Radio and television mirror (Nov 1939-Apr 1940)

■ Bent on tarring and feathering Jerry and running him out of town, the mob was in an angry mood — but Ted Hudson was angrier still. agent who had been courting her for thirty years liked the change, too, and enlarged his devotion to include the doctor as well as the doctor's cook and warm kitchen. And twelve-year-old Bun Dawson took it for granted that he was as indispensable to the doctor as the doctor was to him. The by-products of most of Bun's social contacts were bruises, sprains, cuts, contusions and minor breaks. Since his father worked long hours and his stepmother resented the bother of bandaging the boy, Bun found it practical to work off his considerable gauze and iodine bill by running errands. THE ready and warm friendship of this little group blinded the young doctor to the wildfire gossip, the suspicion and fear that was springing up as a result of Nurse Kate's harangues against him. Not until he heard her boast, jeeringly, that she had persuaded his first patient, Mr. Mead, not to have the essential operation for gall stones, not until he heard that she was circulating a ^petition to have him removed from the post of Health Officer did he begin to realize how very serious her opposition to him might become. APRIL, 1940 But there was more than just the venom of an embittered old maid behind the petition to remove him from office. John Bogert, richest man in town, was behind it, too. After repeated calls had taken him to the miserable fringe of slum dwellings near Bogert' s mattress factory, Dr. Malone investigated a refuse dump that was a pest center of contagion, and, by his authority as Health Officer, ordered Bogert to remove it. Bogert was cynical in his cool offer of a bribe, angry at Jerry's refusal of it. The removal of the dump was an expensive business, costing far more than the good health of a few worthless workmen, in the opinion of Bogert. He meant to make Dr. Malone pay for the whole matter dearly. He meant to get rid of him as quickly as possible, because the mattress factory was not his only interest in Belmore, not the only place where an idealistic young man who believed in such stupid things as civic welfare, could make trouble. Yes, Dr. Malone would have to go, and the sooner the better. Fewer and fewer came the calls for the doctor. Patients were far between, and those who did come were the worried workmen from across the tracks who explained, in embarrassment and in desperate appeai, "I can't pay right now, Doc, but please help me." "Maybe I'm not the right man for private practice," Jerry mused out loud to Ann during one of the rare moments when he allowed depression to grip him. "Maybe the whole thing was a mistake." "Of course it isn't a mistake," Ann protested. "Just wait until word gets around what a wonderful surgeon you are. Small towns are funny. But as soon as people you've helped spread the word about how good you are, everyone will be back. And after all, you're not fighting entirely alone. Penny adores you. Will Prout will fight anyone who says a word against you. Bun worships you. And you have a pretty fair nurse who thinks well of you, too." "You're not only a wonderful nurse," responded Jerry, "you're also a wonderful girl, Ann. I think you're . . ." Jerry caught himself. Ann was beautiful. Ann was delightful. Ann was intelligent and sweet. But he must not let himself think of the way her blue eyes lighted when she looked up at him, must riot think of how soft her hair would be to touch. His work came first. Not until he had really insured his future could he begin to think of sharing it. "And ... as you say," he finished lamely. "I'm not alone." Ann's shining faith cheered him for a few hours, but that same night he felt really beaten when a frightened call took him to the Mead farm. He found Mr. Mead writhing with intolerable pain. An immediate operation was necessary. There were not even minutes to waste. Through (Continued on page 77) 19