The White Rose of MemphisFalkner, William C. (Clark)
General
The White Rose of Memphis
Falkner, William C. (Clark)
Memphis (Tenn.) -- Fiction
“Immediately after having the unuttered conversation with himself, old
Bob ventured up and licked Lottie’s hand; the result was he got a medium
supper, and found that the favorable opinion he had formed as to the
kindness of her heart was by no means too extravagant. We know what
followed--at least we know that Bob followed Lottie, and we further know
that his fondness for rabbits led us to the gravel pit, which led us to
the gravel train which carried Harry to the embankment, where he saved
the life of Viola, whose father caused Mr. Rockland to give us good
homes, and this proves that it is better to give a poor dog kindness
than kicks. Now who knows what might have happened to us if old Bob had
not trusted to Lottie’s kind face that night, or if she had taken a
stick and beaten him? I dare say we should have been wandering about the
streets of Memphis, friendless, houseless, and penniless; working for
our daily bread, and sleeping in some filthy, sickly den, while dear
Lottie would have been dressed in rags. But now, through her kindness to
poor old one-eyed, tailless Bob, she has got a splendid home, good
friends, fine clothes, and bright prospects unfolding themselves for the
future. Who will venture to deny that old Bob was possessed of good
judgment? Who will say that he did not make a good selection, when he
concluded to take Lottie for his mistress and protector?
“‘Well, here we are. Ah, ha! Eddie,’ said Doctor Dodson next morning,
when he met me at the door of his new drug-store. ‘I suppose you are
ready for business? Ah, ha!’
“‘Yes, sir.’
“‘Good, my boy, good!’
“Then he began to instruct me as to the duties I was to perform, and
teaching me the names of the various kinds of drugs. I went to work with
the determination to succeed, and to please my kind-hearted employer. It
was but a few months before I knew the names of all the drugs, and could
make up the prescriptions with skill and safety; I was very proud to
find that the doctor was pleased with me. The doctor’s wife was as kind
to me as if she had been my own mother, and, all things considered, I
had a happy home, and was contented.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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