Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-09-04

leu face, and looking QUO Of the window
saw the snow still falling. Would my mes
senger ever be able 10 reach town; II he dc
%, would be be able to Teturnl l was bound
TO have q woman's aid The presence Of th,
toughest daughter Of the pillow would b,
welcome 20 me when Philippe awoke. AND
Il was now tins she did 50.
Although l felt her pulse almost every
other minute, and could find no reason fol
alarm, l am bound to say that her long
sleep. protracted far beyond any I had Il
my experience seen produced by the exhibi.
ton Of narcotics, rendered me very uneasy.
! shall, | am sure, scarcely be credited wher
say that Philippa's Inconsistencies lasted
for 10 hours-from $50 at night 10 100 or
the following afternoon. l began then e
think the duration abnormal, and deter.
mined to take SOM steps towards arouslns
her.
But / was spared the responsibility. She
stirred on the couch. Her turned languidly
on the pillow. Her dark eyes opened,
closed, and opened again. She looked al
me in a dazsd manner. not at first seeming
to know me, or to understand why | was
near her, or where she was. A prey to the
widest anxiety, LEANED over her and waited
until she spoke.
Little by little her bewilderment seemed
to leave her. Her eyes rested with curious
inquiry upon mine. Basil, " she said family,
but in a tone Of surprise, '.you herel Where
am L"
"Under my roof-your brothers roof" 1
said.
"Ahi l remember" she said, with q deep
sigh. Then she closed her eyes, and once
more seemed to sleep.
What did she remember2 1t seemed to
me too great a mercy to expect that those
hours Of oblivion had effected a cure, but
my hope was that she did not remember
what had happened when she met Sir Mer-
vyn Ferrand on the road. l was almost
trembling with excitement. was longing
to really know In what state her mind was.
Besides, | thought she had slept as long as
was good for her. l took her hands and
called her by name.
Once more she opened her eyes. They
expressed no fear Of me, no dislike TO me.
They conveyed nc reproach. They were
calm, sad, weary, but gave no evidence of
any mental disorder.
Have l been i'll long, Basilg' she asked.
mot very long. You are going to get
better soon"
II came to your house, did l notg'
Eyes; and here mean to keep you. Do
you feel weakq'
Very weak. Basil, l have dreamed such
horrible things"
"You have 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 l heard
her faint but collected words. l ventured
to hope that had before me one Of those
very rare cases-such as | had seen de-
scribed, but had not as yet met ~with-where
the patient awakes from a long, a~rti6cially-
produced sleep perfectly free from all
maniacal symptoms. II this were so with
Philippe, if the return of reason were to be
permanent, l knew that a few weeks care
full nursing and judicious treatment might
quite restore her to health. Even as thia
comforting thought CAM 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 done her.
She was now fully awake, and perfectly
quiet. / gave her some refreshment; Their
seeing she was lying in peaceful silence, !
thought it better to leave her. AS l quilted
her room Idrew down the blind, fearing
that 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 apa.
thetic. did nothing to rouse her. ! went
to her side as seldom as possible. l feared
that her seeing me might recall the eventl
Of the last night, and that recollections Sc
awakened might destroy all the good which
l felt sure had been accomplished by tn,
long hours of oblivion and quiet. Could
have deputed my task to another, l would
not have even shown myself to my patient
Most anxiously, as evening came, l awaited
the appearance Of my faithful William anC
the nurses.
Would they be able to reach us in sucl
weather2 1t was still showing iercely. FoI
more than twenty-four hours the mad white
revel had continued without intermission
Indeed, that storm which burst upon tn,
world as l turned from Philippa's house OF
the preceding night is now historical; it wa
the beginning Of the heaviest and longes
fall which the record of fifty years can show
For two nights and a day the snow cam
down in what may almost be called driftin,
masses. During that dismal day l saw from
the window the heaps against the wall groy
/ Ann~o~ onA daanaH and avan ~. ,,,xv 49,
pied state Of mind found myself marvellinI
at the sustained fury of the storm.
At II o'clock at night l sadly gave up al
hope of the much needed assistance arriving
After all, it seemed hat William had fount
1t impossible TO fight against the weather
so l made my preparations for another nigh
Of solitary watchfulness. | was all but wori
out with fatigue; yet l dared not sleep. 1
the mania returned, what might happier
were not at hand to restrain Philippa'
a%ctionsl My hope that the madness haC
really left my patient, not, If she were prop
erly treated, to return, was a growing one
but not ySt strong enough to allow me t,
leave her Tor any length Of time.
My delight then may be imagined when
looking for the hundredth time up the road
Isaw close at hand two flashing lights, ant
knew that William, the faithful, had don
my bidding. In a few minutes two respect
able women from one Of the best Of tn
London nursing institutions were within m,
walls.
The train had. Of course, been late, YER
late. At one or two places on the lin
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 die
get to Roding. There William, KNOWN,
my dire necessity, offered such a m~agnihcen'
bride that he soon found an enterprisins