Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1899-07-14
LA PLATA, MARYLAND, JULY IA, 1899.
BY SEWARD w. HOPKINS.

slight tingling sensation of pain. But
l attributed my loss of health to my
constant worry aud the anxiety 1 was
under.
One day l sat on the porch, idly
looking towards the mountains. /
did not feel at all well that day, and
when Uncle Tom had gone for drive
| did not accompany him. / had
taken book into the porch with me, but
had thrown it aside, having no inclina-
ton to read. / had been sitting in
the shade. but the sun was getting to
the westward, ana It's rays soon fell on
me. In the bright light my hands
looked blue and thin. / smiled to
myself as 1 looked at them. What
was that? On the fingers, around the
nails, we're some little blue-white
scales.
Heavensl The whole misery of the
thing came upon me in an instant, like
a thunderbolt.
My uncle's tremulons voice. his
strange anxiety, his tenderness. were
clear enough now, How the blood in
me chilled How my heart throbbed
jumped, then seemed stilled with
ho-rorl
/ was leperl
I staggered into the house and
threw myself down on couch
with a groan. Ny mind was tortured
with pictures of misery and woe that
were enough to set my brain on fire.
The reception hospital, the hateful
yard, in which l would be stared at
like bull to be butchered or a thing
to be despised and feared.
Then the leper-ship with its cargo
of misery, taking me to MoIokai, where,
in the leper settlement, | must live
out my days in pitiless misery, like
the poor devils / had seen there.
waiting, with torturing pains. for a
sure and horrible death.
There was no hope. The fate oil
one leper was the fate of all. The law
was inexorable The high standing
of my uncle or myself could not pre-
vent the carrying out of the law.
And now my tortured mind ran riot
ously into the future, and / saw my.
self horribly disfigured, member after
member decaying under the foul dis
ease and dropping off; my senses
leaving me; no taste or desire for food;
raging thirst; no sense of smell;
deafness following the loss of my ears;
blindness; DEATH
lay with these horrors before me
When Uncle Tom came home.
''Don't come near met cried.
springing up and warning him off by
a gesture. II have discovered the
horrible secret you have so tenderly
sought to shield me from. l know my
fate. am leperl There is no use
making feeble attempts to combat
fate. must go away from you all.
must leave ve-you-and-"
Don't Tom, my boy, dear Toni"
cried my uncle, sinking into chair
and dropping his head into his hands.
He sat there sobbing for some mo-
ments. Now and then a groan would
come from him. He seemed to be
struggling with himself
Suddenly he raised his head.
''Did anybody know of your dis
covery?" he asked in whisper, ex-
cidedly.
''No, 1 replied YEARLY. 81 have
seen no one"
'Dole knows. Oh, why did tell
Dolel" he cried, now rising from his
chair and pacing to and fro.
could not see any reason why Dole
should not know. The whole island
would know in day or two.
But Dole may not think" said
Uncle Tom. "Ah, 1 have it, Trust
in Dole! He is my friend But lie is
so upright. He would enforce the law
ii the leper was his own sonr'
enforce the laww / said. "Of
course, the law must be enforced.
What else? / cannot remain here, a
menace to all Of you. / must go to
Molokai." "
Uncle Tom glanced furtively around.
No" he whispered. mot Molokai,
to hasten your death, where you will
suffer and 1 cannot reach you. Not
that, Tom, dear. There are the noun.
tains, Tom. 1t has been done before.
had friend once who had it, and
they hid him in the mountains and
cared for him all through"
"Until he died?'
EYES,
But he died, just the same, and
they risked their own lives.
Don't talk like that. Tom, my
boy" said my uncle. Il can't see you
go to Molokai. I can't do it. And
yet, anyhow; you are so well and
strong. How horrible to have you off
there, where l can't see you. No, nor'
sit is horrible thought, Uncle
Tom, | said, gloomily. ''If to you.
much more so to me. But what good
would it do to hide in the mountains? +?
| would surely be discovered, and you
would perhips be punished for dis
obeying the law. And am not we'll
or strong. 1 am getting weaker all
the time. At Molokai / would have
care, as well as in the mountains
more, for you could not be with me
always. And there's another thing.
Now am the same in looks as ever.
You know what will be after time.
I prefer to take leave Of You, Gordon
and my other friends now, and have
them remember me as l am."
Don't, Tom, boy, don't, said my
uncle, breaking down and sobbing,
''If you go to Molokai l will go with
you and remain.
Not one stepl You will not rur
in any danger. There is Winnie to
think of. She may be found. Gordon
will pursue the search. 1t seems hope.
less, | know, but it may be all right
yet"
We sat sobbing, we two men.
You who think you have known sor
row and think your manhood is proc
against the weakness of tears. plac,
yourself in the position of a lepel
about to separate from all he hold
dear, still with his faculties and ener
giss, and to isolate himself among tn
horrors and miseries of that settlemen
of which l have spoken before. Will
my uncle's double grief, my own heart