Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-05-14

ScCdnSu long time, Drane ou2keG ana
hesitated, not daring to penetrate
further into the secret. Then with
sudden resolution he seized the knob
and threw his force upon it.
The door opened easily. 1t revealed
an empty closet, with set bowl at the
side, into which thin stream of water
was trickling, and running down the
escape pipe with the noise which had SO
horr1t1ed him. Alarm gave place to
wrath. He vowed all sorts of ven
geance upon every body who had even
remotely contributed to his present
evil plight Every body but Bessie.
He forgave her, and in thinking of her
he fell quietly asleep and was not
wakened till the light of morning
streamed into the room.
Breakfast was served to such of Jenk-
ms boarders as could be trusted outside
their cages, at eight o'clock After par
taking of that frugal meal Drane was
permitted to spend little while in the
parlor. 1t had no other occupant at
first except short, stout man with an
abundance of stiff, curly hair who sat at
table writing. Every time he paused
in that labor he stuck his pen behind
hts ear; and when he was ready to re-
sumo his task he picked up fresh one,
forgetting what he had done with the
other. The consequence was that in
few minutes the bushy hair over his
ear was full of pen-holders, and there
remained only the one which he was
using. Presently that joined the rest,
and then the little man, after hunting
oh f1,N fol
up and pushed his paper from him.
'"The servants here are very careless"
said he to Drane. "They always fail to
provide me with pens, although they
know the Importance of my work. And
for myself, l am so absent-minded, do
you know, that my forgetfulness has
been the ruin of my life. 1t is true''
Re leaned toward Drane impressively,
and continued: 81 am genius. once
wrote the greatest poem extanu. Then
l mislaid it. For months searched for
the manuscript, but without finding a
trace of it. My cursed forgetful-
ness! Then | tried to remember
what was in it-m forgetfulness
again. l couldn't think of a sim
gle line. l could remember only
Shakespeare. The thought that l had
thus cast away undying fame by mere
carelessness undermined my health un-
til they brought me to this sanitarium.
CoNfound it, one might as well be hon
est about it. There's no sanitarium
about it, It's lunatic asylum, and
for the sake of veracity let's admit it,
Here l sit scribbling away every day,
trying vainly to hit upon the single
inspiration which for a moment raised
me to an intellectual height no man had
ever before attained. Thus far in vain.
But who knows-who knowsi What's
your own special brand of lunacyP"
Il am a sane man." said Drane, half
angrily.
The short man shook his head
"Wait till you've been here a while,"
said he. ''Then you'll dream dreams,
and see visions. l was sane enough, too,
but the atmosphere of this place-you
don't know what it is. In two DAYS
you'll aave delusions. You'll see things
that aren't there-serpents of various
hues; zebras with their stripes running
from head to tail, and revolving around
their bodies like the rings of Saturn
That's why they've put me here
They're jealous of me. They don't want
mo to remember the great work which |
wrote but can not find. lisa plot"
The short man was getting violent,
and presently an attendant came and re-
moved him, to Drane's great relief.
In the course of that day Drane en-
countered several interesting maniacs
of mild order, but no serious incident