Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-01-25
ADOCTOR'S STORY
BY ASHLEY H. BALDWIN.

hSllWdy W |ISIl d llleliu aiiu lolnlel pa
tent resident at Portsmouth. It is not
often that a medical man gets holiday,
ard but for the kindness ola fellow-prac-
titioner IN making my practice for fort
night, should not have had this oppor-
tunity of enjoying the sea-breezes.
The train by which 1 star ted was an
early one, and, having procured my
ticket, l took my place IN a second-class
carriage, and lit my cigar, for it was
smoking carriage. On entering it, l was
surprised-and l think, naturally SOTO
find the further corner of it occupied by
lady.
"Oho" said I, inwardly; 'seme fast
American demoiselle who desires to in
dulge in a cigarette
On observation, however, it appeared
TO me that the features ofmy fellow-trav
eler did not bear upon them that i'm
preston Of cuteness which marks Ameri-
can nationality. She had soft brown
ewes, full, round face, and a profusion
of chestnut hair She was dressed in a
plain gay travelling suit, bound with
white braid, and wore straw hat.
Maybe German" l soliloqulzed;
'they are terrible smokers"
Bnt again it occurred to me that pos
sibly the young lady might be neither
American or German, but had got into
the carriage without noticing that It was
one reserved for smokers. Under this
impression, 1 bowed slightly to her say
ing:
II tear my cigar may annoy you. Per
haps you are not aware that this is a
smoking-compartment2'
"Oh yes" she answered, with slight
German accent; Eyes, yes, yes, yes"
There was something peculiar IN her
slow, deliberate utterance, and the four
times-repeated monosyllable. There was
dreamy look, too, in the speakers eyes,
as if her mind was pre-occupied. How
ever, the train was now In motion, and
had nothing for it but to enscouce my
self in my corner, look out of my window,
and take birds eye view OF the sur
rsunding house-tops.
For ahort time this was well enough !;
but began at last to weary of the mo-
notony of such an amusement, We Eng
lishmen, as rule, are so reserved and
unsociable that we shrink into ourselves,
and every fresh addition to the occupants
of railway carriage or an omnibus is re-
ceived with black looks and a sort of
tacit intimation that he has no right
whatsoever to enter. Now l am free to
confess that, whatever my failings, want
Of soclability is not one of them, and l
determined to try and engage my COM
panion In little conversation. There
could be no improperly in a man OF my
age Il was thirty eight endeavoring to
beguile the tedium of long journey by
conversing with fellow traveller, a
young girl-posslbly schoolgirl-and
possibly not out of her teens. 1t was
therefore, with an almost paternal feel
ing that I addressed her.
"There are not many passengers by
this train" l remarked.
1.-TWO thousand and three" was the
answer that started my equanimity.
looked at the speaker to find mis-
chievous smile dancing in her eyes or
lurking at the corner of her mouth. Moth
ing of the sort. She was perfectly seri-
Gus, even stern, and her eyes had still
the same dreamy, faraway look in them.
Every absent-minded, or else in love
/ thought 70 myself. However 1 tried
again.
II think we shall have fine day for
our Journey" ventured to remerk.
She, turned upon me with that despair
ing, yet restless look that We see tn a
trapped rat.
allow you talk, talk, talkr' she sid,
indignantly.
s.But | demonstrated.
care you madl" she screamed, III a
tone of such intensified shrillness, and
with such an awful hungry look in her
eyes, that the truth at once flashed upon
me like an inspiration.
She was mad!
Medical man as am, feeling of hor-
ror ovcrcame me when l rehedted that
was shut up alone in carriage of train,
travelling at express speed, with a luna
tic. True, l was a strong man, she only
girl. But it is inconceivable what ex-
IRENE strength is possessed by many OF
the insane. l have known woman thus
afflicted require two, and even three pow
erfui men to restrain her during one of
her paroxysms.
However, endeavored to keep as cool
as possible as 1 looked the young girl
steadily in the face. She looked at me
for minute or so without quailing;
then she sank back in her corner, re-
sumed her apathetic posture, and sat
gazing out of the window, with the far
away look in her eyes, as if no such per-
son as myself was in existence.
"Poor GIRL" 1 thought; and 1 began
to speculate who and what she could be,
and how she came to be travelling alone.
Could she have escaped from an asylum2
If so, how came she to he possessed of
sufficient funds to procure a railway
ticket2 had some experience in mad
cases." and I knew that the most out
rageous ones are those where the patient
maintains an even sullen demeanor. The
girls case did not seem to me to be one
of them. On the contrary, her sudden
change of mood when angered her
seemed to indicate it to be case OF tenn
porary alienation of mind, and conse-
quently a durable one.
looked at nv watch In quarter