The Portland daily press., 1874-06-13

made no remark.
ats all my own fault" he continued;'I |
caunot blame her for it, dear girl. l must, |
however, get you to play the part of peace |
maker between us. l know she has great |
respect tor you, and ii any one can do it, you |
can"
"Candidly, Smith," said, 81 don't like |
interfering, and that for both your sakes. In |
one of your drunken fits you might either Kill |
her or inflict on her some serious INJURY: |
You must be perfectly well aware you are not
master OF your own actions OH tnose occa
sions; and strong as your determlnatlGn at
the present time to remain soDer nay NC, IL
would rather not interfere in the matter"
ssDo not give me positive REFUSAL" he
said shut try what you can do. Ii peace is
not made between us it will break my heart,
or. what is still more probable, induce me to
commit selt-destruction, for l cannot live
without her."
''But consider the consequences" 1 said.
''Theve is no fear this time" he replied.
81 give you my word of honor that for the
last fortnight have not touched one drop of
wine or spirits"
''But you have often kept sober for as long
as that before, and had not the courage to
continue it," remarked
st is different with me in the present in
stance" he said. Nothing shall ever induce
me to take TO the habit again."
Poor Smith pleaded so earnestly with me to
be pesce-maker between him and his wife,
that at last made a conditional promise. l
told him l was about to leave x for
Switzerland, and should be absent about a
month, and that if on my return | found he
had kept his promse-and would accept his
word as proof without further inqury-I
would try TO make peace between him and
his wife. He willingly accepted these condt-
tons, and the following day l started on my
| journey 10 Switzerland
On my return to X at the time speci-
| fed, L called on Smith. He certainly looked
| in better health and more cheerful than when
left. He told me he had scrlpulously kept
his word, and that it was more than six weeks
since he had tasted either wine or spirits, and
he now called on me to fulfill my promise.
unhesitatingly agreed to do so, but on in
| quiry found that his wife would return to
| x in about fortnight's time, and think
| ing / could better intercede with her by
| personal interview than by letter, to which
she might reply under control of her friends,
| proposed to wait till she arrived, and this l
| did more readily as it would give Smith an
| other ten days or SO to practice his sobriety.
| To this proposition he agreed, and we said no
M ore on the subject.
"And now want to speak to you, 'he said,
"on another matter. You are acquainted
1 WIFI Jut uCdQ Vi lIlC pOllCc. anu WISH you
| would call on him and implore him to take
| away spy he has placed over me. The fell
| low almost drives me mad. Wherever go
| see him with his eyes fixed on me, watching
| my every movement. | suppose they are
afraid 1 should quit x, and crossing the
| frontiers, visit my wife in Turin, where /
| should be from under their control. You
may assure them have no intention of doing
| anything OF the sort, and it would be an act
1 of Eipdpacc fo raliavo M from tbis inf
BILE surveillance"
| promised Smith I would do as he wished,
and calling on Count Velletri, the head CT
the police, told him my mission.
''Your friend" said he in reply, sis under
some great mistake. No police officer has
been set to follow him, nor do l wish in any
way to annoy him. All require is that he
almost as much for his own sake as for hers.'
l gave this reply to Smith, who said it was
untrue, and that the spy was perpetually fol-
lowing him.
A few days afterwards he spent the even
ing with me, and l accompanied him home
to large, rambling sort of half palace, half
clearinghouse, in the outskirts of the town,
in which he occupied apartments ON the
ground floor; General R, commandant of
the troops in the district, having apartments
on the first floor; and with the exception of
quarters were in the rear of the house, there
were no other inhabitants. On our way
home Smith conversed volubly, sometimes ON
matters connected with his wife. at Others on
the infamous behavior of the police in setting
a spy to watch him. Presently, on entering
broad, staight street, brilliantly lighted by
an Italian full moon. Smith suddenly stopped,
| and clasping me by the arm whispered
"There the fellow is Now let's catch
him!'
81 see no one," I said. "You must have
made mistake"
she darted into this passage" he said;
I -sGAs..-.-1-~ svrrti s1ratrr MIN.
We now went into a narrow passage
through doorway, and closed at the end so
that no one could have escaped, but he was
not there.
The idea then crossed my mind that Smith
was laboring under delusion. 1 asked him
what sort OF a man the spy was, and he re-
piled that he was tall and thin, with a pale
face, and cold, CLASSY eyes; that he was
dressed in black, had three black studs liz his
shirt, and always carried a black glove in his
right hand. This Immediately tended to
convince me tn at Smith was laboring under
delusion, and l questioned him further on
the subject endeavoring to prove to him that
he was in error. He remained firm, how
ever, to his conclusion, and finding it was
useless to argue the matter with him, gave
it up for the moment, determining to watch
him narrowly, and find out whether or no
spy followed him in the manner he de-
Scribed.
During the next week I called daily to see
Smith, and received from him a most minute
| account of the persecution he endured from
| the spy he imagined to be following him.
! He told me that instead of diminishing it
! positively increased, and that even in the
| night he could frequently see the fellows
| eyes peering through the interstices of the
wooden window-blinds.
Here was a further proof to me that the
whole was delusion, but before determining
what course to take to prove it 10 be one, L
resolved to make one more effort to ascertain
whether there was the shadow of truth in his
statement.
Knowing one of the aids-de-camp of Cen
| eral R, asked him as favor to allow
| the sentlnels to watch during the whole of
| one night the windows of Smiths range of
| apartments, which he promised should be
done. The next morning he informed me
| that no person such as described had made
| bis appearance; in fact, not an individual had
| attempted to come near the house. | then
questioned Smith, who told me that several
times dvring the night he had risen from his
bed and seen the spy lurking about outside
the house; and that he had watched him the
day before so pertinaciously, it had almost
driven him out of his senses.
1t wanted but three days to the time for
Mrs. Smiths return to X, when the SER
wants in the house were in the night aroused
by violent cries from their master. On go
ing to his assistance they found he had quit
Ted his bedroom and entered another.
where, armed with sword, he was stabbing
the bedclothes through and through. On in
curing the cause he replied
''The fellow is here, and l have caught him
at last. He shall not escape me this time"
and he again commenced stabbing through
the bed clothes till he was so exhausted that
he tainted.
The servants, now terribly alarmed, sent
for doctor in the neighborhood, who, find
ing Smith in a fainting fit, attempted to re-
vve him by pouring some brandy down his
throat, and in a little time he succeeded ia
restoring animation. Smith, on recovering
his senses, glared in terrified manner round.
and then exclaimed, ''Thank Heaven, the
wretch has gone at lastp' He was then con-
yeyed to his own bed, where he slept soundly
till the following day.
was now fairly puzzled what steps to take.
To have informed his wife's family of the
mania Smith was labOr;np Under would no to