d much dramatic ability of a comic sort, and I have often heard the
opinion expressed that if he had adopted the stage as a profession he
would have rivalled the comedian William E. Burton, who at this time was
delighting his audiences at Burton's Theater on Chambers Street. In my
early life when Dr. Francis was called to our house professionally the
favorite dose he invariably prescribed for nearly every ailment was
"calomel and jalap."

One day during school hours at Miss Forbes's I was suddenly summoned to
return to my home. I soon discovered after my arrival that I was in the
presence of a tribunal composed of my parents and Dr. Francis. I was
completely at a loss to understand why I was recalled with, what seemed
to me, such undue haste, as I was entirely unconscious of any
misdemeanor. I soon discovered, however, that I was in great trouble. It
seems that a young girl from Santa Cruz, a boarding pupil at our school,
had died of a malady known at this period as "iliac passion," but now as
appendicitis. Her attending physician was Dr. Ralph I. Bush, a former
surgeon in the British Navy, and I soon learned to my dismay that I was
accused of having made an indiscreet remark in regard to his management
of my schoolmate's case, although to this day I have never known exactly
how Dr. Francis, as our family physician, was involved in the affair. I
stood up as bravely as I could under a rigid cross-examination, but,
alas! I had no remembrance whatever of making any remark that could
possibly offend. At any rate, Dr. Bush had given Dr. Francis to
understand that he was ready to settle the affair according to the
approved method of the day; but Dr. Francis was a man of peace, and had
no relish for the code. Possibly, with the reputed activity of Sir
Lucius O'Trigger, Dr. Bush had already selected his seconds, as I have
seldom seen a man more unnerved than Dr. Francis by what proved after
all to be only a trifling episode. Soon after my trying interview,
however, explanations followed, and the two physicians amicably adjusted
the affair.

It seems that this unfortunate entanglement arose from a
misunderstanding. There were two cases of illness at Miss Forbes's
school at the same time, the patient of Dr. Bush already mentioned and
another child suffering from a broken arm whom Dr. Francis attended. He
set the limb but, as he was not proficient as a surgeon, the act was
criticized by the schoolgirls within my hearing. My sense