The Portland daily press., 1895-05-01
sons, and the engineer handed it over

tamely.
"The bottle contained nothing but ink -
"Ink!' I exclaimed, when the great
brain specialist reached this point in his
narrative, and Macpherson smiled in the
peculiarly quiet way he has when he has
perfectly mystifled hearer.
'Yes, ordinary ink, he went on. "The
discovery naturally made me feel rather
foolish, but not so much as it would have
done If had not been convinced still that
his action was in some way malicious
one. What his idea could be, however, it
was impossible for me to divine, and felt
so curious about it that / should have
reused my friend at once to inquire how
five black marks on his arm could possibly
affect his happiness if he had not looked
so thoroughly worn out and in need of
sleep. AS soon as Lashton was gone l left
the cabin at once for fear of disturbing the
sleeper, without stopping even to try to
remove the ink stains, piece of stupidity
at which have not ceased to wonder. You
see, it was impossible for me to guess how
desperately serious the plot was that the
engineer had formed against the man
whom he considered his rival. retired to
my own cabin opposite Gilby's, keeping
the door open to make sure that Lashton
did not return to do more mischief, but !
made poor sentry. was tired out, like
the young lieutenant, through not having
had my proper amount of rest for four
nights, and fell asleep, still wondering
about the five black marks.
when 1 woke, I do not know how long
after it was to find Gilby standing in my
room, half undressed as had seen him in
his bunk, but with his shirt sleeve but
toned up over the ink stains on his arm.
was too full of sleep, however, to notice
the fact at the time or even to remember
for the moment anything about what I
had seen. Sleepy as I was, could not
help noticing the look of complete misery
and despair on my friends face He was
standing at the side of my bunk, holding
an envelope, and when 1 started up, rub
bing my eyes, he put it into my hand.
I ain glad you are awake, Macpher-
son. he said in strangely constrained
tone. L wanted to ask you to do me fa-
vor. Will you give this letter to Miss Cal
Ian personally when you see her? do not
want to take the risk of sending it by the
mail.
But you will see her yourself as soon
as I shall, said in surprise at the re-
4uCSu, bnN 0llUy Ulu uOU IGDly. 1uSUctu
he turned and walked out of the cabin,
leaving me staring at the letter in my
hand and wondering what it meant.
was SO stupid with sleep still that it took
me two minutes to think of any explana,
tion at all. When did, was out of my
bunk and running across to the opposite
cabin in a second, just in time, too, for
Gilby was in the act of locking his door
11,lr 4
out ceremGAy. The fact that the young
Heutenant's revolver and couple of let
ters, one of them addressed to me, were
lying on the table served to assure me
that my fears were not ungrounded. The
first thing did was to secure the revolver.
Then ] turned to my friend
"'What the devil are you going to shoot
yourself for?' demanded bluntly.
"Gilby made no attempt to deny his in
tention
"'I am sorry you have disturbed me,
Macpherson he said, with perfect cool
ness, because it cannot make any differ
ence.'"
"And the reason?' asked, with inter
est, for the doctor had paused to light an
other cigarette. Macpherson blew a Whit
of smoke from his mouth and continued
his story.
'sI suppose you have never heard of a
disease called Guinea madness2''' he
asked, and when shook my head he went
on:
"Neither had I until Gilby told me
about it, although am a doctor. 1t is
one of those strange diseases that limit
themselves luckily to particular district
and is only found among few tribes
along the coast of Guinea. 1t is generally
thought that Europeans cannot take it, but
the idea is an erroneous one, or, at any
rate, there are exceptions, for Lieutenant
Gilby's father died of it when my friend
was boy of 10. His father was captain
of a trading vessel, and the lieutenant was
accompanying him on voyage when they
called at the Guinea coast. He, therefore,
saw his father in all the indescriNEble
agony of the disease, which seems nNre
like hydrophobia than anything else, fl
though it is infectious.
"The sight made great impression on
him, and since his constitution was quite
similar to his fathers he had always suf.
fered from an almost supernatural terror
of the Guinea coast. He was quite per.
suaded that if he ever went ashore there
he would catch the disease and die like his
father. Lashton, it seems, was aware OF
this monomania of his, for it almost
amounted to monomania."
"And he had really caught the disease?'
asked.
Macpherson smiled. "He thought he
had. The first symptom is the appearance
| OF small black marks on the arm or leg. -
Pail Mall Budget.