Gardnerville record. (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1898-1902, 1901-07-26

y
alienist. DIR. Grifiiths, was sitting quiet
iy in my study reading from volume
Of Gautier's short stories, when he sud
lenly jumped from his chair and began
pacing the room.
Wonderful. wonderful" he kept re-
like it on record" Then he would re-
fer to the book again and repeat:
Wonderful, wonderful. that should
stumble upon the explanation here. 1t
Is the same, exactly the same, hallu-
clnation. And the suggestion that |
had given up hope of finding Is here
too. Extraordinary"
Unconscious of my presence. my
uncle went on In this strain for perhaps
five minutes. aud then, noticing that
was staring at him In bewilderment, he
smiled with that air of satisfaction that
Is seldom seen, except upon the face OF
the student or investigator who has
finally solved some scientific riddle.
Hugh. my boy" he said. II have
stumbled upon II complete explanation
of the most mystifylng case of hallu-
clnation that has ever come under my
notice. Explanations often come TO us
too late. but rarely In such strange
way"
Completely mystified, took the book
from my uncle's hands and discovered
that he had been reading "Omphale,' y
Gautier's weird story of a young man
r..I Of in n
piece of tapestry that hung on the wall
of an old chateau owned by the Chey-
alier de ID. In the dismal Rue de
Tournelles. | had not had time to re-
fresh my memory OF the tale When
my uncle almost snatched the book
from my hands and began reading
again TO rcassure himself OF the cor
rectness OF the conclusion he had ap-
parently formed.
Hercules spinning at the feet OF Om-
phnle," he began aloud. The very
same tapestry. Hercules holding a
bedecked spindle In pompadour style
There could not be two of than. His
little finger raised with the air of a
French marquis taking IA pinch of
snuff, his muscular neck covered with
ribbons and women's gew gaws; draped
In gorge de-pigeon petticoat with
huge panniers.' Fancy that. OF course
II is the same. And 'Omphale. half
covered with the Nemean lions skin;
her slender hand resting on her lovers
knotty club: her true Andalusidn feet,
that would be lost In Cinderella's slip
pers, shod with antique sandals OF a
delicate lilac sprinkled with pearls; her
head thrown back with IA mock swag-
ger. the delicious pout of her dlmpled
mouth: the beauty spot assassin, Gau-
tier calls IT. cunningly placed upon her
cheek. and the Cupids, the indlspensa-
BILE Cupids.' Well, well. it is certainly
extraordinary"
Naturally my mystiflcation and won
derment grew as my uncle delivered
as from catalogue, the features of
this wonderful tapestry, tortured aft
er The fashion of Vanloo," the drift of
his speech being SO strange as TO cause
the liveliest curiosity. 1T Is plain as
day." my uncle finally explained.
Pardon me-" said, with some irri-
tatlon, but It is not at all plain TO me.
The story always struck me as being
particularly wild flight of an unruly
Imagination"
"Of course, of course" my uncle re-
piled. you must think me in need of
my own medicine. | will tell you about
II. The tale IL preposterous. | was not
ft,ls In Of hAp I
plain. was thinking of the case OF u
young man who was placed in my
charge last summer. Poor chap. He
is dead now. | could do nothing for
him. and his people took him abroad,
where he dled-in Italy. | think-dur-
ing the winter.
The man-Wiltse was his name
was suffering from a most peculiar
hallucination, the nature of which was
discovered by his family when they in
stltuted close watch upon him to dis
cover, If possible, the cause of his
strange behavior and demeanor. To be
brief. he had fallen In love with that
piece Of tapestry identical with that
described. In this tale of Gautiers. And
not only this, but he imagined that his
alteration was reciprocated to some ex-
tent by the woven figure, with whom
he would tenderly converse when he
did not know he was being watched.
"Mr. Wiltse Informed me that he had
purchased the tapestry several years
before, having been attracted by the
absurd treatment the subject had re-
ceived at the hands of the artist in
spired of yanloo. The piece seemed
grotesque to our vision, but 1t was not