Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-02-23


tragic impulse, to that portrait which
represented to him all that was left,
concentrating III one image alone all his
life"
Then it is possible? 1t is possible?"
Bernardet repeated
Il believe it, h." said the Dane. "Tho
man is dying He has only one thought
to go directly to the one who, surviv-
ing him, guarded his secrets and his
lie. lie seized his portrait; he tore it
from its hook with all his strength; he
devoured it with his eyes; he drank
i'll with look, if may be allowed tho
expression 70 this picture Of the being
whom he loved he spoke. He cried to
him, telling him his last wishes, dictat-
ing to him his thoughts of vengeance
AT this supreme moment his energy
was increased hundredfold. | know
not what intensity of life was concen-
trated on this image, and gathering all
his failing forces in last look the man
who wished to live, tho man weakened
by illness, dying, assassinatod, put into
that last regard the electric force, tho
fire which fixed the image Confused
have traced the RESEMBLANCE upon the
retina. a phantom, if you wish, which
is reflected in the dead man S eye. "
And, repeated Bcrnardet, who
wished to bo perfectly assured in re-
gard to the question, lit is not only the
image of Il living being; it is, to uso
your words, the phantom even of
painting which was retained on tho ret
ina"'
Il do not reply to you, That is pos.
sible. 1t is you who say to me, L lave
seen it, And you have seen it in truth,
and the forul, vague though it may be,
the painted figure, permits you to find
i'll passerby the man whose picture
the retina lad already shown you.
oh, well. DOCTOR, said the little
Bernardet Il shall tell that, hut they
will deny it. They will say that it is
impossible "
DIR. Erwin smiled He seemed to be
looking with his deep blue eyes at so,De
invisible perspective not buudcd by
the walls of the little room.
lone has said" he began, chat tse
word impossible is not French. 1t would
be more exact to affirm that it was not
human. We attain knowledge Of the
| unlnOwable. The mysterious is an
/ rroachahle. One must deny nothing a
| priori; one must believe all things pos
slble and not only dream. Search for
the truth the harsh truth, as your
Stendhal said. Well, the word is wrong.
! One ought to say justly the exquisite
/ -
search that daily life where each move
( mcnt marks Il step advanced, where the
heart beats at the thought Of Il rcndl1-
yOuS III the laboratory as at Il rcndcz-
vous Of love. All, he is happy who has
given his life to science. He lives in a
dream. 1t is the poetry in our times Of
prose. The dream, " continued the young
doctor as in an ecstasy, while Bcrnardet
listened, ravished, "tho dream is every
where. 1t is impossible to make it tangi-
bic, Thought, human thought, can
sometimes b deciphercd like an open
book. An American physician has asked
to be permitted to try an experiment
upon the Uranium Of a condemned man,
still living. Through the Uranium he
studied the man ) brain Has not Edi-
son undertaken to give sight to the
blind, 1t is the hour of miracles. But
i'll order to accomplish all these things
1T is necessary, as i'll primitive times to
believe, to believe always. The TWEEN
ticth century will see many others.
All, doctor, doctor, cried poor
little Bernardet, much moved, Il do
not wish to be the ignoramus that | am,
the father Of a family, who has mouths
to feed, and beg Of you to take me as
sweeper III your laboratory"
He departed, enthused by the inter
view Hencetorth he could say that he.
| the ignorant one, had, by his seemingly
foolish conviction, proved the reality of
an experiment which bad been abandon
ed for some years, and the humble po-
lice officer had reopencd the nearly
closed door TO criminal instruction
a scruplc, moreover, came to him. \
doubt, an agony, and he wished to
| share it with NJ. Ginory
All the same, with the admirable in
ventlon he had caused IN innocent man
TO be arrested. This thought made him
very uneasy. He had produced ii power
which, instead Of striking the guilty
had overthrown an unhappy man, and
1t was this famous discovery Of Dr.
Bourbon, persisted i'll by him, which
had resulted i'll this mistake.
1T must be, F" he thought, chat man
may be fallible even in the most mar
Vicious discoveries. 1t is frighttul! 1t is
perhaps done to make us moro prudent
prudent and modest
Doubt now seized him. Must he stop
there III these famous experiments which
ended Ill this lie? Ought he abandon all
research on road which ended in a
cul -de sac: And he confided that unhap.
Ply scruple to the examining magistrate,
with whom the chances of the service
had put him III sympathy NJ Ginory
not only was interested in strange dis
coveries, but he was always indulgent
toward the original little Bernardet
FINALLY, NJ. lie JUICE, said the police
officer, shaking his head, Il have
thought and thought about the discov-
cry our discovery-that Of Dr. Bourbon
1t Is subject TO errors, our discovery 1t
would have led us to put in prison
jacques Dantin, and jacques Dantin
was not guilty"
"Oh, yes, NJ. Bernardet!" said the
magistrate, who seemed thoughtful, his
heavy chin resting on his hand. at
ought to make us modest. 1t is the fate