St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-11-13
and fed. 1 knew not where. with the speed

and fed, knew not where. with the speed
of an escaped malefactor
l shall never know where | ran. l passed
through streets where shops were beginning
to be opened in the bright morning sun;
people called to me, but | never stopped; L
leaped over gates and chased through the
rank grass of lonely meadows. There was
a dead stiffness at first in the air. and
thought | had escaped, but presently a
sound. at first no louder than the bay of a
Watchdog, seemed to gradually swell into
the clamor and cry of a vast pursuing mob.
could hear voices and the tramp of feet;
the wretches had dogs with them; they
were tracking me. How strange that
among them | seemed to specially distin-
guish the voices of DR.. Pledgett and his
daughter Nelly! What had they to do
there? / saw the mob breaking through a
distant orchard, and thought had beaten
them off like so many wild ours; but sud
denly in front of me, at a turning L could
not avoid, ran three men. They point to
dead. bleeding man lying on the ground. L
dash at them. There are blows that fall
crashing on my head, then there IS great
darkness.
When l awoke it was soft spring morn
ing; was in bed in a room | had never
seen before, Oh, so neat and trim! A
goldfineh was singing pleasantly at the
window, and there were bouquets of viOlets
Oh the white cloth of the dressing table. A
bright, rosy cloud rippled over the sky; a
! CHEEKY fire sent quivering up the chimney
/ its yellow flames, and made coy, mourn
/ full sound with its putting jets of gas. l
/ arose IN bed by great effort, for | was
very weak. and looked at myself in the
great toilet glass that faced the bed. / saw
not myself, but pale, hOllOw-faced, gaunt
old man. whose shaved head was bound in
wet bandages. 1t looked like that of Lag
arus when he assembled those steps that led
from the inner darkness.
| Suddenly the door opened, and who
should enter but my good friend Dr.. Pledg-
EFT! 1t was his house l was in. He smiled
when he saw me once more conscious. but
shook his finger when he observed that |
was trying to speak.
The rest may be told in a few words.
The long and the short of it was that had
had brain fever. The disease had broken
out the night of the charity dinner, as my
doctor had long expected. The severe
mental labor of that case Of "WormwOod
VS.. Widgett" had been too much for my
brain. Pledgett had. indeed, as he sat OPP
pOSite to me at dinner that eventful night.
seen premOnitOry symptoms of the disorder,
and had tried to follow my cab. By my
friends wish had been sent to his house
for the sake of greater attention.
OF my crazy d0ings that night, the less
said the better. They ended however, l
may mention, in my upsetting the cab my
self flor l had insisted on driving). in
dangerous place, and then stabbing the cab
man, whom | had mistaken for the ESCAPED
mailman. Luckily the wound. though it
bled severely, had not proved dangerous.
AS for myself, l had then fled from the
cabman, who had tried to take me safely
home, seeing l was delirous, and being
found in a field near ChSwick, was driven
to an hospital, from whence DR.. Pledgett
hearing of my detention, took me to his
own house.
L soon recovered, thanks to my kind doc
tor, but, alas! having before lost my senses.
l now lost my heart. L spent my long days
of cOnvalescence III wandering in the gar
den with Nelly, in practicng duets. and
reading TennySon. [ soon found it impos-
sible to be happy without her.
Tomorrow week, Nelly Pledgett. I am
proud and happy to say, becomes Mrs. Os-
bert Wilkinson. thanks to my imaginary
mad cabman and the yellow Cab No. 1876