The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-06-06

r1isohief setup in ai7e brain hythe aesideat
| IA ths Aims. To this d.. Benson esnE not
sgFea, his great exyorieEce in these cases
leading hiIa to exRsct syMptons which
were eensBieHens by their absence In Dr..
GabFisis misfortune.
'Thareas renarIzable mental condition
here" added the deeter, which. although
| it dees net bear upon she question frem a
pathological sSiat of view, Is as interesting
and surprising as it is inexphoable. 1t is
this: Dr.. Gabriel, in Losing his sight. he's
alse lost all melancholy, 81 ais foTaaar ds-
PresSioa Of spirits; in fact, he has quite to
turned to his ha*uFsa cheerful condition.
During nay shert inbsfview he never once
expressed any resre. at this eFewnfng ca
lazaity, and, althopghfully convinced that
he Teuld never see again, he appeared in
ne way distressed -
There were many grave faces and signif-
can't mods rs Br. Benson concluded
Poor Gabriel, they beloved him mad,
Tne proved that neither Dr.. GabrieI's
| extraordinary return OF eheerfulnsss nor
his less of sight was Of transitory nature;
| both were perfectly inoemprehensible.
| There was enc thing. however, evident
enough to the uRedueatSd as well as to the
professional eye-it was that, in spite of the
| great Improvement in spirits, cur friends
| health was rapidly and surely failing. This
decline was as mysterious as the blindness.
| Those who believed they had traced the
| latter to cerebral lesioa the result of the
accident, declared the former to be quite in
accordance with their diagnosis. What
ever it was, DR.. Gabriel was steadily sink
ing.
One day messenger hurriedly brought
me the following letter from Or. Benson:
DEEa An a few hours Gabriel will be no
more. l have received from him a sealed docIl-
p1eHt, fl which he states, viii be found inforna
ton that may offer some explanation as to the
cause of his blindness. He desires pest norton
examination to be made upon his body iEnInedI-
ately after death, If possible. He fully believes
that something Of unparalleled interest will be
discovered should the examination DO carefully
conducted In order that it may be rs coHrDlete
as possible he wishes any abnormal discovery to
be at once photographed. For many reasons it is
undesiAols 10 employ q professional photogTa-
pEeT. ERewing that you have much spare time
I venture to feel sure that you will assist US IN
this matter. If yea have no other engagement
please held yourself in readiness to start at mo
nent's notice. In haste, yours sincerely,
HEHRE Benson.
I readily agreed to give my services
whenever tkey might be required, and pre-
pared such apparatus as I was accustomed
to use On siTnilaF occasions.
Early one morning DR.. Benson called for
nae on his way to GaAriel's house. He had
just received information that the poor
oculist was Ia artieClo mortis. We arrived
few minutes befoTs the end. Quietly we
entered the daFkep ed chamber. How din
cult 1t was to believe that those Intelligent
eyes, even in these last moments so lus-
trous AID deep, could be absolutely sight
less; wide open, they were turned as II
ssarchingIy upon the face Of the physician,
as with his fingers lightly on the patients
hand he leaned over the bed. But there
was ne reflection of the doctors grave and
anxious Ieok-a peaceful smile spread over
the handsome features, fickered for mo-
nent, and then remained stereotyped in
desth
Sadly we left the room and joined few
professional friends who, like myself, had
been iRvited to attend. DR.. Benson then
produced the scaled document mentioned
in his letter, and read aloud as follows;
my experiences during the past few
months have been so ahnornal-in every
respect so mex plicable and apparently so
far bayond the bounds of human reasoning
that, believing I should be regarded as a
DlddTuAn WSfS L W PuOiiSA bHeiIl,
II request that the facts which am about
to relate may be hidden from all but those
present at the autopsy, should the exami-
nation of my dead body fail to bring forth
ccnfrnatery evidence. 1t is now many
months since the accident in the Alps sew
cred me from nay dear wife. The sunshine
of my existence was changed to the darkest
gloom of dependency. Ne twilight of fad
ing health broke the suddenness with
which the night fell upon me. My own
injuries were not as serious as have
been supposed, and l do not believe my
present condition is in any way con-
neoted with them. The brain concus-
sion and shock impaired my mental facul-
ties IN one respect only-I could never per-
feetly recall nay wife's face. For hours
have tried TO Conjure up her image, to form
a dream picture, without success. Her
portraits were to me as hkenessss Of some
other women. There were her features Ger
tainly-the shape and pose of her beautiful
head-but not she, not my darling. The
Phantems of these long forgotten, old
school fellow patients, hests of casual &C
quaintanees, would pass before NE with
neddenizR CiiSsiRctness; but the one who /
had made my life Of monotony brief era
of happiness was hidden even from my
minds eye.
For few weeks I returned to profess |
siopaI duties and endesvored TO forget my
misfortgtaes in hard work. Whatever sue |
cess achieved il the day was undone at |
night. Sleep oasae bat ftfully; no dream |
gave even a shadowy glimpse Of the happy /
past
1T was about this time l experienced a /
remarkable sensation, by what T2eaRs pro- |
auced cannot say. Certain / was that oo-
GasisRaQy, II the rosm, at my side, bend |
ing ever nae, waiting, watching, was my |
wife'ssoul, spirit, or whatever the immortal /
form may be. No physical sign existed, no /
sound, nothing visible or tangible, yet the |
conviction was overwhelming. Never be-
lever in things supernatural, fought res
olUtely against the idea. till ar length. con- |
WINGED IN spite Of reassn, devoted all my /
energies to the study OF psychology and /
its literature, in feeble hope of arriving at /
the niystery's solution. Volume after vol /
uEe l threw aside in disgust Hundreds /
OF cases somewhat similar to mine found /
recorded, and as many ridiculous theories !
advanced 20 account fer them, but not enc /
would bear scientific investigation. Who |
would credit my story' Who would not |
believe ns to be the victim ef q morbid iu2-
sgiaatlon7
"a clsw, however, csnae at last. and from /
a most unexpected quarter. Once while /
sitting ia nay study felt the Undesirable
sensation slowly stealing ovsr me; al ex-
citensat and horrer had leSS passed, Ton
these 'visitRnons' were now frequent /
only loEgaA once more 70 behold ny BE- /
loved vie, locked up froEa tAe book |
was raadizg, vsi1ly seeking the invisible
form. The Fight was fsr eGTaaoed-eve-y>
thing was stu, not 9 stir or rustic dis