The doctor had traveled many miles through the mountains. When at last he was at his destination, it was dark and he struggled to reach the door of the small cabin where his patient lay.
Inside the dimly lit room, old man Peterson was on his bed. The patient was a determined mountain man, and the doc was the first visitor to be allowed within rifle range in the past five years. Pale and weak, he addressed his visitor:
"Tell me the truth, doc," said he, "I want to know just how sick I am."
"Well, you are very sick ... very low. In fact," he continued slowly and with determination, "I feel that I should ask you if there is anyone you would like to see."
"Yup," murmured the patient feebly.
"Who would that be?"
"Another doc ..."
----------------A Final Thought ...
"I suppose one has a greater sense of intellectual degradation after an interview with a doctor than from any human experience."
- Alice James (1848-92), U.S. writer; sister of Henry and William James