The Dickinson press., 1895-05-04
A DOCTORS MISTAKE.
By d GODDARD.

AWdh6uluS lFOIl IL SlAl0 Ol lClIluTSS,
Raymond Ashleigh, a young man of
twenty-seven, beheld his doctor gaz-
ing on him sadly.
Saved once more" breathed Ray
mond, and he smiled us he stretched
out his arms.
my poor FRIEND" sighed the doctor.
The sick man stared aghast.
"Pull yourself togcther!!" he contin-
ued. You are a man who can stand
the truth"
"What do you mean"
"Your symptoms are those of the
Mona"
"Of what"
"a curious malady, which has re-
Gently been described and discussed
in the Lancet. When the state of
lethargy is over, the patient has three
lucid hours, at the end of which he
dies. suddenly"
"Whew!
"Now, look here, keep your spirits up,
like the plucky fellow that you are.
After all is said and done, life is not
worth living! Good-by-good-by, my
poor Irlend, EOOu-Dy!
Ten minutes later Raymond had
risen. Clad in his flannel smoking
jacket, he vas putting the last
touches to his toilet. The doctor had
withdrawn, that his friend might
have time to settle his worldly affairs.
When he haG done brushing his
nails, Raymond chose one of his
driest cigars, and lighted it, while
casting n sorrowful look ut the others,
those which he was not to smoke.
Then he threw himself on his divan
and began to reflect.
However brave he might be; how
ever fearless of death, Raymond
Ashleigh soon came to the ON
clusion that his case was q peculiarly
%aggravating m
The day before, when lie was taken
with the fever-he had made up his
mind to prepare for the worst-he had
sent for his lawyer and for a clergy.
: man, and destroyed all his letters.
Then he had laid down his giddy head
and fallen asleep. with the con-
, viction that he would not wake again
before doomsday.
But now he was like a condemned
man who, after having made sure
i of a reprieve, found himself suddenly
on the way to the scaffold. Out
J. side in the CHEEKY atmosphere of
a a bright June day, the drives of the
Y Central Park We're alive with n
continuing stream of smart carriages
everything spoke of happiness and
- health; he himself had never felt
to enjoy it, and he was asked to be-
y lieve that tomorrow there would
= be nothing left of all this-so far as
= he was concerned-but a mournful
crowd of friends. a trip in Il slow.
:. jolting hearse. to Greenwood Gem
etery, and the conventional and
: monotonous u%tterances of the clergy
: man before an open grave.
= Tomorrow the joys and friendly
, ties of his whole life would he gone
Z forever!
: While he was finishing his cigar,
:. reclining listlessly on the cushion of
his divan. Raymond saw NIL his life
\ fit past him as in a dream. Nearly
! forgotten episodes Of his childhood
Z cropped up as if they were quite re-
: cent: then. in rapid succession. his
j. mind dwelt on the many times he
> had fallen in love between fifteen and
. twenty-five; until. only one wear ago.
l he came to the first month of his mar
Z ried life.
= How full of unmitigated joy those
9 days had been! Raymond remem-
bersd the minutest events of his
{ honeymoon spent in fun and frolic.
: with pleasant excursions. vereing on
bachelors dissipation. freaks which
!, , New Workers. Delighted beyond
= measure by the admiration which his
!. wife excited wherever he took her. he
u was more madly in love after his mar
!. riage than before. He would have
!. : been jealous If the mere possibility
: of such a thing could have been seri-
: ously entertained by either of them.
!. And all this passionate love had been
! brought to an end, three months pre-
: vious,b by q s%candalous separation, ow-
1 ing to a blunder on his part and q rash
escapade Of his little wife-a mere q
y price on her part, with no thought Of
. wrong.
l By mutual consent they had separat-
{ ed. Yet, strange to say, their love for
each other had continued. So far as
. the world was concerned, their rela-
lions were restricted to icy bows when
: ever they met in the park, at the opera
or in the theater, but their professed
indifference for each other scarcely de.
ceived their common friends.
The idea of dying without having
seen once more the woman he loved
above all others appeared preposter
GUS to Raymond. STUDIED obstinancy
and stern resolve seemed to be alto
gether out of place when brought face
to face with everlasting separation.
What risk did he run in attempting
q reconciliation, even If it were not t,
succeed?
8 Raymond sprang to his feet, and
seating himself before his writing desl
> scrubbed hurriedly a short telegram
y and send it off by his valet.
" He lookeu at his watch; he had tw,
more hours to live; his beloved wifi
g would have time to come.
r. Would she come? Would she b,
touched by a note containing a dyin.
mans farewell. Or, in the relentless
dignity of offended woman, would sh'
refuse to forgive, even under thes,
solemn circumstances?
The anguish of uncertainty, addet
to the moral torture, made Raymond
vince despite all his nerve and reso
| luton to take his inevitable fat
coolly. With something very like ter
n ror, he roted the fieeting minute
by which separated him from eternity.
a: Another hour flew away while Ii
Of was getting ready to die, stoppin
nov; and then to muse with melar
OF OF choly on his past life. He wrote t
er. his mother, who was then in Law
~ renee, Mass, a very long letter, fu
n Of "reminiscences of his early life, an