, 1885-02-01

t-tf-t
Good heavens, what weathsrl The bells
Of saint rhildlene sway 70 and fro under the
headiong fury OF the storm, an ominous por
tent, as We know. But DR.. Trifulgas
eschews all superstitious notions The fact
Is be believes in nothing at all, not even his
own sniauce for what it brings him
in. What weather, to be SURE, and what a
roads Nothing but shinsls and siag-ths
shingles slippsry like ssa-wesd, and the
Stag crisp as clinker- And no other light
to sec by than a trsmnious flicker from
Hurrofs lantern. At times strange, fan
tastic figures seem to toss In the flames that
swell from the mouth Of the Vangsor.
There Is really no telling what lies at the
bottom Of those inscrutabis cratsrs Per
haps the souls Of the Underworld, that vola-
tflize on reaching our atmosphere
Ths doctor and the old bag follow thu llna
OF coast that runs In aud out OF the small
bays along the shore. The sea Is Of n nvid
whiteness, and sparklea as its biIlows hurtle
the phosphorsscsnt fringe Of surf that seomz
10 pour wave on wave OF giow-wor1ns up on
the beach.
Thus both rush on till they reach a bend In
the road between two swelling downs, where
the broom and sea-rushes clash their blades
toge Their. like 80 many bayonets.
1he dog has drawn nearer 10 bis master,
and seems to say:
swell. what think you'll A hundred and
twenty fretzen 70 place under lock and key
In the safei That's the way to build up a
fortmei It's another piece Of ground.added
TO tho vine enclosursi Another dish added
TO the evening meali Another bowl Of food
for faithful Hurzofi Nothing like attending
rich patients and loosening their purse
strine45
At this point the old woman stopped She
directed a finger. which shook like age,
toward n rcd Light some way oil in the
gloom-ths houss Of Wort Kartif, the crack
nal-maker.
~TheroF laconically put in the doctor.
yes" responded the crone.
Just thon the Vnngior, vibrnting to It's
foundations with n noise like thunder threw
up a mass OF fuliginous flame, that mounted
TO the zenith and rent the clouds Doctor
Trifnigas was thrown 10 the ground by the
force OF the conclusion Rsgaining his foot
ing, he swore like n Christian, and looked
around. Tho beldam was gone. She must
have fallen through some deep crovasse in
tho ground, or taken flight on the floating
fog clouds of ocean Tho dog, however, was
still there, upright on his launches, his
mouth wide opon, and tho light OF the
lantern blown out
Never mind; let's go on mumbled DR..
Trifulzas. The honest mar has pocketed
> . > .
A solitary light is alone visible in the dis
lance half a kertse away. 1t is doubtless the
lamp Of the dying, or, perchance dead man,
and yonder must DO tho overwhelmingly
house. There can DO no mistake, tho old bag
pointed II out And 70 saying. with the
-. - a. as.-.- 4. Il -. 49, nNlf-
gns hurries on toward tho house, which
standing alone in the midst of a wide heath,
Is more distinctly perceptible rs the way
farer approaches.
II Ia a singular and noteworthy fact TO OBJ
serve bow much the house Of the crnchnel-
maker looks like the doctors Six-Four, at
Luktrop; there Il the anne Arrangement In
the front windows, and the little vaulted
door at the side. Doctor TrifulRas strides
on as fast as tho driving gusts Of
wind and rain will permit He reaches the
door, which Is ajar, pushes 1t open, enters,
and the blast closes 1t behind him with a
bang The dog outside howis or Is silent, by
turns, like choristers chanting the verses OF
a Forty Hours psalm
How very strangel One might almost DO
led 10 suppose that DR.. Trifulgns had come
back to his own house. But this cannot be.
Hotook no wrong turning on tho road, nor
did he lose his way. No, he Is certainly at
Val-Karniou, and not at Luktrop Yet how
comes it his eye dwells on the same, low,
vaulted corridor, the same winding staircase,
and the samo massive wooden railing, hand
worn like his owns He ascends, and stops on
the landing. A faint light comes from UNI
der the door, as at the Six-Four.
IL Il a snare or a delusicni By the weak
glimmer OF the lamp, he vaguely recognizes
his own room-there the yellow sofa: there.
on the right, the old oaien chest; and there,
on the left, the iron-girt safe, in which he
had thought Of placing his 100 fretzers.
Yonder is his armchair with its leather tas-
sells. his table with Its convoluted legs upon
II, BY tho pickering lamp, his own Codex,
open at page 1877.
~What ails mein mur1murs the doctor.
What ais theel Why, thou art palsied with
fright The eyoballs start from their sock
cts. The body contracts and dwindles In
size. An icy sweat ehills thy skin. on which
namoleas horrors seem 10 creep
Quick, or the lamp. for want of oil, will go
out, and the sick man die. Ay, tho bed Is
there-his own. with It's pillows and balda-
quin-a bed as long as It Is broad, n the
closed curtains with their large inwrought
flowers Can this indeed be the bed OF a
poor cracknel-makori Trembling. the doctor
draws near, pulls the curtains aside, and
| peers within.
There, outstretched on his dying bed, lies
the sick man, with his head outside the
co~unterpane and motionloss, like ono about
10 breathe his last The doctor bends for
ward
All what CHASTITY scream Is that which
rends the air, and is taken up by tho dog
outside with bis sinister howlingi It is not
Wort Kartif, the cracknelmaker, who is the
dying man, but he. tho doctor, Doctor Trf-
I fnlraa ItsnnnIfI 10 runo L. nM-tfe-. 49,. ..ith
| brain fever-he and no other. Full well he
knows the symptoms Il Is cerebral apo
plexy, with sudden accumulation Of serosity
IN tile cavities OF the brain. and partial par
nlysn OF the body on the sido opposite that
where the lesion oxistz Ay, It was for him
that assistance was besought. that 100 fret
zors were paidl He who. In the hardness OF
his heart had refused to attend the poor
crackneL makeri It Is ho now that is dying.
DR.. Trifulgns raved like a maniac. The
symptoms increased every minute. Not only
wers all the functions OF relation dead In
him. but the beatings Of his heart were
nearly gone, like the breath OF his lungs
Yet be had not lost all consciousness OF his
Desperate strait
What shall he dol Diminish the mas Of
the blood by blecdingE There must be nc
hesitation, or DIR. Trifulgas Is q dead man.
Phiebotomy was stin practiced In Volsipla,
and there. as here. the doctors rescued iron.
apoplexy all those who were not 70 die from
it, effects.
Dr. Trifulgas soizsd bis case Of instru-
ments. took his lancet, and punctured the
vein on his duplicate self. No blood, how
ever, spurted from the wound He rubbed
with all his might the chest Of tho dying
one, but he found that the puisntlon- Of his
own heart diminished: he burnt the Others
feet with hot bricks but felt his own feet
growing cold-
Suddenly his duplicate starts mp in his ini.
struggles wildly In the last throes OF shs
pended breathing. a rattla " heard in hi.