The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-04-28
A STRANGE STORY.
BY G. W. S. ANGEL.

gether with Long, from the Agriculture
al Bureau; De Forrest, of tile Army
Medical Museum. and myself, then
sery ing as Washington correspondent
for a New York paper, it is needless
to say that the talk had run the entire
gamut of art, literature and science,
and had for the moment settled on
the belief in dual personalities.
81 tell you. gentlemen" said Merton,
with the authoritative air by which
he always attempted to settle ques-
rOuS under discussion. that while |
am willing to admit that there may
4 BE- some things almost impossible to
prove or diSprove scientifically, yet
this talk about dual personality, sub
q conscious mind and all such stuff is
vulgarly speaking, simply rot" And
be lay back in his chair with self
satisfied air, as though there was
nothing more to be said on the sub
ject.
4 Long took up the argument. and the
debate grew rather warm as the pros
and cons We're laid down in that eX-
cathedra way which we young men
are apt to affect. DR.. De Forrest had
thus far taken no part in the discus
sion, but had smiled once or twice at
our assertions in a way that assured
us. who knew him so well, that he
Fl had a good story to tell if we could
only draw him out.
Come, Doctor" said Long as he
ordered a fresh round of brandies and
soda for the crowd, you ought to
know something about this question,
for you told us last week that you
had studied under Charcot when you
were in Paris"
De Forrest selected a fresh perfecto
i from the box at his side. lighted it in
his usual careful way and blew a few
rings of smoke. which he watched
float lazily toward the ceiling, before
he spoke.
well, boys" he began, las Merton
has Just said. there are some things
which we cannot as yet decide by
purely physical methods. We cannot
weight the soul in our most delicate
balance, though the scale sinks if we
add but the fraction Of a hair. nor can we
by our most subtle reagents analyZe
that vital spark we call life in our lab
oratories. | do not care tonight to
speak of the many curious phenomena
which | witnessed during my studies
in Paris for they might furnish you
with a clew to the story which is to
follow; but I'll tell you a little incident
! IN real life which occurred when | was
i very Young in my New York practice,
Il and then leave the question for you to
decide.
when | established myself in New
ork, back in the sixties, fresh from
my studies at Vienna, | Joined the
4 Bohemia Club. That was not its
name. but as none OF you are old
enough to remember the club it will
4 do as well as any other, and | shall
4 take the liberty of changing the names
of the actors in my story as well. for
4 obvious reasons.
we were a rather jolly crowd at the
Bohemia. for we worked hard ut our
4 different lines all day and then met
4 N the club in the evenings for relaXa-
a ton and to compare notes. You see
We were young then. and not authori-
4 ties in our several branches. as you
all are here, and he smiled in his
i quizzical way as he looked round ouI
4 little circle.
''There were two Southcrners in the
club" he continued. both VI. D's. and
4 and marvelously so in their dress,
they were totally different in char
acter, and | suppose it would be hard
To find in any club two men further
apart in their moral and mental
qualities. Whiting had been n practis
ing physician for a year or more and
had already Il large clientele. He was
a splendid fellow. large of frame but
Straight as an arrow, with great brown
eyes that looked you squarely in the
face when he spoke, and. with all his
physical strength, kind and gentle as
woman. He was loved by every one
at the club, where we knew him as the
soul of honor and generous to Il fault.
Davis, on the other hand, though
he was of the same olive hued type
and enough like Whiting in features
TO be his twin brother. had a Sneering
expression on his lace. and when he
looked at You with his eyes nalf closed
and that cynical smile on his lips he
made me think of the copperhead of
his own Louisiana swamps. He was
heavy drinker, and spent money
enough at the club, but he was never
known to do a kind act and we were
sure he never spent dollar on any
one else unless he saw that he would
gain some advantage in return.
Both of the men had ample means
of their own, but Davis had never
practiced, so far as we knew, and
where he got his title of doctor from
or where he lived no one seemed to
know. Some said that he was an eX-
pert chemist and dabbled in alchemy
as well. but he made no close friends,
and seldom spoke of his own life.
1T happened ,nat Davis and Whit
ing had never met at the club, as each
came but seldom. but we often chaffed
one about the other, and from their
facial resemblance dubbed them the
two Dromios. .Jekyll and Hyde would
have been more appropriate, but this
4 was long before StevensOn's book was
4 written.
Whiting always resentedany chance
s allusion to his double. although good
uatured at the rest of our chaff, and
Seemed to doubt the actual existence
OF Davis, whom he had heard OF but
never met, and thought we were
Simply trying to put up game on
him. Naturally the more he scoffed at
the reality of Davis the more we nag
ged him, until finally in sheer despera-
tlon he proposed to give quiet little
Elmer for four of us, at which Robin
Son, an artist and fellow club-member,
myself, Davis and Whiting were to
Pc the quartet.
Davis promised to be there, If pos
eible, and said he was already &C.
II g INV