The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1893-07-08


in stiHed voice, and stepping aside
with an ominous look he made way for
Dr. Jameson, of Honolulu. who went
through rigid examination and then
announced to the board that it was his
opinion that was not leper.
mot a leper." Oh, thank the good
God! The exclamation involuntarily
broke from me-my heart beat with
suffocating strokes as in dream l saw
the face of winsome Jess; but / was
rudely awakened by the hard voice of
the head physician, announcing in
measured tones that the board had de-
cided that was afflicted with leprosy.
Every word fell upon my heart like ice;
and through a great distance. which
sounded to my numbed senses muffied
as a voice from sepulcher, heard DIR.
Jameson pleading my cause. He stoutly
declared to the wise men who had con-
demned me to living death that l was
not a leper-that he had spent the most
of his life among lepers, and having
treated the disease for many years was
familiar with every phase of the mall
ady; that it would be almost impossible
from the mere knowledge to be gained
from books to wholly comprehend the
fearful scourge, and that one must have
the actual experience of constant
practice in order to detect it in its
earlier stages. He urged them to
further consider the matter before
thrusting me where l must soon con-
tract the loathsome disease-and closed
with an earnest appeal to them not to
doom to a leper's ward a young man
who stood upon the threshold of
bright career.
They listened with respectful atten-
ton to his remarks, but their convic-
ton was not to be shaken; the mighty
board had declared against me. was
condemned, isolated. The fire of youth
was in my veins, but heavy eclipse
would darken all my days. The ply
sicians solemnly filed past Some
shrank by with averted looks; some
gazed at me compassionately; another
quickly brushed tear away, but l
seemed apart from it all, as though 1
had suddenly slipped out of life.
The doctor who pleaded my cause
came up to where l stood, a statue OF
despair, and mutely shook my hand.
II did my BEST" was all he said, and
hastily passed on to hide the tears
which came into his eyes. l made no
response; words struggled to my lips,
but were choked in my throat. All had
| now left me- 1 wondered vaguely if
should awaken from the trance which
chained me to the spot, and endeavored
to think calmly, commercially, but rea-
son fell back appalled,.
Through the mist which encompassed
me saw a woman approaching with
an expression of pity upon her tender
countenance, an expression such as the
woman who mourned at the feet of
Christ must have worn. Suddenly, like
the mocking cry of demon borne up
on me by an imagination maddened by
suffering was the word leper-leper!
1t burnt upon my brain, it swan before
my eyes; the air was heavy with signs
of the unfortunate outcasts, and a voice
whispered close at my ear: do not
allow that pure woman to touch you;
you are unclean! Unclean! Accused
of God!'
She came to me, and through rain
of tears drew my head down and rev.
erently kissed my brow. The haze
which enveloped my thoughts vanished,
the frozen apathy which held me in a
wise was 'dispelled, and with hoarse
cry of anguish / fell prone upon the
floor.
After a while some one reused me,
and l was taken back to that dread
abode the leper ward. My doom was
sealed, my hopes laid low, but, unlike
my wretched companions, could not
accept my fate with stoical Indifference.
| i chafed inwardly at the restraints i'm
posed upon me by law, and l dreaded
the confinement and the association of
lepers. How long would it last? How
long would have strength to face this
death in life?
The hero of this narrative-William
Horn. of Honolulu-who for time was
supposed to be unjustly detained in the
leper ward at the San Francisco pest
house, and whose case excited the SYM
patty of the entire community, even
tually proved to be leper. Young,
handsome, well connected, and upon
the dawn of bright career, he was the
most rebellious subject that ever en-
tered the doors of that institution. In
spite of the verdict of the board OF
health he chung to the belief that he
was free from the faint of leprosy. The
malady grew slowly upon him and he
appeared as sound as anyone, but after
the lapse of few months pustules
broke out upon the arm which had Sc
long been insensible to feeling.
Carrie Chevalier, young and comely
widow who had been sent to the pest
house as a nurse, was frequently thrown
in contact with young Horn and a
warm friendship sprang up between
them which ripened into love. She wal
the one whose kiss had comforted him
When forsaken by all she read the story
of repressed anguish in those sad ewes