Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-08-24
VOLUME XVI.
DIR. PECHAL'S THEORY.
BY JULIAN HAWTHORNE.


| nationality, owing to his familiarity with
| languages, it was not easy to decide. Ht
| was not an engaging man, was super
| naturally conceited, some said crazy. Ill
wore pair of unusually shiny spectacle!
sit was believed to assist him IN staring
His hair was long, tangled and sandy
0verhanging his coat-colar, and pushed
back behind his esgs. His luggage con
sisted of q ragged, black carpet-bag, which
no one suspected of containing clothes.
The captain himself was not sacred from
the intrusive impertinence of this man
Tne second Gay out, at dinner, he stare(
| uninteruptedly for ten minutes at that of
| ficer, and then said:
",You must be Scotchman"
the captains little hobby was to bt
| taken for an American; so he bowed some
| what stiflY, and continued his converse
| tion with the American bankers wife, al
his right.
The frowzY foreigner drew from hi:
pocket greasy note book, piloted his way
| through several pages with his dirty fore
| finger, till he arrived at certain entry
then, with powerful assertativeness:
You ere iorty-eight years old to-day !!
The captain was young-looking man
perhaps not unwlllingly SO, especially in
tl
So he looked up rather severely at the
foreigner, and said, grufHy:
"Well, siFi'
"Of course" pursued the other, absorbed
in his note books all here, sir. calcu,
lated your group some time ago; it com
priscs four, and possibly five. I met one
last year in Turkey-a very pretty little
girl. Whereabouts will you be seven
weeks from TO-DAY, CAPTAIN ?"
The captains patience began to grow
thin; but he commanded himself to reply.
albeit somewhat testify:
Give fair weather, off the southern
coast of Ireland"
The frowzy foreigner was charmed. He
bubbled over with an unclean smile; his
teeth were dreadful.
"Righti quite right" he exclaimed,
rubbing his fat hands self;approvingly.
=" You will be drowned off that coast, sir
steamer founders, CT you are washed over
board-cannot be sure which"
At this sally, every one, except the cap
tain, either laughed or smiled. He, strange
to say, turned pale and frOwned slightly.
The foreign lunatic calmly r. placed his
note book ard resumed his dinner.
Could it have Been coincidence that,
seven weeks from tLat day, in a heavy sea
OF the southern coast of ireland, Captain
McAlenny, Of the Ecliptic, was washed
overheard and lost? Curious, at all
e7entsl Moreover-though what has this
to do with it?-the little daughter of a
prominent official in ConstantinOple died
the same day, after the crisis of a long and
painful fever.
The conceited foreigner was rot, there
fore, an agreeable companion. He was no
respecter of persons; for ne used up even
custom house officer in this wise:
After tIansfxing him with an indignant
and prolonged glare of his spectacles-
"Why, you should have been dead two
years ago. Your time expired in the sum
mer of 1865. l saw one of your group
condemned to be hanged for murder in
June of that year, and | cannot be mis-
taken in you" said he, referring to his
note book
The custom house officer glared back in
savage ama1ement. EFF 'twarn't f'my wife
md chlld'n," he began, menacingly; but
the fat foreigners brow cleared up imme-
diately, as if his mind were relieved from
an immense load Of perplexity.
"My dear sir-tC be surel How could
I of all men, make such an oversight
And now I reeollect-his sentence was
commuted-imprisonment for life. Let me
see-yodr wife? ah, yesl she belongs also
with the young Frenchman; and that Jew,
think, must be a connection. Well, well,
sir, you're safe for six years yet" And the
maniac departed in total apparent uncon-
sciousness of the black wrath distorting
the custom-house officers black visage
Landed in New York, he grasped his
ragged, black carpet bag, and walked to
he South Sea Hotel. On his way he stop
ped to purchase directory, and barely
escaped being knocked down by the sales
man because he informed him the only
safe thing in his case was to marry Ger
tain African lady. q resident Of Guinea
Arriving at the hotel, he engaged room
for three days, and registered his name as
Pechal, from Belgium. He eyed the gen.
tlemanly clerk searchingly.
"Your hair mast be dyed, sir" said he
at last, firmly.
The gentlemanly clerk drew himself ur
haughtily. The doctor glared, and shook
his frowZy head.
"No use, sir; it won't save you. Nc
| immediate danger, however; your grouI
| remains till the next decade"
In short, DR.. Pechal Was not merely dis
agreeable-he was awful.
He entered and locked his room door
opened the black carpet bag and poured
the contents on the table-nothing bu
| old books! There were a volume of 10
garithms, ife-insurance reports, works or
phrenology and phyiology, metaphysical
| compilations, directories Of various cities
and, at the very bottom Of the bag, a large
manuscript volume, whose contents tht
doctor only knew.
Heplaced these paraphernalia of research
in semicle upon the table. seated himsel
in the concavity of the arc, and worked
away steadily for at least three hours, con
cluding by writing down his results in tn
manuscript volume, and making an elimina
ton thereof into the greasy notebook
Then he leaned back, ran his thick finger
into his hair, and runinated. The manu-
| script book lay open On the table. Il wa
entitled "Todes- -Gesetz," which appella
| ton, should it afford no enlightenment t.
the reader, places him on an equality wi i
let US say, nine people out of ten. 1t wa
filled with closely written pages of myste
rious and enigmatical import, in doze
different languages, and, for the mos
part, unirlpOrtant to the present histor,
But the last entry, as transcribed into th
greasy note book, may possible be of som
assistance. Here it is:
"Group comprises four. Distribute
i two to one each-In Belfast, Americt
possibly France, possibly Asia.
distribution as regards sex-male, two
females, two.
"Incidence of law (as calculated fro1
table of logazithms, Natural Sine o-fou
days FROM date, subject to following in
pediments and exceptions:
q. An,a,gamation to have occurred b.
tween two Of this group; or
"a: Such amalgamation to take plac
, within the next four days, provided that
, Literal identity of surname exists bt
| tween the two.
Outside contracts no obstruction I
laws course"
Besides this there were sundry person,
! descriptions and Gate, and numerous refe
ences, citations, and comments, whic
| may as well be passed over for the pre
ent. It will be more to the point. an
; cutie as discreet, to listen to the doctor
ruminstions:
Poor prospects, Emil, very poor! A
lowing thee ything-that the perso
is in New York, is a woman, is unmarrie
and is willing to marry thee-still are Il