The Republican journal., 1873-08-28


answered, drawing his chair nearer to me ;
'and,n lowering his voice, ''to ask YOU
one question as a friend and God-fearing
man, and to which pray you give me a
plain yes or no.
$50 on
Feeling as | feel, shall [ be justified
before God in taking my own life? Will
| it be deadly sin for me to do for myself
what | would do for mad dogp"
| repeat his words almost as he spoke
them [ cannot give you the faintest idea
of the solemn deliberation with which he
! put this awful question. For some mo
| ments | could not say a word. Then !
| started up and told him that | would not
| answer him yes or no-that it was not
fair to ask me to take such a responsibility.
Then he rose, too, and said he must re-
solve for himself, and saw plainly which
way it would 90. ''Giye me till tomorrow
to think it out" | said, OBTAINING him
| Tomorrow may be too late" he re-
Piled The fit may come on tonight for
| all know
Gone home with me | IN not afraid
You won't hurt me- said
Il would try very hard not to do so
butt know myself | connot trust my
self Don't you trust me-
81 acW trust you; but I'll do more. You
are not armed suppose9'
No" he replied with shudder, mot
| now"
I'm take care that you shall not be,
and I'll carry my Derringer in my pocket
On the first indication Of homcidal mania
| | give you my word I'll shoot-and shoot
straight" | said this to satisfy him, poor
| fellow! In his weak state | could have
laid him down like child. 1t did satisfy
him, and we Went home together. | led
him to talk of our old soldering days,
and gradually got him back to his wound
| made him describe the first sensations Of
pain in his head, and repeat all that his
different medical advisers had said. |
happened to have strong preparation Of
hasheesh by me. | gave him Dose and
whilst under its influence | carefully ex-
amined his head Now the head, you
must know, does not fatten or waste
away in proportion to other parts of the
body Still his had become mere skin and
bone; and this state, perhaps, gave me an
advantage over the others who had made
the same examination. At last | felt OF
thought felt, a faint twitching-a sort Of
abnormal pulsation about two inches
above the left ear 1t might be merely
nervous, but it might be caused by the
| ball.
| then set my mind to work and thought
the whole case over steadily, and after a
long and careful examination, came to the
| following conclusions
He is not laboring under suicidal mania
His impulse is real, and will have fatal re-
| suits. Confinement in an asylum would
have no curative effect.
Then | took down my books bearing
upon the anatomy Of the human head
|
The next morning | addressed him
| thus
''Betore answer you as to whether you
would be justified before God, under the
impulse you have told me of, in taking
your own life to save that of another, YOU
must answer me several questions
$50 on" he said.
''When you consulted those doctors, did
you tell them all you have told me 81
"No; | did not dare. told them
had horrible thoughts and cravings. but
without entering into details as to what
they were. Once | went so far as to say
feared | was becoming dangerous, and
| the fool smiled
Good. Did they ever speak of search
ing for that ball p
Yes they said it might be the cause of
my sutferings, supposing it had lodged
near the brain, but no one would take the
responsibility of searching for it--so to
speak-in the dark"
They We're right--the operation might
kill YOU, and the ball not be found, after
| all"
He looked up, and the dull, detected
look that had become habtual passed from
his face
And, even if it were found. 4" wenton
''lts extraction might cause your death
| all the same
lie laid his hand on my arm and tried
to speak, but he could not.
| 'Still, it would give you a chance lust
| a chance of more than life" His grasp
4! tightened. | could feel his heart beating
"And submitting to such an operation
almost hopeless though it be-would not
be quite suicide"
He fell on his knees and sobbed like a
| child.
You'll do it?" he cried ..God Al
mighty bless you' You'll do it p
"Well,n said my friend, lighting fresh
cigar, ''to make my story short, | did it,
with the assistance of a young surgeon
whose nerve | could trust. We found
that miserable piece Of lead near where
had suspected it to be. 1t was just a case
Of touch and 60 Had my knife wavered
| twice the breadth of its own edge--had
the assistant been unsteady with the torceps
it would have been fatal | don't want
to appear vain of my success, so I'll say
no more than this-he recovered
"And hasn't killed anybody ?''
| No; and doesn't want to-"
'By Jove! wouldn't lie too sure of
that And so the girl he wanted to muir
der married the major?"
"She did"
'Then If | were her husband I'd tax
precious good care that your interesting
patient didn't come into the same State
with her"
"My dear fellow, if you We're her hus-
band, you'd do exactly as her husband
| does"
Zone other question Does your in
teresting patient still live in the country 2'
''He does.
Near here ?n
Very near"
Then, with all possible Difference for
| our friend, the Major, | think he is very
lOOlIai. " CIC III pletCc, SHoulo otpJ
| My good sir, | admit that the ball from
which you suffered so long cannot get
| back into your brains, but l am by no
means sure that the ideas it engendered
may not return. At any rate, your
presence near my wife is likely to make
her nervous, and appeal to you as gen
tleman to locate yourself in some other
part of the country. If you do so, | shall
have the highest respect for you; if you
do not, and ever have the misfortune to
pass within a mile of my house, the in
terror of your skull will become more in
timately acquainted than ever with lead in
| the usual torm'n
every neatly put" said the doctor, "but
our friend does not think of committing
| suicide now"
Mercy, Doctor!' | cried, ''you don't
mean to say that the man who wanted to
murder the Majors wife is--is-''
THE Major himself Yes, SIR