Kimball enterprise. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1883, 1883-04-27
Mysterious Disappearance.

"A Mysterious Disappearance.
l am u physician, and among my pa-
tlents number the wife of a deceased
army officer. Tie generals wife was n
case of nervous debility. She had, 50 to
speak, al geniusfor nervousness; her BODY
like her soul, vibrated at a touch, like n
delicate stringed instrument under a
Skilled masters hand. She was an ex-
cellent wife, and she adored a second
husband, whom she married soon after
the death of the general, whose title the
world still c%ontinuedt to give her.
She worshipped the last husband, but.
unfortunately, the unworthy scamp
much younger than his wiie-in no way
deserved the self-sacriliaing tenderness
and the loving solicitude with which She
treated him. Whenever and wherever
an inducement Offered, he stole awav
from their elegant home, ind spent the
night rs we'll as bis wife's money in dis
sipation.
The wife's sorrow and despair were
boundless, all the more as the frivolous
youth, who had every reason to avoid an
open rupture, knew how to preserve ap-
Npearances with an inexhaustible store of
indisputable e%vasions and excuses. He
lied and cheated with the thorough
adroitness and untiring attention of a
man to whom fraud and a~rtifice Welded
q yearly income of many thousands.
Thus she was absolutely unable to get
any proof of his uniidelily.. Nevertne-
less, her unerring feminine instinct told
her that her husband deceived her and
to entirely unsettle her highly nervous
organization.
Moreover, she put his different state
ments together and discovered contra
Observation-Disclosures. Then the poor
woman shed bitter tears and sobbed in
heart-breaking fashion, and became SO
miserable that she was not ashamed,
under the circumstances, to consult me,
her family physician and trusted adviser.
At first | strove to calm her in the usual
way, by lying.
But, alas! l soon saw these innocent
%expedients were not sufficient. So the
generals wife often sat for hours in ny
study, crying, and wringing her hands
with incessant grief. One day she sat
on the sofa, her head buried in her
hands, groaning and moaning in agony
of soul. Without design beyond trying
to soothe her, i smoothed her forehead
several times with my hand, and saw,
to my great surprise, the sobbing wo-
man become quiet, i%nvoluntsrily let her
hands fall to her side, draw regular
breath, and soon fall into a deep sleep.
My establishment merged in joy, for the
poor woman with her grief had become
q little troublesome. Therefore, I or
dered my servant to roll the sofa on
which she slumbered into the next room.
After q while. / awakened her by blow
ing in her face, and told her she had
"Ah!" she answered; "that has done
me a world Of good. I feel, indeed, that
you are right, doctor. Probably I have
been a fool to suspect my good husband"
She gratefully pressed my hand. and de-
parted, hopefully smiling.
About a month afterward, the coupe
of the generals wife stopped again be-
fore my door, and the poor wife sat
with weeping eyes in my study. Re-
newed groans, renewed tears. I told
her to 60 to the little room. l made the
same passes lightly over her brow as on
the former occasion, and she slept again
in a moment. Again she awoke in a
calmer state, and fastened to her hus-
band. She repeated her call quite fire.
quent!y.
One day the generals wife came to
me unusually agitated. and confessed
with tears that her husband had not
come home the previous night. My Of
fee hours were nearly over; my waiting
oom was thronged. I gently led her
into the little room, and put herto sleep
az usual, locked the door, and went
back to my studies. My servant brought
in IN urgent dispatch. A Brazilian
surgical operation must be performed,
and they honored me with q request
that l should perform it. The steam
ship would leave Bordeaux the next
morning. To catch the night train |
must start at once. I excused myself to
my patients. 1 quickly packed all the
necessary instruments and books, bought
a ticket, and soon left Paris far behind.
The train was late; the steamer was
waiting for us. ! was scarcely on deck
before the signal for departure sounded,
and We were moving. l went at once to
my cabin, unpacked my scientific works,
and lost myself in reading Thought of
the great honor fallen to my share, and
alternated between hope and fear as to
the success of the operation. Wearied
Will uuc udy > CACitChlClt, l NClO cdlty
to sleep, and did not wake till morning.
l went on deck. The captain approach
ed me.
"We seem to have come a good way,
capt4in?"
-Four hundred miles," was his an
swer.
"And where do you interd to stop on
the way?:"
UNowhera We ca directly to Rio de
Janeiro. A thirty-six days voyage lies
before u.s." A steamer went much slow
err in those days than now.
"Thirty-six days!!,' 1 cried, mechani-
oally. "No trifle that, captains, a long
time-a very, very long time indeed"
l looked thoughtfully at the play of
the waves. A dark presentiment sud-
generals wife-the generals wife in q
complete catolepsy-the generals wife
locked in the little room which my
people entered, the key of which
I carried with me!
Captain" I cried. lifting my hands