, 1884-12-24

ureaued, her awakening. when the effects
of the opiate were gone, how should ! find
bert Alasl l knew that the chances were a
thousand TO one that her brain would still
be full OF strange delusions; that she would
turn from me, as she turned last night, with
loathing and anger-But my greatest fear
was that she would. upon coming TO herself,
or rather to her poor insane self. lie conscious
OF the act she had accomplished 1t was The
fear OF this which made inc wish that the
opium would hold hor in its drowsy grasr
for hours ldnger.
This wish was granted. Hoar after hour
/ sat by her motionless form. Now aud
again ! glanced from the beautiful, sense
less face. and looking out OF the window
saw the snow still falling. Would my mes
senger ever DO able 10 reach town; n no did
so. would he DO able TO returnl | was bound
to have a womnn's aid. The presence OF tho
toughest daughter of the pillow would bs
welcome to me when Philippe awoke. And
1t was now TINA she did 30.
Although ! felt her pulse almost every
other minute, AMI could find no reason for
alarm, l am bound 10 say that her long
sleep. ~protractod far beyond any l had In
my experience soon produced by the oxhibi-
tion Of narcotics. rendered me very uneasy.
] shall. ] am sure, scarcely DO credited when
l say that Philippa's Inconsistencies laste1
lbI ~ bDuIa-lIOm 1.oU Ut night 70 LOU on
tho following afternoon / began then to
think the duration abnormal. and deter
mined 10 take some steps towards a~rousing
her.
But | was spared tho responsibility. She
stirred on the couch. Her turned languidly
on the pillow. Her dark eyes opened.
closed, and opened again. She looked at
me In a dhzsi manner not at first seeming
to know me, or 10 understand why ! was
near her, or where she was A prey 10 tho
widest n~nxiety. LEANED over her and waited
until she spoke.
Little by little her be wilderment seemed
to leave her. Her eyes rosted with curious
inquiry upon mine. Basil, - she said family.
but in n tono OF surprise. you heroi Where
am iF'
'Under my roof-your brothers. roof,H /
said.
"Ahi ! remember" sho said, with a deep
sigh. Then she closed her eyes, and once
more seemed to sleep.
What did she remomberi II seemed to
mo too great n mercy to expect that those
hours OF oblivion had effected n cure, but
my hope was that she did not remember
what had happened when sho met Sir Nor
vyn Ferrand on tho road. / was almost
trembling with oxcitement | was longing
to really know in whit state her mind was.
@NHa'Nol q tAtthAN ahR AhAA mp - Aeh6 ~
wa good for her. | took her hands and
called her by name.
Once more she opened her eyes They
expressed no fear OF mo, no dislike to me.
They conveyed no rJproach. They were
calm. sad, weary, but gave no evidences Of
any mental disorder.
"Have been III long, Basilr' she asked.
Not very long. You are going to get
better SOON
81 came TO your house, did | notf"
yes; and here l mean to keep you Do
you feel weakr'
VERY weak. Basil, l have dreamed such
'You AVE been feverish and delirious.
People like that always fancy strange
things."
She was, indeed, as weak as a child; but
for the time, at least, she was perfectly
sane. ! could have cried for joy as | heard
her faint but collected words. | ventured
TO hope that | had before me one OF those
very raro cases-such as ! had seen de-
hcribed, but had not as yet met with-whero
the patient awakes from a long, artlhciaIly-
produced sleep perfectly FREQ from all
maniacal symptoms II this were so with
Philippa, IL the return OF reason wero to be
permanent, l knew that IA few weeks care
full nursing and judiclous treatment might
quite restore her TO health. Even as this
comforting thought came TO me, l remem-
bered the peril in which she stood. To
~morrow-aye, even to-day-the thing which
l dreaded might happen, and sweep away
all the good the narcotic had Iona her.
She was now fully awake, and perfectly
quiet. | gave hor some refreshment; then
seeing sho was lying in peaceful silence, /
thought 1t better to leave her. As / quilted
her room l drew down tho blind. fearing
hat the whirling snow might bring recol-
lections which It was my one wish to Keep
from invading her mind,
The long. dreary day wore away. The
light faded, and another night began. Phi
lippa still lay calm, silent, and almost npa-
thetic. l did nothing to rouse her. I went
to her side us seldom as possible. feared
that her seeing me might recall the events
of the last night, and that recolloctions 80
awakened might destroy all tho good which
l felt sure had been accomplished by the
long hours Of oblivion and quf5t. Gould /
have deputed my task to another, | would
not ave even shown myself to my patient.
Most anxiously, as evening came, l awaited
the appearance Of my faithful William and
the nurses.
Would they be able to reach us in such
weather. II was still showing fercely. For
more than twenty-four hours the mad white
revel had continued without intermission.
Indeed, that storm which burst upon tho
world as | turned from Philippa's house on
the preceding night is now historical; It WINS
the beginning of the heaviest and longest
fall which tho record OF fifty Yeas can show.
For two nights and a day the snow came
down in what may almost DO called drifting
masses. During that dismal day l saw from
the window tho heaps against the wall grow
deeper and deeper, and even in my prooccu-
- -t.t.. - .,E,l f,..I ...rnlf ..--..na--
at the sustained fury OF the storm
At II O'Clock at night ] sadly gave up all
hope Of the much needed assistance arriving.
After all, it seemed that William had found
it impossible TO fight against the weather
so / made my preparations for another night
of solitary watchfulness. | was all but worn
out with fatigue; yet l dared not sleep. II
the mania returned, what might happen
we're | not at hand to restrain Philippa,s
a%ctionsi My hope that the madness had
really left my patient, not, II she were prop
erly treated, TO return. was a growing one,
but not yet strong enough to allow me to
leave her for any length of time. ia.
My delight then may be imagined when,
looking for the hnndrodth time up the road.
l saw close at hand two flashing lights. and
knew that William. the faithful, had done
my bidding. In a few minutes two respect
able women from one OF the best of the
London nursing institutions were within my
walls.
The train had. of course. been late, very
late. At ono or two places on the lin Q
it had almost given up the battle, and set
tied down quietly until dug out; but steam
and iron had conquered, and at last it did
get to Roding. Them William, knowing
my dire necessity, offered such a magnificent
bride that he soon found an enterprising
carriage proprietor who was willing to mako
the attempt to force two horses and a car
riage over six miles Of road bot tween Roding
and my house. The attempt was successful,
although the rate Of progression was slow
and William triumphantly ushered bis
charges into my presence
After giving them time for rest and re-
freshment l explained the nature OF the
case, sat out tho trentmont ! wished 20 b.
a-rt.a - th.u III No., - phut--- 4