St. Landry democrat., 1878-09-21

the feeling of fear, ashamed of my weak
ness.
I advanced to the door and knocked
, but there was no answer. Again
knocked, but there still being DO reply
| turned the handle of the door an
opened it.
The room itself was a wretched one
not ten or twelve feet square, with onl,
a wall On three sides; on the other, tn
ratters of the roof ran up and joinet
them, while its only light came from
diamond'paned easement, 80 thick will
accumulated dust and dirt that tn,
dawn could scarcely struggle through
/ saw this at glance, but what I die
not see was the patient whom I was su m
moned to attend. There was certainly
no woman there-only a man who sat or
the edge of truckle bed, which was The
only piece of furniture in the room. HI
had q pipe in his mouth, and sat in {
sort of meditative attitude, with hi
back toward me, one elbow resting or
his knee, and he did not even stir as
opened the door.
Il beg your pardon" began, to at
tract his attention but he made no sigr
that he heard me.
repeated the words with similar
result, and, beginning to grow curiou:
as to the cause of his insensibility,
stepped forward so as to place myself
before him
Even as l did so my professional
eye told me the cause of his silence
for, as he sat there in his half-couch.
ing attitude, with his long disordered
hair thrown back from his almost
livid face, with one hand thrust into
his pocket, as though concealing some
thing, and his teeth clenched upon the
stem of his short, black pipe, his hollow,
sunken eyes looked at me with the livid
glare of madness.
A sense of the full extent of my peril
came to me in an instant, and fear,
such as l have seldom felt before or since,
almost overpowered me. I was alone
with mad man in this vile place, where
any call for assistance would be worse
than useless. More than this, it was
evident that the maniac, with the pre~
ternatural dunning that accom- panies his
malady, had decoyed me here for some
purpose of his own. Even his seeming
deafness had been a ruse, for now that
my change of position placed him be-
tween me- and the door, he rose and lock,
ed it, took the key from the lock and
sent it crashing through the glass of the
window into the street below.
With an effort I shook off the terrified
feeling that had come upon me, for I
knew my only hope lay in not allowing
him to perceive that I feared him.
"Wbat is the meaning of this %
asked, in naughty manner, taking a
step or two toward him. "Open that
door instantly, and let me go out. This
is not the room I expected to come to"
Unlike any other mailman I had ever
seen, he did not attempt to evade my
eye. He made step toward me, and
seized the lapel of my coat.
81 know that, DOCTOR" he said, with a
hoarse sort of chuckle; but it is just where
[ meant you should come. You must for-
give me the deception, but it was the only
way | could get to see you, and see you I
must. I have heard of You in the hos
pitfalls, and you reminded me of what l
was myself before-ah-h"
His voice died away into a sort OF gurg>
ling sound, and he clutched fiercely at
bis breast with his right hand, as if some
sudden paiu had struck him, while the
CLEAN in his eyes became even more
fierce than before.
eyes" he went on, II was once like
you. While I was still hoy L could
perform such difficult operations as the
most skilllul of our professors would say
t was impossible to do. Every one said
would one day be a shining light of
science, and SO I would have done. But
made a discovery that would nave
evolutionized the whole practice of sur
sery and medicine-that would have
changed the whole principle of animal
ite !"
He drew himself up to his full height,
md stepped back pace to see the effect
# his words upon me. I knew his mood |
would change at any moment, and all I |
ould do was to humo- him.
'You interest me-" I said. eco on"
"Would you know what it was? I |
vas to give man two fountains of life |
instead of one; it was to make the force
f any any animated being SO strong and
ich that it could not be destroyed it |
vas to raise the human race, to elevate |
unto race of demi-gods. l could
ave done it, too. did do it, snd I
old my friends whom I trusted, |
nd 40 envy Of my genius seiz-
d upon them, and they shut me
p in mad-house for years., the dis
overer, beside whom Harvey's discovery
the circulation of the blood was but q
otion to please child-shut up with
riveling idiots in mad-house."
"But," said, seeing q maniac's fury
as beginning to overpower him at the