Evening journal., 1891-12-04


psychosis on your sign instead or meta
morphosisp
"'Then | must have been mistaken he
said 'Bahi never mind; very few will
know the difference
"Profiting by a push Of the crowd slipped
behind him and hid against the canvas.
He went out, saying;
Don't be impatient, Mile; am going
out to get something for supper
II raised the canvas. On larger Golfer,
covered with some Algerian stuff and
ornamented with copper nails, | saw the
pasteboard head. A young girl, tall and
thin, dressed in a gray wrapper, was comb
ing the long hair that fell over her face
She threw back her hair as she heard my
step and recoiled so that the floor Of the
booth ratified II seemed to me as il she
was trying to break through the boards to
escape from me. She looked pale, super
naturally pale. 1t might have been an
effect Of light for the gas was directly
above her head.
Il gazed alternately at her bloodless
face and at the white face Of the manikin,
they seemed TO grow confused in my mind.
"rhe girls eyes shone, haggard and di-
lated like those Of a somnambulist. Her
pallid lips moyed
GU nave come 10 XIII u1bF
xiii your Nonsensel What weapon
could | user remember laughing as
said these words and that is all"
Collect your mind. Force your memory
TO obey you" said the doctor anxiousiy.
"That il all can remember The next
thing recall is that mans hands closed
around my throat and the man was shrek
ing with sorrow. His grasp must have
been furious, yet felt nothing,
Over his shoulder | peered about 70
see the Golfer without trying at all to free
myself, The Golfer was still in the corner,
and the head was still on top OF it. There
was blood on the floor. The head looked
like pale young girl Beside it lay a
shining sword OF curious shape, like an
| African weapon"
"The sword was in the booth, p explained
the physician; you took it to cut off the
girls head Then You substituted bel
head for that OF the manikin. All that
was accomplished with strength and
rapidity only explieable by vertigo-tem.
porary insanity call it what
| you please"
Decidedly, you insist upon it as firmly
as the examining magistrate" said Julian.
yet can never admit myself guilty Of
an act am unconscious of having done"
/ ADu Ntif pub VI your ullnui stlu bUt
doctor What happened next?p
Il remember gendarmes with drawn
swords A walk past the booths Of the
showmen. And think they hooted and
| jeered. All the clamor mingled and con.
| founded and became one great sound OF
| rushing waves, then that noise resolved it.
self into a harmonious concert with domi-
mating chords Of deep, sweet sound. After
that found myself here, and you know
| the rest. You, doctor, felt my pulse, my
forehead, and questioned me searchingly.
| but without succeeding in establishing my
| responsibility. ! have never been sub.
| iect to epilepsy, nor to somnambulism
and my brain is not diseased My own
| opinion? | have given it and been laughed
at Yet If ! really did this hideous thing |
am accused Of. the very thought Of which
freezes the blood in my veins, then | have
been the instrument Of anothers crime, a
/ victim Of suggestion. | am excessively
nervous and susceptible to hypnotic influ.
ence, and have submitted to experiments
until have become a good subject
have no hope Of this theory being accepted.
offer it merely as my own conviction"
Have you arrived at any conclusiong'
asked the lawyer three days after, as he
entered the doctors Office with a curious
1 tAHlthoiDAA hh HIS AHtA ifAlfi anu a NtINhAl
pallor and subdued excitement that at once
attracted the physicians attention.
why, no; ] am just where | was,n re.
| Piled the latter. II can make nothing OF
II. And your You have found some solu-
tionY
"The solution-the motive-all," said
the prisoners counsel, unfolding a pack
age Of manuscript "The girl had been
insane, melancholy, suicidal mania, and
all that, but had been cured, as it was sup
posed, and was not considered dangerous.
The idea fixed, however, still enthralled heI
brain, and like all demented women, the
more fantastic the mise en- scene OF the
crime the better it would please her warped
imagination. She conceived the idea oi
employing hypnotism, attended lectures
and seances, and became an expert pupil
At one OF these pseudo scientific gather
ings, which were frequented by some medi
cal students of the Latin quarter, she me
Julian and-incredible as it seems-hyp
notified him and suggested her own mur
der This MS, found few hours agI
among her effects, contains a calm state
ment Of the facts, and completely exoner
ates the prisoner. "-Translated for "Rc
nance" from lie Petit Journal by Edytl
Kirkwood.