Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1899-01-27

IA already large cIenteic. he was
q plsndid fellow. large Of frame but
stnight as an arrow. with great brown
eys that looked you sauarely in the
fac when he spoke. and. with all his
PHYSICAL strength. kind and gentle as
q voman- He was loved by every one
At he club. where We knew him as the
sod of honor and generous to a fault
Davis on the other hand. though
he was of the same olive hued type
AM enough like Whiting in features
TO be his twin brother. had sneering
epressien on his face. and when he
ed at you with his eyes nalf closed
AM that cynical smile on his lips he
m.de me think of the copperhead of
hi own louisiana swamps. He was
q heavy drinker. and spent money
emugh at the club. but he was never
known to do = kind act. and we were
, sure he never spent dollar on any
ore else unless he saw that he would
gan some advantage in return.
Both of the men had ample means
Of their own, but Davis had never
pHcticed, SO far as We knew. and
where he got his title of doctor from
OF where he lived no one seemed to
klow. Some said that he was an ex-
pert chemist and dabhied in alchemy
Is well. but he made no close friends.
and seldom spoke of his own life.
1T happened mat Davis and Whit
ing had never met at the club. as each
cane but seldom. but we often chaffed
one about The other. and from their
facial resemblance dubbed them the
two Dromios. Jekyll and Ii yde would
have been more appropriate. but this
was long before Stevenson's book was
written.
whiting always resented any chance
ali1sion TO his double. although good
fa.ured at shs rest OF our chaff and
scanned 70 doubt the actual existence
ct Davis. whom he had heard of but
never met, and thought we were
simply trying to put up a game on
him. Naturally the more be scoffed at
the reality of Davis the more we nag
sed him, until finally in sheer despera-
ton he proposed to give a quiet little
dinner for four Of us. at which Robin
son, an artist and fellow club-member
be the quartet.
Davis promised to be there if pos
sible, and said he was already &C
Quainted with Whiting-of course by
reputation only, he added with that
cynical smile we all hated. On the
night of the dinner Robinson and /
were on hand early, for we were anx-
ious to see the meeting between Davis
and Whiting, and had made several
bets with the other fellows as to
whether Davis would snow up
whiting appeared punctually as
usual. but though we waited until mid
night Davis failed to materialize. OF
course this settleu the matter in Whit
ing'S mind for the time being. and he
made us set up several bottles of wine
to drink to the health OF his mythical
counterpart, as he called him.
"The next night, however he came
to the club, and drawing Robinson
and me aside, said:-"Boys, this mat
ter has gone too far. ! Ikea joke,
but / think ii is rather rough for you
to keep it up And on our express
ing our ignorance of his meaning he
showed us IA letter from Davis regret
| ting his inability 10 be present the
night before, and saying that he was
too i'll at the moment TO make his re-
grets in person.
But. my dear fellow said Robin
son, If you really think us guilty of
this letter will you kindly explain how
liz happens to be written on your own
paper?'
w hitting grabbed up the note and
seemed frightened for the moment
Tor at the head of the letter was his
s si ana the enys!o9se hers Tbs .i1prsSs.
ways wore on his watch chain He
looked at it searchingly. and then left
the club without word
after this occurrence we ceased
bantering him about Davis and passed
the word around to the other fellows
to drop it. for we saw that the matter
worried him greatly and feared the eff
feet of our chaff on his high strung.
tGnlIlnrnaDnr
the club less frequently during the
winter, but ut every mention of Whit
ing Shame he smiled and said he was
sorry they did not happen to meet
''0h day, early in the spring. Whit
ing 9nt note asking me to come up
| to hisden after dinner, as he had some
thngof Importance to tell, and begged
NE Mt to fail him. l had often been
to hA office on Madison avenue, but
had nver visited him at his rooms on
til treet. 1t was quiet neighbor- ,
hood west of Ninth avenue. and the
housdyas one of row of old fashion
ed frhe buildings still in good repair,
but trked up against their rear were
sever ramshackel old tenements.
nearl.deserted by tenants
Il Id not seen Whiting for some
mont and was shocked by the change
in disappearance. There We're dark
circle under his eyes and a strange
huntt expression in his face He
grasp my hand eagerly and drew
chit for me in front of the crate
fire, the evenings We're still cool
he exclaimed suddenly. after
we h lit our cigars and talked gilt
teringeneralities for few minutes.
thatellow Davis is killing me by
inchs'
h 7
havelme to believe in him at last.
stad to laugh but checked my
self ZEN 1 saw the expression of his
face.
:" ht is 1t, my dear boy? | asked,
sootfsly. 1t certainly can't be so :
serioi What has he been up to !.
now1
damned queer business. said
Whit hxcitedly. and 1 can't imagine 9
his nke: but these are the facts. =
For eral weeks this fellow has
doggety footsteps. and after l have
made professional call and left the
usual lscription he has sent a note :,
TO thetient initiating my handwrit- =
ing Exchanging the medicines for :
othershich, had they been taken as L
direct4would nave in some cases !,
provettal ortunately the drug =
gists telephoned me that there
was 81 mistake and l have been
able t1rrect il. But of course this q
constat changing of prescriptions (,
has and my practice terribly and :"
people beginning TO think that my ~
mind i4,alanced-
Bun dear fellow said l. trying i.
TO quiefn- why not give up your -
practice a few weeks and take -
decidedt and meanwhile We will .,
deal w1this fellow Davis as he -
deserved % =.
'Bt1at is not all. continued
whiting spairingly. 1t is true | -.
don't the income from my Il
practicfH work more from the love ~,
OF il tha the fees, but he has gone n.
ST III fur and dared to call on Miss n
Wiley. 4ancee. and tell her many -
of the 70 eseapades of my COLLEGE