The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-11-23

affections, she is delightfully."- at home.
She has her hearts desire. She has
become rather an eminent doctor wom-
an, but when L tell you that 1 never
could like doctors as well as other men,
you viii understand that for me to love
her was impossible. Our old Doctor
Hope never came to the house but |
could smell for hours after all the herbs
of the phamacopeia; jalap and Gallo
mel, with squills and rhubarb, ipecac,
sweet flag and rue, lavender, ether,
and chloroform, made a mingled at
mosphere which surrounded and en-
veloped our venerable family doctor,
and in which he lived, moved, and
had his being" These are my ex-
plantations and excuses to you for my
death, burial, resurrection and eternal
separation from Belle Still l feel my
self bound as a man of honor not to go
in the matrimonial market again. This
is the reason that, with thanks, must
decline your kind invitation. You have
thought me young, almost boy, like
yourself. am nearly fifty. The herb
that Hausser gave me has very strange
properties. 1t arrested the changes
that make the decay of youth visible.
have no gray hairs, my teeth are ex-
cellent, my face has the same round,
rosy contour as on that day of my
death. Hausser himself says of the
herb: at is the fountain of youth;
yet, know not how to administer it.
l only dabble with it. Its effects
are never equal or constant. 1t pro-
duces a death-like trance, it arrests de-
cay and preserves the appearance of
youth. In your case, Elton, it nearly
caused idiocy. Six months of abnormal
action of the brain is too much. 1t
breaks down that divine structure. You
will die at last, Elton, as suddenly as
lamp goes out. There has been too
high tension of those fine strings call
ed nerves; they will snap suddenly
some day, but it will be painless. Com
fort yourself with that thought, and
don't dread the evil day" And yet,
says Hausser, looking at me in his in
Prospective way. "You may possibly
go on living forever. 1t is barely posi-
BILE that in the Hekka we have found
the old tree of life, and stumbled over
some life-giving sprout of the far-off
garden of Eve. Let me see," and he
gets down his charts and geography
and quadrant, with pencils and algebra,
81 sometimes think the historians have
made a mistake, and that the site of the
far-off garden may be here, at the foot
of the Himalayas, in the valleys of roses,
amid streams of crystal clear water. 1t
certainly" said Hausser, wiping his
spectacles, sis just the place Iwould
have chosen for Adam and Eve"
Hausser," said 1, al am glad that
although a great scientist and the most
learned man ever saw you believe in
the gods and the olden legends"
al cling to all golden legacies," said
Hausser, whether they be Hebrew,
Christian or Indian. All things that
are beautiful should be preserved. Sci
ence holds its own and fears no rivals.
l am immensely glad there is a prom
Use of immortality for the soul, for l
can finish my algebra. 1t is so vast a
work that l could not be sure of com
pleting it here, even were l to live a
hundred years"
Hausser," said one day, "did you
ever love any one-a woman l mean, of
course"
81 have loved the woman of my i'm
agination, Elton, with devotion-with
the ardor, as Aben Hamet said of his
love of Blanca, of the burning sun of
noon.' Ihave longed for her, but she
never came. Women have seen in me
only the grave, stern scholar devoted
to his insects and his algebra, to chem
istry and kindred pursuits"
"Describe to me the woman of your
imagination, Hausser."
"She is neither very tall nor very
short her hair is golden brown; her
eyes are brown or blue-I am not very
particular about that; her step is light,
her voice pleasant. She puts her arms
about my neck, lays her cheek against
nv grizzled beard and says: q love
you.' She is content with me. She
moves about our little rooms, wiping
the dust off the crocodiles or birds; she
busted herself copying the formulas.
Sometimes when my head aches she
lays her cold soft hand on my forehead.
She is useful; she prepares the food
with her own neat hand. She never
has any mind of her own, because l
happen to have enough for both. She
loves to stay at home and will not be
separated from me. She does not
grow old fast; her spirits are so serene.
When at last we do grow old together,
hers is golden age; for the wrinkles
on her face have grown out OF an IN
effable peace; they are the stamp and
image of her SOUL"
We sigh together-Noel and l.
care there any such for if there are,
Hausser, 1 should so much like to leave
all my property to endow home for
weak-minded women"
If my narrative seems fiippant, par
don it, my friend; it is my revenge for
life's infelicities. MarciG1,in the
Graphic. ...... =
A Singular Case.