The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1893-09-20

a small lantern, hung It around his neck
and turned towards the sea. q,
The old woman followed him.
What tempest of wind and rain
The bells of st. Philfilene began to ring !
A bad omen Pshaw /! DR.. Trifulgas
was not superstitious. He believed in |
nothing. not even his own science-ex-
cept for the income 1t brought him. |
What weather and what road too
Stones. slippery with seaweed SCORES
crunching under the tread. No light,
except the faint. wavering rays from
Hurzofs lantern. Sometimes there was
a burst of flame from the peak of Van
glor. amid which huge. grotesque sill
houettes seemed to hover. We do not
know what turks at the bottom of these
fathomless craters. Perhaps they are
the souls of the under world, which turn
to vapor in rising.
The doctor and the old woman fol-
lowed the curves of the little bays on
the shore. The sea was white with u
livid pallor-the wilderness of mourning
-glittering with phosphorescent light
along the line Of surf. which broke In
shining waves upon the strand.
Both climbed to the bend in the road,
between the downs, where the broom
and furze met like thicket of bayonets
The dog had come close to his master
and seemed to say:
"Ha! A hundred and twenty fretzers
for the strong box! That's the way to
get rich! More land for the vineyard!
Another dish on the supper table! An
other bone for faithful Hurzof! Let us
nurse the sick rich people and bleed
their pockets"
At this point the old woman stopped
and with trembling finger pointed to a
ruddy light shining through the gloom.
1t came from Wort Kartifs house.
'There?" asked the doctor.
YES" replied the old woman.
The dog howled plaintively.
| Suddenly the volcano with roar
which seemed to shake 1t to it's founda-
lions sent forth sheaf of flames which
appeared to touch the clouds. DR.. Tri-
fulgas was thrown down by the shock.
Swearing like trooper he rose ana
looked around him.
The old woman was no longer there.
Had she disappeared In some chasm in
| the earth. or was she concealed in the
heavy mist?
The dog was standing erect on his
hind legs, with his mouth open and the
lantern out.
LET us go on" murmured DR.. Triful-
gas.
The worthy man had pocketed his
money. He must earn 1t.
There was only one glimmer Of light
perhaps half a mile away. 1t came
from the room of the dying or dead
man. That was the house. The old
woman had pointed to 1t. No mistake
was possible.
Amid the roaring OF the wind. the
rush Of the rain. the whole fury of the
tempest, DR.. Trifulgas walked swiftly
on. AS he advanced the house, standing
alone In the fields. became more and
more clearly visible.
1t was strange how closely 1t re-
sembled the doctors residence, Six
Quatre. at Luktrop; the same arrange
ment Of the windows In front, the same
little vaulted door.
DR.. Trfugas hurried on as fast as
the hurricane would permit. The door
was ajar. He pushed it open. and the
; gale banged it after him rudely. The
dog, left outside, howled. pausing at
intervals like the singers between the
verses in a psalm.
Strange! One would think that DR..
} Trifulgas had returned to his own home
Yet he had not grown bewildered and
made a circuit. He was really at Val
Harmon. not at Luktrop. Yet there was
, the same low. vaulted corridor; the same
winding wooden staircase. with its wide
railing worn by the friction OF many
hands.
He went to the landing. A faint light
filtered under the door as at Six-Quatre
Was 1t delusion? In the dusk HI
| recognized mis- own room. the bed with
its yellow canopy: on the right the ole
pearwood chest, at the left strongbo,
where he meant to deposit his 800 fret
: GERS. There stood his leather.cush
/! twisted legs and on 1t near the dying
lamp his Codex. opened at page 1877.
M Eha siis ms7 he cb mntt eT dsar
through his veins. His pupils dilated
: A cold PRECIPITATION came through tn
fi He must ~ tn hasten i The lamp was go,n,
!. out for lack Of oil. He must look a
les. there was the bed,h,s bed. wit
ami % SansDY f possbs BY hss ts
: was poor mans wretched pallet?
With a trembling hand he grasped tn
}, curtains. parted them and glance
n The dying man. with his face in fu
e view, lay motionless, as II about I
e draw his last breath. The doctor ben
a Oh, what a cry escaped his lips-an
d swered BY the mournful baying OF tn
fhs dying man was no. Wort Karul
hut DR., Trifulgas. 1t was he whom tn
congestion had attacked. cerebra
apopiexy, with sudden accumulate
OF water In the cavities of the brar
Is with paralysis of the side OF the bod
opposite to the seat Of the injury.
Yes. IL was he for whom a physical
had been summoned: he. who in tn
hardness of his heart had refused I
lie go to the poor man; ne who was dying.
"a DIR. Trifugas was like a mailman. II
'" felt that the case was hopeless. TIL
lp gravity of the symptoms increase
Z every moment The action OF the hear
- and respiration were about to ceas
=, Yet he had not wholly lost the cor
vi seriousness OF existence.
What should he do? Lessen the quar-
IL tity OF blood by means of bleeding
20 DR.. Trifulgas was dead man II I
ie delayed.
err Bleeding was still practised at thu
err time, and, as at the present day, II
doctors cured of apoplexy all who wei
not destined to die OF 1t.
100 DR.. Trifulgas seized his case of II
H. struments, took out lancet and CT
the arm of his double. The blood d
not flow. He rubbed the chest violentl,
the action Of his own heart was failin