and laughingly bade her good-bye, say-
ing he must go to Chicago. He told Bob that he must
leave for a few days and attend to some business, and
that he had shared his hospitality a good while, for
which he thanked him. He cursed Cavallo, inwardly,
as he took his way to the train, and spent the time in
considering what trap he should set for that individual.
DOCTOR CAVALLO I 59
If he had cherished a dislike for him before, now he
hated him with a virulence that knew no bounds. He
swore to himself that he would get even with him.
When he came back from his trip he took up his
abode with the Nagles.
CHAPTER XXII.
When Dr. Cavallo found, one afternoon, upon his
call-book a notice that Mrs. Wm. Allen requested his
services at once, for her daughter was seriously ill, he
made a wry face.
"That pink and white bundle of femininity has been
eating too much candy and too many bon bons, and
thinks that I can give her something to set her right. But
it is not a doctor's province to choose his patients,"
he mused and he set out for the Allen home. A very
beautiful place it was, surrounded by old trees, in
a lovely yard, and adorned with everything that
wealth could furnish. He was admitted to the sitting-
room, and there he found his patient, a young
woman of perhaps twenty years of age, dressed in
an extravagant negligee, lolling in a rocking-chair.
She looked, indeed, like an invalid, for she had a
muddy complexion, a sallow skin, her mouth was
drawn in at the corners, and her lips were dry and
parched. She had been engaged in reading a novel
and in chewing gum. The book she hid under her
seat, while the gum she dexterously put on the chair-
back, showing that she had acquired the habit by long
practice. Her mother was a well-preserved matron of
fifty years. She had worked and toiled in her younger
days with her husband, and had acquired a tract of
DOCTOR CAVALLO l6l
land near the city, where they had carried on the busi-
ness of market gardeners. The rapid growth of the
city had swallowed it up, and Allen had sold it for
more per inch, they used to say, than he paid per acre.
He was a shrewd, careful man,,and he did not allow
any of this wealth to slip through his fingers. His
wife, plain and sensible about everything else, made a
fool of her daughter, for she brought her up in worse
than idleness. Reading novels and rocking all day
in an easy chair, was about ail the occupation that
this young lady followed. The doctor felt her pulse,
as he had done fifty times before, and said :
11 Miss Annie, it is useless for me to give you prescrip-
tions as long as you will eat candy at the rate you do.
You are simply destroying your digestion."
Annie giggled. " D'g'ever see a girl that you could
stop eatin 1 candy, Doc. ? "
The doctor frowned. " You will have to stop, Miss
Annie, or you will have a very serious attack of indi-
gestion."
u Oh, Doc, you don't call chocolates candy, now do
you, Doc. ? Say no, for I'm just goin' to eat as many
as I want to."
"Annie is very self-willed," said her mother, smiling
indulgently, "but I think, myself, that she eats too
much candy."
"Now, maw, you know that ain't so. I only bought
a quarter's worth of chocolates, and I gave some away
to Cholly. Met him on the street and told him to
come up, I was an interestin' invalid." . And Annie
giggled again.
The doctor felt disgusted, but he opened his case
and began to measure out some powders, for he
l62 DOCTOR CAVALLO
knew that all that he could say in regard to diet would
do no good.
While he was thus engaged the door opened, and a
young man came in. Annie gave a sort of crooning
note and added, "Oh, Cholly, what fun, come in and
get some of my powders."
The young man advanced. He was a typical swell
of the latter day sort. He had on the very newest style
of tailor-made trousers, the creases were according
to the latest fashion, and everything else was cor-
rect. He came in with a wearied air, and, as Mrs.
Allen introduced him to the doctor, he said: "Oh,
yaas, about all I hear at the dinner table now is re-
marks upon Dr. Cavallo."
"You are, then, Mr. Abbott's son? 1 ' inquired the
doctor.
" Oh, yaas," replied Cholly, " the governor, you know,
is awful hot about those beastly old rookeries that you
made him tear down. Deuced awkward job, you know."
Then turning around, "Annie, I was going to ask you
to go and see a game, you know."
"What is it, golf ? I can't, because I'm sick, and
I have to stay in doors for fear of catchin' cold."
" Oh, yaas, that's deuced bad, you know. I thought
perhaps you might sit out on the porch and see the
tally-ho go by. All the club has got horns and they
are going out on a lark, you know."
11 Maw, main't I go just out on the porch ; say now,
lemme go, maw," pleaded Annie.
"Will it hurt her, do you think, doctor ?"
" No, the fresh air will do her good. The more
she gets of it the better it will be for her, if she will
put on sufficient clothing to keep warm."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 1 63
"Come, Cholly," chirped she, and taking him by
the arm, they disappeared through a window that
opened out on the porch.
Mrs. Allen looked after them with motherly affec-
tion. Her matronly heart glowed with pride, and she
turned to the doctor, "Are they not a handsome
couple?"
He bowed politely, recalling the old lines, that every
crow thinks its own crowlets are white.
She went on,' "It is a family secret yet, but they are
to be married by and by. Mr. Abbott is anxious to
have the ceremony take place as soon as possible, for
he wants Mr. Allen to take Charley into business
with him, but we prefer to wait until Annie gets a
little stronger. She has such a delicate constitution.
Charley is a loveable young man, and so good. He
absolutely does not know what evil is. He would
not smoke a cigar the other evening, saying that it was
too strong for him. All that he will use in this direc-
tion are those little weak paper things."
"Good Heavens," thought Dr. Cavallo, "a cigarette
fiend." But he was too polite to interrupt the current
of Mrs. Allen's conversation, and she rippled along
with a 'full category of what a splendid young man
"Cholly" was. The doctor gave her instructions
to see that Miss Annie took her powders regularly,
and then he went back to his office musing upon
the fates that had thrown into the laps of these young
people wealth and luxury, without their having done
anything to merit either.
CHAPTER XXIII.
It was nearly midnight when he was aroused by a
ring at his office bell. He admitted the messenger,
who proved to be a small negro lad greatly excited.
"Doctah, doctah," he panted, "Miss Mamie done
told me to tell you to come as quick as you could to
de house. One of de girls is done gone sick."
"Miss Mamie. What Miss Mamie?" he inquired.
" Nothin' at all, but jist Miss Mamie," said the dar-
key, "come quick, it's despirt."
Putting his case into his pocket, the doctor told his
sable guide to lead the way and he followed. They
went across the principal streets and at last began to
go down towards the river into "L" street. This
street, at its lower end, was filled with wholesale
houses, but at the upper part it led to a blind end, and
little by little the commercial houses had deserted it.
Their former places had been taken up by a new class
of tenants — night-birds, creepers, the parasites that in
every large city gather in districts, keeping quiet
during the day, sally forth at night and hold high
carnival, reinforced by what the poet Milton calls
"sons of Belial flown with insolence and wine." The
doctor followed his guide through these streets, meet-
ing here and there some parties of revelers. Many
of them knew him, for they slunk into gutters and
DOCTOR CAVALLO I 65
alleys as he passed, pulling their hats down over their
eyes so as to escape recognition.
Little time had he to stop for the purpose of finding
who had entered the domain of her of whom Solomon
says, "Her steps take hold on hell," but he followed
with the air of a man whose profession is to minister to
all pain, no matter who is the sufferer. So when the
colored lad stopped at one of the houses, a little larger
and more pretentious than the rest, rang the bell,
then dodged around the back way and disappeared,
he left the doctor alone before the door.
He waited a moment, and then there was a noise as
of some one taking down a bar and a chain. Then a
small opening appeared, and an eye was seen at the
crevice. It looked as if the scrutiny was not wholly
satisfactory, for this eye disappeared in turn, and
another one, the doctor judged, was taking its place.
Then a female voice exclaimed, " Pshaw ! it's only the
doctor, 1 ' and the door opened, and he was told to
enter.
He found himself in a hall dimly lighted. The sole
occupant was a woman, well along in middle life. She
was powerfully built, and she might have been hand-
some once, with a coarse, animal beauty. She bore the
aspect of a woman who could fight all the world, and
knew that she would have to do it, too. She was be-
dizened with jewelry, and her face was calcimined
over with chalk. She stood in front of him with a
defiant air, like that of a hunted rat, as if she did not
know just what to say. She broke forth :
"Doc, one of the girls is sick. I don't mind tellin'
you that it's a peculiar case. If things had'nt been
just so, you bet I'd a fired her to the hospital, only too
l66 DOCTOR CAVALLO
quick, but I can't in this case. If I'd a knowed she was
goin' to be sick, I'd never tuk her in, but you git sali-
vated in this world when ever you try to do any one a
kindness. Leastways she is here and on my hands, and
I want her tuk care of, and as soon as she can git up
I'll ship her, but I can't do it now, for I don't want no
ambulance in front of my door. It's dead bad luck to
have it, that's what it is."
The doctor had already wearied of her talk, but he
said " Where is the young woman ? "
Putting her head into the back room, the landlady
called out, *' Oh, Jen, come here and show Doc. upstairs
to Mamie's room. I put her in your room, Jen, not
knowin' that she was goin' to be sick."
"That's a tough nut on me," said that young lady.
She was tall and angular. So angular that she went
by the name of "The Kangaroo." Whenever the habi-
tues of the place wanted a fight, it was easily had by
calling this young lady by this marsupial appellation.
She simply said, " Well, come on, Doc, and I'll show
you the hospital," and led the way upstairs. Opening
a door, she added u Here's old pills, himself," and laugh-
ing at her own wit, she went down again.
The doctor looked about him. The room was beau-
tifully furnished, but everything about it was erotic to
the last degree. The pictures on the walls displayed
it ; the ornaments on the stand showed it ; the whole
room was strewn with paraphernalia, costly, extrava-
gant, heaped in profusion ; perfumery bottles, card
cases and cards, cut-glass bottles, little brandy flasks,
hairpins, combs, brushes, face powders, washes, pastes,
aids to female beauty, lotions, patent medicines and
beautifiers without limit ; portraits of actors and
DOCTOR CAVALLO I 67
actresses, and of women in various attitudes of greater
or less indecency. Books of the latest erotic ten-
dency, "Trilby," u The Quick and Dead," etc., and
all the brood of literature, from " Zola " down, were
on a mantel in the room. The doctor did not have
time to do more than cast a sweeping glance around the
place, when his eye was attracted to a figure lying on
the bed. It was that of a young woman, and he saw
that she was even then in the death agony. She was
lying on her back, but as spasm after spasm passed
over her, he could see by the expression of her face
that her time was short. He hastily took her hand,
but one look was enough. He propped her up in bed,
and taking his medicine case, gave her a large dose of
digitalis. Holding it to her lips, he finally saw her
swallow it, with that feeling of pleasure that only the
practiced physician knows. As the drug began to
take effect, he explored her pulse, and found that its
rapid beatings began to be checked. He put his head
down, and listened to the pulsations of her heart. The
grating noise partially died away.
Little by little the woman opened her eyes and
looked at him. He held a glass of water to her lips.
She moaned feebly and said, "Oh, why can't I die?"
Just then a ripple of laughter welled up from one of
the rooms below, and a voice said, "two come five."
The doctor soothed her, "Do .not distress yourself.
You must not be agitated. Your recovery depends
upon your keeping perfectly quiet."
She cast her mournful eyes upon him, and asked,
"Who wants to get well ? Oh, my God, why can't I
see my baby ? "
The doctor's heart was touched. The woman was
I 68 DOCTOR CAVALLO
little better than a girl. She was still beautiful, even
though worn and wasted to a frightful degree. Her
speech was correct and she seemed to be a person
of some refinement. He was moved, and, drawing up
a chair, sat down by her side to feel her pulse. He
found it still high, and so irregular that he realized
that her time was short.
He suggested to her, " If you have any friends, I
would advise you to get them."
She looked at him, and great tears flowed down her
cheeks. " Friends," she wailed, " I am forsaken by
God and man. I have no friends. I have no husband.
I have no child. Oh, my God, why did he take away
my child ; why didn't he leave me my baby ? "
The doctor asked her where she left her child, but
in reply she only said : " He took it," and then she
beat the pillow and fell back in another spasm.
Realizing that unless he could calm her she would die,
Cavallo lifted her up, gave her more digitalis, and at
last had the satisfaction of seeing her come out of her
spasm and rest quietly.
She seemed so out of place with the surroundings,
that while she was resting, the doctor tried to shut out
the sound of laughter from below. A party had poses-
sion of the parlor, and they were sending out for re-
freshments every few minutes. Whenever the door
opened, their ribald laughter welled up into the sick
room, and he was disturbed by it, but the poor thing
on the bed before him never moved. A fellow be-
low sat down at the piano and began to sing a comic
song. Encouraged by the flattering plaudits of his com-
panions, he at last struck into " Home, Sweet Home,"
singing it with pathos and true melody, for there is a
DOCTOR CAVALLO 1 69
time when men, in a maudlin condition, respond to
sentiment.
The poor thing on the bed opened her eyes and
looked around, and then a tear stole silently down her
cheek. "Home, home," she said, ; 'Oh, my God, why
can't I die ? "
"What stress of fortune led you to this horrible
place ? " the doctor kindly asked.
She opened her great mournful eyes at him and
said, "And you, too, believe me as vile as the rest?"
She shut her eyes and turned her face to the wall.
11 My dear young lady, how am I to judge unless you
confide in me. Let me know what the trouble is, and
let us see if it cannot be remedied." She sobbed, and
again he told her not to excite herself, but to keep
quiet.
She paid no attention to what he said, but continued
to sob. At last she moaned, u I am lost, body and
soul, because I loved too blindly. I have been cast
down and trodden under foot, because I believed what
I was told. I have been wrecked, and, my God, my
little child has been torn from me, because I was too
unsuspecting,"
Then she turned her great mournful eyes full on
Cavallo's face and said, " Doctor, do you believe in a
hell?"
"I believe that God punishes all sin," he gravely re-
plied.
" Then he will not punish me, for I have not sinned."
He looked at her incredulously.
"No, I have not sinned. I am, I have been, a true
wife. Before God, doctor, I have not sinned."
CHAPTER XXIV.
She relapsed into silence. From below came the
words, u For he's a jolly good fellow, that nobody
can deny."
"This is extraordinary," ejaculated the doctor to
himself, and he added, " My dear child, if it will lighten
your heart to tell your story, let me hear it. Perhaps
something can be done for you?"
"The only thing that can be done for me now is to
let me die," she said, bitterly. " I have been mur-
dered, and, my God, I have not deserved it."
She was seized with a choking fit. The doctor gave
her another potion, and raising her up, placed the pil-
lows behind her to make her more comfortable.
Then she said : "It was not my fault. I was a clerk
in a store. We only received four dollars a week,
but it was enough to keep soul and body together. I
was happy, although I did not know it, until this man
came into my life. He used to wait for me. He
made me presents ; he said he loved me, and I be-
lieved him. He said he would marry me, and I was
flattered with his attentions. Most girls would be, for
his father is rich and he had plenty of money, and
he wanted to take me out riding. He was always very
kind. Ihad all the money that I wanted, and I began
to dress better than the rest of the girls, until one day
DOCTOR CAVALLO I/I
my employer congratulated me coarsely on what he
called ^my mash.'' I was indignant, and asked what it
meant, and one of the girls said, l Why, of course, we
know how you get these things.' I was more indignant,
and when he came around that evening, I told him that he
must stop coming to see me, for I would not have my
good name dragged around in that way. He professed
that he loved me and that he was going to marry me, but
that if he did, his father would cast him off and that he
could not make a living, — we'll be married in secret.
I was young and romantic and this suited me well
enough. So that night he came around to my room
with a witness, one of his chums, and drawing a ring
from his finger, he put it on mine, and said, 4 I hereby
wed thee with this ring.' His companion said that this
constituted as lawful a marriage as any that was ever
made by a priest, and we went into another town,
moved into rooms, and went to living together. At
first he was very devoted, then he grew neglectful,
then he was rough and used to complain a good deal.
Then my baby was born," and here the poor thing
broke down again and cried. rt Oh, my darling baby.
Why can't they let me see my angel baby before I die?
Why am I treated in this way?"
The doctor quieted her as best he could, and she
went on : " Oh, doctor, it was awful. Sometimes he
would go away for weeks, and we got so that we hardly
had enough to eat. The neighbors took pity on me at
first, and then they grew tired of it. I had to sell
first one thing and then another to keep soul and body
together. My baby was sick, and I could not get any
one to care for it. I did everything until I fell sick,
too, and then he took baby away, saying that he would
172 DOCTOR CAVALLO
bring it back when I grew strong. He never did, and
he neglected me more and more, and wanted me to go
still further away. Then he brought me back to this
place. I did not know where we were going, but he
said that we would go to a boarding-house. My God,
when I woke up in the morning and found out where I
was, I thought that I should die. When I heard their
awful oaths and drunken yells, I felt as if I was — I
didn't know where. They used to laugh at me, but I
only felt a more horrible sense of misery than before.
Once I went out on the street resolved to get away
from it, but the looks that I received, and the jeers
and taunts, and the sense that I was an outcast, made
me feel ten times worse. I said, ; I am lost/ and I
crawled back. I was walled in on every side. The
women, hardened as they are, took pity on me. The
landlady said, ' Let her alone, I'll make her fellow pay
for her lodging, never you mind.' And she has given
me lodging and food, but the very horror of the sur-
roundings has almost driven me mad. I kept hid-
den in the back part of the house until I grew worse,
and then I was brought in here."
The doctor was indignant. Such rascality he did not
think existed in the world. "Who is your husband?
for such in the sight of God he is."
She made no reply.
"Can you find it in your heart to shield a man who
has so wronged you?" he asked, sternly "Tell me
who he is ? "
She said nothing, only turned her face to the wall,
and the silent tears stole down her cheeks again.
He paced the floor with burning wrath. Here was a
young woman who had been foully wronged, who had
DOCTOR CAVALLO 1 73
been deceived and maltreated, and killed by inches
through neglect and cruelty, and yet her love for the
wretch was still so strong that she would not reveal his
name, lest he should suffer loss of social position.
"Love is stronger than death," he said to himself.
He was revolving in his own mind what he should do
in the matter, when he heard the door below open, and
a voice say, as the owner came into the hall, "I had a
devil of a time getting here ; all of the fellows wanted
me to stay, you know, and I had to fool them. Where
is the gang? Having a little game? Order up the
wine, and tell Josie that I am here."
At the sound of his voice the dying woman opened
her eyes and murmured one word, " Charley."
Doctor Cavallo walked down the stairs and con-
fronted, face to face — Charley Abbott.
The latter looked at him with surprise. Then a
glance of recognition came over him and he laughed :
"I say, Doc, I didn't know that you was a rounder,
too. Put it there, old head, 1 ' holding out his hand.
Dr. Cavallo frowned on the licentiate and was mag-
nificent in his wrath, but, smothering his hot indigna-
tion, he said, rt Charley Abbott, come with me."
The debauchee laughed at first. Then he said,
"What for," and then he began to turn pale. "Oh, I
say," he whimpered, rt no tricks, you know. No snap
game. I'll do anything that's square. I never go back
on an old friend. Say, what's up? "
Dr. Cavallo paid no attention to his words, but made
way for him, and as he pattered upstairs, followed after
him. He paused at the door, but the doctor simply
scowled at him, and he opened it and entered the
room.
174 DOCTOR CAVALLO
The sick woman lifted her eyes and looked at him.
A man whose life is evil and whose acts are atro-
cious, is generally feebly sympathetic. He melts at
once, although half an hour afterwards he may forget
all about it. He makes ten thousand promises to re-
form, and then he fails to do anything in that direc-
tion. Charley Abbott was one of these fellows. He
was weak and wicked, for he had no moral balance.
He did the easiest thing at the moment. If it took a
lie to get out of it, he would lie. If he could get out of
by running away, he would run. As soon as he saw his
old love he melted at once, and, going to the bed, he
broke into tears.
"Oh, Charley," cried she, "you have come back at
last."
"I have," he sobbed, "and I will never leave you any
more. I will recognize you as my wife, and nobody
shall part us."
44 What have you done with our baby, Charley?"
"It's at the Home of the Friendless," he blurted
out. " I will bring it back. I will acknowledge it."
He went over and over this, and he was working
himself into suth a condition that Cavallo felt that he
ought to interpose for he could see that the effect of
the digitalis that he had given his patient was growing
less and the excitement would kill her, so he said,
"What do you intend doing?"
"I am willing to marry her" I — will. I — will do
it — now. I will go and get a license at once."
So saying, he went down stairs and they could hear
him getting into a hack and driving away with great
speed.
CHAPTER XXV.
When he was gone Dr. Cavallo breathed a great sigh
of relief. He did not believe that he would return,
but the doctor had learned enough, and was determined
to see that the child was provided for. In the mean-
time he made the sick woman as comfortable as possi-
ble and sat down to wait for the strange denouement.
The laughter in the room below grew louder, so he
left his patient in a doze and went down to silence it.
The door was half open and he stepped in. Gathered
around the table were half a dozen youths, among them
the sons of some of the most prominent men in the
city. Each had a girl next him and a glass in front of
them. Whenever they lost at poker, for they were
playing u freeze out," everyone took a drink. It was
the duty of each girl to see that her " fellow " had his
glass filled and emptied. If he failed to do this she
drank the contents herself. Just as the doctor entered,
one of the players called to his companion, M Bill, order
up another bottle of wine."
a Not mush," said the other, •' beer at a dollar a
bottle is rich enough for your blood, and I'll match
you to see who pays for it."
This witticism was greeted with a burst of laughter.
" No," said the other, " I'll cut the cards."
Cavallo looked about him in disgust. The girls were
I76 DOCTOR CAVALLO
smoking cigarettes, and three of them were chewing
tobacco. They had all been drinking beer to the point
almost of stupid saturation. They were young things,
the eldest not more than eighteen, but they already
began to look like hags, for it is the pace that kills, and
these girls had been guilty of the worst excesses. They
presented, even in their tawdry finery and their low-cut,
decollette dresses, little of the fascination of vice. In
truth, but for the intoxication that dulls the sense, not one
of the gilded youths would have given any one of them
a second thought. The girls came out of the gutter,
that was easy to see. Their conversation was a mixture
of oaths and ribaldry, of bad grammar and coarse talk.
This is the product that the slums breed. The strange
thing about it is, that it recruits its ranks so rapidly,
for the death-rate among these children of the slums
is appalling. They last, on an average, less than two
years. Their life, carousing all night and sleeping by
day, the amount of stimulants that they absorb, their
love for narcotics, morphine and chloral, sweeps them
into the grave like flies. As the doctor looked at the
<k Kangaroo," as she was called by one of the party, he
saw with his practised eye that she had pulmonary
trouble, and that her days were numbered.
In spite of the fact that the party were having what
they would call " fun," there was a melancholy cast over
the whole group. The young fellows cut the cards,
trying to be gay, and uttering filthy jokes, but there
was weariness and a blase air about the whole table.
They had drank and smoked until they were actually
stupid, and there was little in their conversation but
oaths, and even the witticims were stale, far-fetched
and simply vulgar, with not even the spark of freshness
DOCTOR CAVALLO I 77
to give them point. Everything about the room was
tawdry and flashy. The girls, dressed in Mother Hub-
bards, looked hard and callous. They had their
little by-plays, and when the chips of one of the players
was exhausted, they all clamored to be allowed to get
the bottle of beer which he had lost. It meant a com-
mission to the poor thing that got it, for part of the
fascination to young men in this company is, that the
female creatures are, for the time, their slaves. There
is a sense of superiority in the mind of the poor dude,
who can order them about, and have them call him by
a term of endearment. Vapid as he is, he finds here
some one who will flatter him, wait upon him, fondle
him, as long as his money holds out, and make much
of him.
In this society all the conditions of the outer world
are reversed, for it is the man here who must be true ;
the woman is expected to be false, and to practise
falsity as a profession. It is a horrible travesty upon
natural conditions, a world where everything is wrong
side out and reversed. All this Dr. Cavallo saw in his
mind's eye as he glanced around the room.
The young fellows who were sitting at the table play-
ing cards were all well brought up, and were " taking
in the town." It is this class of boys in our cities, who
come up rapidly, sow their wild oats, and in the sowing,
reap a crop of disease and death that sweeps them into
their graves before their time. It is a stygian pit, a
nest of horrors, where drunkenness and disease, and
filth and want, and misery and crime hold high revel.
Only those who have never seen it, paint this life in
brilliant colors, for, in sober truth, there is nothing
brilliant and pleasant about it. If it were not for the
I78 DOCTOR CAVALLO
intoxicants accompanying it, no one would seek in its
depths for companionship or solace.
When the glamor is stripped from it, the house of
Venus is like the cave of Thomas the Rhymer, where,
after the enchantment was over, the queen was a filthy
old hag ; the palace, a dismal cave ; the ornaments,
dead men's bones ; and the silks only rotting seaweed.
Pleasure is elusive, and it nowhere flees the pursuer
quicker than when he seeks it in the purlieus of lust.
The fools are those who seek to make it poetic, when
it is base, sordid and filthy.
Dr. Cavallo did not moralize. He only cast an
angry glance around the room, and said, "Gentlemen,"
At the sound of his voice they all started, and the
girls dropped their cigarrettes.
u There is a sick woman up stairs, and I would like
to have you make a little less noise."
"It's Charley Abbott's woman, she's sick," explained
one of the nymphs.
"Well, this isn't exactly the place that I would
select for a hospital," remarked. one of the boys, "but
we'll dry up, Doc. It's late, anyhow."
The doctor went upstairs to his patient. The poor
thing had fallen into a doze when the hack came
back, and, greatly to the astonishment of the doctor,
Abbott came with it, but alone. He said: "There
is'nt a clergyman, nor a justice of the peace, that I can
get to marry us. We'll have to wait until to-morrow."
"Then it will be too late," returned Cavallo.
He thought that he detected callous indifference in
Abbott's looks. The thought of the motherless and
fatherless little child in the Home for the Friendless
gave him an inspiration. "Wait here, 1 ' he returned,
"and I will get you a clergyman."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 1 79
He went out to the hack and dispatched a note to
the rabbi, asking him to get into the carriage and come
at once, without asking any question. Then they sat
down and waited. Charley fell asleep, so soon did
his good intentions evaporate. The sick girl stirred
feebly and moaned once or twice. As the moments
drifted by, the doctor wondered what Margaret would
say, when she heard of the part that he had taken
in this affair. While his thoughts took this diiection,
the carriage came back, and he went down and ad-
mitted his'friend.
The latter inquired, "What in the world is the matter
that you should want me to come to this place at two
o'clock in the morning ? "
" Rabbi," said Cavallo gravely, " the future of a soul
is at stake.' 1
They ascended the stairs together, and the doctor
went to the sick bed. Gently awakening the sick girl,
he told her that a minister had come, and that if she
felt strong enough he would unite her and Abbott in
marriage. He added, "You know that it is not on his
account that I do this, but for your child."
She gave him a look of gratitude.
He propped her up in the bed, joining their
hands, while the rabbi pronounced the words that
made them man and wife.
11 My baby," she gasped.
Charley burst into a passion of tears, vowing that he
would take care of it, and acknowledge it, and see
that it was provided for. He made a thousand pro-
testations that he would reform, that he never meant
to do a mean thing, and that he wanted to turn over a
new leaf and quit all these low fellows. His outbursts
180 DOCTOR CAVALLO
were lost on the doctor, but not so on his wife.
She clung to him and did not want to let him go.
Something of the old spirit came out at the last moment.
In vain the doctor warned her that the scene was too
exciting, and tried to part them. The suggestion excited
her. She kept asking for her baby and wanting to
have it in her arms before she died. She was told that
she could have it in the morning, but that she must
keep quiet. The paroxyisms returned and kept grow-
ing more violent. The doctor informed -them that
she was dying, but this only increased Abbott's
tears, and he began to exhibit positive hysterics. He
bewailed his past life and his surroundings. The
scene became painful. The news that the girl was
dying was noised about the house and the girls in the
adjoining rooms came flocking in, in their dishevelled
dresses, and some of them were in a half intoxicated
condition, adding a weird picture to the scene. As the
paroxyisms of the dying woman grew stronger, they
shared in the feeling through sympathy and began to
shriek and moan, and break out into exclamations.
Then the rabbi commanded silence, offering that
beautiful prayer for the dead that forms a part of the
Hebrew service ; and with her hand clasped in that of
Abbott's, the spirit of his poor injured wife passed
away.
The dawn was breaking over the east as Dr. Cavallo
and the rabbi walked away from the house of sin, now
the house of death. They were both deep in thought.
" I have been at the side of many death beds," said
he, 4t but a wedding and a death in such a place I hope
never to see again."
CHAPTER XXVL
The next morning the city was ablaze with excite-
ment. The occurences of the night before had taken
place too late for the morning papers, but the news of
Abbott's marriage flew far and wide. All sorts of ver-
sions were given, but that most commonly accepted
was that Dr. Cavallo, in revenge for the spite exhibited
against him by Abbott, had entrapped his son Charley
into a house of ill-fame, and had compelled him to
marry a girl there. The part that the rabbi had taken
in performing the ceremony was dilated upon, and it
was said that no Christian minister would lend himself
to this infamous plot.
The afternoon paper that had sneered at Cavallo's
work in cleaning out the " Row" came out with flaming
headlines entitled "A Jew Trick" and depicted the
virtues ot Charley Abbott, the philanthrophy of his
father, the grief of his mother, and then hinting at
something mysterious, described the agony of the fair
young girl whom Charley Abbott was soon to lead to
the altar and whose life was now blighted forever.
This article added fuel to the flames and the city was
soon divided into two hostile camps. Seidel bestirred
himself and induced Kinofsky to start a paper
protesting against the action of the rabbi and
Cavallo. He got Nagle to sign this after Kinofsky, and
I 82 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Abramovitz followed. Then they took it to the
Weiner Brothers. These two kept a clothing store and
they were in mortal fear that they would do something
to hurt their trade. This was the whole of their idea.
Anything that kept people out of their store was an
evil, anything that brought them in was a benefit.
When Kinofsky told them that this action of the
rabbi's would arouse fishes (prejudice), they signed
the protest.
So did Joseph Levinsky, who also kept a clothing
store. He had long since withdrawn from the congre-
gation and did not even contribute to the charities of
his people. On the contrary, he put Christmas trees
in his window to catch trade, and gave little boys base
ball bats when they bought their suits of him. He
would have signed a petition to exterminate all the
Jews but himself, if he was sure that it would not be
applied to him.
Then Seidel proceeded to develop a new plot.
Fearing that Cavallo would expose his mining
scheme, he conceived a plan by which he hoped to
drive him out of the city. He induced some Jew-
baiters to call a meeting in a public hall, to which, they
invited "All citizens who deplore the late scandalous
proceedings as calculated to cast a blot upon the fair
fame of our city. 1 '
Mr. Herman was greatly disturbed. He was a peace-
loving man, and he deplored these occurrences as calcu-
lated to breed hate and to stir up religious strife, so he
called upon Dr. Cavallo to expostulate with him. He
found the doctor in a condition of righteous wrath, but
dignified, uncompromising and determined. He had
done nothing but what was right, and he stood upon
DOCTOR CWALLO 1 83
that ground. Young Abbott had, of his own accord,
chosen to right a great wrong which he had perpetrated,
and give his name to an innocent child, of whose
parentage there was no shadow of a doubt.
If it was a crime to see this done, to assist a poor
soul in her last death agony and rescue another soul
from the slums, so be it. He was quite ready to meet
the charge, and more, he would see that the young wife
was accorded a decent burial.
In this lofty style he met every assault that was
made upon him. He hunted up Kinofsky, and told
him that he need not attack the rabbi, for the act for
which that gentleman was censured was his alone, and
he gave Kinofsky such a scoring that he was abashed,
and stammered that he would stop circulating the
paper.
Then the doctor went to the house of death, and saw
that the last sad rites were paid to the late Mrs. Abbott.
Charley had left word that he would pay the bill, and
the undertaker had provided a beautiful casket. He
deliberated long as to whether he should attend the
funeral as chief mourner, and follow his wife to the
grave, but the uproar in the city was so great that he
shrank from facing it. And at the last moment, when
he had made up his mind to go, and take the. child, and
show the little thing its mother, his father peremptorily
forbade him to stir ; and he was still so much under
the influence of the old man, who was furious over his
son's action, that Charley desisted and remained at his
own home.
When the doctor went to the house no one was in
sight, but the door was open and he entered, and pass-
ing into the front room, saw that the undertaker was
I 84 DOCTOR CAVALLO
alone with the dead. All the evidences of last night's
revel had been removed, and everything out of charac-
ter with the solemn time had been taken away. The
doctor noted this with a feeling of relief. Very lovely
the poor girl looked in the casket. The hunted look
was gone, and on the features, though worn and wasted,
rested an expression of perfect peace. Her glorious
hair filled the casket, and her lips, slightly parted,
showed the pearly teeth.
As the doctor looked down upon the form prepared
for its final home, he was amazed at the bewitching
beauty before him, for he realized what she must have
been when in the full bloom of maidenhood. No
wonder that she attracted the fancy of such as Abbott,
the doctor thought.
When the time came for the service, the aged
and venerable rabbi assembled the household. The
landlady gathered the girls together. They had made
some attempt to show their respect for the occa-
sion, and, although they had donned their soberest
garb, the finery revealed itself here and there, in taw-
dry touches that made their presence in the house of
death still more outre. As the rabbi dwelt upon the
uncertainty of life and the awful mystery of death one
after another of his auditors broke out into tears and
wailings.- The excitement increased until the room
was filled with the sound of sobbing women and peni-
tents, crying and asserting that they wanted to reform,
asservations writ in water and soon to be obliterated by
the first opportunity for revelry.
For these people are emotional, easily stirred to
tears, and easily depressed. Between nights of wassail*
they relapse into days of gloom, when they fly to mor-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 1 85
phine for solace, and when the fit of remorse proves too
great for mastery, they find refuge in the grave of the
suicide.
Dr. Cavallo had encountered so many of these scenes
that they made no impression upon him, but the rabbi
was greatly moved. He was unaccustomed to such
sights, and, as they concluded the services and watched
the undertaker carry away the remains to the ceme-
tery, he linked his arm in that of the doctor and said,
"Great good ought to come out of this to those in-
mates."
"Not at all," replied the other. "They will forget
all about it in a day."
" I should think that it would make an everlasting
impression upon them," returned the rabbi.
" No. The distinguishing trait of these people is their
lack of memory. They are creatures of impulse. They
forget to-day what was told them yesterday. They
yield to every new whim. Like the gnats that dance
in the sunbeam, they are carried away with every shift-
ing breeze. From the days of Rahab, who took in the
spies on the wall, they are always attracted by new
faces and new impressions. Just as she betrayed her
own people, so they will forsake any old admirer for a
new one. The badge of their tribe is their inconstancy."
"Is there no hope for them?"
"Anything that exists, and that has always existed,
is not to be removed by a momentary plaster. To
change this condition, needs a profound remedy ap-
plied to the very foundations of society. That this
will come at some time I firmly believe, because the
passion that makes it, lies at the very root of our ani-
mal nature, but it is not to be accomplished by indi-
vidual effort applied to individual cases."
CHAPTER XXVII,
They parted on the street corner and the doctor
went to his office. He could see the signs of the
gathering storm against him, but he cared little, for his
nature was such that he welcomed a contest where he
knew he was in the right. He passed Nagle on the
street. As he approached, the grin on that indi-
vidual's face widened and deepened. The sneer on his
countenance, that was now habitual, spread until it
looked as if his mouth would swallow up his face.
The recognition that he gave the doctor could be
taken for either triumphant defiance or malicious de-
light at having overreached him. The doctor did not
know with which to class it. He only thought to him-
self, u Nagle, if you are wise, you will never do anything
for which you will have to answer before a jury. That
mouth and grin will hang you without a chance for re-
prieve."
With it all Cavallo felt a sense of confidence. The
gage of battle had been thrown down. He had
picked it up and was ready for the strife.
As he entered his office a small boy brought him a
note. He saw that it was in Margaret's handwriting,
and tore it open. It was not signed and only con-
tained a quotation from an old English poet. It began,
" Stand firm."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 187
41 Glorious girl," he said. * Yes, I will stand firm/'
He walked out and saw a crowd around a hand
bill that had just been pasted up. It read :
NOTICE.
ALL PERSONS WHO BELIEVE IN CHRISTIAN RULE AND WHO
ARE OPPOSED TO
JEW METHODS
ARE REQUESTED TO MEET IN WILKES HALL, WEDNESDAY
EVENING AT HALF PAST EIGHT.
ABLE SPEAKERS WILL BE PRESENT.
He read this over and then he took a long breath,
saying to himself, "And among the speakers will be
Dr. Cavallo."
Then he attended to his regular practice. He found
some of his patients exceedingly cool and they dis-
missed him, but for this he cared little. He went
home, and laying down, he slept a sleep unbroken by
dreams.
The day following, the morning papers came out
with their accounts of the marriage. They toned down
the scene a good deal from the excited statement of
the afternoon press, and one of them gave Abbott a
severe scoring, but none of them dared say a word for
Cavallo, but took the ground that he was actuated by a
desire to get even with Abbott. One of the editors
even grew jocular, and reminded Abbott that when he
woke up one of God's chosen people, he ought to have
been aware that he was fooling with the business end
of a hornet, and that when the Lord gave His people
188 DOCTOR CAVALLO
the heathen for an inheritance, Presbyterians were not
excepted.
On the whole, the feeling against the doctor was in-
creased, rather than diminished, by the morning
papers. The afternoon paper made a flaming appeal
for a full attendance at the meeting, and as night came
on he could see little knots of men gathered in the
streets discussing and arguing, but as they invariably
lowered their voices at his approach, he could feel that
the current of opinion was against him. Just at dusk
he received a call by telephone, asking him to come
down to "Trent's" to see a man who had been injured
in a factory by getting caught in a machine. The
sender begged him to be quick.
"Trent's" was a boarding house, near the river, in
the lower part of the city, but there was quite an inter-
val between it and the nearest houses, a wide open
space, owned by an old fellow who would neither
improve nor sell it.
The doctor looked at his watch. It was six o'clock.
He had plenty of time to see his patient and get back
to the meeting. True, he would miss his supper, but
that did not trouble him. He boarded the street car,
rode down opposite Trent's, and, getting off, walked
slowly towards the boarding house. He had nearly
crossed the open field when he heard a noise behind
him, and he became aware that he was followed. A
gang of men and half grown boys were dogging his
footsteps. As they approached nearer, he heard half
muttered exclamations and growls, and as they came
still closer he recognized one voice. It said, " Kill the
domn'd Jew.' 1
The doctor said to himself, " Mike O'Hara."
CHAPTER XXIX.
As he faced around he saw that he was caught. In
front of him was the mob. Behind him was only a
barn. If he attempted to escape he would be run
down on either side. He had no pistol and only a small
knife in his medicine case. The mob, evidently ex-
pecting that he would try to run, had spread out in a
sort of half circle, to hedge him in, and they now
gathered around, as he stopped and faced them, and
they began to jeer.
The doctor smiled disdainfully. "There isn't a rock
or a brick-bat in the whole crowd."
In the gathering gloom he knew that his greatest
danger lay in being hit on the head with a stone. With
this danger removed, he felt relieved to see that they
were mostly armed with sticks, and that Mike, the
leader, had a large club.
Nevertheless, he was in great danger, for if they all
closed in, and he was once knocked down, they would
jump on him, and speedily kick him to death.
They began to howl like wolves, and the burden of
their jibes was, " Jew, Jew."
He calculated.
Mike was the leader, that was plain. He had not
forgotten that he had once received a knock on the
head on the doctor's account, and it was evident that
something beside that urged him on.
190 DOCTOR CAVALLO
The call over the telephone was not Mike's voice.
There was a conspiracy. Was it. Nagle, or Seidel, or
Abbott ?
A mob is always cowardly, and the doctor, in facing
his foes, had non-plussed them. If they could have
found bricks or stones, his career would have been
short, but the open plain was covered with a sod, and
this had been eaten off short by the cattle that some of
the people kept and herded on it. If they overpow-
ered him, it would be by hitting him with a club.
The doctor braced up against the little barn, and
waited for the attack.
Mike took the initiative. He advanced with his
club in the air.
"Ah, ha," said he, "ye domn'd Jew, I'll fix ye."
An untrained man does not know how to use a club.
He always strikes overhead, and after delivering one
blow he is helpless. The only fear that the doctor had
was that half a dozen might strike him at once.
When he left his office he had deliberated. It looked
as if it might rain, and he had taken his umbrella from
its rack. Then he had put it back, and, in its stead, he
had taken a light walking cane. It was small, but stiff,
and was, in the hands of an ordinary man, worse than
no weapon at all, for at the first blow it would break
over the assailant's head. But it had a steel ferule at
the end, and the doctor, passing it through his hands,
said, " It will do."
He had been a great fencer in the university, and he
smiled to himself as he saw Mike break loose from
his companions and steadily advance with his great
club uplifted in the air. They waited to see the out-
come, for a mob must have a leader. If Mike knocked
DOCTOR CAVALLO I9I
him down they would speedily join in and finish the
work with their boots and sticks, but they would not
begin the attack.
Mike grinned to himself to see the doctor, standing
quietly, making no motion to defend himself. He
thought, M I'll hit him a swat by the side of the head, and
when he falls, I'll grab his watch and chain before the
other fellows gets 'em." So full of the idea of robbing
his victim was he, that he marched boldly up, and,
raising his club, brought it down with all of his force
on the doctor's head.
As it descended, the doctor, dexterously caught it,
twisted it to one side, and then sent his steel shod cane
into the bully's mouth. It tore its way through break-
ing out his front teeth and going through his cheek,
sent the blood over his shirt front in a torrent.
He gave a howl like a wounded animal, and, as he
turned around, presenting his face to the crowd behind
him, they uttered a cry of horror and dismay. The
doctor was quick to seize his advantage. He sprang
at the foremost fellows, striking one, and thrusting
another, and he managed to give several of them some
pretty severe wounds in the face and head, for he used
his light cane like a rapier, and wherever he thrust, he
brought blood. One after another turned, and in a few
moments the whole mob, yelling like a pack of coyotes,
fled, leaving him alone.
He went back to where he had stood by the side of
the barn and picked up his medicine case, where he
dropped it, and dusted it off.
He felt of his arm. "A slight bruise is all," he said.
Then he went on to Trent's. He found, as he sus-
pected, that he had not been called, and there had
been no accident. Then he took his way back.
192 DOCTOR CAVALLO
As he got on the street car he saw Lurello Nagle,
but that individual avoided his eye.
The doctor looked at him in profound contempt.
He rode back to his office, went to his room, washed
the bruise on his arm and brushed his clothes. Then
he examined his cane.
There was blood on the ferule and on the wood.
" Mr. Michael O'Hara will do well to consult a dentist
the first thing in the morning," he ejaculated.
Then he looked at his watch.
" It is getting around to half-past eight," he said. " I
must face the other mob."
He left his office, and walked resolutely to the hall.
CHAPTER XXX.
His entrance created quite a commotion, — an un-
easy feeling. A murmur ran about the room, and as
he sought a seat, the chairman came down, and, with
mock courtesy, asked him to go up on the platform.
Dr. Cavallo's blood was up, and he accepted the in-
vitation, to the surprise of that gentleman, and going
on the stage, took a seat. His action was greeted with
a storm of hisses and execrations, and those already on
the stage drew away from him, and took up seats apart.
He looked over the audience, and he could not see
one friendly face. He was alone. But his blood was
boiling. Something of the old Maccabean spirit was in
his veins. He faced the audience with a look of calm
dignity.
The meeting had been already opened by the selec-
tion of a well-known business man, Mr.. Radcliff, as
chairman. He was a good-natured fellow, always
ready to agree with the last speaker, and anxious for
public honors. He had long been a member of the
Board of Supervisors, and now he had secret aspir-
ations for Congress. He said, cautiously, that this
meeting had been called at the suggestion of some
well-known citizens, who would make known its pur-
pose further on. For his part, he was not well advised
what the motive was, but he had consented to preside,
7
194 ' DOCTOR CAVALLO
to maintain order, and see that every one had a fair
show. Then he asked some one to state the object of
the meeting.
No one moved at first, and it seemed that the meet-
ing would be a flat failure.
Seidel had forseen this, and he had his man ready.
There was a young lawyer in the city, named Peterson.
He was an idle, dissipated chap, who could make a
brilliant talk, but he was allowing his love for whisky
to get the better of his intellect. Seidel had come
across him that afternoon and had treated him, and
outlining what he wanted, told him that now was his
chance. He ought to attend the meeting that evening,
and make a hit by abusing Ur. Cavallo, who was un-
popular. He would, in this way, get on the right
side, and, undoubtedly, old Abbott would pick him up
and give him business. Filled with this idea, Peterson
watched for his chance, and as every one else hung
back, he arose to his feet, and, addressing the chair,
was invited to come on the platform. As he made his
way up, Seidel started a cheer for him, which was
responded to and taken up by the others. This flat-
tered Peterson's vanity, and he felt he was on the right
track.
He said "That he had waited patiently for some one
to give expression to the indignation that stirred
this community. The morals of the city had been out-
raged ; the ancient ties of family had been broken up ;
the name of a respectable citizen had been dragged in
the dust ; a lovely girl was even now sitting in her lux-
urious home, weeping for her broken and shattered
hopes ; two Christian houses had been desolated, and
the scandal of an entire family had been dragged out,
DOCTOR CAVALLO I95
■ — the skeleton of a moral household had been exposed
to the light of day in order to gratify the malice, the
race hatred of this man, Dr. Cavallo. For his part, he
lifted up his voice in protest against such infernal, such
damnable villainy. He wished, in the name of out-
raged morals, in the name of virtue, in the name of the
holy profession of the clergy itself, to protest against
such profanation as had been witnessed when two men,
one a professional physician, the other a minister, had
profaned the very name of religion and of the holy in-
stitution of marriage, by descending to the slums, in a
sink of prostitution, uniting in marriage the scion of a
worthy house, the bearer of an honored Christian name,
with one of the lowest prostitutes in the city."
Feeling now sure of his ground, Peterson began a
tirade against the Jews as a people, and repeated every
epithet he could think of. This sort of attorney is
always great in villification, and encouraged by the
applause of his auditors, Peterson went all lengths. The
Ham Head gang had come in fresh from their encoun-
ter with the doctor, and at every epithet that the brain
of Peterson could coin, they yelled their approval.
Finally, the lawyer, after having fairly outdone himself
in vituperation and Billingsgate, began to call names
and he grew positively vulgar towards the close. This
was not exactly what Seidel wanted, so he set some of
the gang to yelling, " Give it to them." "Down with
the Sheenies," and the like, and in accordance with his
plan, they made so much noise that Peterson had to
close.
They began calling for some one else, and several
speakers followed, but as they could not match Peter-
son, their remarks were tame in comparison. At last
I96 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Mr. Bezeke arose. He was a shoemaker and a profes-
sional agitator. The boys called him "Old Beeswax,"
perhaps from the fidelity with which, once started, he
stuck to the subject. He now arose, and, going to the
platform, rolled up his sleeves, and said that he didn't
like the Jews, anyway. In his country, Germany, they
thought very little of them, and they were thinking
less every day. The Jews, when they get into a busi-
ness, drive everybody else out. A Jew always gets the
better of you in a trade, and they are monopolizing
this country. If you want to get money now you have
to go to a Jew. If you want to buy a railroad ticket,
or a cigar, or a coat, or a pair of suspenders, you have
to go to a Jew. Now they have gone into the boot
and shoe business, and every clothing store puts in a
stock of shoes, and an honest man cannot make a liv-
ing any more. The crowd laughed as they recalled
his trade, but he went on. For his part he hated
them. He was glad that he was no Jew. He took
his seat amid cries of l< Beeswax ! Beeswax ! " from
the boys in the gallery.
The meeting had not gone entirely to Seidel's liking.
Peterson was disreputable, and Bezeke was a crank.
It would not do to have it end in this way. Seidel saw
Dr. McHale in the crowd and he began to call for him.
The audience took up the cry, and the doctor was
obliged to come to the platform. He did not like the
idea at all, but as Abbott was mixed up in it, and as ha
owed Cavallo a grudge, he had come to the meeting
to look on. When he found that he was expected to
speak, he put a bold face upon it. He walked on the
stage, shook hands with the chairman, bowed to the
audience, came well down in front and said he wanted
DOCTOR CAVALLO 197
to discuss this matter calmly and dispassionately. For
his part he had no prejudice. He looked upon all
men as equal, but he must say, that, if he were in
Georgia, he would be for a white man's government,
so in this Christian land he was for a Christian govern-
ment. In spite of everything that could be said in
favor of the Jews, he could not forget that this race had
crucified "our Lord and Saviour," and were still stiff-
necked and rebellious, refusing to recognize him and
unwilling to accept the gospel so freely tendered them.
That the Jew will eventually see the error of his ways,
he said, he knew. They would accept the Messiah and
would reform. But we can not but condemn their arts
in trade, in commerce, and in business.
"It was well known that, as has been stated here,
that they monopolize certain lines, and in those lines
the Christian is at a disadvantage. The Jews were
under a curse, but he was disposed to cast a veil of
charity over this and to insist that, if they would re-
form their methods and accept the truth, they are wel-
come, but until they do, 1 ' and the speaker raised his
hand in warning, "1 am in favor of visiting them with
the rigors of the law whenever they overstep the boun-
daries of the statute. Not in vain did our fathers
compel them to live apart, in sections of the city by
themselves. It might be necessary for society to do
this again. It might be necessary for the preservation
of our Faith, to again insist upon them wearing a
special dress. If this thing were done, for my part, I
should not greatly object to it. Two great English
writers have given us pictures of the Jews. The one
wrote Shylock, the other, Fagin." With this, the rev-
erend gentleman sat down and was applauded to
I98 DOCTOR CAVALLO
the echo. Cavallo, looking over the crowd, saw far
back, under the gallery, Seidel and Nagle applauding
the speech and yelling in uproarious delight.
McHale's speech had hit the popular sentiment of
the hour, and even the chairman said that he felt much
gratified that he had heard the able remarks of the
talented and reverend gentleman. It was time that the
better element of society took a hand in the discussion
of these public questions. Would anyone else like to
speak?"
Some one called Cavallo, and after a pause, the cry
went up, " Cavallo, Cavallo."
There was a sneer on the face of the chairman, as he
said that there seemed to be a desire on the part of
some of the audience to hear from Dr. Cavallo, and as
that gentleman was with them he would give him an
opportunity to address them.
Cavallo arose, walked down to the footlights and
faced the meeting.
CHAPTER XXXI.
McHale's speech had worked them up to the highest
pitch, and when the doctor came forward they roared
at him like hungry animals. Back in the crowd
he saw Seidel and Nagle laughing with triumph at the
success of the scheme and ever and anon yelling to
add to the commotion.
He was fresh from the encounter with the Ham
Head gang and his arm ached with the bruise, but the
same spirit glowed in his veins as when, with his back
to the barn, he drew his slender' cane through his
fingers and felt the point of the steel ferule to see if it
was in place.
His glowing "eye, the calmness and splendid courage
that he exhibited, the magnificent scorn that sat upon
his lip and the very splendor of his presence, as with
an imperious gesture he raised his hand to command
silence, hushed the clamor and it died away, and was
succeeded by a stillness so intense that every word
that he uttered could be plainly heard all over the hall.
"I come here because I am a man, and I am a man
because I am a Jew. I understand that this meeting is
called because of a fancied wrong that I have heaped
upon young Abbott. Listen, and I will tell you of the
greater wrong, for which that act was in some sort a
reparation."
200 DOCTOR CAVALLO
He then depicted the events of that night. The
agony of the neglected girl, the artful way in which
she had been made to believe that she was a law-
ful wife. The steps by which, little by little, her
womanly sympathies had been preyed upon. The
maltreatment, the desertion, the starvation, the bring-
ing her back to the city, the spiriting away her baby,
the lodging her in a house of low repute, by which all
chance of regaining her lost position would be rendered
impossible, the frightful circumstances under which he
had been called to attend her, the ribald laughter, the
coarse obscenity, and the disgusting filth. The advent
of young Abbott, brought to the spot, not by penit-
ence, or by charity, but by his own lusts ; the sudden
fac ing of the woman whom he had wronged, and his fit
of repentance. "It was not my act," the doctor cried,
"that drove him to make some reparation to this poor
soul, but his own guilty conscience. Why did I permit
it to be done ? It was to save the innocent child, that
little girl, from the depths of degradation that would
have been heaped upon her as soon as she could learn
to distinguish right from wrong. It was to save one
human soul from the sins of its father. You," turning
to McHale, "who preach every Sunday the maxim,
'Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid
them not, 7 would have sent this little innocent through
the world with the brand of Cain upon her brow, and
the scarlet letter upon her cheek, for a crime that was
committed, not by, but against her. You, professing
to bear tidings of peace and good will upon earth,
stand here and strive in malice and bigotry to revive
the spirit of the middle ages. You carry peace upon
your lips and a dagger in both hands. You represent
DOCTOR CAVALLO 201
what you are pleased to call, the later civilization, but
you bear the brand of villainy, the crime of murder,
and you put the poisoned chalice of hate in the hands
of the mob, stirring up the worst passions of men, and
rejoicing in your work. The Judaism that I represent
is that of the highest humanity. The spirit that I fol-
low is that of the prophets of old, who demanded for
the oppressed, justice, not charity ; who strove to pro-
tect the weak against the strong, who endeavored to
shield the innocent and feeble, against the avaricious
grasp of the despoiler. Whoever comes with the mes-
sage of the brotherhood of man to me, is my brother.
I know no Jew, I know no Presbyterian, I know no
Methodist, no Catholic, nor any of the narrow divisions
by which men have been taught to separate themselves
from their fellow men. 'Whoever doeth the work of
humanity, the same is my mother and my brethren.'"
The tide was turned. His words were drowned in a
roar of applause.
A man was seen struggling to make his way down
the aisle. When he had reached the middle of the
house, he took off his hat, waved it, commanding
silence.
It was Pat O'Hara.
As soon as he was recognized, there was a cry of
" Listen to Pat. Give it to him, Pat."
He waved his hat again. " Hould on, bys. Yez all
know me." Then, as the audience grew still, he added :
" O'ive lived in this town forty odd years, and yez niver
knew Pat O'Hara to tell a lie."
He was applauded again, and this embarrassed him.
Then he went on :
"Oi say, O'ive lived here, aff an' on, and Oi know
202 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Dochter Cavallo. Oi want to say that he's a man, an*
ony man that sez he ain't, is a dom liar, that's phat
he is."
A roar of laughter followed, and Pat was applauded
to the echo.
Then a man arose, and said that he wanted to tes-
tify to that, too. Who had come forward at a time
when the poor people of Abbott's Row had needed
homes, and put up lodging-houses for them but Mrs.
Bernheim? He was one of the tenants, and had been
benefitted by the plan adopted.
Two others said the same thing.
Then Pat O'Hara got upon his feet again, and said:
1 Yis, an' who tore down the domn'd ould Row, an' gev
us all a chance? Ah, ha, d'ye moind ; it was the doch-
ter. Don't fergit that, Misther Chairman, don't fergit
that, put it all down."
Pat was cheered.
Dr. Cavallo's speech had fairly turned 'the tide, and
when the meeting broke up, the crowd surged on the
platform, and shook him by the hand, and manifested
their delight at what he had done.
Seidel and Nagle walked away together, and for
some time neither spoke.
Then Seidel broke out, "I despise the fellow, but,
after all, it was as good as a play to see him turn on
that crowd and take them by the neck."
Nagle grinned. " Mike O'Hara probably thinks the
same, for when I left him in Jake's saloon he had his
whole cheek torn open, where Cavallo had punched him
with his cane."
Seidel gave an exclamation of impatience.
" I hope Mike kept his mouth shut ?"
DOCTOR CAVALLO 203
"No, he couldn't, it's split open."
" He did n't say anything ? "
Nagle grinned again. " No, he could n't talk if he
wanted to."
CHAPTER XXXII.
When the morning papers gave the report of the
meeting of the night before, and prefaced it with an
account of the attack that had been made upon Dr.
Cavallo, which the reporters had obtained from the
police, a revulsion of feeling took place in the city.
The police had found one of the members of the Ham
Head gang bleeding on the prairie, with a bad wound
in his neck. From him they had arrested Mike
O'Hara. When the old man, Pat, came home from
the meeting, and told what had been done, and how
he made a speech that was the cap sheaf of the even-
ing, and then learned that his son had attempted to
assassinate his friend, his anger knew no bounds. He
insisted that the whole thing should be told, and the
papers said surprising revelations had been made
against hitherto respectable parties. One of the first
callers upon Cavallo was Mr. Tobias, who asked why
he had not allowed his friends to come to his aid. "I
saw a notice of the meeting," said he, "but I did not
go, thinking that, perhaps, it was only a hoodlum
gathering. I was proud of you, doctor, when I read
the statement in this morning's paper. I can see you
now. as you stood up and faced them, and to think of
out there on the prairie, with nothing but a cane, fight-
ing those hoodlums. I tell you it was great. It was
magnificent."
DOCTOR CAVALLO . 205
Mr Herman dropped in. "If Bernheim had been
here, I am satisfied those fellows would never have
dared to come out the way they did," he said, rt but he
has gone east. As for that little lawyer, he is too in-
significant to notice. I did think better of Dr. McHale,
but he was influenced by Abbott."
The visit that did him the most good was from Bob
Lawrence, "I sat in the gallery," said Bob, "and
when the old parson got through with his diatribe, I
started up the cry for you. I knew that you would
demolish him, but I was not quite prepared for such a
scoring as you gave him. Did you notice how the
chairman tacked and filled, agreeing with the last
speaker, always. That's Radcliff. If the crowd had
concluded to put the rope around your neck, he would
have chipped in just as cheerfully as he shook hands
with you when it was over, and congratulated you on
your speech. The world is damned by its hypocrites."
u It is damned by its cowards," returned Cavallo.
"It's all one," replied Bob, " l coward' and 'hypo-
crite ' are synonymous terms. The fact that a man is a
coward, makes him a hypocrite. I say this, for I
guess I am a little of both."
"How is that?"
"Oh, I sat there last night and allowed those fellows
to abuse you and the Jews and never opened my
mouth. If I had not been a mere pretense of a man I
would have gone down there and demolished the whole
lot. However, I am glad I did not, for you had all the
better opportunity. I tell you, doctor, I would like to
have your photograph as you walked down to those
footlights and held up your hand to still the crowd. I
never saw such a fine impersonation of wrath, disgust
206 DOCTOR CAVALLO
and contempt in my life. What a splendid actor you
would make."
" Acting is not in my line. I never felt less like act-
ing in my life. I was thoroughly in earnest."
Bob moved uneasily about, got up and sat down, and
lighted one of the doctor's cigars, which the latter
courteously handed him. He hesitated "Doctor, you
are not a business man, and yet I feel like asking your
advice on a business point."
"What is it? You know full well that anything I
can do for you, I will do."
Bob gave a laugh. "Well, then, it's about this min-
ing deal. I have advanced some money to Seidel, and
now he wants me to go in with a syndicate and take
fifty thousand dollars worth of the stock."
44 Who are in the syndicate?"
44 Well, there's Nagle, and a lot of other chaps ; who,
I do not know, but Seidel says that they are good."
"The scheme, then, is to get Mr. Robert Lawrence
at the back of it, and really have him endorse the
project with his name, and, possibly, with his signa-
ture, and then float it. It is the old story of the chest-
nuts and the cat, but don't you be the cat."
Bob smoked slowly, and said, "It is singular how a
man's eyes can be blinded. With all of my knowledge,
I thought that it was a pretty good thing." With these
words he arose, and putting on his hat, walked slowly
down to his own office.
He had not been there long before Seidel came in,
the embodiment of good humor.
" Robert, how is the man of business to-day ? Im-
mersed in the calculations of tariffs and accounts and
rebates ?"
DOCTOR CAVALLO 207
Robert drew up a chair for him, and Seidel con-
tinued in the same flowing vein of good nature:
"Cut loose, my dear sir, from these petty details.
Let the miserly and sordid grub. The time of the
nimble sixpence and the slow shilling is past. Specu-
lation is now the order of the day. The wealthy
speculates to increase his store, and the man of
humble means speculates to make a beginning. That
was a good remark which the poor man made to Van-
derbilt, when the railroad magnate told him to put by
his savings, and learn to economize, and not to be buy-
ing lottery tickets. He asked how long Vanderbilt
would have had to save and put by his earnings to ac-
quire his fifty millions ? That was a clincher."
" I have made some outside investments," said Bob,
doubtfully, "and I never got out clear."
"Yes, but what did you make it in ? Why, in land.
There you are, with something open and tangible, sub-
ject to taxation, to assessment for improvements, for
sewers and streets and alleys and bridges, and heaven
knows what. It lies open and patent to the day, and
any one can see it. Now, with stocks it isn't so. Look
at the fellows in our large cities, in the world's large
cities. What is the active principle of business today ?
Why, it is stocks ; it is grain, it is oil or cotton ; never
the material itself, but the representative of it. They
have tried to legislate it out of existence, but have they
done it ? No, it is stronger to-day than ever. Now, I
only want you to stand by this deal. The stock of this
mining company will go to par. We are going to list
it on the Stock Board, and then it will go kiting. 1 '
14 1 was talking about it to Dr. Cavallo, and he did not
seem to be impressed with it."
208 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Seidel threw back his head, and gave his peculiar
laugh. " Dr. Cavallo ! that's good. What does a pro-
fessional man know about business ? My dear boy, if
you had a boil, I should say go to Dr. Cavallo, by all
means. I heard him last night at the hall. Good
speech he made, too, from his standpoint. I could
have answered him if I had a mind to. But what does
Robert Lawrence, a shrewd operator, and with the
knowledge of the laws of business at his fingers' ends,
want with advice from a dreamer like this Cavallo ? If
you want to do anything, do it yourself. If I wanted
to know what to do, I would come to you in a matter
of this kind, for you know far more than any one in
this city."
In this manner, partly by flattery and partly by
cajoling, Seidel induced Robert to go into the scheme.
It took some time to accomplish this, but Bob was
easy going, and he finally yielded to the wiles of the
tempter, and gave him his signature, for which he was
to be secured by double the amount of stock. A
secret sense of doing the wrong thing, made him assent
to Seidel's suggestion, that the endorsement should be
kept a secret between them and the bank, for as it
was only a matter of form, nothing would come of it
any way.
Seidel left the office with a smile of satisfaction.
" The infernal Jew came very nearly upsetting the
boat, 1 ' he said, " but I have landed my fish after all."
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Mr. Timothy Dodd recovered his poise. The fact
that many of the best citizens of the city called upon
his patron and congratulated him upon the stand that
he had taken, the notices in the newspapers, the in-
creased respect that was accorded the doctor, and,
above all, the great demand for his professional ser-
vices, gave Timothy new light, and with it an increased
air of his own importance as belonging to so popular
an establishment. He wore his high hat now as an
every day affair, and he placed it on one side of his
head, thereby increasing the sense of his own import-
ance. He had taken a great interest in the O'Hara
household since they had removed into one of the
model houses built by Mrs. Bernheim, and he spent a
good deal of time there. He put on his hat one even-
ing, and taking his usual course, stopped at the O'Hara
dwelling.
To open the gate and walk in, was the easy work of
an old friend.
He greeted the old gentleman with his air of lofty
courtesy, saying, " Good evenin' to all the house."
"The same to you, Timothy," said Pat.
The old gentleman was sitting in the front yard, in
his shirt sleeves, in all the glory of the independent
citizen, smoking his pipe. The eldest girl, as soon as
210 DOCTOR CAVALLO
she saw Tim, came and sat in a hammock, that was
stretched from the corner of the house to a fence
picket. Inside the door, Tim could see the old lady
and the other daughter.
14 Where's Moike ?" he asked.
The old man replied, without taking the pipe from
his mouth, " Gone thrampin'."
"How's that ?" inquired Tim.
" I dhruv him out," said the old man. " Whin I kem
home from the meetin' in the hall, where me and the
dochter put down the mob, I found that that b'y of
moine had been ladin' an attack on the very mon that
I had been defindin'. A foine mess he made uv it ; the
dochter had got the betther uv him. Moike was a dis-
grace to his sex. The pulece hed him for a toime, but
the dochter wud make no complaint."
11 Lave him go," sez the dochter, and they turned him
out. " It'll be mony a day afore he'll relish his vittals,
Oi'm thinkinV
44 He kem home here an' laid aroun' wid a hed onto
him ye'd think he wus a buffalo. Ye're a Ham Head,
sez I, an' at last I gev him the bounce."
u Ye did roight," said Tim, "ye maintained the
honor uv the family. There is, as ye may say, two
kinds uv Oirish, there's the bog-throttin' kind, who
kem up widout rhyme or rayson, an' who are the fut-
stule uv the wurrld, an' thin there's the other kind, who
are the gintlest an' the foinest people on earth, —
scholars an' orathors and min distinguished by raysarch
and jainous. Thin, as ye may say, there's the thrue
Oirishman an' the false Oirishman, an' thin' there's wan
set that's naythur wan nor the other. The same way
wid the Jews. There's hoigh-moinded an' low-moinded
DOCTOR CAVALLO 211
Jews. There's Jews that are peddlers an' there's Jews
that are professionals, an* there are others that are the
divil knows phat. Now, there's Dochter Cavallo,"
"A foine man he is," said Pat. "He got me this
house and he got me into one of the factories as watch-
man, and he gev me a lift. To be sure, if it hadn't
been for me, the crowd in the hall wud hav got away
wid him, but in the nick of time I stepped in wid an
iloquent little spaach, giving them the tip of the blarney
and they quit."
"Tim, when are you going to be a doctor?" asked
the young lady, mischieviously.
" That's a question that is not to be answered off-hand
like, as ye may say 'what's the time of day,' Miss
Nora," replied Tim, loftily. "The science of physic is
not to be swallowed at wan dose, as ef it were a pill.
Ye hev to diagnose it."
u What's that," returned the young lady. "You are
always using these big words. How do you diagnose
a thing?"
" It's a midical term, embracing the whole thary of
the subject. It's origin is 'diag,' a Greek word, manin'
to throost, and 'nose,' signifying the manner in which,
as ye may say, ye have to throost yer nose into the
very bowels of the subject for to diskiver what yere
saykin' afther."
This was quite satisfactory to his auditor, the young
lady only remarking, "It must make an awful mess."
" Miss Nora," continued Tim, sitting down in the
hammock by her side, "there's only two things in this
wurrld worth studyin'."
11 What's them? " said she, coyly.
"Wan is the profession that a man do be followin',
and the other is the faymale heart."
212 DOCTOR CAVALLO
11 Mister Dodd, you'll not be studying my heart, I
can tell you that."
"An' phy not?"
"Because, the first thing I'd know, you'd be wantin'
to diagnose it."
"Nora, ye must larn to distinguish between profis-
sional zale and the warm impulses of frindship."
"Sit on your own side of the hammock," said Nora.
" I prefer your professional zeal to too much friend-
ship ; you'r crowdin' me."
41 Oh, Nora," cried Tim, "there isn't space in this
wurrld enough for two of us."
" How do you mean to help the matter then ? "
asked Nora, pretending not to understand him.
" Phy, the only way we can help it is to become
wan."
She looked at him archly. " I thought that you was
takin' a great interest in my mother, all of this time.
It wasn't her then you came to see ?"
" Nora, I have great respict for yer mother, but it's
mostly on account of her havin' reared sich a foine
gurrl as you."
"Oh, go off, it's the way you talk to all the girls. I
wonder the tongue don't dry up in your head."
"It's the heart that's dryin' up in me body," cried
Tim. " It's like master, like man. The doctor is in
love with one fair crayture, and here I am on the
point of expirin' wid agony on the account of the
coldness of another."
"Tim," said Nora, with a sudden thought, " when
Dr. Cavallo marries Miss Lawrence, then — "
"An' thin," said he, expectantly.
"Then you can talk to me," and she laughed mer-
rily.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 21 3
"It's well that the Bible says the human heart is
decaytful above all things and dispirately wicked,"
said he. " It's that way wid the sex, wherever yez
foind them. There's the dochter, as foine a mon as ever
lived, and him on the point of lovin' that geyrl to dis-
traction, and gettin' no solace."
"Why," said Nora, "is not she mindin 1 to his love ?"
"It's that Seidel," returned Tim, "he's the divul
himself. He's thru that poor gurrl under a spell."
The old man had fallen asleep while this conversa-
tion had been going on, but he now awoke, and began
to groan and rub his back, at which Nora remarked :
"Father, you had better go into the house, you'll catch
the rheumatism."
" I'll not catch it," replied the old man, "By gob,
I've got it," and he hobbled into the house, and they
could hear him stirring out in the kitchen, after his
bottle of liniment.
Tim contined, "Miss Nora, there's min, and there's
other min. There's min like the dochter, that invite
confidence, bein' that open hearted that they fill yer
soul wid hope an' faith, to shake 'em by the hand.
Then there's others whom ye naturally fear, as ye
wud a snake, like that Seidel and Lurello Nagle, a
shape wearin' the garmints of a wolf."
"Why don't the doctor go straight up to Miss Law-
rence and say that he loves her and will marry her, and
settle this matter at once. He's good enough for any
woman. That's what you would do, Tim."
"There's difference bethune min. There's min who
could storm a cannon widout battin' their eye, but
whin they come in front of the woman they love, they
are that wake that the courage goes outen 'em, and
214 DOCTOR CAVALLO
they feel as limp as a dish-rag. Now the dochter is a
mon among min. He wouldn't scare about gettin' out
an' foightin' a whole regimint, an' standin' there until
the flesh was hacked off his bones, but as for comin'
out, bould loike, to a woman, it's not in him, an' as like
as not he'll see Miss Lawrence carried away by this
sneakin' divil of a Seidel, widout a protest, and then
go breakin' his heart afterwards."
" He ought to diagnose this brute of a Seidel," sug-
gested Nora, looking slyly at Timothy.
"Yer an apt scholar. What a dochtor's wife ye will
make," and with that he went over the old customs.
If all the world loves a lover, all the world has been a
lover at some time, so that it is not necessary to tell
how Timothy sped in his love making.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Seidel was making progress at a rapid rate. He now
had plenty of money, for the moment, which he flour-
ished, and he was anxiously trying to cultivate the ac-
quaintance of the best people. He used his power
over Bob Lawrence to push himself into society, and,
as he was a man of good address, he had no difficulty
in making his way, then he posed as the lover of Miss
Lawrence, in spite of his rebuff, for his cool assur-
ance did not stop at anything. Bob did not like this,
but he was so far in Seidel's power that he could not
help himself. Seidel, having involved him, acted
towards Bob with the domineering audacity that he
displayed to everyone whom he could, in the least,
control.
While he was in this advantageous position, Seidel
attempted to renew his suit with Margaret and rein-
state their old relations of friendship. He paid her
the most marked attentions, whenever he could, in
public. He was profoundly deferential, and so polite
that people wondered that she could receive his favors
so indifferently. When he tried to turn the conversa-
tion into a sentimental channel, she quietly, yet firmly,
checked him. He carried his audacity so far that he
had Mrs. Nagle whisper around that Margaret and him-
self were engaged, but Margaret at once denied it with
2l6 DOCTOR CAVALLO
such spirit that the rumor was crushed before it ob-
tained a foothold. Seidel was puzzled. He could
make his small points easily enough, but when he
attempted to do something that lay nearest his heart,
he was always quietly checkmated and baffled. He
took out his revenge by hating Cavallo more than
ever, and in studying up plans for his utter overthrow.
As for the doctor, in spite of Seidel's opposition, he
was inundated with work. His practice had enor-
mously increased, and an epidemic of grippe that raged
that winter, left him no chance for rest night or day.
While the malady raged in the lower parts of the city,
he had the satisfaction of knowing that it escaped the
Bernheim flats, as they were called. So many of the
working men had purchased homes on the favorable
terms that were offered, that great additions had been
made to them. Mrs. Bernheim was delighted, and,
with her characteristic generosity, she gave the doctor
full credit for the plan, and was never weary of chant-
ing his praises.
She was exceedingly active that winter in charitable
work, and, as the malady raged like a pestilence in the
poorer quarters of the city, she poured out her money
like water for the relief of the stricken, and gave plans
for the much larger increase of the model cottages in
the spring. The doctor once congratulated her upon
her work, but she checked him, saying, "Doctor, you
know this is inculcated upon every true Jew, for does
not the Talmud say : ' The house that is closed to
charity shall be opened to the physician.' " He laugh-
ingly replied : "If all my patients were to act on this
motto I fear that I should lack practice." And he
complimented her on becoming so devout a believer.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 21 7
In spite of all the claims of society upon her, she
steadily kept in sight the needs of her people, as she
called her tenants, and she built up a spirit of
self-help among them, for no sooner was it noised
about that one family had purchased their house than
it spurred up others to do the same. Then the ones
who had bought, made little additions to their dwelling.
They would put on a bay window here and add a dor-
mer window there, so that the flats began to lose the
uniform look of sameness that they originally pos-
sessed, and that are inseparable from rented houses,
and take on the air of homes. Trees were planted and
vines trailed over the door. Roses and shrubs were
set out and the little cottages began to be adorned
with good taste.
Mrs. Bernheim lent them every assistance in her
power. Her large green-house was a world in itself,
and she now instructed her gardener to set apart a
place for geraniums and roses and kindred plants, so
that any tenant who desired could have a single plant
or an assortment, only agreeing to take care of them.
By this means the girls in the flats were instructed in
raising flowers, and the rooms soon possessed an air of
refinement.
People who had sneered at the experiment began to
say, "Of course, any one could see that it was a good
speculation," for, as the street cars had been extended
to the place, property went up enormously, and the
buildings steadily increased in value. When the ten
acres were exhausted, more land was procured. The
original investment had long since proved satisfactory,
and now the plant was managing itself. All the money
that was received from the payments or rents was put
218 DOCTOR CAVALLO
back into new buildings as fast as either tenants or pur-
chasers could be procured.
Abbott was one of the foremost persons to protest
against this policy, for his old tumble-down tenements
would now no longer rent, and this he cherished as an
additional grievance against the doctor, and ground his
teeth when ever his name was mentioned.
Lurello Nagle denounced the whole thing as a real
estate deal. Any man, he said, who will get his neigh-
bor to buy a lot is a thief and a swindler. In vain was
it pointed out to him that the investment in every case
was a good one. He was down on it, and never was so
happy as when, with paper and pencil in hand, he could
show how much more certain the return would be if in-
vested in mining stock. He had endorsed for Seidel,
and was carrying a large block of the stock himself,
which he hoped to be able to get rid of at an early day,
but, thus far, he had little success. He finally induced
the working men in the mill, where he kept the books,
to put up a small sum each week and carry a block of
it, but this exhausted his powers of persuasion, and he
could do no more. He would have said more against
the flats, but he dreaded the influence of Bernheim.
That individual gave him his position, and Nagle was in
debted to him and to his wife for the social standing
that his own wife had secured, but he hated both the
Bernheims, and was only waiting in secret to do them
an ill turn.
When Seidel had secured Bob Lawrence's signature
at the bank, Nagle had hoped that his own stock would
have been taken off his hands, but Seidel would do
nothing of the kind, and he veiled his flat refusal by
telling Nagle that it was not time to unload yet, and
DOCTOR CAVALLO 210,
that to have him get out now would overturn the whole
plan. When Nagle attempted to force him to keep his
promise, which was to let him out at the first opportunity,
he found that his wife was wholly under the influence
of Seidel, and she turned on him and berated him for
thinking of forsaking so good a friend as Seidel had
been to him. While Seidel treated him with cool con-
tempt, his wife began to openly snub him worse than
ever. He had, in the first- place, when they talked of
going in partnership in the stock deal, invited Seidel
to take up his quarters with him. He now found that
he could not rid himself of him. Seidel acted as if he
were the real master of the household, and began to
bully him at times in such a manner that Nagle felt like
ordering him out of the house, but Seidel had such an
influence over his wife, that he did not dare raise a row,
lest he should get the worst of it.
A more unhappy man than Lurello Nagle did not
exist.
CHAPTER XXXV.
While Charley Abbott did not attend the funeral of
his wife, owing to the express commands of his father,
the blow that he had received sobered him. The
next day after the funeral, he went out to the Home
for the Friendless, and, taking his little daughter from
the care of the matron, placed her in charge of a member
of the family, an old aunt, who had always been proud
of him, and who lived in a little house at the edge of
town. He threw himself into his duties with some
care and attention and forsook his old companions.
They at first rather respected this and let him alone,
but when they found that he did not care for their
gibes and had settled down, it was whispered around
that he had sowed his wild oats and was beginning to
be a man. Old Mr. Allen noticed this, and was the
first one to extend the hand of cordiality to him. He
told him to come up to the house and see Annie, for
he was certain that all might yet be forgiven and for-
gotten.
One day he had worked hard, and at the close of the
business, he passed the Allen house, when he was
hailed by Annie herself with, rt Oh, Cholly, come in,
can't you ? "
He found her in the old position in the rocking-
chair, chewing the same everlasting gum. She held
DOCTOR CAVALLO 221
out a hand to him which he took. " Annie,' 1 said he,
" I have not had the heart to come and see you after
what has happened, but — "
She interrupted him with a giggle, "Oh, you chaps
are all alike. I had an idea all of the time that you
were going out with the other boys and having a time."
"It has been a lesson to me."
She giggled again. '* That's what Jim Simpson is
always saying, and then he will be fuller 7 n a goose in a
week."
She continued to giggle, "And you were a married
man all of the time and I didn't know it ? Cholly,
it was awful tough. What sort of a looking thing is
it?"
"What do you mean ?"
"Why, the young'un."
" My daughter is a very beautiful child."
u Your daughter," she giggled, u oh, that is too good,
and you just ought to see your face when you said
1 my daughter.' It was better than a play," and she
shrieked with laughter.
" I do not see anything to laugh at."
II Why," she said, " you do not mean that you are
going to recognize the brat."
" I shall take care of my child."
" Very well, then, you will not take care of me," she
said hotly.
He bowed.
II I am not going to have a child in my house of
whose parentage you do not know. Born in the gutter,
and like as not growing up a thief."
"Stop!" he cried, "the child is, before God, my
own, and the woman who bore her was my wife. I
222 DOCTOR CAVALLO
will not listen to aspersions that she does not deserve,
and for crimes that I alone committed."
" Now, Cholly," in a wheedling tone, M don't be a fool."
" I have been a villain, but I am not going to con-
tinue to be one, if I know myself. 1 '
"How can we go into society with this thing hanging
to us ? Who would introduce the girl when she gets
old enough to come out ? What can we do with her ?
Do have some sense."
"The sins of the parent are visited upon the child,
but I am willing to try and shield my little one from
the consequences of my foolishness. I have no right
to ask you to share this burden. Good-bye, Annie."
He held out his hand and grasped hers, but he felt
that there was no response, and he walked away.
She cried a little, then she laughed, then she giggled.
Her mother came out and said, " What is the matter,
Annie, between you and Charley ?"
" Why, maw, I sacked him."
11 You didn't?"
'•That's what. He wanted to bring that thing's
young'un on us, wanted to take it into the house, and
I just told him 'nit.' I don't propose to hitch to any
one's young'uns, leastways those that don't come from
a straight source."
" You're right," said her mother, rt there's as good
fish in the sea as ever came out of it."
And Charley Abbott walked away saying to himself,
" I will not ask any one to share this burden with me,
but I will not shirk one jot from the consequences."
Thereafter he used to go down to the cottage of his
aunt and spend the evenings in company with her, and
it was his chief solace, after his day's work was done,
DOCTOR CAVALLO 223
to sit with his daughter on his knee and listen to her
prattle.
When she grew old enough to talk and to call him
"Papa" he was delighted, and he would hold her on
his lap for hours. He began to look forward to the
evening with impatience, and to watch for the sight of
her sweet face at the gate, waiting for. his coming.
When she began to come out to meet him he felt a
glow at his heart that astonished him. When she was
sick he was in agony, and when she became better he
was the happiest man in the world. The little girl
brought sunshine into his life. He worked hard, and
took an interest in his business. Gradually he assumed
some of his father's cares, and tried to mitigate the
hard and rigorous rules over the tenants, but the old
man had the grip of the miser, and, while he allowed
his son some small latitude, the main purse strings he
kept in his own hands. As his bodily strength failed,
it only seemed to make his intellect sharper and
sharper, and to give him renewed zest for making
money, and to hate, with bitter and unrelenting purpose,
everyone who hindered him from making it. The
Bernheim flats were perpetually thrown up in his face
by his own tenants, some of them used it as an excuse
for not paying their own rents, some as a "reason why
they should get a rebate. He heard it forty times a
month, until the very mention of the name sent him
off into a fit of passion. He was well content that
Charley should settle down, and that at last he should
have taken up his home with his aunt and little daugh-
ter, for the reason that he spent far less money now
than he had when with his wild companions. This was
the crowning idea of Mr. Abbott's life. If he could
224 DOCTOR CAVALLO
save money by adopting a certain course, that was the
one he pursued. He did not care about his little
grandchild, and as long as Charley was now living an
economical life, and was not lavishing money, he felt
satisfied. The disease of avarice had eaten into his
soul and destroyed all finer emotions.
CHAPTER XXXVI
Seidel now determined on a plan that would realize
all of his hopes. He made up his mind that to
strengthen his position and increase the value of his
holdings, he must have a member of Congress whom he
could control. If he did this, he thought that he could
use this power to get his stocks listed on the New York
Stock Exchange, for while he had boasted that he was
about to do this, he had made no progress whatever.
"Now,' 1 he said to himself, "if I can go down to
New York City and say to those fellows, l I can deliver
.one vote to you on anything you want. It will cost
you no money, but you must let me in on the ground
floor to certain things,' I can get my stock listed, or
do anything else that I want." People do not buy
members of Congress nowadays, they work them
through influence. He felt that this was feasible, and
he pondered it over long, turning it over in his own
mind, he felt that he knew how to proceed.
He looked about him narrowly and carefully. He at
first thought of Bob Lawrence. If he could get Bob to
run, which he doubted, would he be able to control
him afterwards ? Here was the rub. He had used
Bob's credit to the utmost. He had induced him to
endorse notes, and then endorse more, telling him that
he had taken up the first ones. Instead of doing this,
8
226 DOCTOR CAVALLO
he had renewed the first ones, and discounted the last.
He hoped to be able to make a turn before they would
fall due ; if not, he hoped that he could raise the money-
some other way, He was reduced to kiting, borrowing
money. He had Nagle completely drained, and he
smiled to see the efforts that that individual made to
get out of his clutches, the only result being that he
was more hopelessly in the toils. He had used all the
money that came into his hands in living lavishly, and
in speculating on the market in Chicago, and a recent
drop in wheat had caught him hard, so that he felt that
he must make one gigantic effort.
His audacity was great, and if he could get his man
elected to Congress, and could use him afterwards, he
could, he felt sure, get into some combination that
would help him out of his difficulties, for Seidel was a
great believer in luck. He always wanted to see the
new moon over his right shoulder, and while he pro-
fessed to be a Free-Thinker and a Scientist, he was full
of small superstitions and little observances. He
always blew twice in his shoes before he put them on
in the morning, would not walk under a ladder, and
hated to spill the salt. It is true that he laughed at
himself for maintaining these foolish notions, but he
did them, nevertheless.
" Now," he said to himself, "I want a man." He
ran over in his mind every one that he knew. "If old
Abbott had'nt made an ass of himself, I believe I could
have run Charley, and got him in with money and the
young man's racket, but, of course, that is out of the
question now. There were a good many available men,
but some of them were too poor, some of them knew
too much, and some knew too little. I want," he
DOCTOR CAVALLO 227
argued to himself, " some fool who is rich and respec-
table."
Then he thought of Radcliff. He had had Radcliff
nominated as chairman of the meeting called to pro-
test against Cavallo when that gentleman had so mag-
nificently maintained his position and put them down.
Radcliff felt that he had been placed in a false position
that night, and he had not been on good terms with
Seidel since.
This, however, did not cut any figure with Seidel.
He was not to be abashed by anything of the sort.
Radcliff was a wholesale grocer, doing business on " L"
street, and there Seidel betook himself. He found the
great man in his orifice berating his clerks. He handled
a particular brand of cigars and he kept them on a
high shelf in his private orifice. In taking an account
of stock he overhauled a long pile of these cigar boxes.
He found the front row intact, but the boxes in the
back row were all empty. The clerks and drummers
about the place had been in the habit of helping them-
selves and of putting the empty cigar boxes back of
the full boxes, leaving the front ones untouched. To
say that Mr. Radcliff was mad when he discovered
this fact, is putting it feebly. He roared. He declared
that he stood up there like a chump, to be robbed ;
that he was preyed upon — first, by his drummers, then
by his bookkeepers, then by his friends, and lastly, by
his family.
He paced back and forth through his place and
shook his fist at imaginary foes. l< I am the old cow
that gives all the milk, and everyone has a pull at me.
Oh, yes, it's ' Mr. Radcliff,' when they want anything,
and 'that old fool,' behind my back ; I know all about
228 DOCTOR CAVALLO
it. I have been through the whole mill. I have had
my leg pulled enough, I can tell you that," and he
turned and shook his fist again, this time in the very
face of Seidel, who had come in while he was engaged
in his gesticulation.
Radcliff was, secretly, rather glad that he had done
this unwittingly, so that he could pretend that he did
not see it. So he said, "Well, I don't take back any
thing IVe said, for no man," and then he went over
his woes for the benefit of Seidel, adding, M IVe been
robbed, robbed right here under my nose, and there's
a lot of thieving fellers out there, chuckling and laugh-
ing to themselves over it. Oh, yes ; I know it. I am
the target for everything. When a man gets out of
practice they say to him : 'Tackle old Radcliff, he'll
buy anything and take anything.' "
Seidel was vexed. He did not want to find his man
in this mood, so he tried to calm him down. He sym-
pathized with him. Told him that he had been in
business too long and he ought to retire, to which Rad-
cliff returned only a contemptuous snort, and allowed
that he knew what he wanted as well as anybody and
when he wanted to retire, he would make up his own
mind. Nevertheless, so strong was his propensity to
agree with everyone, that, after half an hour's talk, dur-
ing which Seidel set before him the duty he owed to
his country, and how margins in trade are getting
smaller anoVsmaller every year, requiring constant ac-
cession of capital, and more and more skill in handling
it, he made up his mind that perhaps the best thing
that he could do would be to get out of the trade,
where he could not be robbed.
Then little by little Seidel unfolded his plan of run-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 229
ning him for Congress. Radcliff took the bait greedily,
but he was sharp enough to drive a bargain in regard
to it.
He protested that he was far from being a rich man,
that he would accept the duty and come to the rescue
of his party in this trying hour if he could be assured
that it would not take a fortune to run. Seidel then
showed him figures that it would not cost him much.
A good sum could be raised from the central commit-
tee. He would go among the friends of the party and
raise some more, and he showed Radcliff, on a card,
that he would not have to put up anything, if he did
not wish to do so.
This was what Radcliff wanted. ll I will, then, ac-
cept your proposition, Mr. Seidel, provided you take
off from my hands all of the financial responsibility.
I will donate my personal services, and will pay my
own expenses, but I will not put up a cent or stand
any assessment. I do not wish to appear mean in
this matter, and I shall simply turn the assessment
over to you, and you are to shoulder it.
Seidel hesitated.
"Come now, you think so much of my duty," said
Radcliff, " what do you think of that proposition ?"
Seidel cogitated. If he did this, why, it would only
be binding the old man closer to him, and enable
him to take entire charge of him. Perhaps this was
what he wanted, so he said, "Very good, I will under-
take the job."
CHAPTER XXXVII
The nominating convention was still to be called,
but Seidel set to work. The next morning the party
paper had a long article as the leading editorial, sug-
gesting that Mr. John Radcliff, one of our best busi-
ness men, should be sent to Congress, adding that the
time for lawyers and unpractical people in the halls of
our national legislature is past, and that men with ex-
perience in affairs should be called to the helm. This
editorial Seidel wrote himself. He had some difficulty
in getting the article inserted, the editor flatly re-fusing
to do so, saying that old Radcliff was a hog, and that as
he had never advertised in the paper; the paper should
not do anything to help the matter along. Seidel,
however, waited until the editor had gone home and
then, going into the business office, bargained for the
insertion of a double-leaded article on the editorial
page. The clerk in charge insisted that he never sold
space at the head of the editorial columns, but Seidel
laughed at him, and, finally, by offering him double
rates, he secured it. He knew that there would be a
scene the next morning, but he thought that he could
fix that up. In the morning he prepared a petition
asking Mr. Radcliff to accept the nomination, and got
all the prominent merchants in business to sign it.
Most of them did so without reading it. Others asked
DOCTOR CAVALLO 23 1
if it was a subscription for money, and on learning that
it was not, they cheerfully affixed their sign manuals.
In two hours he had the names of half the leading men
in the place. They would just as cheerfully have
signed a petition asking Radcliff to go and hang him-
self, but this does not militate against our glorious
system of petitions.
Armed with this, Seidel presented himself to the
counting room of the newspaper. The business man-
ager said, "Jones, the editor, is mad over the trick you
played on him."
"Oh, he is ; send him down."
In such a contest the first word is more than half the
battle. When, therefore, Jones put in an appearance,
Seidel began on him, told him that he was a baby in
politics, that instead of being the first to come out and
nominate the coming man, he wanted to hang back and
let some other one do it and then come sneaking along,
trying to get into the band wagon when it was ever-
lastingly too late. He showed him the petition.
" Look, here is a petition signed by every leading man
in the party, and a lot of the independents, begging
Radcliff to take the nomination. He will accept. Do
you want the first news, or don't you?' 1 His magnifi-
cent cheek astonished the editor, and he could only
gasp: "This is the first I have heard of it, or rather
you are the only one that has told me anything about
Radcliff."
"There you go, you are asleep. Get into the band
wagon, now, I tell you, or you will be left. Come out
to-morrow, and say, ' Our suggestion ot yesterday has
been eagerly taken up by the great body of voters, and
the name of Mr. John Radcliff, for Congress, has been
232 DOCTOR CAVALLO
received with the utmost enthusiasm. 7 Take all the
credit for it, and push it."
The business manager eagerly chimed in, "Of course,
that's what we will do. And you will want a lot of
extra papers struck off with his acceptance in, won't
you ?
" Yes ; give me five hundred," said Seidel, and off he
went.
As soon as he had turned the corner, and got out of
sight of the newspaper office, he burst into a laugh.
"If they made me pay double rates for the editorial, I
will get even with them on the acceptance."
So he went to the reading-room in the hotel, and
wrote a glowing acceptance of the nomination, refer-
ing to the fact that he had always been willing to sink
his own peace and comfort for his party. He filled the
letter of acceptance with the most patriotic phrases
he could think of. Then he chuckled : M Now, I wont
even read it to the old fool ; I won't gratify him that
much.'"
He took it down to the grocery store, and found
Radcliff just opening the morning paper.
" Radcliff, sign this, please."
"What is it, a lightning rod note ?"
"No, it is no lightning rod note, it won't even cost
you a pound of sugar ; it's politics."
" All right, if you say it's right, I'll sign."
Away Seidel went, and had it affixed to his petition
from the business men. Then he wrote an editorial,
lauding Radcliff, and showing what a sacrifice that
gentleman was making to accept the office at this time,
and how he was willing to forego his own ease and his
own business, and devote himself to the burning ques-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 233
tions of the hour. He wrote until the foreman expos-
tulated.
" I might as well tell you that we have a baking
powder * ad.' on the editorial page, and if you put in
that long petition and long editorial it will fill the
whole thing. You had better stop."
So Seidel had to stop after having likened Radcliff to
Cincinnatus. He was going to call him the Lincoln of
his party.
He had spent the whole forenoon in thus manufac-
turing a patriot. Then he went over to the hotel to
dinner. The clerk informed him that Mr. Radcliff had
been there to see him.
" He has, has he ! If he comes in while I am eating,
send him up." Seidel had finished his soup and fish,
and was on his way down the bill of fare to coffee and
nuts, when Mr. Radcliff came in, looking all around
the room, as if he wanted some one very much indeed.
Seidel spied him, and sent the waiter over to tell him
to come to his table.
He did so, sat down, and then, in a low voice, Rad-
cliff whispered : "Where was you? I have hunted all
over to find you."
" I was engaged in a little business of importance.
What is the trouble?"
Radcliff dropped his voice again and said, "Did you
see the morning paper?"
"Yes, I saw it."
"Did you read that article about me?"
"Yes, I read it."
"Well, hadn't there ought to be something done
about it?"
Seidel enjoyed his confusion, and, at last, he said,
234 DOCTOR CAVALLO
" Oh, Radcliff ! and you told me that you had been a
member of the Board of Supervisors for five years and
knew all about politics. Why, my dear sir, a petition
has been prepared, duly signed by the leading men of
the party, asking you to run for Congress. You have
replied to it in burning words, stating that you would
much prefer the paths of private life, but that if it is
felt, that you can better serve the interests of your fel-
low-citizens in a public than in a private capacity, there
is no sacrifice too great for you to make, no burden too
heavy for you to bear. In short," said Seidel, "you are
willing to run and mighty glad of the chance, although
you don't say so. This glowing exordium is now in
type and will be printed in the morning."
"That's right. This is just what I was going to
suggest should be done," Radcliff replied. " Good
enough. I will order three papers to-morrow morning
and send them to some of my friends."
"Three papers," said Seidel, scornfully.
" I'll make it five."
A contemptuous reply came to Seidell lips, then he
checked himself. As by the terms of the contract, he
was forced to pay all the bills, what difference did it
make to him how many papers he ordered. Let him
quarrel with the newspaper men over that.
He resumed his meal, while Radcliff bored him with
a long account of how he was going to run the cam-
paign, what a high position he was going to take.
Seidel, wearied with his talk, ended it. " Radcliff,
do you want to know how to be elected ?"
11 Yes, I want all the information I can get."
" Well, then, remember Bismarck's maxim : ' The
party that makes the most promises carries the elec-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 235
tions.' Don't be afraid, but promise everybody every-
thing."
And with these words he arose from the table, and
motioning Radcliff to go before, walked out of the
dining-room. Once out, he bade his candidate good
day, leaving him staring after him.
Radcliff thought, " He's a smart fellow, if he does
put on a good many airs."
Seidel's reflections were : •* The double-dyed ass to
talk to me about what ought to be done. I'd like to
have him out in Colorado running on an independent
ticket. Would'nt the boys skin his pocket-book for
him? If they didn't," he added grimly, "they would
shoot his hat full of holes.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Once started on his career of manufacturing states-
men, Seidel found it easy sailing. There was very
little opposition, and of those, one he promised the
collectorship, another the postoffice. He gave one
man the patronage of his county, and induced another
to run for the state senate. In this way he finally
placated all the factions, so that when the convention
was called there was no opposition. To be sure, in
order to make the party harmonious, he had called
several of the caucuses in the lower wards in saloons,
and had selected delegates beforehand, voting them in,
and then, adjourning the caucus before any one knew
much what had been done. In other cases he had a
gang outside, and when the Committee on Credentials
met, they were empowered to fill all vacancies, so that
he had a large majority of delegates pledged to Rad-
cliff. It cost him a good deal to do this, but he felt
that this was his master-stroke, and he must make it a
success. He would not have cared so much if he had
not lostjso heavily on wheat, but he consoled himself
by saying, " after all it is not my money that I am
spending, it belongs to my creditors."
He did not dare trust himself to hear his candidate
respond to the call after he had been duly nominated,
but went into a side room. As he expected, Radcliff
DOCTOR CAVALLO 237
put his foot in it, telling his hearers, the first thing, that
he was proud to meet 4t the wealth, intelligence and
aristocracy of the district in convention assembled."
At which bull there went up a great shout and roar.
However, Radcliff then alluded to the fact that he had
been a member of the Board of Supervisors for many
years, and had served on the Bridge Committee, and
this was not so bad. Seidel at last got him down and
out to the nearest saloon, where he made him set the
beer up to the crowd.
Even then, Radcliff took him out one side, and told
him, in a burst of generosity, that he did not mind
spending money for a little beer on an occasion like
this, and he should not charge this up to him as an
item of expense.
This notification that Radcliff intended to hold him
up to the contract disgusted Seidel more and more, but
he was in for it, and must play his hand out, he thought.
41 1 am like the Spartan youth, I must return with my
shield, or upon it."
It was not Seidel's nature to do anything by halves,
and he threw himself into the work with a will. He
organized all the thugs into a club, and had them
parade through the city, calling them the bone
and sinew of the people. "The bone and sinew " sig-
nalized their advent into the respectable portion of the
town by getting drunk, and tearing down signs, smash-
ing window panes and doing like depredations. In their
parade, they tipped over all of the apple-stands, all of
the peanut roasters, and threw all the boxes on the line
of march into the streets. Then they howled, and
ended by insulting decent people, until the more
respectable citizens shut themselves up in their homes.
238 DOCTOR CAVALLO
The papers next day called the organization " Rad-
cliff's Lambs," and the Mayor called upon that worthy,
and told him that while he wanted to maintain strict
neutrality between the parties, if his * Lambs" made
any more such demonstrations, he would have the
whole lot run in. The next day they called upon
Seidel for instructions, and he told them that they were
a disgrace to the ticket, and that they must confine
themselves to their end of the city.
Seidel saw that he must have more money. He went
to the leading gamblers and sporting men, and told
them that they must come to the relief of the party.
This they were willing to do, if they could have some
guarantee that they would be allowed to run. He
tried to get it for them, and the result was that they
quarrelled among themselves, at last, the facts leaked
out, and the whole thing came down on Seidel's
head, in the shape of an expose by Herr Muller,
who raked Radcliff fore and aft, and that gentleman
came in hot haste to Seidel, and told him that he must
stop his work or the ticket would be ruined.
Seeing no way out of it, Seidel boldly staked his
last money on the throw. He organized clubs, he got
up political meetings, and he set out to have a hot
campaign. His party associates warned him not to go
too fast. "You have got no opposition as yet, they
said, what is the use of starting in so early?" but Seidel
wanted to show that he alone was running it, and that
if he made a vigorous fight now.it would frighten every
one off the track, and he would have a walk-away. He
said, "Every one else economizes money the first week
of the campaign, and the last week throws it away by
handfuls. Let us adopt the opposite policy."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 239
In pursuance of his plan, he organized, in every ward,
gangs of men, most of them lewd fellows of the baser
sort, who spent their time in saloons yelling for Rad-
cliff, and shouting that they were going to have a
liberal government.
They would get out and have torch-light processions,
and these were accompanied with much noise and
tumult, generally ending in a drunken fight. Radcliff
was delighted with this at first, particularly when it
cost him nothing, and as he heard his name on every
corner, he thought that he was making progress.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Seidel now began to see that the opposition were be-
ginning to get together, and the chances were that
they would select a man. Then he determined on a
master stroke. He sent men into every ward and pre-
cinct and attended the primaries of the other side, and
placed his men on the delegations wherever he could.
He secured, on. the day of the nomination, a majority
of the committee on organization, and he had all of his
men accepted as delegates. Then he cleverly sprung
on the convention the name of a new man who was
vouched for as a warm partizan. He was a lawyer in an
adjoining county. As no one knew much about him
he was nominated, and the convention adjourned. It
was two or three days afterwards before it was noised
around that the nominee was thoroughly disreputable,
far worse than Radcliff. This assured Radcliff's elec-
tion, and that gentleman, in his incautious zeal and
vanity, went about boasting of what Seidel had done.
Seidel heard of it, and, going down to Radcliff, gave
him a scoring for thus revealing the whole plan of
battle, and under cover ot what a bull he had made,
forced that gentleman to endorse his note for five
thousand dollars. He took this over to Radcliff's own
bank and induced them to discount it. When he had
done this he tucked the money away and took a great
breath. "This, at least, tides me over."
DOCTOR CWALLO 24 1
Then he added: "Now I am safe." The tide was
running in favor of Radcliff, for a quarrel had sprung
up among the men to whose party the old lawyer be-
longed, and everyone was charging the others with
being the tool of Seidel and of having sold out. In
the melee, Radcliff would run in without question, for
he was a much better man than his opponent. Seidel
chuckled, and rubbed his hands with glee. He called
on the Mayor and insisted in the name of the party on
the town "being run wide open," telling him that it
would make him popular with the business interests.
It did not take long for the intelligence to be noised
abroad that "everything went" in the city of P ,
and shortly afterwards an influx of confidence men,
thieves, gamblers, and every conceivable kind of para-
site flocked in. The nights began to be saturnalias,
and the days filled with drunken revelery. A wave
of crime swept over the city, burglaries became
common and assaults frequent, respectable citizens
were knocked down and robbed. Stores were broken
open, thefts became frequent, and a general cry arose
against the administration. By this time the danger-
ous classes had enormously increased. They were
powerful enough to compel Seidel to use his influence
with the Mayor and get some of them appointed on
the police, and then the thefts became more and more
frequent. The newly appointed men speedily inocu-
lated the whole force with their spirit, and if a thief
was willing to divide, they found a way of silencing all
complaints. If a man came to the city hall with a tale
of robbery, if he were a stranger, they locked him up
and kept him until he agreed to leave; if a resi-
dent, they told him that if he would keep still they
242 DOCTOR CAVALLO
would see if his property could not be restored. Then,
if he made continued inquiry, they would give him
part of it and keep the rest. In this way they stifled all
complaint, and the newspapers were told only of small
events, the little incidents, and the public did not learn
of the graver matters that were kept under cover.
Seidel acted as the go-between the parasites and the
police, and he was kept busy in arranging meetings, in
giving straw bail, and in making the thugs keep some-
where within bounds.
As he was making a profit out of the whole thing, it
was his interest to keep it up as long as possible, when
an incident occurred that produced an explosion.
Richard Holmes was an old gentleman, very benevo-
lent and public spirited. He had been down town one
afternoon and was returning home for supper. It was
hardly dark, when he was set upon by a couple of ruf-
fians, and in a public street, and within reach almost
of his own front door, he was knocked down, brutally
kicked and beaten, and his watch and pocket book
taken from him. A member of his family saw the
whole occurrence from the window of the house, gave
the alarm, and Mr. Holmes was carried into his home
nearly dead. This was an outrage that could not be
concealed, and the next morning the newspapers gave
full particulars. For several days Mr. Holmes wavered
between life and death, but he slowly rallied. The
police made vigorous efforts, apparently, to trace the
perpetrators of the dastardly outrage, and finally they
returned Mr. Holmes' watch, saying that it had been
sent back by mail, but the thugs who stole it had given
no clue to their whereabouts.
Then Herr Muller came to the front. He published
DOCTOR CAVALLO 243
an article in English in his paper, denouncing the
whole affair, its perpetrators and its originators.
He said that it was evident that to simply pursue the
wretches who had committed this crime, would amount
to but little, the work must begin far back of them.
This he distributed all over the city.
It created a tremendous sensation. Forseeing the
probable wreck of all his hopes, Seidel visited the
leading men of the party, and had a conference at
Radcliff's, in which each one withdrew his patronage
from Herr Muller, and served notice on him that they
would not patronize his paper, as long as he con-
tinued his course of maligning his own people. As
the protest was signed, it presented a pretty formidable
list, and Seidel chuckled to himself as he took it in,
laid it down on Herr Muller's desk and asked him to
look over it. He paid no attention to it, and Seidel
went away feeling contempt for Herr Muller, and the
quiet way in which he submitted to his dictation.
CHAPTER XL.
The next day he picked up Herr Muller's paper and
was amazed to find that the letter was published in full,
with every name attached, and that Muller had attacked
every man who had thus attempted to shield the ras-
cality of the administration and cover up the crime.
He told them that they were acting a part, and that
they fancied they were maintaining their allegiance to
their party, when they were the mere puppets of the
bold conspirator who stood behind them, and whose
name was Seidel, an adventurer, a scoundrel, a villain,
and a mere speculator in false securities and fictitious
mining shares. The article closed with an appeal for
every good citizen to meet in the hall that evening and
form an association to protect the good name of the
city against the present practices.
Herr Muller was not the man to hesitate. Having
picked up the gage of battle, he flooded the city with
handbills, in German and English, calling upon every-
one to come out to the meeting.
That night the hall was packed, Herr Muller took
the stand himself, and, after calling the meeting to
order, asked the assembly to nominate a chairman. He
was chosen to the position himself. He accepted it,
and in a speech of great power and force, he depicted
the evils under which the taxpayers were groaning, the
DOCTOR CAVALLO 245
awful state of the city, at the mercy of villains, with
gamblers dictating the policy of the administration,
and thieves on the police force dividing the plunder
with the thieves in the street. Other speakers followed,
and at the close, at the suggestion of one of the part-
ners of Mr. Holmes, a Civic Federation was formed,
and committees were appointed to procure signers.
The next day the city was in a fever of enthusiasm,
and signers to the Civic Federation poured in hot and
furious, a headquarters was rented, and the work begun.
The Women's Club was asked to assist, and promptly
the members met, and passed a resolution endorsing
the work of the federation, pledged themselves to
assist, and appointed a committee to join the feder-
ation in anything in which they could act, either singly
or as a club.
Seidel listened disdainfully to the accounts of the
meeting and to the fears of Radcliff. ll Now, don't
you be a fool,'' he said, " They have nominated no
one, and the time will soon be past when they can do
so. If you will simply lay low, and keep that mouth
of yours shut, you will be all right. You are liable to
go around, and suggest to these fools just what we
don't want them to do."
The Civic Federation thus formed, took hold of the
work of purification, but at every turn they felt the
malign hand of Seidel in opposition. If they preferred
charges against a policeman, they found that the case
was put off, or they were told that the witnesses could
not be had, or the policeman would be suspended.
Then they would find that he had been put on special
duty, so that his pay went on just the same, and he
really received more favors on account of the charges
246 DOCTOR CAVALLO
than he did before. It was felt that he was rewarded
for being made a martyr.
In this manner Seidel steadily neutralized the efforts
of the committee, and strove against the opposition.
CHAPTER XLI.
Dr. Cavallo watched the progress of the strife with a
good deal of interest. He saw the aim of the Feder-
ation, and he saw, too, that Seidel's plan would result
in success, for he was wearing out the other side. The
doctor attended a meeting of the Federation one night,
at which some of the ladies of the Women's Club were
present. The interest in the meeting was dying
out, and to emphasize it, a gang of hoodlums from the
Ham Heads came into the back part of the hall, and
began to create a disturbance. Several times Herr
Muller called them to order, but they were noisy and
disagreeable. At last he said, half humorously, " Where
are the members of the Young Men's Christian Asso-
ciation football team, they might rid us of this annoy-
ance ? " At this half a dozen young men, belonging
to the club, arose in the house, and, forming in line,
made a rush at the Ham Heads. There was a struggle,
a contest, but the rough elements were no match for
the muscular young students who composed the foot-
ball team. They speedily drove the roughs before
them out of the door, downstairs and into the street.
This done, they came back, and were received with
uproarious applause.
Herr Muller stated that something must be done to
keep alive the interest of the federation. For his part,
248 DOCTOR CAVALLO
he was willing to work, but he must see that his efforts
were sustained by the better element in the community.
He wanted them to feel that he was representing their
cause, not his own. He would like to hear from Dr.
Cavallo.
The doctor arose and said that while he was heartily
in favor of this movement, he could readily see where the
trouble was. They were fighting without any apparent
object. A tramp was once told that he could have a
dollar and a half if he would pound a log all day with
the head of his ax. He consented, but after an hour's
work he gave it up, saying that he'd be hanged if he
would chop without seeing the chips fly.
This was the trouble with the Civic Federation.
They were doing nothing. The American people want
action, not mere protests. If they wish to accomplish
results, they must do something. Now, what can
they do ? Why, it is well known that the whole aim
of the evil element that has been dominating the
city, is to elect Radcliff to Congress. The first thing that
must be done is to nominate a strongman against him.
When that is accomplished, the next thing is to take
hold of the city administration and purify that. He
followed in a glowing strain for united work, and for
action that promised deSnite results.
Herr Muller responded that the sentiments of the
doctor coincided with his own, and he would heartily
second his remarks, which he would do by nominating
Dr. Cavallo for the standard bearer in the coming
campaign.
This was received with applause, at the close of
which, Dr. Cavallo said that he was not a candidate for
the place, and under no circumstances would he accept.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 249
Herr Muller was the man for the fight, and on Herr
Muller the burden must fall.
Herr Muller replied that the reform movement really
dated from the time that the doctor had made his
speech against race prejudice in that very hall, at a
public meeting called to denounce him for his acts of
charity and mercy. That the key note of the cam-
paign would be along the lines that he had laid down.
It was a duty that Dr. Cavallo owed to the community
to make this fight, for unless he did it, the whole thing
would fall by the wayside.
The doctor positively refused, saying that his pro-
fession took up all of his time, and he could not give
it up. In this undecided manner the meeting was
about to break up, when the captain of the football
team arose and said, that, while he was a young man
and did not purpose to give advice to his elders, he
would like to suggest that they defer the discussion of
the theme until the next evening, and that they call a
mass meeting to consider it.
This was carried and the meeting adjourned. Just
as Dr. Cavallo was leaving the hall, a small boy put a
note into his hand. He took it back to his office and
saw that it was from Margaret. He opened it. There
was but one line in it. It was the words of Bailly, the
great French academician, on taking his seat as Presi-
dent of the first Assembly :
" A good citizen will neither seek, nor refuse, office."
CHAPTER XLII.
The next day, Dr. Cavallo tasted to the full, the
sweets of popularity. Every one, it seemed to him, of
note, called on him and urged him to accept the nomi-
nation, but still he hesitated. He knew the enormous
work that would devolve upon him, and what a load he
would have to sustain. He went over it again and
again and he did not see how he could accept it, and
every time, just as he had made up his mind to refuse,
Margaret's line came up in his mind: "A good citi-
zen will neither seek, nor refuse, office."
His professional career was very dear to him. He
was just getting where his reputation as a physician
was advancing with great strides. He was beginning
to be regarded as an authority. If he wished for
wealth, the time was not far distant, at the rate he was
progressing, when he could look forward to an enormous
practice. He would rather have his professional repu-
tation than all of the political honors in the world.
And he was now asked to abandon all of this, for
what? Why, to prevent a low adventurer, for so he
now classed Seidel, from running a respectable hum-
drum old grocer for Congress.
It looked to him as if the people ought not to ask
this sacrifice of him. If it had not been for Margaret's
note he would have laughed the proposition to scorn.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 25 1
As it was, he went to see Herr Muller, and to beg
him to take the burden off his shoulders.
u No," said Herr Muller, "you must accept the nom-
ination."
u You know that I carry weight in this contest, for I
am a Jew."
"Yes," said the other, "and it will bring up all the
mud against you, and if you were not a Jew, I would
not press this matter so hard, but now is your oppor-
tunity to vindicate your race and show them that the
Jew stands on as high a plane of earnest endeavor to
achieve good government as the best. He has suffered
under bad government too long not to earnestly desire
every reform possible."
He spent the afternoon hating the time when the even-
ing meeting should be called. Once he made up his mind
to stay away, and yet, he felt that if he should, his
motives would be misconstrued. He was miserable.
Here, he had settled plans for life and he was working
them out to his own satisfaction, when they were
changed, through no fault of his, and his whole future
as a professional man blasted by an unforseen and
unfortunate occurrence. Why could not the public let
him alone? Why did he make that unlucky speech
that evening? If he had had the remotest idea that his
words would have been turned on him he never would
have made it. But being out of politics, and never
having taken part in the turmoil and scramble of office
seeking, he had considered it as something remote, and
now it was thrust into his face.
In this mood of discontent and thorough disgust
with himself, he went to the hall and sat down in a
seat far back ; but he was seen and made to take a place on
252 DOCTOR CAVALLO
the stage. He tried to escape this, but his friends
would not allow him to refuse, and when the little
crowd of three or four were discovered slowly making
their way down to the front, for the hall was densely
packed, a shout went up that drowned all other noises.
It was a hearty welcome.
The chairman had already been chosen, and he was
making a long speech on the necessity of every honest
citizen standing up to the work of the Federation.
When he closed, Herr Muller said that it was well-
known why they had assembled. They had become
weary of fighting the enemy without ammunition.
Now they proposed to attack him in his stronghold,
and to do this they must have a man of purpose, a man
of convictions, to head the ticket. The confederation
had determined to put up a man for Congress who
would represent the ideas and purposes of the federa-
tion, that is, the demand for better government and for
reform in the admistration of it. There was but one
man who would answer the demand,- and this man was
Dr. Cavallo. The crowd roared its approval, and the
doctor arose to speak. When he got up he was more
inclined than ever to refuse. He was a brave man, but
the contest was not to his liking.
As he arose, the line of Margaret's note came to his
mind, and this still more depressed him.
CHAPTER XLIII.
He began listlessly, and, as he stopped for a moment
he saw back in the crowd, looking at him, with a sneer
on his face, the evil countenance of Seidel. while be-
side him sat Lurello Nagle, coldly malignant, a sar-
donic grin spread over his huge mouth.
The sight was like an electric shock. His spirits
rose within him. He felt the inspiration of a mighty
purpose stir within his breast. He had an exultant
sense of power. He continued, no longer listlessly, no
longer depressed, to sketch the evils under which the
city groaned. He delineated with masterly hand the at-
tempt to capture — first, the congressional seat, then
the members of the legislature, all of whom had been
selected by the arch-manipulator, as was well known.
He showed how, by the cohesive power of public plun-
der, all of the offices had been apportioned, in order to
continue the gang now in power. For these reasons he
said the Civic Federation has felt that it must attack
this abuse at the citadel, it must place itself in the field,
and it must put men in the ofrlces who will administer
their power for the people and in the interest of justice
and good government.
He was greeted with a whirlwind of applause. And
when he took his seat his eyes swept over the spot
where he had seen Seidel and Nagle. They were both
254 DOCTOR CAVALLO
gone. Then his glance rested on Margaret. She was
sitting in the gallery and she smiled upon him — a mes-
sage that sent the blood tingling through his veins.
Herr Muller stood up and said that it was manifest,
after that speech and the reception that Dr. Cavallo
had received, that he was the only man who could fill
the bill, and the position and duties which he had so
graphically mapped out. He asked the chairman to
put the question whether they should nominate Dr.
Cavallo on the reform ticket, and make him the can-
didate of the Civic Federation.
When the question was thus put, it was carried with
a whirlwind of applause. The chairman stated that,
in order to place his name properly before the peo-
ple, his petition would have to be signed by a cer-
tain per centage of voters. He told the secretary to
prepare a list and it would be placed on the table for
signatures after the meeting had adjourned.
It was proposed to adjourn and sign it then and
there, and this was carried. The whole audience
swarmed up to sign the petition and shake hands with
the doctor.
In this manner the evening wore away and the night
was far advanced when the tired out and weary doctor
sought his bed. His arm pained him and his head
ached.
Said he, " I half wish that old French academician
had kept his moral sentiments to himself. 1 '
CHAPTER XLIV,
Dr. Cavallo at once began to prepare for the battle.
He scanned the morning papers. The one that
Seidel controlled was almost silent. The editor had
not, apparently, had his instructions, he only briefly
outlined what had been done the night before, and
said, that if the Civic Federation put up a candi-
date, they must accept the fight forced upon them.
The other papers said little or nothing.
The Doctor felt that no time was to be lost. He
gathered the committee of the Civic Federation, and,
consulting with prominent citizens, all interested
in the cause of good government, he perfected the
remainder of the ticket, putting on good men, for
the time was too short to call a convention. They
made, in this way, an acceptable list of candidates, and
they took measures to have it filed with the proper
authorities, so that, under the Australian ballot law, it
would be printed.
He knew that they must now depend upon their
ability to educate the public to a sense of the necessity
for action and of cutting loose from old ties. The
American citizen hates to leave his old party. He will
talk as valorously as any reformer, but when the time
comes to vote, he is apt to feel like Bob Acres, that
his courage has oozed out at his finger ends, and that
256 DOCTOR CAVALLO
he ought to support the regular ticket. So, Dr.
Cavallo tried to impress upon his fellow-reformers the
fact that they must not only address themselves to the
better class of citizens, but they must show them that
only by joining their forces should they be able to
conquer.
Seidel was busy in his own peculiar way. He told
Radcliff, when that gentleman began to exhibit signs of
weakening, that he was a fool. " This whole movement
is confined to the city and in the upper wards. It has
not had time to get into the country, and it will not
before election. I tell you we are safe."
So Siedel contented himself with simply appealing
to the party spirit, showing, day after day, that any one
who joined the Civic Federation would put a blot
on his political future that would operate against his
ever getting preferment at the hands of the party.
This had an enormous influence with the young men,
and kept many from joining the Federation. Those
who did had the stock phrase of "Bolters" thrown at
them.
CHAPTER XLV.
Forseeing that if he were elected, he must make
known his candidacy to the whole people, Dr. Cavallo
mapped out a campaign, and turning over his practice
to a friend, he began his work throughout the district.
As soon as he was gone the Civic Federation lost all
interest in the matter. They seemed to think that they
had performed all that was required of them and that
the burden must be assumed by the doctor.
Seidel was quick to take advantage of this state of
affairs. He went on organizing his toughs and holding
processions and parades, in which the doctor's efforts
were ridiculed, and the transparencies loaded him
with epithets and contempt.
One morning he had his organ come out and de-
nounce the whole movement by which Dr. Cavallo was
nominated, as a Jew scheme, declared that he was noth-
ing but a Jew adventurer, and that this movement was
an effort to get another representative of the race into
Congress, so that they could call for the issuance of
more government bonds, and thus fasten their mone-
tary clutches on the nation. It was an article, crafty,
insinuating, bitter, and malicious, appealing to the low-
est instincts of the mob, and raising the Jew-baiting
spirit to the highest pitch.
It was followed that evening by a mass meeting of
9
258 DOCTOR CAVALLO
the friends of the city government. The meeting
was addressed by the best speakers on their side,
among whom was Dr. McHale. He did not scruple
to say that he regarded the action of the meeting that
nominated Cavallo, as the work of cranks who de-
sired to break up the grand party, that had, on so
many occasions, saved the Union, and made it possible
to have a government at all. As for asking him to
vote for a man who stood forth as a representative of
that accursed race, he could not and would not do it.
The pace, thus set by McHale, Peterson followed,
the flood tides of abuse were fairly lifted and the
denunciation was bitter and deep.. One speaker thought
that they ought to hang every man who voted the
Civic Federation ticket. It was only calculated to
stir up strife and wreck the party. Another suggested
that if they could string up the candidates it would be
all the better.
The crowd cheered lustily, and then going out on
the street they made a bonfire in which they burned
Cavallo in effigy. Then they attacked the store of a
poor Jew, who dealt in second-hand clothing, and
looted it, driving him and his family out into the street.
The police stood by and saw this outrage and did
not interfere.
Grown bolder by this victory, the crowd broke all
the windows in Cavallo's office with stones. They
made a rush for his door, but not succeeding in open-
ing it, they battered it with brick-bats.
They would have done more damage, but Timothy
Dodd, who had been to the meeting, came up on the
outskirts of the howling depredators and yelled, "Here
comes Dr. Cavallo, run for your loives!" and the mob
scattered and fled, for it is always cowardly.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 259
Gathering force, they drifted down to the next street
and broke the plate glass windows of Weiner Bros.
This firm had always been afraid of being called Jews,
and they were the first to suffer when the outbreak
came.
The mob looted everything that was in the show
windows, and decking themselved with neckties,
passed on, yelling and throwing stones through the
windows of every one whom they suspected of belong-
ing to the Civic Federation.
The Jew-baiting spirit was aroused in all its frenzy,
and encouraged by the apathy of the police, they
turned their attention to anything that came to hand.
They broke into a saloon and drank up all the
stock of liquor that the fellow had on hand. This
fired them to madness. They raged up and down, and
bombarded Joseph Levinsky's building.
He had put a caricature of Dr. Cavallo in his win-
dow and had a huge stuffed figure representing the
Civic Federation as an old woman feeding the doctor
with a spoon. The mob surged up against this, and
yelling "Jew, Jew," fusilladed it with bricks, smashing
in the windows. Then they stole the figure of the
woman, and mounting it on a cart, ran it up and
down the streets, while others, drunk with fury, went
into the interior of the store, pulling down piles of
clothing and throwing them into the street. The Ham
Head gang had good overcoats that season for the
first and last time in their lives.
They finally set fire to the stock. This brought out
the fire department, and the Mayor, thinking that mat-
ters had gone too far, ordered a double cordon of
police around the place, and told the fire department
to play on the crowd.
260 DOCTOR CAVALLO
This dispersed them from that spot, but they went
off and began to loot more of the saloons. The
mob of thieves, already dangerously large in the city,
took advantage of this and began to plunder private
houses. Not content with this, they set on fire two or
three barns, and the sound of the fire engines at work,
the quick alarms following after each other, aroused the
whole population, and numbers of the citizens came
down town to see what was the matter. They found the
city in the hands of a drunken mob, who were beginning
to destroy property right and left. All order was lost,
and all authority. In this emergency, the colonel of
the regiment offered his assistance to the Mayor, and
the sheriff, a determined man, swore in all of the mem-
bers of the military company who were within reach,
as deputies. These protected the center of the city,
but the rioting spread to the outskirts, and the result
was such a night of terror as the city had never seen.
The next day, the city papers affected to make light
of the occurrences as the work of boys, but the metro-
politan sheets took up the matter and gave a full
account of the outrages, denouncing the Mayor and the
authorities, and telling them they ought to have known
that the outbreak was the result of their own coward-
ice; that to stir up the angry passions of the mob in
any one direction is to imperil the very foundations
of society.
Herr Muller was the only city editor who arose to a
full appreciation of the situation. He denounced the
gathering as a mob, and told the authorities that they
had aroused a spirit that would recoil on themselves.
That when they permitted defenceless citizens to be at-
tacked they were a disgrace to civilization. He called
DOCTOR CAVALLO 26 1
on the Civic Federation to take prompt action in the
matter.
That body came together at once. The disturbance
of the night before opened their eyes. They made
complaints against the ring-leaders, and issuing war-
rants for rioting, had them lodged in jail. The offense
was so flagrant that Seidel did not dare bail them out,
and he had to wait and see what further action would
be taken.
Dr. Cavallo, on his return from the country, called
upon Mrs. Bernheim, and laying the condition of affairs
before that lady, begged her to give the weight of her
influence to the cause and show her sympathy for good
government.
She listened, and at first refused. She was not in
politics. He told her that the disorderly element now
had full control and that unless something was done to
hold up the hands of the better element, the Civic
Federation would abandon the fight in disgust.
The lady hesitated.
Then she said, "If you think it is necessary I will
take hold of the work."
She was as good as her word. That night she called
the Executive Committee of the Women's Club at her
house. She told them what she thought they ought to
do in this great emergency. She outlined the work
and asked them whether, in the great fight that was
now pending, there was any higher duty than that of
insisting upon good government?
Before the Executive Committee of the Women's
Club adjourned that night, they called a meeting
of the entire members of the organization at their hall
the next day.
When they met, each woman was appointed to a
262 DOCTOR CAVALLO
certain duty. The entire city was districted, and each
member was held responsible for one section consisting
of so many blocks. It was her duty to go into her sec-
tion, canvass the houses, see that the women were
visited, and the right arguments put in their mouths ;
to find out how their brothers and husbands voted, and
to leave them such printed matter as was requisite.
Mrs. Nagle was, with grim humor, appointed to that
part of the city that embraced the Bernheim flats.
She colored to the eyes when this section was assigned
to her, for she felt that her efforts were known, and
that she was thus shelved.
The next morning the ladies of the Women's Club
were early in the field, and the citizens began to see
that something was being done. The members put
down the cry of the Seidel gang by telling the citizens
that Jew-baiting will end in Irish-baiting, in German-
baiting, in class distinctions. The colored population
were reminded that it was not very long before, that
Negro-baiting was a very popular pursuit, and that
when the cry of class distinction is raised, the weaker
always suffers most, but that the flame soon extends to
others, until it ends in lawlessness.
In this way the citizens' movement gained an enor-
mous increase in popularity. The Executive Commit-
tee of the Women's Club sent out through the coun-
try and organized Women's Clubs in the Congres-
sional district. The more the disgraceful occurrences
of the night of rioting became known, the more it hurt
Seidel's cause. Radcliff was waited on by a body of
the prominent citizens, and told that if he did not stop
dragging in these racial questions and sneering at the
doctor because he was a Jew, they would bring up his
DOCTOR CAVALLO 263
record against him. This was a threat he well under-
stood, for during the war he had been a Knight of the
Golden Circle, and he was very sensitive in regard to
matters during that period.
CHAPTER XLVI.
The gang that controlled the city administration
continued to yell "Jew! Jew!" until this cry became
the signal for the gathering of the worst classes, and
at last, in self-defence, the police were obliged to
charge the mob whenever they heard it, for it was
almost always followed by outrages against persons or
property, and, once started, the mob never asked ques-
tions as to whom they should rob.
Radcliff found that he was losing ground, and he
had another quarrel with Seidel, telling him that he
was a fool to start this cry in the first place.
Dr. Cavallo stumped the district. He had thrown
himself into the cause, and had spoken in every school
house. Everywhere his noble and commanding figure,
his recital of the causes that had forced him to take
the position, his eloquence, his knowledge and his
great professional reputation won him audiences, and
his sympathetic manner and the readiness with which
he responded to all questions, explaining what the
Civic Federation meant, and that the history of the
world has shown that the evils of city politics has
sapped the life of all republics, won him the hearts of
the rural voters. The farmers gathered to his side,
and at every meeting it was declared, Dr. Cavallo can
make more votes in one speech than others can in ten
years of argument.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 265
He always avowed that he was a Jew, made no
evasion, showed them that the true Jew stands for the
highest patriotism and the purest government, and that
he was fighting not his own battle, but theirs.
Seidel read the accounts in the papers that came into
his party's headquarters, and inwardly cursed him.
Radcliff was hot one moment and cool the next. He
wanted Seidel to pay him back the five thousand dol-
lars, and he was in a fever lest he should lose it. He
smote the desk in his office. " Talk about Jew tricks,"
he snarled, "the trick by which that fellow got me to
run, and then to endorse his note for five thousand dol-
lars, is worse than any Jew trick that I ever heard of."
And he felt that he was a fool to have been duped.
Nevertheless, Seidel was by no means discouraged.
"The opposition," he said to his followers, "consists
of a lot of old women, who make a great fuss, cackling,
but they can't vote. They don't amount to anything,
and the whole Civic Federation lives in one centre
ward. They can carry that, and then they are done.
Let them take it, we will sweep the city."
As the time for the election drew near, he sent into
the district all the money that he could raise, and
distributed it in the small towns. There is always a
purchasable element in these places, and with these he
kept in touch. He knew every committeeman, and he
toiled night and day getting figures and putting them
down in parallel columns. He announced the night
before to his associates, " We've got 'em. I do not
believe that they will carry a ward in this city, and if
the farmers stand firm, we shall get our man in. I
don't believe that Cavallo has made any headway, and
as for the Civic Federation, they are a lot of old
266 DOCTOR CAVALLO
women. I can figure it out that we shall win by a
neck." And he believed it. He went home and to
bed, leaving his followers to hold a grand rally in the
hall, and grand rally it was. They had all the speak-
ers on their side, and among them was Congressman
Jagsby, who had dropped in from a Chicago district to
help them out. Jagsby was what is known in political
circles as a " Tarrier ;" that is, he was one of a gang
who ran the party for what there was in it. He began
with a volley of abuse, directed against everything and
everybody ; he abused the Civic Federation, who
wanted to run the country like a prayer-meeting. He
abused Cavallo. He attempted to abuse Mrs. Bern-
heim, but the moment he alluded to her, he was met by
such a storm of hisses and cries of " Put him out,"
that he had to stop. For Pat CTHara was in the crowd,
and he got up on a chair. " That lady," he said " hez
been a mother to me, an' ye're a dom liar."
This produced a roar of laughter. As the audience
thought of Mrs. Bernheim in the full flush of power
and beauty, being claimed by a middle aged, bald
headed Irishman as his mother, they roared again.
Then they insisted upon Pat's getting on the stage
and making a speech. Then they carried him up,
crowding Congressman Jagsby into a corner, and yell-
ing. Pat waved his hands aloft and tried to make
them hear, but his voice was lost. Every hoodlum in
the city seemed to be present, and while they were
wildly tumultous, they were good natured. Pat man-
aged to get his voice heard. They mounted him on
a table and he cleared his throat and began :
"Byes. Byes. Any mon that brings the name of a
respictible lady into a place loike this, wid the intintion
DOCTOR CAVALLO 267
of bemaning her, is a blackguayrd. Now, I put to yez
that we want to be frindly and law abidin', and I mov
ye, sorr," addressing the chairman, u that in order to
show that there's no harrd feelin' on this occasion, and
I'm shure I put it to the ignorance of the distinguished
guest that he fell into this mistake, I mov ye, sorr,
that Mr. Radcliff sets 'em up."
Then there was a yell, and everybody inundated the
platform, and Mr. Radcliff was born on the shoulders
of his enthusiastic followers down to the nearest
saloon, where the party kept him busy in paying for
the beer. He only said, in a deep tone of disgust,
"Stop 'em when they are at the end of the tenth keg.
I'll pay for no more."
In the hall the distinguished Congressman began
looking for his hat.
"You made a mistake," remarked the chairman, " in
attacking Mrs. Bernheim."
41 Oh, well," returned the chop fallen orator, "you
couldn't have kept that crowd here with a stump
machine. They didn't want a speech. They wanted
free beer. 1 '
And with this philosophic declaration, they went
away, and the hall was locked.
CHAPTER XLVII.
The nomination of Dr. Cavallo made old Abbott
furious. He had suffered such defeat at the doctor's
hands, that the very mention of the name " Cavallo"
aroused all the hatred in his nature, and when the nom-
ination was announced, he vindictively opposed the
whole movement. He had influence enough with Dr.
McHale to force that divine into taking a more out-
spoken position against the Civic Federation than he
otherwise would have done.
McHale was slow, ponderous, lethargetic He did
not like to exert himself. He had a wealthy congre-
gation, although it was small in number, and to them
he preached very acceptable sermons, for he filled
them with doctrinal points, and regularly threshed over
the old straw of the final perseverance of the saints, of
the elect, the redemption of man, and the problem of
original sin. Anything that was new was, to the
Doctor, an object to be avoided. He prided himself
on the fact that he was conservative, and that he took
no stock in evolution and Darwinism, did not believe
n "fads," or "isms," or " new lights. 1 ' Not until a
tenet was so old that it had become musty, did it pos-
sess attractions for Dr. McHale.
Abbott was visited by Seidel, who urged him to take
a prominent part in the canvass, and he committed
DOCTOR CAVALLO 269
the old man into signing all the requests for meetings,
and all the protests against Cavallo with which the
papers were rilled. When Seidel ventured a step fur-
ther, and tried to get a contribution of money for the
expenses of the campaign, the avarice of Abbott was
at once aroused, and he refused, saying, that he would
work in his own way. This consisted in going around
to such people as owed him rent, and would not or
could not pay, and offering to give them a clear receipt
for the money, if they would work against Cavallo.
He was active in this matter, and his unrelenting hate
induced him to spend the most of his time in button-
holing people, and urging them to take a stand against
the Civic Federation and the Women's Club.
He urged McHale to preach a sermon on the matter,
and the Sunday before election, McHale announced
that he would give his views on the crisis that was now
impending. It cost him a great deal of effort to do
this. He had always taken his stand against sensation-
alism in the pulpit, not because he cared a straw about
the matter, but because, to preach on a live topic, cost
him some effort to write out his ideas in a new
track, while the old subjects took no thought whatever.
The Sabbath came and the church was pretty well
packed. McHale affected the patriarchial style. His
chokers were always immaculate in their whiteness.
His coat fitted without any creases. His mutton chop
whiskers were the only compromise that he admitted
with the world, and he only wore these because he
thought they gave him a greater air of dignity. He
announced as his text the words of St. Paul to the Cor-
inthians, 1st, 14th -34th: u Let your women keep silence
in the churches , for it is not permitted unto them to speak
2^0 DOCTOR CAVALLO
but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith
the law!'
He said, "Ordinarily, I do not believe in degrading
the sacred desk by noticing the events that come and
go over our heads. These are of the earth, earthy;
while the pulpit should deal with heavenly things alone.
But there are times when personal considerations must
give way to the public good. We see now a wave of
irreligious thought sweeping over this community, and
it becomes every man to do his utmost to stop it. We
see that the bulwarks of society have been torn down
and a Jew has been nominated for the highest office
in the gift of the people of this district. As if to make
this nomination more farcical and indecent, woman
have been induced to enter the lists and to disgrace
her character by mingling in the filthy pool of politics.
In this emergency we should heed the words of the
great apostle : ■ Let your women keep silence in the
churches!
"The apostle was divinely inspired, and his words
come as a command to woman of the present day no less
than when he uttered them. Far be it from me to de-
tract from the work which woman should undertake.
The Bible is filled with accounts of the Dorcases, and
the Marys and Marthas. But where are they to be
found ? Invariably at the feet of some good man,
drinking in his words, receiving instruction from his
lips, ministering to him. This is the function of wo-
man. Not the equal of man, not side by side with him,
but his helpmeet, leaning on him, depending on him,
finding in him her guide and instructor and director.
If there be anything in the New Testament that appeals
strongest to our reason, it is that woman in the time of
DOCTOR CAVALLO 2JI
the apostles was under the direction of man, and was
set to do those things in the churches which man did
not wish to do himself. If St. Paul had had the "New
Woman" in his mind, he could not have been more
emphatic in his remarks : * Let your women keep silence
in the churches'
u Fancy the apostle in these days seeing the modern
woman riding a bicycle ; wearing bloomers ; manag-
ing elections ; driving tandem ; traveling about alone
and unaided ; making stump speeches ; haranguing po-
litical meetings ; running for office ; getting on boards
organized for political purposes ; wearing tailor-made
clothes ; aping the cravats, the collars, the cuffs, the
very shoes of her brothers, and being in all respects as
like a man as she can. Is it not high time that the
churches speak out and insist that the words of St.
Paul are obligatory, and come as a Divine command.
' Let your women keep silence in the churches!
"The true function of woman is to sanctify home.
There she is the acknowledged queen. There she
spends her time in those household duties, which, if
neglected, drive men away to seek companionship and
solace in the club and in the saloon. No man, I ven-
ture to say, ever yielded to the demon drink, whose
wife made home pleasant. No woman would lose the
affections of her spouse, if she daily knelt in prayer,
asking that she might be made worthy to share his for-
tunes, and seeking Divine light to fit her for the high
position of wifehood. Men must have the restraining
influences of home to keep them from the temptations
that assail them, and how can they have this when the
wife and mother is away at the club, or is absent at the
political meeting ? What right has a woman to under-
2^2 DOCTOR CAVALLO
take these grave matters, when, probably at the very
time she does it, her children are roaming the streets,
or are crying at home for lack of that care and consid-
eration which they have lost, and she alone can give.
' Let your women keep silence in the churches'
a If anywhere, they might be expected to be allowed
to speak in the churches. The active management of
many of the charities were committed to ihem. The
records of the early church show that to the deacon-
esses were entrusted many things, but the apostle,
knowing their weaknesses, would not even allow them
to speak in the churches, and if not in the church, cer-
tainly he would not sanction their speaking anywhere
else. Our Lord and Saviour, knowing the weakness of
women, and seeing that the curse has been wrought
upon man through her garrulity and evil speaking in
the Garden, uttered through the lips of his servant,
Paul, this sweeping prohibition against their being al-
lowed to speak anywhere. * Let your women keep silence
in the churches?
" Listen to the divine command, O woman, and do not
seek to do that which is unseemly. What a disgrace it
is to the city to see a Woman's Club, regularly organized,
and standing up like a reproach and menace to the
home, on one of our public streets ? Here the mem-
bers meet and cackle ; here they assemble, and, leaving
their domestic duties unattended, discuss what, — why,
"Politics," " Government," "Political Economy;"
and they even have now, in this very city, mapped out
the town, divided it into districts, and have appointed
certain women to canvass certain houses, all to put a
Jew in office, and to degrade and destroy the very sanc-
tuary of our institutions !
DOCTOR CAVALLO 273
14 If woman wishes a club, let her find it in the church.
If she desires to extend her field, let her beek it in mis-
sionary work, where her labors will be supervised by
her husband and by the worthy elders of the church,
who will see that her endeavors are directed in the
proper channel and her zeal towards proper objects.
Here is an institution founded by Christ himself, and
instituted by him, wherein woman can find her highest
mission and her most enduring monument. Why did
our Saviour rebuke Martha ? Because Mary was sit-
ting at his feet, in the humble attitude of attention,
drinking in his words. Why did he rebuke the apostles
for complaining of the woman with the box of oint-
ment ? Because she was annointing his feet, and wiping
them with the hairs of her head.
" Oh, ■ woman keep silence in the churches! and listen to
the voice of Jesus himself. It is He who commands
you to remain humble, and to cast aside this false
philosophy, and to show you that you possess modesty,
which you shall wear as a crown, and humility, which
shall become to you as a diadem. It is your duty to
bear your burdens with meekness and patience, suffer-
ing all things, believing all things, enduring all things. A
good woman is to her husband as a crown of righteous-
ness. And what is it to be a good woman ? It is to
win the love of a good man, to share his troubles and
his joys, to cool his fevered brow when racked with
pain, to minister unto him. Not to go shrieking around
the streets, marching in political processions; not in
getting up resolutions and in organizing ward commit-
tees. I am a minister of God, and I must proclaim his
truth. I see among you some who curl the lip in dis-
sent, and who are ready to deny my proposition. Let
274 DOCTOR CAVALLO
me again call your attention to the words of St. Paul :
4 Let your women keep silence in the churches!
"Man is the oak, woman is the vine. Can the vine
stand upright ? No, if it attempts it, it is soon trailed
in the dirt, but when supported by the oak, how it
spreads abroad. How it adorns the landscape ; how
it breathes sweetness and balm, and affords the richest
fruit for the enjoyment and delectation of man.
" So it is with woman. Left to herself, she makes
shipwreck. She loses all the sweet and womanly
graces. She grovels in the dust. Every new fad she
takes up. She adorns herself in the garments of men,
and, mounting her ' wheel,' she becomes an object of
gossip and unfavorable comment. She is a thing of
laughter, sneers and jeers. But united to a Christian
man, she is the light of home, the glory of the house-
hold, the mainstay of the church. It is not by allow-
ing her to talk that her supreme excellencies are shown,
1 Let your women keep silence in the churches!
" Garrulity has ever been her curse. She needs the
strong and repressive hand of man to keep her in
check. Left to herself, her imagination runs riot. Her
affections, unrestrained, overflow their natural channel,
and she is like a fertile meadow, which, desolated by
the unchecked waters, becomes a dismal swamp. But
when the hand of man restrains these forces and con-
fines them within their proper limits, they irrigate
without flooding the land, and the fertile acres blossom
in God's glorious sunshine, and bear a luxurious harvest.
1 Let your women keep silence in the churches!
"Another thing, politics is too foul for women
to meddle with. Our needs must be wrought out
by the strong hand of man, and lovely and beauti-
DOCTOR CAVALLO 2^5
ful women are too pure to be subjected to the contamin-
ating influences of our system of government. How
would any of my hearers like to have their wife, or
their daughter, or sister, attend one of the caucuses in
some of our wards, where the meeting is held in a
saloon ? Where the voter has to pick his way through
a crowd of smoking loafers ; where the ribald jest and
the obscene joke is handed around from one to another,
and where the conversation is so liberally punctured
with oaths, as to be unfit even to be repeated any-
where, much less in a place and on an occasion like
this. I speak that which I do know, when I say that
I would rather consign a daughter of mine to an open
grave, than to see her drag the glory of her sweet
womanhood into such scenes of vice and filth as I have
witnessed, when I have been forced by the exigencies
of politics to visit, when I desired to assist in the
purification of some foul ulcer in the body politic.
And if this was revolting to me, what would it be to
a sweet and pure woman, from whom all indelicate
things are sedulously excluded, but who would be thus
brought face to face with them.
" No, my hearers, when the apostle uttered the words,
'Let your women keep silence hi the churches' 1 he was
divinely inspired. He saw with prophetic vision what
danger would menace the Church of Christ in these latter
days, and he determined to set up, as a warning, the
words which would forever serve in the minds of the
truly pious to protect the sanctity of church and home.
" I may not suit everyone in this vast audience, I may
seem to be uttering that which is stale, and to the newer
blood here, it may smack of old fogyism, but when I
see before me the evils that are impending, when I see
276 DOCTOR CAVALLO
what the New Woman has brought, and is still likely to
bring, when I see divorce become more frequent, the
authority of the husband set at naught, woman's work
neglected and turned over to menials, I feel that as
a minister of Christ, I must lift up my voice in an
effort to stem the tide and turn back this wave that is
sweeping over us. ' Let your women keep silence in the
churches'
" If the words of the apostle in this particular are
scorned, what credence can we place upon the rest of
his utterance? If he is false in one thing he must be
false in everything. The bars thus let down, we are
face to face with infidelity in its worst form. It there-
fore becomes us to see that no jot or tittle of the divine
commands is treated with disrespect, and we ought
to insist that the command, ' Let your women keep silence
in the churches? shall extend to all classes of society
and to all ranks. It plainly shows that in the apostle's
mind, woman occupies a subordinate position, and she
should never be allowed to leave it. Nor is this the
only text conferring this power upon man ; ■ Wives,
obey your husbands in the Lord \ for this is right? only em-
phasizes what I have already said. Away then with
women's clubs. Away with their work in politics. I
hope that on election day, every one of this congrega-
tion will show at the polls that he dissents from the
heresy of the 'New Woman,' and is willing to go on
record as a believer in the word of God and a follower
of the apostolic teaching."
The reverend gentleman took his seat, and the con-
gregation was dismissed. As the assembly slowly
passed out of the church they began to exchange views,
and opinion was divided.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 2JJ
Mr. Lawrence said : " Dr. McHale has laid down the
law pretty strongly, but I think if the apostle were on
earth to-day, he would modify his views.'"
Bob, to whom this remark was addressed, for they
were walking home, laughed, and replied : M Father,
look out, you are getting liberal. The idea," he added,
" is this : woman, and the relations she sustains to
to society, is no more exempt from the law of evolution
than is anything else. The Greeks considered that
woman was only worthy of occupying a subordinate
position, and St. Paul, who had lived a good deal among
the Greeks, imbibed some of these notions, not only on
this point, but on a good many others. The church to-
day can't follow in his lead, for people won't have it."
"Still, St. Paul was undoubtedly inspired," insisted
Mr. Lawrence.
M He might have been for that day and generation,
but not for this. There are a great many things in the
Bible that were true then that are not now. For in-
stance, how foolish it would be now to take precautions
against putting new wine into old bottles. It was a
good idea then, when the bottles were made of goat
skins, but not true to-day when they are made of glass.
I think that if St. Paul were living to-day, Mrs. Bern-
heim could give him a point or two about keeping
silent, that would wake the old apostle up and put new
ideas into his head. Look how she is running this
campaign ! "
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Timothy Dodd was profoundly happy. He went
into politics, and at once organized a company of em-'
bryo statesmen, and spent the greater part of his time
drilling them. When the doctor went on his campaign,
Timothy was left behind to keep the office. He began
by locking it up, and getting his legion into working
order. When he turned out at night with his squad,
arrayed in waterproof caps, swinging Chinese lanterns
and carrying canes, the summit of his ambition was
reached. He was chiefly anxious that they should pre-
sent a military appearance.
"Thrid up, theyre," he would cry; sthick out yer
chists, an' luk loike min." He emphasized this by
strutting up and down before his array, and exhorting
them to remember that in the next war they would have
a chance to go the front.
" Luk at the Ham Heads," he harangued his force,
14 Luk at thim. Ivery wan ov thim luks loike a thramp
from Thrampville. The position ov an intilligint
American citizen is to hould up his hid, an' expriss that
confidence in himself that his rayson shows him to be
gilty ov."
Timothy did not confine himself to his own party.
He went everywhere, and among his other acts, was to
get into the lower parts of the city, and attend one of
the ward meetings arranged by Seidel.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 279
There was a monstrous blow-out to take place in the
Ninth Ward, so he went down early to have a hand
in it.
The headquarters were in a saloon. The rear end
had been cleared, so that there was nothing in it
but a bar and a few chairs, leaving a clear place in
front, where the crowd gathered. The regulars drifted
in early, and began to clamor for a treat. Soon
Seidel came in, and was set upon for drinks. He
graciously shook hands all around, greeting the old
rounders as "Tom" and u Bill," and affecting that
easy air of jocular familiarity which your politician
assumes, being particularly effusive just before election.
It was evident that the crowd expected something,
but it was not until Seidel opened out with a whole bar-
rel of beer, ordering it set up on the counter and tapped,
where all could see it, that the enthusiasm became
wildly hilarious. Then the pent-up noise of the crowd
broke forth, and between swarming up for a free drink
and cheering for Seidel, the scene soon became a Babel
of riot, a wild Bacchanalian confusion. The atmosphere
was thick and heavy, everyone was smoking and talk-
ing and drinking and cheering. The uproar moment-
arily increased, while the saloon-keeper, a huge type of
his class, dropped his usual air of sullen domination, and
put on, for the occasion and in honor of his patron, the
manners of a condescending and pleasant host.
This was not lost sight of by his customers, some of
whom even strove to be familiar with him.
" Whar's yer free lunch, Bill?" said one of them,
affecting terms of friendship,
" Free lunch, nothin'. It's free beer ye'll have to-
night, I'm thinkin'. Ye better hurry up and git yer
280 DOCTOR CAVALLO
share, for when this keg's gone I don't know who'll
tap the next un !"
" Here's the silver mine fer to-night," returned a red-
nosed loafer, affectionately patting Seidel on the back.
«' And say, it ain't his leg we're pullin' neither. We've
got old Radcliff by the jowl, this heat, sure."
"That ain't no way to talk about the head of the
ticket. The more beer ye git into ye, the more disre-
spectful ye air," said the saloonkeeper, with a scowl.
" It's little enough that ye might be givin' him a title.
What's the matter of puttin' a ' Mister ' to his name? "
" Huh," was the response. " I've knowed Radcliff
ever sence he carne to this town. Why, he an' I've
made many a bar'l together, side by side. D'y'e
s'pose that I'm goin' to ' Mister ' Bill Radcliff? Not
on yer life ef I knows it. I'll vote for him out of old
acquaintance sake, but I don't allow to git on my knees
to him, not by a long shot."
The conversation drifted into a string of reminis-
cences. The speaker was one of that class denomi-
nated "old citizens," chiefly remarkable for remember-
ing so many things that have never happened. He
gave to the few that would listen to him, a long story
of how he and Radcliff had come to the city together,
and had worked in the same cooper shop and had
"churned" all one winter. Radcliff had saved his
money and started a grocery store, while he had spent
his, and was now drifting around, a poor wreck. Every
city has a large supply of the " old citizens," and they
always come out strong on occasions.
Seidel was in his glory. He enjoyed a thing of this
kind. He drank with ward workers here and there,
and found out the fellows whom he would have to buy,
DOCTOR CAVALLO 28 1
the men who worked, and the men who simply worked
the candidates. There is a large class of what are
called "heelers," who are always on hand at elections,
pretending to work for this, or that, candidate. What
they really do is, to get as much money out of them
as possible, and give no service for it. Seidel was
sifting out these classes, finding out whom he could de-
pend upon, and who would be likely to take his money
and spend it for whisky without rendering any service
in return. The beer disappeared before he had finished
this part of his labors, and as it was hardly time to
call for speaking, he had the saloon keeper tap an-
other keg, and still another, for the place was now
packed as full as it could hold, and it was with the
greatest difficulty that he could move in and out. He
gathered the heads of the wards, the men who manage
the politics of the place, into a corner, and began to
plan. The matter having been arranged to his liking,
apparently, he saw that he must begin with his verbal
artillery.
It was his policy to commit the young men of his party
to his side, and so he had detailed a number of them
to make speeches at this meeting. He now set the
pace by telling his friends to call for Hawkins — a
young man who had just received his license to prac-
tice law. He was new at the business of making
speeches, so he declined, but the crowd would not
take " No," and they set him on the bar-counter and
told him to go on.
The air was stiffling, the room was clouded with
smoke, and the crowd was half inebriated. He cleared
his throat with a mighty effort, and began :
"Mr. Chairman, Fellow Citizens and Gentlemen of
282 DOCTOR CAVALLO
the Ninth ward. It gives me pleasure this evening to
come among you, and to see you gentlemen, and to
welcome you in the name of the grand old party, to
which we all belong."
"That's right," said the old citizen by way of en-
couragement. " Go ahead. 1 '
"I feel on this occasion, Mr. Chairman, like one who
knows that he is here representing this grand old party,
to which we all belong, fellow citizens and gentlemen."
"Hoorray," cheered a bystander, "go it, giv't 'tern."
"We have come here to honor, and to stand by, that
grand old party, to which we all belong, Mr. Chair-
man, which we may say belongs to us, Mr. Chairman.
We desire to save this country, Mr. Chairman, and
how can it be done, Mr. Chairman, fellow citizens and
gentlemen ? Is it to be done, Mr. Chairman, in any
other way, Mr. Chairman, fellow citizens and gentle-
men, than by following the leadership, and putting in
office men who belong to that grand old party, to
which, Mr. Chairman, we both belong, Mr. Chairman,
fellow citizens and gentlemen? M
"Hooray" yelled the ward heeler. "Set 'em up,
Hawkins, set 'em up. I'm that dhry, me troat is
cracked."
A rush was made on the bar, and in the crowd
some one seized the orator by both legs and bore
him over the heads of his auditors, until he was
deposited, his clothes torn and soiled, and his hat
smashed, at the feet of Seidel.
He looked that gentleman in the face and gasped,
"And this is politics, is it?"
"This is Ninth ward politics," returned Seidel, good
naturedly.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 283
" Say, 1 ' asked the other, '• I made a fool of 'myself,
did'nt I?"
"Oh, no," Seidel replied, "you did first rate. You've
got to get used to it. Get Mudd up and hear him.'"
Mudd was also a young attorney, who had quite a
reputation for windy eloquence. He was summarily
seized and deposited on the counter, while the crowd
yelled with delight. Mudd was an old hand at these
affairs, and was'nt abashed. He put both hands in his
pockets, and standing up straight, put on an air of
consequential importance. "Saay, you all know me,
and you expect that I'm going to make a speech. Now,
saay, you can't give me no razzle dazzle like ye did
Hawkins. No? Well, I don't think you will! Now,
you don't want no speech here to-night. (Cries of "yes
we do. 1 ') I say No! What you want is free beer, and
as long as Radcliff's treat holds out, there won't be no
chance for eloquence, you tumble do ye?" At this,
the crowd yelled its approval.
" Now, what we want you fellows to do down in the
Ninth, is to come up and vote next Tuesday. You
remember the old adage, 'Vote early 'n ofn.' What
counts in this world is votes. Saay, d'y want the
wimmin to run this city and district? D'ye want that,
hey? (Yells of dissent.) Well, if ye don't want that,
get up and hustle. It's all right to drink a little beer
now and then. I drink it myself; but you must go and
dig. D'ye understand that? D-I-G; with a big bear-
ing down hard on the ' G'! This meetin' aint for fun.
It's for work. Every man of ye ought to go out and
be a missionary. Not them long-faced, sanctimonious
missionaries, that preach to the heathen, but a missionary
that goes out and takes his naybur by the ear and gits
284 DOCTOR CAVALLO
him to vote for the hull ticket. That's the kind of
rooster I am; and I say to you right hear and now,
that ef you don't do this, you can expect that this here
town '11 be run by the wimmin." (Groans of dissent
from his hearers.) "That's what, and you'll get it too.
When the wimmin get hold — these old maids with long
faces and hair the color of hay, these freedom shriek-
ers and Bible bangers — you'll see what you'll git! No
more beer, neither Sundays nor week days. Every
man '11 have to come home of a Saturday night and
give his old woman his wages and sneak around and
beg for enough to git a plug of tobacco with. How
d'ye like that?" (Howls and yells of derision,) "Ah
ha! oh ho!! Ye don't like it? Well then, get out and
work for the ticket. Don't let no man in this ward
vote for Dr. Cavallo or any of that gang, Cheese 'em.
Drive 'em into the ground hard and break 'em off.
That's the way to use 'em up. We don't want no such
reform movement in our ward. Tell 'em that. Now
I'm going to stop. (Cries of "go on," "go ahead.")
"That's all right, but I'm going to stop with one more
remark, and that is, that Mr. Seidel has requested me
to make a very important communication, and that is,
that he has ordered Bill here, to tap a fresh keg of
beer. Stand back, you fellows in front, and give the
hind fellows a chance!"
The roar that went up when Mudd had finished,
attested to the popularity of the speaker and showed
how well he knew the way to the hearts of the voters
of the Ninth ward.
Seidel warmly congratulated him. "That was a
great speech, Mudd. You hit the nail on the head
every time, and clinched it. That's the way to do it.
DOCTOR CWALI.O 285
That s the kind of speech to make votes. You have
got to appeal to their interests after all."
"I havn't practiced law in 'the criminal courts here
for nothing," replied Mudd. "If I can't get a crowd
in the old Ninth to just get on its bind legs and howl,
I'm no oyster," was the modest response.
The beer having been consumed, the audience was
in high good humor, and they began to call for some-
thing more. They found Bezeke in a corner, quietly
drinking, and they seized upon him and pulled him
out. He could not get to the bar, for a crowd of
struggling patriots pre-empted that, for they had dis-
covered that those nearest it had the first chance at
the beer, while those behind, got little or none of it.
So those whose thirst was stronger than their love for
eloquence, formed a solid line in front and would not
give way. Seeing this disposition, Seidel took a barrel
and planting it in a corner, put Bezeke on it and told
him to go ahead. He was a curious little man, so
short that he seemed to be in perpetual danger of fall-
ing into his own boots, of which, he always sported a
huge pair, sticking his pants into them. His tremend-
ous head, his short figure and his matted hair gave an
impression of ferocity to him which his words did
not belie. He looked about on the crowd, packed in
the little room, and with the words " Mine frents,"
waited for the noise to still so that he could proceed.
"I am a shoomacher. I am a workin' mann who
labors all tay unt efrey tay to arn his taily pred. I
goomes mit dis guntry, and I finds, vat ? De sthones
mad of gelt ? Nein, mine frents. Dey is shust the
same as in the olt guntry. Hart vork unt poor pay,
mine frents. Who is to plame, mine frents ? Who is
286 DOCTOR CAVALLO
to plame ? Who has the fine glose ? Who has the
carrriages, unt the dimonts, unt the vine viskys ? Hey
mine frents ! Who ? I tells you, mine frents. It vas
dem Choos. It vas dem Choos. Vat you going to do,
mine frents, mit dem Choos ? Vat you going to do ?
Vill you let dem run ofer us ? Hey ? Here is a nom-
inashun fear der Gongress. Dit they gif it to you, mine
frents, or to me, who knows somedings, too ? No, mine
frents, dey gif it to a Choo."
The crowd roared its approval, and cheered Bezeke
so loudly that be found it difficult to proceed, but he
went on :
" Now, ve vant to stop all dis. Ve vant to chine
hants unt say ve vill not buy no more goots of dem
Choos, nor any glotin', nor any poots or shoos, ve vill
pass dem all puy, unt puy of goot mens who makes
shoos sheaper as dem, unt ve vill go to der Gongress
our own zelfus and mit out any helup from dem, mine
frents. Ve shoud put down dese aristokraten, unt dese
mens mit money. I dell you, mine frents, any mann vot
gots a glean shirt is an obyect of zusbishun, mine frents.
Ven a mann pegins to plack his poots, he pegins to be
a schundrel ; ven he puts on agolar, he pegins to sthudy
tievin' ; ven he puts a bocket handkersheif in his boc-
kets, he sets oud for der roat to willainy."
This was too much and the saloon keeper shook his
fist at him over the end of the bar. il Shut up, ye ould
crank. Whin ye git started on that, ye ould wind mill,
ye are worse'n a Texas cyclone."
11 Ah ha ! " snapped Bezeke back. •• Mine frents, he
vas not to dalk in dot avay ven he was boor, but now he
makes money, unt he vos so diffrend. Ah, ha, he likes
not Socialismus, ven he pegins to git drade."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 287
At this, one of the saloon-keeper's friends, who had
been working his way back to Bezeke, and evidently
acted under instructions, hit the barrel a kick, and the
great Socialist orator disappeared in a cloud of dust,
staves and hoops, and with the collapsed barrel, his
oratory came to an end.
Seidel was deep in consultation with the ward
workers. One of them summed up the situation as
follows : " If it wan't for this Australian ballot law we
could give ye most any majority here you would want
in reason. But this makin' a dead line^ beyond which
a worker can't pass, has cut down the enthusiasm a
good deal. You could, formerly, take a man up and
vote him, and see that he voted right, but now he can
fool ye all he has a mind to, and all you can do is to
buy him at last, and then, like as not, he'll lie out of it.
The good old times has passed," and he heaved a sigh
as he thought of how they used to manipulate the bal-
lots, the voters and the returns.
CHAPTER XLIX.
The crowd steadily increased, until there was an
overflow meeting outside. It was now too large to
feed beer to with any sort of regard to economy, so
Seidel rigged up an extempore platform outside,
adorned it with a chair, a table and a pitcher, supposed
to contain water, and set his orators in motion out
there.
He picked up a venerable-looking old chap to pre-
side, and he called upon him to make a speech. The
old man was known as one of the wheel-horses of the
party. He boasted that he had belonged to it for fifty
years, and he could be depended upon to work this in
his speeches. So, when he was introduced as the chair-
man, he set off at his usual rate.
" Fellow Citizens : I thank you for the honor that
you have done me this evening in calling upon me to
preside over this large and intelligent meeting. I
have, gentlemen, been a member of this grand old
party for fifty-three years — fifty-three years, gentle-
men, fifty-three years, and if I live until next January,
it will be fifty-four, gentlemen, fifty-four years, and in
this time I have never scratched a ticket or refused to
vote. My motto for fifty-three years has been, ' My
party, right or wrong,' and by the Eternal, gentlemen,
I propose to stand by that motto. If it is good enough
DOCTOR CAVALLO 289
to stand by for fifty-three years, it is good enough to
live by, and, if my life is spared, I will'give it a trial for
fifty-three years longer. Gentlemen, what is your
pleasure ?" He took his seat in the chair, and looked
about for a speaker.
The crowd called for Bill Geass, the saloonkeeper,
and, after howling and yelling until they were hoarse,
Bill came out, and wiping his hands on the towel that
served him for an apron, he nodded to his thirsty com-
patriots.
"I know what ye'v got me here fer," he began, cock-
ing his head on one side, "it's in the hope that I'll say
that I'm going to set 'em up. Well, now, in all fairness
to you I ain't going to do no such thing. See? In elec-
tion time it's the candidates' turn to attend to that little
duty, and it's my biz' to have 'em do it. Beer is what
makes elections win in the Ninth ward, and it's beer
that the people want. I did half expect to see Mr.
Radcliff here to-night, himself. It ain't that I ain't
satisfied with Mr. Seidel. He's a gentleman as any-
body js proud to take by the hand, and it's all right
for him to come down here, but still it ain't treatin'
the voters exactly right for Radcliff to stay back and
send another feller in his place. I ain't no kicker, but
I feel just as big an interest in the prosperity of the
ward as anybody. When the votes is counted out the
fust thing they want to know is, how did the Ninth
ward go? But when there's any favor to give out,
they fergit all about us. Now, I want every man that's
on the ticket to come down here and put hisself on a
level with us and let us see him. We ain't proud. I
don't know as I'd be ashamed to shake a man by the
hand just because he's running for Congress. He may
10
29O DOCTOR CAVALLO
be a tolerably honest man afore he's elected, although
they do say that they git mighty crooked afterwards.
All I want is to see that they ain't stuck up. I want
'em to say ' Bill Geass,' after election, with the same
friendly feelin 1 that they do when they are countin' the
votes. This is a kind of love feast, and I am in the
humor to give the whole party a piece of my mind,
and 1 am just doing it to relieve myself. There will
be more beer after the speakin', and some of the boys
is goin' to let off fireworks in the back lot. I ain't
sayin' nothin' about a free lunch about midnight, be-
cause I don't want to interfere with the speakin.' I'm
a plain man of business who is stuck on his ward, and
who'll go as far towards maintainin' the honor of it as
any other snoozer that weighs less'n two hundred an'
fifty pounds."
The yells of approval that went up while his adddress
was delivered were tremendous, but when Bill deli-
cately alluded to the free lunch and to the fireworks,
all for the honor of the ward, the delight of his audi-
tors knew no bounds. He, himself, felt that it was a
master stroke, and when Seidel congratulated him and
told him : "Bill, this makes you the next alderman,"
his swelling breast could hardly contain itself, and he
walked about with the fire of ambition in his eye, an
example for gods and men.
Seeing this, Sam Larkin edged his way in front and
so managed to catch the eye of the crowd, that they
began yelling for him. Sam was the present alderman,
and as he was soon to be up for re-election, he did not
propose to see Bill Geass take the apple from
him without a vigorous protest. He had discerned
Bill's ambition before this, and now he was certain of
DOCTOR CAVALLO ■ 2^1
it. When, therefore, he induced his friends to call him
out, he mounted the table and looked down upon the
audience with a paternal smile. " Boys, how air ye ?
I don't need no introduction to the voters of the Ninth
ward. They know me and I know them. Many's the
tough fight we've had around the polls, but this I can
say, that as long as Sam Larkin was on deck the old
ward never failed to show up it's usual majority. The
boys could rely upon the Ninth, and the Ninth has al-
ways felt that it could rely on Sam Larkin. I ain't
given to boastin' much, but I reckin I've got more
curbin' and more improvements for this ward, than ary
three wards of the city. I said to the other fellows in
the upper wards, 'You do the payin' and I'll furnish
the work,' and if this here ward hain't been sewered
and curbed from one end to the other, its because
these here special assessments came in and knocked
my scheme endways. I don't mind tellin' you that IVe
been for anything that 'ud bring money into the ward,
and agin anything that 'ud take it out. My motto
has always been, 'The Ninth ward first, last and all the
time.' I tell ye boys, a man's got to be in the Council
some little time before he gets the hang of things, but
it ain't long before he learns enough to be able to git
onto their tricks. You bet Sam Larkin has been there
and been there a long time."
u How is it about the gas business ? v inquired a by-
stander.
This meant war, and Sam knew where the shot told.
He had been in the Council as the paid representative
of the gas company, and was so recognized. This was
the weak spot in his armor, and he knew that Bill
Geass had put the questioner up to ask it, with the in
292 DOCTOR CAVALLO
tention of flooring him. He tried to gain time. "What
is that ?" said he. " I didn't understand."
The questioner came nearer. " How much did the
Gas Company pay ye, Sam, for gettin' thru' that last
conthract ? Answer me that ?"
Sam bristled with indignation. " Any man that says
that I tuk money for that contract, says wat ain't troo.
The Gas Company is our own citizens, and they are
entitled to any contract before the outsiders is let in.
My principles is, 4 Home fust agin the world.' Now,
fellow-citizens, I won't detain you, but will give way to
some other gentleman, who will discuss the issues of
the day."
The crowd began to get uneasy. They broke up
into little groups, and indulged in discussion and in an
occasional fight. They were getting tired of oratory,
and wanted some other diversion. Two or three
speakers followed, and one old-timer began back in the
days of Jefferson, and sketched the rise of parties and
the development of the constitution. He speedily
broke up interest in the meeting, and the crowd only
hung around the saloon waiting for the free lunch with
greater longing. The old man droned on, and the
street was filled with laughter and noise, until some of
the boys espied Timothy Dodd, and hauling him out of
the corner of the saloon, where he had been a quiet
spectator all the evening, yelled a " Spy," and hustled
him out of the door. Timothy watched his chance, and
as the noise had compelled the speaker to stop,
Timothy mounted the table. The sight of his attitude
— for he imitated the action of Dr. Cavallo as he had
seen him in the hall commanding silence — caused the
crowd to gather around to listen to him.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 293
"Spoi ! a spoi ! O'id like to see the b'y that wud
call me thot face to face out in a tin-acre lot. I'm a
fray American citizen, attindin' to me joost roights. an*
I have as much roight to cum down to the Ninth Ward
to attind a public maytin' as any other mon. O'id hev
yez to know that O'im the son of Peter Dodd, an' Oi
wus born on the Flats, an' O'im, by nature and eddi-
cashun, a bether Ninth Warder than the most of yez.
An 1 whin Oi cum down to pay a neighborly and frindly
visit it is to be set on an' called a spoi. It's little
cridit yez do the warrd, the crowd of yez. O'ive
patiently waited durin' the whole discooshin 1 for some
mon to discuss the issues. O'ive heard iverything else,
but not a quistion as to the position of the parties.
"Ye've had free beer and loonch, and matters of
that kind, and ward politics, but there's not wan among
yez that has got into the sivinth hiven of politics, as
ye may say," he continued: " The thary of politics
is in gettin' min into offis, an' thin ye come down to the
dischosshn of min. There's min and there's other min,
an' ye hav to, in a manner, dissect the candidates.
Now there's Misther Radcliff. There ain't a better
joodge of groceries in the whole city. But does he
understhand the saycret ways of thewurrld of politics?
Can he, in a manner, as you might say, diagnose the
springs of office ? Here's where ye hev to think.
Society is loike a man himself. Sometimes, to use a
midical terrum, ye hev to give a profylactick, and
sometimes ye hev to administer an emetic, joost. Now
the question is, hev ye got a mon who ondersthands the
difference between the two ? When the political body
is sick, ye don't want quacks, d'ye moind that. Ye
hev to put the patient on a dose of diet, and he is a
smart mon who can tell at wonce, whether it's pills
294 DOCTOR CAVALLO
that he needs, or only a bath. Don't make no mistak.
Oim not sayin' that Dochter Cavallo is the mon," he
said cautiously. " Oi put it to yez, however, to weigh
the matter well. Yer all agreed that the body politics
is nading a dose of somethin'. Jist what, is the ques-
tion. They're not loikely to settle it to-night, but take
a tumble now to yourselves, an' don't be goin' off half
cock, an' takin' powders, whin phat ye need is qui-
nine. 1 '
"Begad, he's roight," yelled an Irishman. •' Go it,
Tim, we'll stand by yez."
44 Timothy Dodd nades no one to sthand by him.
He's able to sthand by himself.- The saycret of bat-
tlin' wid disayse is to know whin to take physic, and
whin to lave it alone. When a mon gets no better
wid physic, phat do we say ? We say the trouble wid
him is quacks. Whin the political body is sick and
gets no betther, may we not misthrust that the worms
that are gnawin' at its vitals, is the same old quacks ?
Gintlemin, beware of quacks. Don't let 'em fool yez.
They talk big, but whin it comes down to physic, ye
want a mon who knows. It's my opinion," repeated
Timothy, still cautiously, "that what the patient wants
at prisint, is a powerful lettin' alone. The less physic
ye poke into him, the sooner he'll get on his fate."
Seidel had listened to the last part of his speech and
he interfered. "That infernal Iishman will do us
more damage in that five minutes' speech than all the
rest have done us good. Why did they let him talk?"
He set his gang at work, and they cried Tim down,
but he had made friends in the crowd and they allowed
him to mingle with them without molesting him. He
stayed until the meeting broke up and the free lunch
was set out and the hungry crowd began to attack it.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 295
He watched the last remains disappear, and the fel-
lows, filled to the neck with free beer and free lunch,
stagger off in different directions to their sleeping
places. He saw Bill Geass get into an argument with
Sam Larkin, in which they tried to settle the question
as to who should be the next alderman from the ward.
They began the conversation with many protestations
of friendship and ended with calling each other names,
and at last settled it by a free fight. For a time, Sam
had the better of it, but at last Bill reached for his
"second barkeeper," which consisted of a stout club
made of hickory, and with this, he brought Sam to
time, beating him over the head and then dragging
him out of the saloon and throwing him down the
steps with an oath, Sam lay at first like one stunned,
and Timothy went to his assistance. After getting
him out to the horse trough and pumping water on his
head, Sam came to himself and sat up. He realized
where he was, and started home, saying "Oh, you can't
kill a ward politician."
Timothy having made up his mind to see the whole
performance, walked back to the office by the break-
ing light of day.
"The American citizen is a quare dook. He wants
soofrage and he wants silf goovermint, and he wants,
the divil knows phat, and then whin he gets all of
these, he throws 'em all away for free beer. Why
don't he go for free beer in the first place and save
hissilf all the preliminaries. They talk about discoo-
sion and the thary of politics ; but, after all, the beer
question comes up and swipes the platter. It is the
pivot on which the liberty of parties hang. It's a great
country," said Tim, reflectively, " and the number of
fules is rapidly on the incrase."
CHAPTER L.
The next day was warm, bright and beautiful.
Seidel came down to his headquarters at an early
hour. "I wish that it would rain," said he. "In
stormy weather our fellows will all come out, and their
side will all stay in. To-day we shall have a full vote. "
The time wore away without incident. There were
rumors that Radcliff was running ahead of his ticket in
this or that ward, that Cavallo was being scratched,
and that the Civic Federation was not getting a vote
below the street car barns.
To all this Seidel returned a contemptuous answer.
"What do they know about it? The only way to tell
is to wait until the votes are counted."
In the headquarters of the Civic Federation all was
activity. The women had canvassed the city and had
a list of disabled and aged voters. They sent their
carriages and made details for the work of getting
them in. As the day wore away, one after another re-
ported that the lists had been closed up. They ex-
hibited a precision and order in regard to it that as-
tonished the old politicians, and they all agreed that
the details of the political fight had never been handled
so well before. Mrs. Bernheim had the members of
the Y. M. C. A. Foot Ball team as her aide de camps,
and she sent them out as escorts in the lower wards,
DOCTOR CAVALLO 297
and whenever one of these athletes could be seen tak-
ing care of a voter, and escorting him up to the line
allowed by the Australian ballot law, he was allowed a
respectful passage.
When the polls were closed, everyone breathed a long
sigh of relief and went home to supper.
Not so Seidel. He remained at headquarters where
he had arrangements made, so that, at each precinct,
the news would come to him by telephone. He sta-
tioned a boy at the telephone, and had his own figures
on sheets before him, so that he could at once refer to
the vote of last year, of two years ago, and what his
own estimate of the vote was.
The ticket was long, and it was nearly ten o'clock
before the first returns came in, then the boy announced,
u Here she comes. Ninth ward, fourth precinct."
"Ah, ha!" cried Seidel, arranging his sheets. "How
is it?"
M Forty-three for Radcliff."
"That's good," replied Seidel, " that's Billy Hayes'
work. Boys, we don't want to forget Billy. He has
stood at that poll all day, and has watched every
voter."
"Third precinct, sixth ward, sixteen for Radcliff."
" That's better. I thought Cavallo would hold us
down there."
"Old Dr. Blake has been in that section," replied a
ward heeler. " He hates Cavallo as the devil does
holy water."
"Second precinct, fourth ward, thirty-nine for Rad-
cliff"
" Hooray," yelled Seidel.* '* At this rate, Cavallo
won't get a ward. By George, that's great."
298 DOCTOR CAVALLO
"That is some of old Abbott's work," said the same
heeler. " Old Abbott has a nest of rookeries there, and
he went all through them, and told his tenants that he
would forgive them their back rent, if they would give
Cavallo a black eye, and they have done it."
" First precinct, seventh ward, eighty-nine for Ca-
vallo."
There was silence. Seidel was the first to gather
confidence.
"That's the Bernheim flats," he said, "it's an offset
for Abbott's tenants."
"Second precinct, fifth ward,"
■"Stop," said Seidel, "now listen. What is it?"
«' Fifty-four for Radcliff."
"Hooray for him," yelled Seidel, "why that's a
^complete turning over. Fifty-four for Radcliff. Gen-
tlemen, this settles it. If the city is going on in this
way, Cavallo won't have a leg to stand on. This is a
protest against the action of a lot of self-appointed
Pharisees, and the people won't stand any nonsense."
The ward heeler grinned.
" What are you laughing at ? " asked Seidel, hotly.
" Oh, nawthin'," said the fellow, " only that's old
Doctor McHale's ward. You've struck his congrega-
tion, that's all."
Just then the crowd began to cheer, and, on going
out, it was discovered that some boys had started a
bon-fire in front of the headquarters.
The boy dropped his voice at the telephone, and said
to Siedel, " bad news, do you want me to yell it out ?"
"No," replied Seidel. "what is it?"
"Warren county goes two hundred for Cavallo."
Seidel turned white.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 299
"Great heavens! Ask the Central office to repeat
it. It can't be true."
The boy did so, and back came the answer: " Yes, it
is true."
Seidel made a few figures on his paper.
"He did scoop in those farmers, after all. It is just
what I have always said, these meetings in the red
school houses do count."
Then the boy cried out, " White county, fifteen hun-
dred for Radcliff.'"
"Ah, ha! "yelled Seidel, " this is something like.
Fifteen hundred for Radcliff. Why, it's a landslide, a
turning over."
Radcliff came in at this juncture and was followed
by a crowd. " How is it ?" he asked.
"You are gaining in the city, and have carried White
county by fifteen hundred. You are the next Congress-
man from this district."
Everybody yelled, and Radcliff was asked to make
a speech. Mounting the table, he thanked his friends
for what they had done for him and assured them that
he would not forget them. "This victory had been
won by hard work. I am a great believer in the
maxim, that 'To the victors belong the spoils,' and
boys, if I can get my hands on any of them spoils, I
propose to divide them up."
Just then the boy said, " Here's the whole seventh
ward. Shall I give it ? "
"Yes," replied Seidel, " let us have a little bad luck,
it will take the edge off the old man's enthusiasm."
"Seventh ward," roared the boy, "three hundred
and forty-seven for Cavallo ; balance of the ticket a
little behind him."
300 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Radcliff' s jaw dropped. "This is bad, 1 ' and he
looked at Seidel.
"Yes," returned the other, indifferently, "but they
must have some votes. Look at the effort that they
have made. 7 '
"Second ward, four hundred and twenty-eight for
Cavallo."
" What," shrieked Radcliff, " that's my ward. You
don't mean to tell me that my own neighbors have
gone back on me in that way."
The heeler grinned : " Say, Radcliff, when you get
back from Congress, come down and live in the Bloody
Ninth. That's the only place where they appreciate
ye."
11 Brownsville, forty-two votes for Radcliff."
*' I sent five kegs of beer down to Brownsville only
the day before election," said Seidel. "They should
have done better than that."
The votes came in, but the news began to grow worse
for Radcliff. The first returns came from the lower
wards, where the Ham Heads had full sway, and there
being very little scratching done, it did not take long
to get in the full vote, but now the rural districts and
precincts lying along the railroads, and in the little
towns began to send in their reports, and it was not so
favorable for Radcliff. The arrangements had been
made by Seidel with great care, and he had perfected
this with a view to the future. He had scanned the
aspect in every possible way, and was prepared for
whatever might happen.
"Now," he explained, as the returns began to come
in, "Cavallo may carry most of these outlying districts,
but until he can wipe out the majority of fifteen hun-
dred in White County, we are safe.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 30 I
He felt good, but he was puzzled to account for the
vote of White County. He asked Radcliff if he had
done anything in that county to make it take such a
chute. It had only recently been added to that con-
gressional district, and none of the other politicians
could tell anything about it.
Radcliff pompously replied, "1 have a large trade
from that section and there is no doubt that some of
my old customers made up their minds to surprise me."
The noise increased. The streets were filled with
crowds of boys and men yelling for Radcliff, and seiz-
ing on all the stray boxes that they could get and
burning them up. The saloons were in full blast, and
some of the candidates on the Radcliff ticket were
buying beer, but cautiously, for everything depended
upon the vote of White County, and they were by no
means out of the woods. The votes for Cavallo, in the
country towns, increased steadily, but the returns in
most cases were only for the head of the ticket, and
this made the candidates on the county tickets with
Radcliff, look blue.
Radcliff, himself, was the very picture of effusiveness.
"Don't be cast down, boys," he said, " better luck next
time. I'll see that you are taken care of. Seidel, I
feel that I can congratulate you on the masterly man-
ner in which you have handled this campaign. The
bloomers don't win this time!" and Mr. Radcliff, having
had several drinks with his friends, looked the picture
of the patriotic statesman.
Then he took on a sober strain. " I have never had
any doubt in regard to my election. Of course, be-
tween you and me, I knew that the people of this
Congressional district would never stand it to see a Jew
representing them.
302 DOCTOR CAVALLO
Just then, Shorty Smith came down the steps into
the headquarters. He was a well-known character
about town. He was M hail fellow well met" with every
one, obliging, pleasant, good natured, and friends with
the whole city. He had but one passion. He dearly
loved to bet. He would bet on every thing and any
thing. The turn of a card or a horse race. When any
event excited public interest, Shorty Smith was on
hand. Now he bustled into the little place and went
up to Radcliff flusteringly : 4 ' Radcliff, I'll bet ye, ye
aint elected.
"What!" roared Radcliff. "What are you talking
about?"
"Just what I say. I'll bet ye that ye ain't elected.
Money talks ; put up, or shut up."
"Why, I am elected. You are crazy."
" Oh, am I ? Well, then, here's a chance to win some
money from a crazy man. Put up your dough, old
man, any thing, from a five dollar note to a thousand."
Radcliff gazed at him. "Young man, you are throw-
ing away your money."
"Oh, I am ? Then here's your chance to get some
of it. Put up, now, or I'll go out on the street right in
front of these headquarters, and say Shorty Smith
backed ye down."
" Gentlemen," said Radcliff, appealing to the crowd,
"you hear this. I am, in a manner, forced to bet and
win this young man's money. I don't want to do it,
but I am forced to do it."
So saying, he drew out a roll of bills. "A thousand
dollars even," he said to the young man.
"That's it, 1 ' replied Shorty. "Here is a package
with the bank band around it. I didn't think that I
could get a sucker to take it in a lump."
DOCTOR CAVALLO 3O3
The money was duly deposited with a third party,
when Shorty asked : " Do you want any more? That's
all of my roll, but I'll go and jtry to scare up some
more."
He had hardly gone, when Radcliff asked: u Do
you suppose that he has got any news that hasn't come
to us?"
** No, I guess not," returned Seidel. " Boy, ask them
at the Central office if they have anything more."
"Here she is," replied the boy. "Corrected returns
from White county."
"Now," cried Seidel, authoritatively, " listen, you
fellows, and stop yelling."
"Corrected returns from White county. Fifteen
hundred and fourteen for Radcliff."
The crowd yelled. Then added the boy, '• Twenty-
seven hundred and eighty-seven for Cavallo.' 1
"What!" shrieked Radcliff. " What's that, twenty-
seven hundred for Cavallo?"
" How's that ! Seidel, how's that ! Read that again,
read it again,' 7 and the anxiety in the old man's face
was so great, that large drops of perspiration rolled
down his forehead.
" It seems," responded Seidel, trying to speak
calmly, "that the first dispatch only gave your total
vote, and not your majority."
11 It's a lie, Seidel, a lie," he yelled. " It's a Jew trick.
You have perpetrated this on me to beat me out of
more money. It was you," shaking his fist at Seidel,
"that got me into this. In the first place, you got me
to indorse your note for five thousand dollars. It was
you who sent that damned Smith around at the last
moment to rob me out of another thousand, when you
knew I was beaten."
304 DOCTOR CAVALLO
" Mr. Radcliff," returned Seidel, rising from his chair,
11 this from you."
More he would have said, but he saw the old man's
face getting ashy white, and then he fell heavily on the
floor.
44 It's the heat," cried Seidel, "give him air; take
him home, get a carriage ; and he jumped over his
table, got the old man, had him carried out, and, putting
him into a carriage, sent him home.
As the vehicle rolled away, the crowd began to dis-
perse. The ward heeler asked, addressing Seidel,
"What is it, a fit ? "
Seidel remarked, in a low tone, "It's worse than a
fit, it's a stroke of apoplexy."
Then he went back into the headquarters. Ill news
travels fast, and Seidel smiled bitterly to see that his
crowd was already thinning out.
" Gentlemen, 1 ' he said, "we are beaten, horse, foot
and dragoons."
He took his valise, whic v h lay behind him, waited un-
til the last man had departed, then he locked up the
office and threw away the key. '* To the devil with it,"
he said. He jumped into a hack, and giving directions
to the driver in a low voice, he went out into the night.
CHAPTER LI.
Lurello Nagle was gloomingly considering what he
should do next, for the news of the defeat had reached
him too, and he saw that the game was up. He went
to headquarters to find Seidel, and discovered that
everything was locked. As he was turning away, he
ran against one of the working men in his mill. The
man had been drinking freely, and he was disposed to
be jocular.
"Say, Lurello," he said, "we've been licked, havn't
we?"
Nagle gave him no reply.
" Don't be stuck up, now," said the man. Then an
idea struck him : "Say, Lurello, what's Oriental stock
worth ?"
At any other time, perhaps, Nagle would not have
given him an ungracious answer. Now, he said " It
ain't worth a damn."
"What's that," cried his companion. "You don't
mean to tell me, Nagle, that you have been onloadin'
onto me ? "
Nagle tried to break away.
The fellow roared out, " Here b'ys, is a Jew that's
been playin' me a trick."
This was enough for the Ham Heads and they gath-
ered around him. In vain Nagle begged and offered
306 DOCTOR CAVALLO
to treat if they would let him up. They got a blanket
and tossed him; then they rushed him through a bon-
fire just enough to singe him, but not enough to seri-
ously burn him, and every time the workman would
ask him, "Will ye take back that stock?"
At his refusal the crowd would invent some other
insult. They finally poured coal tar on his hair, blacked
his face with shoe blacking, and he was allowed to
escape.
More dead than alive, he went home. There was
no light in his house. He went to the front door; it
was open. With a sinking feeling at his heart, he went
up to his room. His wife was not there. He looked
about. Everything was in disorder. The bed had
been occupied, but his wife's trunks were gone and all
her articles of toilet, except here and there some little
thing that had been, apparently, dropped in her haste.
He went to Seidel's room, and his things too were
gone. The thoroughness with which his effects had
been taken, showed that he had prepared himself bet-
ter than his companion.
The unhappy man forgot his maltreatment, forgot
his wretched condition, forgot his bodily bruises before
this new woe, and he burst out like Cain, " My God,
my punishment is greater than I can bear."
CHAPTER LII.
All the next day the returns came in, increasing the
Cavallo majority. As soon as the intelligence of his
victory was known, it was overshadowed in the city of
P by the scandal connected with Seidell disap-
pearance. He had, it appeared, involved everyone
in his defalcations. Bob Lawrence was ruined, but he
manfully said that he was a fool. He ought to have
known better, and he paid up his losses, and would not
allow his father to come to his assistance. He was still
young, he added, grimly, and with a touch of sardonic
humor, and probably the loss would do him good.
The stroke of apoplexy that Radcliff suffered was
fatal.
Poor Nagle was in a pitiable plight. His discovery
that Seidel had utterly ruined him, and had taken Mrs.
Nagle away broke him down. He would not be con-
soled and he sank into a decrepit, sorrow-stricken old
man, prematurely aged.
The losses that Seidel had inflicted, fell heavily upon
those who trusted him, for his mining schemes had
nothing to support them, and, with his disappearance,
the shares were worthless. What became of him no
one ever knew. It was rumored that he had been seen
in Canada, and, on the other hand, a fellow-townsmen
declared, long afterwards, he was approached by a
308 DOCTOR CAVALLO
seedy mendicant, in the City of Mexico, who asked
him for charity, and that he discerned, under his rags,
the features of Seidel, but no one ever cared to solve
the truth of the story, or to try and ascertain what had
become of Mrs. Nagle.
As the returns came in, and the official vote was
published, it was seen that Cavallo had been elected
mainly by the vote in the country. The farmers and
rural population had come to his side with hardly an
exception. His opponents had carried the lower wards
of the cities and the river wards in the small towns.
As Shorty Smith said : " It was the fever an' ager vote
that went for Radcliff."
The Women's Club determined to hold a public
meeting, rejoicing over the victory. Mrs. Bernheim
proposed it, and, after everything was settled, she
called a mass meeting of the citizens at the hall where
the first one was held. The building was packed to its
fullest capacity. The stage was decorated with flowers
and palms, and every one who had borne a part in the
contest was there. The Civic Federation was present
in force. The chairman was, by common consent, Herr
Muller.
On taking this position, he said that he congratu-
lated the audience and the doctor for the great work
that had been accomplished. He wanted to remind
them of the fact that the credit was equally due to the
Women's Club and its President, Mrs. Bernheim.
When the Civic Federation faltered and everything
looked dark, she had organized the women and brought
victory out of defeat. He did not know but when
Doctor Cavallo had wearied of political life, that the
citizens of that Congressional district would do well to
choose Mrs. Bernheim to succeed him.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 3O9
This amused the audience more than it did that lady.
She was present on the stage with her committee about
her, and among them was Miss Lawrence.
It was, however, a very joyous assembly, and as speaker
after speaker was called for, each one expressed his
satisfaction over the result, and hoped that this was the
last time that the race question would come up in that
district, for it had received such a rebuke, and the
defeat of those who had sought to make this an issue,
had been so great, that there was nothing left of them.
Dr. Cavallo was here called for, and he came forward.
He said, "That a short time before he had spoken
in that hall to an audience whose hearts were filled
with hate. He had faced them when they were ready-
to hang him to the nearest lamp-post. Very different
was it now." He then recounted the events of the
campaign. He thanked them for the splendid support
that they had given him. He wished to emphasize the
fact alluded to by Herr Muller, "that the battle had
been lost when the Women's Club came to the rescue.
" But while we rejoice now, we must not forget that
the battle is not yet over. As long as there exists one
soul in whose breast is envy against his fellow man, as
long as a single human being is crushed by the malice
of him who should be his brother, as long as there is
uncharitableness, and hate, and jealousy, and oppres-
sion, so long must the friends of progress keep the
beacon fires lighted and the armor bright. It is only by
watchfulness that we can accomplish this; only by
devotion to this idea that we can succeed.
He went on with an impassioned appeal to his hear-
ers to stand by this grand idea, to shake off, and banish
forever, the feeling that the distinctions that men have
310 DOCTOR CAVALLO
in the past created, are divinely given. Rather are
they the remains of the barbarism of the past, that
savage feeling that regards every other man as a foe.
The glory of the latter day civilization is that it bursts
the shackles of the slave, that it uplifts the down-
trodden, that it elevates the depressed, that it puts a
staff in the hands of him who is lame, and supports the
feeble and weak. In doing this, it but carries out the
commands of the prophets of old, who laid down these
glorious maxims of charity and justice, maxims that,
after four thousand years, the world has hardly risen
to accept.
" The secret of good government," continued the doc-
tor, "is good citizens. The whole body politic is weighted
down by contending factions, where the best men stand
on either side, divided into two hostile camps, while a
small body of mercenaries, taking note of the nearly
equal division, step in and wield the power over both
of them.
44 There are more good people than bad in the world ;
more honest people than rogues ; more people intent
and anxious to secure good government than there are
who profit by bad government, and yet, such is the
foolish desire of men to stand by old traditions, that
they remain in their old lines, while the hordes of mer-
cenaries plunder both camps. It was against this con-
dition of things that Civic Federations in all cities are
now making their earnest fight. All republics that
have gone before have been weighted by these forces,
that has sunk them in the depths of municipal mis-
management. It was the hostile forces of Milo and
his gang of political gladiators that paved the way for
the overthrow of the Republic of Rome and the triumph
.of Caesar.
DOCTOR CAVALLO 3II
" It is against this corruption in our cities, and the
effort to get the best people on the side of good order,
that the present political agitation owes its birth. On
this platform every man can stand. The evils which
we fight, are the same that in all ages have ruined
states and destroyed peoples. It was this that was the
curse of the ancient republics. It was not until the
gripe of avarice had sapped the strength of the ple-
beians that the barbarians made headway against Rome.
It was not until the luxury of the Asiatics had cor-
rupted the armies of Greece that she lost her martial
spirit. Against this demon of avarice, this desire to
account men as worthy only in proportion as they have
money, we must set our faces as with a flint. There is
something greater in life than merely heaping together
wealth, something loftier in existence than the worship
of money-bags. When this is made the standard of
success, everything dwarfs and shrivels in comparison.
The work of life seems mean and low. Enthusiasm
dies, and virtue itself becomes a matter of bargain and
sale. Politics under this system is a mere truckling for
measures and schemes, only a device to collect taxes
and a means of expending them. Statesmanship is
lost in party strife, and the whole idea rises no higher
than to possess the offices, considering them as the
legitimate spoils for party service, tossed from one set of
thieves back to another. The glow of patriotism, the
glory of serving the state, of being useful to one's kind,
is not considered, but all is lost in a scramble for place,
and these are multiplied until the offices become a
burden upon the taxpayers, and the public service is no
longer the measure of a man's worth.
"The great body of the people is waking up to a
312 DOCTOR CAVALLO
realization of this, and while the evil is felt, it is not so
clearly seen as to enable them to throw it off. We
should remember that all nations have struggled
under it. It results, and has resulted everywhere else,
and in every other age and civilization, in the creation
of a privileged class whose efforts to eat up the sub-
stance of the producers, has at last reduced the real
supporters of the state to a condition of slavery and
servitude.
"The entire effort of all the great reformers of the
past has been to escape from this, and to rescue the
people. It was this that aroused the spirit of Moses,
the great lawgiver, and induced him to champion the
cause of Israel and take them out of the land of Egypt,
into the Land of Promise. It was this that aroused
the spirit of patriotism in the old prophets, that in-
spired Isaiah, who lashed the rich men of his day for
their wickedness, that spoke in the warning words of
Amos, that old shepherd, whose soul glowed within
him in hot indignation at the sins of the dominant class.
It rebuked the aristocracy by the lips of Jeremiah, and
broke out in indignant denunciation in Hosea. How
it flamed in the awful presence of Elijah, the prophet
of God, as he invoked the wrath of Jehovah against
Ahab, the wicked king, against Jezebel, the still more
wicked queen. And last of all, how it evoked denun-
ciation and warning from that great Jew, Jesus, the
Rabbi of Nazereth, who rebuked the fell spirit of
avarice ; who felt for the poor, who mingled with the
lowly, who cut the dry forms of legalism, and true to the
spirit of the great rabbis who preceded him, emanci-
pated the people from too great dependence on the
past. These prophets and teachers show us that
DOCTOR CAVALLO 3 I 3
wherever a cry has gone up for humanity, there, in the
path, resolutely withstanding their work and hindering
it, has been the form of some man, whose soul, aflame
with avarice and distorted by greed, has striven to ob-
struct and bar the way. It is this lesson that has created
the Civic Federation. It is this that has united us.
" Before this spirit, which threatens us now as much
as it did in the past, every honest man must exert
himself. It is the platform upon which every true soul
must stand, Jew and Gentile, orthodox and reformer,
Methodist and Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Uni-
versalist, Catholic and Dissenter, for it is not in re-
ligious distinctions that our future danger lies. It is
not in keeping the Bible in or out of the public schools
that the Republic is to be saved. We shall not fight
this spirit by seeing the flag float from the school-
houses. It is when we forget that the Brotherhood of
Man implies the Fatherhood of God ; it is when we
forget that he who denies his brother denieth God. It
is when corporations chuckle to think that, having no
souls, they escape all responsibility for their work, that
the future of the country is imperiled.
"We may build schools and colleges, but they have
done these things before. We may erect lofty monu-
ments, but these have been erected before. We may
multiply means of communication, but to get over the
ground in an hour, when it used to take our fathers
days, does not solve these moral questions. The world
is anxious and excited, and is asking if it must tread
the same paths that have been already trod. Is our
present civilization to go the same road that others
have gone ? Is there to be no end to all this weary
work and weary waiting ? Can we catch no echo, from
314 DOCTOR CAVALLO
the future, but is our civilization to blossom and to de-
cay, just as all former ones have done ? Are we unable
to solve this problem ? Must we go down into the
dust bin of the ages and acknowledge that we have
done no better than those who have preceded us ?
Is there, then, only the word ' Failure,' to be written all
across our work in this world, and is our boasted
scheme of human liberty only an accidental circum-
stance, to be dissipated as soon as our municipalities
grow large enough to overwhelm it ? Is republicanism
only possible in small and sparsely settled commun-
ities, the mountain tops, and the desert places ; but as
soon as the human animal collects in a mass, is he
doomed to generate out of his social condition, the
maladies that prove fatal to him ? Is he to see born
of his misery the parasites that consume him ?
"These are the burning questions of the hour, these
are the things that we must bear in mind when we
come face to face with the problems of government.
Every man who takes a hopeful view of the future,
every man who believes in the progress of the race,
and that the past is but a stepping-stone to the better
life that lies beyond, will agree that to see the danger
is the first thing towards avoiding it. But it must be
resolutely met. Its solution is so much higher than
any mere question of tariff, or of party manipulation,
that when we are brought to see it in its largest aspect,
we can but acknowledge, that towards this, all true
men must labor, for it, all good men must work, and
hope, and pray. 1 '
The effort was in the highest degree aflame with true
eloquence, and when the doctor closed, he was sur-
rounded by enthusiastic friends. There was no need
DOCTOR CAVALLO 3 I 5
to adjourn the meeting, it adjourned itself, and a gen-
uine love feast ensued. As soon as the doctor had
shaken hands with all of his friends he joined Margaret
at the back of the stage, and, as the groups began to
depart, he wrapped her cloak around her, and together
they walked down the hall and out on the streets
It was one of those evenings in the fall when Indian
summer had set in, and the air was filled with soft
haze. A full moon looked down upon them. For
some time they walked along, each filled with the
thoughts of what had been accomplished. The doctor
first broke silence. He recalled the time when he had
avowed his race and religion, and told her what a
struggle he had had, and how her words had turned
the current of his thoughts, and altered the tenor of
his whole life. Again, it was her notes, on two occa-
sions, that had supported him in an hour and at a time
when everything else seemed to have deserted him.
Had it not been for her, he would not have gone to the
hall and faced his enemies, and had it not been for her
he would not have accepted the nomination.
She modestly disclaimed any intention of doing any-
thing more than to give him the weight of her opinion.
If she had helped in any way to guide him in the
right path, she was only too happy to have been able
to do it.
He said that he realized that in spite of all that had
been said, there was a wide chasm between them, a
chasm that he had no right to ask her to cross, but
after having fought so hard a contest, he felt that his
was the privilege to seek his fortune further, and to
say to her what he would have left unsaid had he been
defeated.
3l6 DOCTOR CAVALLO
She laughingly replied, "You are then thinking 'that
to the victor belong the spoils.'
Cavallo felt inspired. The whole torrent of his
pent up feeling broke through the floodgates of love.
Life without her, he told her, would be a barren desert,
for it was her sweet smile, her sympathetic glance, her
encouraging words, that spurred him to action. His
sky would be starless, his paradise without a charm,
his heaven cold and dreary without her — his first and
only love, his guiding star, his angel !
What was her reply?
Let the reader answer. Here is one who has shown all
the high qualities that try a man in a prolonged contest.
Yet through it all, every act of his has portrayed the
man of high character, the man of undaunted courage,
of chivalry, of loyalty to his ideal, of tender and sym-
pathetic emotions, of heroic valor, of manly grace.
He has, against fearful odds, carried off the prize
and has won a victory which his best friends pro-
nounced impossible. Is it likely, that with these
qualities, a loving and ardent girl would refuse his suit?
What is race prejudice, what religious differences,
to two such souls as these, through whose every aspir-
ation breathes the fervor of religious poetry, and whose
sOuls pulsate in unison for the uplifting of their fellow
men, and who hear the voice of the living Father in
the rustling of the leaf, no less than in the muttering
of the elements, and discern the tracing of God on
the trestle board of his harmonious creation ? All
the sweet and holy emotions of love that sanctify
and adorn life, pulsated in their hearts, as, yielding to
the impulse of the time, in harmony with the tender
graces of the dying night, Cavallo clasped the hand of
DOCTOR CAVALLO 317
his companion, and, with a kiss, sealed the solemn
betrothal.
When they strolled into the Lawrence mansion they
found Mrs. Lawrence waiting for them, and the doctor
walking up, put his hand in hers and said, " Mrs. Law-
rence, you have this night either gained a son or lost a
daughter."
What could the mother say?
THE END.
m.
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