The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1888-04-12

''Ramsay1" I invoIuntarily qucried,
only partially believing my own eye
sight. Habcrshon nodded. ''You need
not speak to him; he wont 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 l can. Poor old Ramsay
l owe him a good deal, you know,
Hartly. You remember all about it2"
eyes I remember the story, though I
had almost forgotten it,
Ramsay, Habcrsh0a and myself were
all students together in Philadelphia.
We were in the same classes in college
and jointly occupied the same suite Of
rooms. Furthermore we were all max
ing a speciality of studying the human
brain, 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 specuIations, what many
people would call ''crank"-but then
successful cranks arc esteemed to be
gcniuses, 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 IIabcrshon knew good and
beautiful girls by the score, the fatcs
! dccreed 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, al onlookcr, as though
there was a 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 be left quietly to choose between
them
Grace Thornoycroft was most beau
tjlul and estimabIe girl and, though I
have been an old bachelor all my days,
l do not wonder that any man should
have sought her for his wife
One day Grace, with her father,
mother and brother, were down 20
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 faintin g
| condition and teaderiy cared for, but
when restored, physically, it was found
that her mind was shattered she was
insane. All that wealth, combined with
skill could do was done for Grace, but
it availcd nothing and the physicians
and friends at last gave up the case as
hopeless. Haber5hon was himself al
most crazy with grief and could not
bear to go near the poor girl. As for
Ramsay, he shut himself up in his den
a small, barely furnished room whore
he was in the habit of pursuing his
studies and experiments. There was a
determined expression on the fellow s
face and when l 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 g
a human brain.
He seldom spoke or even so much as
remarked my presence, though once he
said in an excited tone: Il 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-ever and anon rapidly
penciling dia- rams of the human brain
and of the nervous system,
Late one evening | was sitting with
Habershon VIXEN there came rap at
the door and Ramsay entered. He was
very quiet, but knowing him as well as
1 did l could tell he had something
beyond the ordinary on his mad.
Boys, he said, Il think I have
found what have been searching for
think 1 can cure Grace. | say think,
because, after all, it is only a theory of
mine and may utterly fail, but l think
not. Perhaps you say | should not
theorizc and experiment on a woman
whom, as you know, 1 love. Well, it
won't do any harm to her and it may
do her all possible good. Tomorrow
morning I shall try to do th3 work."
Then turning more particularly to
Habershon, he continued: ed, you
and 1 both love Grace Thorneycroft
Now, in the presence of Hartly, here I
want you to promise me that, whatever
the consequences of my operation, you
will care for Grace as long as she lives,
and, if necessary, care for me, too"
think nelthel Habershon or myself
understood the purport OF these words,
when they were spoken, though their
meaning was clear enough later on.
However, Habershon gave the request
ed promise and we parted for the