The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-03-20
KILL OR CURE.
A story of the American Civil War,

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1.-THE Major is capital fellow
Doctor" / said, as we sauntered out &c
smoke our cigars in the garden, after
an early dinner, g but he ought to
be more merciful to us wretched bachel-
Ors. What with his charming wife and
that exemplary baby, he makes it diff
cult 10 respect the tenth command
ment."
You admire Mrs. Layton ?"
Z" Admire her If she were not Char
lies wife L should fall head over heels
in love with her. / have seen fairer
faces, but for dear, pretty delicate wo-
manly ways never met her equal.
"You couldn't stand under mans
thirsting for her blood.
GOOD gracious A wretch who
could touch one of her golden hairs
roughly deserves to be crucifed."
"And yet for many days she was Ill
deadly peril of her life. !"
4" For her fortune 2"
''She had none.
Don't tell me, Doctor, that an in
nocent creature like that could give any
one cause for revenge"
"No; won't tell you anything of
the sort"
q think 1 see. Some one was mad
" in love with her.
If you were to guess till this day
out you would not find the cause" said
my friend. LET us sit down here,
and 1 will explain. It's no secret l
wonder the Major has not told you"
Down here" was on a rustic seat
that the Majors pretty wife had made
at the end of his garden, close to where
little rill, soon to be lost in the blue
Hudson, tinkled its way through the
grounds.
during the war;" began the Doc
tor, 81 served III the army in the same
regiment with an old schoolmate. He
was as fine a soldier as ever drewsword;
hale, hearty, and sound in mind and
body eager to see service, and he saw
plenty. | thought that he bore a
charmed life, till one dayhe was carried
into the hospital tent iIr bad way. A
ball had entered the shoulder, glanced
on the clavical (what you call the collar
bone), and had gone-somewhere.
That was all we could tell, for there was
no other orifice but whether it had
passed up or down or taken some erratic
course round about, such as balls will
take. we knew not, and DO probing
could find out. Well, he recovered,
went North to regain strength, and for
nearly three years 1 lost sight of him.
When the war was over, and when /
had begun to practice as civilian in
New York, l met him again. But how
changed He was n living skeleton,
and saw in a moment that he had be-
come habituated to opium. Do you
know what that means? No? Well,
throw a bucket of water into q piano,
and then light a fire under it, and its
strings will not be more out of tune
than an opium smokers nerves are out
of order. He asked me if he might call
on me at my office, and of course l as
scented but it was days before he came,
and when he did arrive knew that he
had been preparing himself for a fight
with himself Some foolish patients
come prepared to hide the truth, some
to magnify their ills. 1t is part of our
business, in serious cases, TO examine q
mans mind before we ask about his
body, and hardened as a surgeon must
be. I confess that the condition of my
poor friend frightened me. There was
an expression in his eyes that / had
never seen in any sane being, and what
made this worse, was the calm, busl-
uess-like manner in which he spoke.
He told me that soon after he had zap
parently) recovered from his wound he
began to suffer from pains in his head,
which increased in severity till they be-
came so agonizing that he had recourse
to opiates TO alleviate them. But j
have not come to consult you about
this. he said this l can bear-must
bear. Would to God that they were
always tearing me The worst is when
they are not.
'''They leave you very weak P / sug.
gested.
calmly. with burning, all but uncon'
auerable. desire to take human life.
CT am not generally nervous man,
but / started, and looked round me foi
some weapon of defense. Don't be
afraid he continued, with a sad smile,
sthe fit is not on me now. L should
not have come If it had been. L have
been nearly starved once or twice, moi
daring to leave my room. / can conquer
my madness now the question is, how
long / can continue to do so. fee
Mat it is growing upon me. feel my
pwer of resistance becoming weaker
Id weaker the craving for blood get
y stronger and stronger. am like
ban who has slipped over preci-
and feels the earth and shrubs to
b he clings, slowly, slowly, surely,
\, giving way with him. l have
Hht wretched ours out of the street
alled them in my frenzy IN the
exhaust it on them. 1t is nc
must have human life.
\ human lite 2 inquired, 'or
e in particular?