The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1897-07-10

~ oSA~ ROSNo1N yoe 1ANN ASN~NN
II Reproduction 1 deserve the deepest and
sincerest sympathy and the pity of
every true Christian of whom 1 per-
ceive you are one
"I was greatly afraid of the man at
first, as n young lady naturally would
be, but his quiet tone and the deep,
melancholy, truthful expression of his
eyes produced in me a longing to bear
his story. 1 therefore directed the but
Ter to loosen him and let him sit in a
chair. This the servants were very I'M
willing to do, insisting that the man
should be Immediately turned over to
tie police. However, when they saw 1
was in earnest they let their prisoner
rise:
Madam he said, strange as it may
seem, the purest and best actions of my
life are those which have brought me to
this terrible pass. In the unfortunate
being who is now before you surround
ed by hideous circumstances the world
would never recognize Count Hubert
De LONE, inberitor of one of the great
est names and descendants of one of the
proudest families of France. Yet such
is my title and my family. Pray par
don me for showing emotion.
"tAt the outbreak of the late war be-
tween France and Germany l was a lieu
tenant of infantry, not yet arrived in my
twentieth year. The purest fires of pa
triotism burned in my heart, and in the
battles where we were engaged I was
remarked for the heroic manner in
which 1 exposed myself. Ipassed scath-
less through storms of lead, which dealt
death Oh every side, and escaped with
out the least injury till the battle of
Gravelotte, where a round shot mu-
tilated both my legs and a rifle bullet
destroyed my right arm.
When l awoke, after the battle, l
was in the German field hospital with a
bevyofthe cleverest surgeons in Europe
about me. I soon found that I was the
center of attraction as the most extern
sive case of limb grating in the annals
of surgery. They had found 4 dead man
of my proportions on the field of battle,
and from him they had transferred to
Nv llShl olhl dLlu L"o lCSo, LII OAlCN
were watching with deep interest the
experiment of their growth.
For two weeks the result was doubt
full, but ut last science and nature tri-
umphed over all obstacles, and it be-
came evident that 1 was going to be able
to use the grated limbs as well as 1
ever used my own.
"tBy the time I could stand, the war
was over, and 1 returned to my home in
Brittany, to recover amid rural scenes
from the rude shocks / had received.
Here, as l grew stronger, a strange and
awful thing happened. Ifound that my
grated limbs had a will of their own
and that that will was evil. Legs that
could hardly be persuaded to move in
the daytime, became at night restless
and t~ireless as those of a predaceous
animal. Many a time 1 awoke at mid
night to find myself being carried
abroad. Many a time my relatives,
hearing my cries, have rushed to my
room and found me clinging. to the bed
by mean of my jaws and my left hand,
while my right hand and both legs were
struggling to carry me off.
az always resisted to the utmost, be-
cause l knew from certain intimations
what the upshot of these midnight ex-
cursions proposed by my limbs would
be-theft, odious, horrible, ~vulgar-not
the romantic theft of the bold highway
man. but the low and brutal pilfering
of the burglar and sneak thief. Theft
by myself in spite of myself.
"'You can easily imagine, dear lady,
that my discovery caused me the keen
est anguish. The cruelist thing of all
was that l must suffer in silence. Who
would believe my story? So skillfully
had the operations on my mind been
performed that there was no C to be
seeu, and, even were 1 able to prove that
the limbs I used were grated, how
could 1 satisfy anyone that they had
retained their individuality and were
seeking to make, of me an accomplish
in these nefarious undertakings?
1.-The constant struggle in which 1
was engaged gave me a wild and bag
gard look. l became the victim of ner-
vousness and melancholy, and the peo-
pie of my estate began to avoid me.
When 1 came upon the road, riding or
walking, those whom l met whispered
and drew aside. They knew that | had
given my servants orders to watch me
at night and restrain me by force if
I sought to go out. They therefore
looked on me as a mailman or at least
a man with a mystery.
"'This feeling was not confined to
the peasants; my equals also possessed
it, and 1 could see by their averted
looks, their silence when l & approached
them, that I was feared, if not dis
liked.
Zone only remained true to her
childhood's beliefs and memories, but
that was the one whom, above all
others, 1 desired to please - Louise,
daughter of Marquis De ~Campazany,
whose estates adjoined my own.
Even to her 1 dared not explain,
yet her love and sympathy were mine
through all and in spite of all.
"'The only human being who knew
my secret was the chief of the Ger
man surgeons, who performed the
operations. l sought him out