The Press., 1898-07-07

"But found his statement of condi- tions literally CO., Poor Griggs sat there with jaws lL.-ed firmly together and with about seven inches of iron protruding from his chin and simil@r length from the apex of the skull. The bar was round, two feet long, with diameter of one-quarter inch at one end and one and one-quarter inches at the other. 1t must have weighed seven or eight pounds. I went to work and made him as comfortable as could. thinking meanwhile of the least brutal way in which to tell him that the long night must soon come. I was bit surprised that he was sane, since the wound must have been very snug to the brain cells, ut he was fully conscious, though in
 at pain. ~ ...s .se.r ... .., Finally I asked him if he wished .ny particular thing done or 0 sent for. Motioning for 8 pe.-,. a wrote:
 "'NothinG to be done. I shall live for yea and there's no hurry
 "Il ;.J him closely, believing that, ..-.>. ..-l, he was not precisely level. 1 4.ad examined the curious wound carefully and wouldn't have in- buT6u HIS l116 TUT 10 AOuIs OA any t6TIuSs But, boys, Big Griggs lived with that iron in his head for more than six years. During all that time attended him carefully, ald we had long sign voice discussions about our mutual belief in fatalism. He predicted very closely the date of his d~ath, and later I procured this somewhat ghastly photograph" He drew from the envelope a photo graph of skull pinned through by an iron bar, and in turn we examined the picture. AS it was passed from hand to hand each face mirrored the depressing thought of the years of unceasing suffer- ing which had preceded the awful nakedness of the skull. The punch bowl received renewed attentions, and the talk broke away into forced and aimless channels, difficult for n en to sustain | long. At last o.I. .-:nl, ln we'll 1n- tended effort to tighten the mood of the hour, said:
 "Well, doc, when have you figured on reaching the limit of your earthly mission? Try and plan to finish this hunt with us, for we are bound to strike a moose before we are through"
 The doctor had gazed into the -coals without a word since tie telling of his story, but his lips now parted in slow and melancholy smile as he calmly an swered:
 "I fancy, boys, that it will come to- morrow So sure am I of this that I shall ask you before We have a good night to join me in what believe will be our last toast together. It will be to your comfort, frienGs, if you can dis miss my statement as but the vagary of an overtalkative comrade who finds himself ill strange mood tonight, but we shall see." He continued to murmur | to himself:
 "It's a pretty world, senor, but not all has been happiness. I have seen of the travail of my soul and am satisfied. ''
 He rose and filled his glass. "Fill and drink, boys," he called, and as the' | gathered around without volition to re- sist his whim he continued: Drink to the unsolvable riddle of life; to the un- fathomable arbitrament of fate and to the untroubled sleep which follows all in Gods good time.
 | Three glasses were replaced with brimming edge untouched upon the ta- ble, one-the doctor 's-lay shattered on the hearth. Hurried good nights were said, and half hour later quiet ruled the camp. But one unsleeping member of the party went an hour later to view the skies and judge of the morrow $ weather. And there he found another sentinel, who growled:
 "What d--d ghastly finale for an evenings good cheer. I wish the doctor had kept his internal fancies and his un canny toast to himself. ''
 The next days hunt promised to be as empty of results as was its predecessors. With the dusk three had returned to camp with royal appetites as the sole capture of the day, and the guide was rushing up a supper, encouraged by a running fire of adjuration. At length all was ready, and they drew up chairs. The doctor had not yet shown up. but he was a stayer as sportsman and all ways the last man home. They knew he had gone over to blind which he had e&4421z4142212 212212412z1z2SSQ