The other son became steady, and married a lovely girl—my first patient.
The daughters never wedded. Too proud to marry a poor man, too poor and destitute of real beauty or accomplishments for a wealthy or refined man to desire to wed them, they became servants and lackeys. If I desire a lunch at a certain saloon, one of them awaits my order. No matter about the other unfortunate, unloved girl. The father is an imbecile invalid. God is my witness, my judge, I long ago buried my hard feelings against them; they have only my commiseration.
XV.
DOCTORS’ FEES AND INCOMES.
| “Three faces wears the doctor; when first sought, An angel’s and a god’s, the cure half wrought; But, when, the cure complete, he seeks his fee, The d——l looks then less terrible than he.” Euricus Cordus, 1530. |
ANCIENT FEES.—LARGE FEES.—SPANISH PRIEST-DOCTORS.—A PIG ON PENANCE.—SMALL FEES.—A “CHOP” POSTPONED.—LONG FEES.—SHORT FEES.—OLD FEES.—A NIGHT-CAP.—AN OLD SHOE FOR LUCK.—A BLACK FEE.—“HEART’S OFFERING.”—A STUFFED CAT.—THE “GREAT GUNS” OF NEW YORK.—BOSTON.—ROTTEN EGGS.—“CATCH WHAT YOU CAN.”—FEMALE DOCTORS’ FEES.—ABOVE PRICE.—“ASK FOR A FEE.”—“PITCH HIM OVERBOARD.”—DELICATE FEES.—MAKING THE MOST OF THEM.
The great German physician who wrote the above died (as he ought, for putting so much truth into four lines) in 1538. He, of all physicians of his day, earned his fees; but it is often the case that the most deserving get the least reward, and Cordus was not an exception to the rule. A good physician, or surgeon, is seldom a sharp financier, and vice versa. “It is hard to serve two masters.”