Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-12-07

say he did! / saw him do it! A child
of shame he said; SO he killed it! All,
all, all-even you-you, whom l trusted
leagued against mel
She was trembling with excite
ment. Her words ran one into
the other. 1t was as much as
l could do to follow them; yet the above
is but brief condensation of what she
said. With unchecked volubility she
continued to heap reproaches and accusa
tons, many of which were of the most
eXtrayagant and frivolous nature, on my
head. At last she was silent, and re-
seated herself in her former attitude;
and the sullen, disconnected, ill-used look
again settled on her face.
| And yet, although /, who loved her
above all the world. was the object Of
her fierce reproaches, no words | had as
yet listened to came more sweetly to my
ear than these. A great joy swept
| through me- tide Of relief bore me to
| comparative happiness. Whatever dread
| full deed the poor girl had that night
accomplished, she was morally innocent.
Philippa was not accountable for her ac-
tons!
| AS doctor. read the truth at once.
| The rapid flow of words, the changing
| moods, the vehement excitement, the sui
| len air, the groundless suspicions-one
and all carried conviction, and told me
what was wrong. Mrs. Wilson's words
of yesterday, which warned me that
Philippa's health should be inquired into,
added absolute certainty.
My professional brethren who may
happen to read this will understand me
when | say that, although it is long
since l have practiced as a Decor, [
am sorely tempted. as [ reach this stage
OF my story, to give in detail the par
ticulars which induced me to arrive at
such belief. No physician, no surgeon,
lives who does not feel it his duty as
well as his pleasure to give an accurate
account of any out-of-the-common case
which has come under his notice But [
am not writing these pages for the bene-
tit OF science; and having no wish to have
my tale assume the authority Of hos
pltal report, shall restrain myself and
on technical points be as brief as posi-
BILE.
In short, then, Philippa had fallen a
victim to that mania which not uncom-
monty shows itself after the birth of
chlld-that dread, mysterious disease
which may, at the moment when every
thing seems going well, turn a house of
JOY into house of mourning; disease
the source of which | have no hesita-
ton IN saying has not yet been properly
traced and investigated. So far as I
know, there is no monograph on the sub
Ject, or certainly there was none at that
! time
Still, it is admitted by all the authori-
ties that this species of insanity is
not lnfrequently produced by. Sc
| we're mental shock, especially when
| that shock is accompanied by an over
| Whelming sense of shame. Statistics
| snow us that unmarried women who are
| mothers, and feel the degradation of such
| a position acutely, are peculiarly liable
to be attacked by the mysterious malady.
! Esquirol was, | believe, the first to no
| tlce this fact, and the correctness of his
| view has subsequently been confirmed by
| many others.
Such being the case it is small won
| der that Philippa, waking yesterday
morning to receive the intelligence that
| her marriage with Sir Mervyn Ferrand
i had been a farce. should have been
| thrown into state extremely susceptible
| to the attack Of the disease. Her care
| less exposure of herself to the wintry
air, when last night she sought me and
claimed my aid, most probably fastened
| the attack of the foe. Mrs. Wilson had
! noticed her strange manner. / myself
! have remarked upon her rapid changes
from calmness to excitability. It was
/ clear to me that even when she visited
me last night the mischief had begun to
| develop itself. | blamed my blindness
! bitterly. | ought to have seen what was
wrong. Considering her agitated state,
| ought to have been warned, and have
/ taken precautions; but | had attributed
those ftful changes, the meaning Of
which was now only too plain to me,
to the natural agitation experienced by
a passionate yet pure-minded woman,
who found herself betrayed and brought
to shame. Oh, had | but guessed the
real cause or rather the way in which
her grief had affected her, all the dark
work of that night might have been
] left undone!
Although in many ways it added to
/ tho 6ifticJ71finc and
rounded us, the discovery of the truth
/ was an unsDeakable relief to me. No
| rlght-minded man could now call the
/ poor girl guilty of crime. The mans
blood was indeed on her hands; yet she
had shed it, not knowing what she did.
| Her frenzy must then have been at it's
height The idea of his coming that
night must in some way have occurred
| to her. The desire to see him must have
| driven her to go and meet him. Her
wrongs-perhaps the dread she now felt
| of him may have induced her to arm
| herself; perhaps she carried the weapon
| for self-protectiOn. Any way, she was
mad when she started; she was mad
when she drew the trigger; she was mad
when she broke from my grasp; she was
mad now as she sat by my fire, cycling
me With morOse, suspicious glances. She
/, was mad-and innocent!
Her manner toward me troubled me
|
| ty of the disease that the patient turns
with hatred from those who are nearest
| and dearest to her. Fits of sullen, stub
| born silence, alternating with fierce out
bursts of vituperation. are the most COM
| mon characteristics of the mania. Hide
| GUS, startling as it is to see the change
wrought in the sufferer, the malady is by
no means of such an alarming nature as
| it seems. In fact, the majority of cases
are treated with perfect success.
! But all this is professional talk. Again
| say that the discovery of Philippa's
state of mind was an immense relief to
me: My conscience was cleared Of a
weight which was pressing upon it.
| felt braced up to use every effort, and
thoroughly justified in following what,
ever course | thought best Moreover.
| a new relationship was now established
| between Philippa and myself. For
awhile every feeling save one must be
| banshed. We were now doctor and pa
| tient.
| After much persuasion, induced her
to let me feel her pulse. As I expected
| found it up nearly to 120. This did
| not alarm me much as in tha course of