San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-07-21

spczuny q. vue 1890 -,-v sovHeu st mo
for q moment OF 30 without quailing:
then she sank back In her corner resumed
her apsthetic posture and sat gazing out
OF the window with the far away look In
her eyes as II no such person as myself
was In existence.
Poor girl" | thought. and began TO
wonder who or what she could be- and
how she came to DO travelling alone
Could she have escaped from an asylumf
II SO. how came she to be possessed Of
sufficient funds to procure railway
ticketr .F '.|# IIf EntH thft
I had had some experience In mad
cases." and ! knew that the most out
rageous ones are those where the patient
maintains an even sullenness of demeanor.
The girls case did not seem to me to be
one Of them. On the contrary. her sud
den change of mood when | angered her
seemed to Indicate 1t TO be case Of tenn
porary alteration OF mind, and conse-
quently a durable one.
looked at my watch. In q quarter Of
an hour we should be at Basingstoke
was In the very act of returning my watch
to my pocket, when my companion. with
a hooking laugh-the peculiar metallic
ring Of which it Is quite impossible to de-
Enthusiastically hurled herself upon me
with overwhelming force. broke the watch
from It's chain, and sent 1t spinning
through the window In another second
she was endeavoring to force herself also
through the window
Then commenced a terrible struggle Of
which even yet shudder to think. My
muscles were strained to their utmost
limit of tension. she perspiration poured
fnn ID falt
about to be wrenched from their sockets
And all this to restrain one of the sex COM
monty called the weaker" from self de-
struction
All this time the poor girl uttered no
sound that could give warning to the
guard or our fellow passengers of the ter
rible struggle for life or death that was
going on within few yards of them. As
for my own voice. the extraordinary
physical effort was making to restrain
the would-be suicide entirely prevented
my making the slightest use Of It But
Just as my powers were failing me. and !
felt that | could no longer prolong the
struggle, the train began perceptibly &c
Stacker speed
Thank heaveni Basingstoke at last.
What followed Is easy to relate. OF
course assistance was at hand, and the
unfortunate young lady was removed TO
a place of safety From; letters which we
found on her and some articles Of jewelry.
which we advertised. We speedily dis
covered her friends Naturally |. as q
medical man. would not lose sight OF her
till had discovered them.
The patient proved &c be member Of
| a German family. naturalized In England.
who was subject to periodical attacks OF
mental aberra tioL, but had never actually
been In an asylum.
During the attacks, which invariably
came on without any warning, &C that It
was difficult to watch her. she was seized
with q restless desire to wander over the
country, and 1t appeared had merely &C.
lected the Southwestern line because 1t
happened TO be the nearest to her owl
| home
She had been SO long without an attack
that her mother and sisters had, OF the
previous night, ventured to go to an
evening party leaving Lolita fast asleep
In bed at home During their absence
she eluded the vigilance Of the servants,
| got up and dressed herself, walked about
| for some time. and took q ticket for the
early Portsmouth mail--at least. that was
what she imagined. and told Us, on her
recovery Her memory, however, was
very imperfect. but the poor child must
certainly have walked about the streets
for some time prior to the departure Of
the express ..f ~ s# "a
1t was natural that, under the circum
stances-I have already stated that had
had considerable experience In such cases
her friends should ask me to endeavor
| a cure.
undertook 1t and entirely succeeded
And also | undertook and succeeded In
something else.
1t is my wife who is looking over my
shoulder as ! write, and who says:
My dear the maddest act Of all my
| life was when - .=.a#.
But here | stop.-An The Year Round