The Indiana State sentinel., 1894-06-20

Sitting quietly on the rear seat of the
! smoking car Of a train that was speed
ing toward indianapolis a few days ago
was a middle-aged man of perhaps forty
years. His forehead was ample and his
features were of cast that told Of in
tellectuality above the average. The only
| peculiar mark in his appearance was the
intense pallor Of his face, which was so
bloOdless as TO give it a deathly and al
| most uncanny appearance. His bleached
| eyehds served to bring out into even
| more prominent relief his black, glitter
| ing eyes, which wandered restessly from
| COJect 10 OBJECT as the train sped Dy.
| His clothes were new and cheap, in
marked contrast with the aristOcratic
| bearing of the man. He was a mystery,
| as was evidenced by the unusual atten-
! ton which he attracted from the other
] passengers
The mysterious stranger sat by the
| open window gazing curiously at the
! green fields, tall trees, farm houses, graz
| ing fOcks and herds as they shot by.
| They seemed to be strange sights to him,
| though calling up recollection of former
| familiarity with them The look upon
| his face was one of almost childish in
| terest-and yet he was a middle-aged
! man Of apparent refinement and educa-
| ton above the ordinary.
| As the train sped along the cool
| draught of pure air that flowed in at the
| open window by which the stranger sat
| seemed TO have a peculiar effect upon
him. His breath came in long and ir-
regular gasps. his chest heaved and
| every few moments he would open his
| mouth and gulp down great swallows
| of the air though he were famishing
| for it, His actions resembled those of
fish that has been thrown out upon the
| land. As he held his long thin white
|
| that the blood seemed to be damned
up at their tips, while his hands trem-
| bled as though with the palsy. Could
the man be dying there IN the car filled
| with his fellOw-men and no one offer 10
| give him aid?
a gentleman sitting opposite to the
! stranger, who had been quietly watching
his peculiar actions for some time, arose
and walked across the aisle.
My friend said he kindly, you are
suffering What can 1 do for your
Those glittering eyes turned with a
| sudden start from the moving panorama
without and for moment searched the
inquirer through and through with an
expression Of mingled curiosity and
| distruSt. He seemed to be re-
| assured and attempted to reply, but his
voice failed him and ii was after con-
siderable effort that he was at last able
to speak loud enough to be heard. His
voice was low and husky from long dis
use.
You mean physical suffering, I pre-
sume?'
Yes. you seem to be in pain and I
| want to aid you
Those piercing eyes again searched the
| speaker with an AR If surprise and then
he asked: And do YOU mean to say
! that it would pain you TO see another
| person suffering?"
I most certainly do
We'll, then 1 only wish that I could
tell you that | am suffering; but the
| truth is, I am not My actions may have
! led you to think so, and 1 suppose it was
| natural for YOU TO come to my assist
ance. Strange how some people look at
| those things. And so | act differently
| from other persons, do I?''
| The stranger gaZed thOughtfully out Of
the window for several minutes, and then
turning with "A sudden motion, said:
Now. sir, if you had but just returned
| to earth after an absence of years; in
| fact, if you had just reached this world
| a middle-ag ged man, which you left as a
| boy don't you think that, try as hard
| as you might to prevent notice, you would
| appear different? Now, sir listen
| those ebon eyes seemed to burn with a
| frightful light due TO suppressed excite
ment-'this is my first day on earth
for nineteen years"
There was a look of alright in the face
| of the gentleman who sat opposite and
| he inadvertently half arose from his
seat A terrible thought had flashed
| through his mind; the man before him
| was raving maniac. With wonderful
| perception, as though instructive, the
| stranger interpreted the sudden motion
| and responded: mo, you are mistaken,
/ sir. l am not mad. My reason is un-
impaired and my mind as clear as that
Of any rational person in the world
! that is as l remember them. You know
sanity and insanity are but degrees of
the same thing and are connected by a
| graduated plane. Insanity is like sin
fulness; present in all to a more or less
extent Those who think they have less
Of sin call themselves holy; those VINO
have less of insanity call themselves
sane. Is it not so
The POisoner's story.
The man waited for a moment and then,
receiving no reply, continued: But L
am mystifying you. This is my story:
MY father was president of one of the
| largest colleges in the country and in
| herited from him a powerful scientific
instinct coupled with a philosophical
mind that tended to speculation upon
| life. This was observed in me by my
parents when I was but three years old
and l was considered as a prodigy. Ny
| characterize tendencies were fostered by
| my proud parents and was designed for
a second AgassiZ, a Humboldt or a
Spencer. But''-the stranger gave way
to a rattling laugh that caused a cold
| chill to dart through the hearer-'What
my father fostered and cultivated in me
soon grew and developed until what was
| intended to be the equipment that would
| send me to the summit Of fame bcame
my overshadOwing curse and the instru-
ment Of my destruction.
"As a child 1 would delight in holding
my breath until 1 was black in the face
for the sole purpose OF seeing how long
| could stand it and live. l would punct-
| ure the arteries in my wrists to see the
| flow of the blood and calculate as to how
long il would take me to bleed to death.
Several times 1 was brought back to life
after great trouble, but these experiences
did not stop me- Then as l grew older
began practicing on animals. | would
put a cat or dog in a wise and slowly
squeeze it to death to see which part of
the body would burst and to see what
organs could be crushed without termi-
| mating life. 1 studied physiology, z0ol-
ogy, botany chemistry and every other
kindred study | could get my hands on
in my fathers library. At sixteen L was
an advanced student in chemistry with
my whole mind absorbed with expert
ments with the various poisons. Suffer-
| ing was nothing to me. l regarded It
with the calm, speculative study of a
! philosopher and spurned with contempt
animals or persons who allowed pain to
be shown by word or sign. With me [
had so cultivated the will that l could
| bite a great mass of flesh out Of my
arm without betraying a sign of pain.
took delight in it, AS a boy L had