The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1889-04-19

who by a remarkable effort had
calmed himself.
"Not if the subject is painful" En-
trefort said.
''It is not," protested Arnold;
'why do you thinl; the blow was
struck by woman?'
because, first, no man capable OF
being an assassin would carry SO
gaudy and valuable IL wenpon:
second, no man would be stupid ell
ougl to carry so antiquated and
inadequate u thing as IL stilctto,
when that most murdcrous and
satisfactory ofall penetrating and
cutting weapons, tho bowic.knife, is
happily available. She w;lsa strong
woman, too, for it requires n good
hand to drive a stilctto to theguard,
even though it miss the stcrnum by a
hair's-brcadth and slip between tn.
ribs, for the muscles here are SO hard
and the intercostal spaces narrow.
She was not only Il strong woman,
but Il desperate one also"
That will do" said Arnold. lie
beckoncd me to bend closer. "You
must watch this man; he is danger.
GUS"
"Then,.' resumed Entrefort, 81
shall tell you what | intend to do,
First, however, must congratulate
you on the fact, that, as the weapon
may not lie withdrawn, it did not
enter the heart instead of the aorta,
for if left in the heart inflammation
of the tissues would follow and pro.
dne death. The danger exists even
ms it is. There will undoubtedly be
inflammation OF the norta, which. il
it persist, will cause fatal ancurism
by the breaking down of the aortal
wallis; but We hope. with the help OF
your youth and health, to check il.
"Anotlcr serious difficulty is this:
With every inhalation the entire
thoraX Tor bony structure of the
chest) considerably expands. The
aorta remains stationary. You will
see, therefore, that as your aorta
and your breast are now held in re-
lation to each other by the rigid
stilctto, the chest, with every inllala-
tioE, pulls the aorta forward out OF
place about half IN inch. ! am ccr-
tain that il is doing this, because
there is no indication OF an escape OF
artcrial bloo,l into the tlor;,cic
cavity; in other words, the mouths
OF the two aortal wounds have seized
upon the blade will, IL firm hold, and
thus prevent it from slipping in and
out. This is Il very fortunate oc-
currencc, but one which will cause
pain for some time. The aortu,
you may understand, pulls the heart
backward and forward with every
breath you take, but that organ,
though now undoubtedly much sur
priscd, will acellstom itself to its
new condition.
"Whnt fear, however, is the form
ation OF ia eliot around the blade.
You see, the presence of the blade in
the aorta has already reduced the
blood-cnrrying capacity of that YES
sci; u clot, therefore, need
not he very large to stop
up the aortn, and of course il
that should occur death would cns,lc.
But the clot, il one form, may bedis.
lodged by the heart and driven for
ward, in which event it may lodge
in any one of the numerous branches
from the aorta and produce results
more or less serious. possibly fatal.
II, for instance, it should choke eli
ther the right or the left carotid
there would ensue atrophy OF one
side of the brain, and, consequently,
paralysis of half the entire body;
but it is possible that in time there
would come about n secondary cir
culation from the other side of the
brain, and thus restore IL healthy
condition. Or the other clot, which,
in passing always from lnrger artrr-
les to smaller, must nnavoidably
find one not large enough, to carry
it, and must lodge somewhere, may
either ncrrssitat" amputation OF one
of the four limbs or lodge itself so
deep within the body that it cannot
be reached with the knife. You are
beginning to realize some Oftllc dan
gers which await YOU"
Arnold smiled flintly.
"l'ut We shall do our best to pre-
vent the formation ot IL clot, con
tinued Entrcfnrt; "tllcm are drugs
which may he used with effect"
"Arc there more dangers"
"Many more; some of the more
serious have not been mentioned.
One of these is the liability of the
nortal tissues pressing upon the
weapon torelax their hold and allow
the blade to slip. That would let
out the blood and cause death. !
am uncertain whether the hold is
really maintained by pressure of the
adhesive quality of the serum
which was set free by the puncturc.
] am convinced, though. that i'm
either event the hold is easily broken,
and under several kinds of strains.
Every time the heart contracts and
crowds the blood into the aorta, the
latter expands u little, and tllcnron-
tracts when the pressure is removed.
Any unusual exercise or excitement
produces stronger and quicker
hcart-bcats and increases the
strain in the adhesion of the
aortn to the weapon. A fall, a jump.
n blow on the chest-nny of these
might SO jar the heart and ;,orta us
to break the hold
Entrefort stopped.
"ls that all?" asked Arnold.
NO; but is not that enougll?"
"Morc than enough" said Arnold
with n sudden and dangerous spark
lc in his eyes. Before any ofuscould
think, the desperate fellow had seized
the handle of the stilcttO with both
hands in a determined effort to with
draw il and die. had had no time
to order my faculties to the move
m"nt OF la muscle, when Entrcfort,
with Incredible nlrrtncss and swift
ness, had Arnol'l's wrists. Slowly
Arnold relaxed his hold.
There, now!!' said Entrpfort
soothingly; "thlt wls u careless act
and might have broken he adhesion!
You'll have to be careful"
Arnold looked at him with u curl
ous combination of facial express
sions.
"Dr. Entrefort - hc said