The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1888-04-14

I
40 years. gazing intently upon the
! skull. What startled me so severely
/ was the fact that when ! had last seen
/ that man more than fifteen years since
II had seen him in exactly
such position, with precisely similar
surroundings. And yet, what diff
ference, Then he had just graduated
al the head of his class from our COL
lcge, and was looked upon as one Of the
most promising young physicians in the
country-now, he was helpless maniac!
'Ramsayi" | involuntarily queried,
only partially believing my own eye
sight. IIabcrshon nodded. "You need
not speak to him; he won't reply. 1t is
Just O. clock. lie will sit at that table
gazing at the old skull until daybreak
and then he will throw himself upon his
bed and sleep until noon. That's the
way he used to do, you know, and
humor him all can. Poor old Ramsay;
owe him a good deal, you know,
Hartly. You remember all about it2"
"Yes remember the story, though l
had almost forgotten it."
Ramsay, Habcrsho1 and myself were
all students together IN Philadelphia
Ne were in the same classes in college
! and jointly occupied the same suite of
rooms. Furthermore we were all max
ing specially of studying the human
brair, and the only point wherein we
materially differed from each other was
that Ramsay knew more than we two
fellows together.
True, Ramsay was, in regard to his
theories and speculations, what many
people would call a ''crank"-but then
successful cranks are esteemed to be
geniuses, and certainly Ramsay was, in
my Judgment, quite as near the one as
the other.
We three fellows all fitted in the
same social set, and although both Ram
say and Habershon knew good and
beautiful girls by the score, the fates
decreed that they should fall in love
with the same young lady. And yet,
strange enough, they never displayed
bad feeling toward each other, nor ever
sought to make the lady's position an
unpleasant one on account of the rivalry.
1t seemed to me, an onlooker, as though
there was tacit understanding between
them, that no undue influence should be
brought into play, but that, knowing
how both loved and admired her, the
object of their admiration and esteem
should bc left quietly to choose between
them.
Grace Thorney croft was most beau
tiiu! and estimabe girl and, though
have been an old bachelor all my days,
do not wonder that any man should
have sought her for his wife.
One day Grace, with her father,
mother and a brother, were down to
Atlantic City, where they took sail
boat and went out. A sudden squall
overtaking them the frail pleasure boat
was upset and Grace was the only men,
Der Of the party who escaped with her
life. She was picked up in a fain ting
condition and tenderly cared for. but
when restored, physically. it was found
that her mind was shattered-shc was
insane. All that wealth, combined with
skill, could do was done for Grace, but
it availed nothing and the physicians
and friends at last gave up the case as
hopeless. Habershon was himself al
most crazy with grief and could not
bear to 60 near the poor girl. As for
Ramsay, he shut himself up in his den
"a small, barely furnished room where
he was in the habit of pursuing his
studies and experiments. There was
determined expression on tho fellows
face and when 1 looked in on him
(Which was seldom he was always busy
with his papers and books-sometimes
engaged in dissecting the brains of dogs
and other animals, and once examining
a human brain.
He seldom spoke or even so much as
remarked my presence, though once he
said in an excited tone: 81 shall cure
her, Hartly-it shall be done at any
cost"
So for days and weeks he sat over
that bare pine table gazing at the skull
in front Of him-eyer and anon ranidlY