Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1902-07-10
CHAPTER xxi.
"The Light That Failed.

The cool. sweet smell of the place, the
decorous silence. the order of ii all APP
pealed to him strongly. 1t was as the
old war horse who shifts the battle from
afar. And the battle with death was
eve a Joy to Bell.
This is all contrary to regulations, of
course" he suggested.
well, 1t is" Cross admitted. But /
am an enthusiast, and doesn't often get
a chanc VI chatting with a brilliant,
erratic 81. g" like yourself. Besides, our
man Is rot In the hospital proper He
is in a kind of annex by my own quar-
tiers, and he SCOTS the suggestion OF be-
ing nursed."
Bell nodded, understanding perfectly.
He came at length to a brillantly-light-
ed room. where a dark man, with an
exceedingly high forehead and wonder
fully piercing eyes was sitting up in
bed. The dark eyes lighted with pleas
ure as they fell upon Bells queer,
stumbling figure and white hair.
''The labor we delight in physics
pain" he greeted with a laugh and a
groan. Its worth a badly-twisted
shoulder to have the pleasure of seeing
Hatherly Bell again. My dear fellow,
how are your"
The voice was low and pleasant.
There was no trace of insanity about
the speaker. Bell shook the proffered
hand. For come little time the w
sation proceeded smoothly enough. The
stranger was a good taIker. His re-
marks were keen and TO the point.
IT hope you will be comfortable here"
Bell suggested.
A faint. subtle change came over the
others face.
"An but one thing" he whispered.
Don't make a fuss about 1t. because
Cross Is very kind. But l can't stand
the electric light. 1t reminds me Of the
great tragedy Of my life. But for the
electric light I should be a free man
with a good practice to-day"
80 you are harping on that string
again." Bell said coldly. II fancied
that I had argued you out of that. You
know perfectly well hat 1t is all imag-
nation. Heritage"
Heritage passed his left hand across
his eyes In a confused kind Of way.
when you look at one like that I
fancy So" he said. when / was IN
der your hands I was forgetting all
about It. And now 1t has all come back
again. Did ] tell you all about 1t.
CROSSE"
Bell gave Cross a significant glance,
and the latter shook his head.
well, II was this way" Heritage be-
gan, eagerly. His eyes were cleaning
now, his whole aspect was changed.
ct was poor and struggling, but ! had
a grand future before me. There was
a patient of mine, a rich man, who had
a deadly throat trouble. And he was
going to leave me all his money IL /
cured him. He told me he had made a
will to that effect, and he had done so.
And / was in direct straits for some
ready cash. When I came to operate /
used an electric light. a powerful light
You know what I mean. The opera
ton failed and my patient died. n
operation failed because the electric
light went out at a critical time.
People said II was a great misfortune
for me, because / vas on the threshold
of a new discovery which would have
made my name. Nothing Of the kind.
I deliberately cut the positive wire OF
the electric light so that I should fail.
ard so that my patient should die and
I might get ali mis- money at once. And
he did die and nobody suspected me
nobody could have found me out. Then
I went mad and they put me under
Bells care. I should "a got well,
only he gave UP his practice and drifted
into the world again. My good kind
friend Reginald Henson heard OF my
case: he interested some people In me
and placed IRE where I am at present"
$50 Reginald Henson knows all about
it?" Bell asked. drily.
my dear fellow, he Is the best friend
I have In the world. He was interest
ed In my case. / have gone over 1t
with him a hundred times. / showed
him exactly how 1t was done. And
row you know why I loathe the electric
light. When IL shines in my eyes 1t
maddens me: II brings back TO me the
recollection Of that dreadful time, II
causes me to-
Heritage" Bell said, sternly. "close
your eyes at once and be silent"
The patient obeyed instantly. He had
rot forgotten the old habit OF obedience
When he opened his eyes again at
length he looked around him in a fool
ish. shame-faced manner.
Tt am afraid / have been rambl-
ing" he muttered. pray don't notice
ne, Bell: II you are as good a fellow
as you used to be. come and see me
again. I'm tired now"
Bell gave the desired assurance, and
he and Cross left the room together.
ANY sort of truth in what he had
been saying?'' asked the latter.
Very little" Bell replied. Heritage
Is an exceedingly clever fellow who has
not yet recovered from a bad breakdown
some years ago. I had nearly cured
him nj one time, but he seems to have
lapsed into bad ways again. Some day,
when i have time, ! shall take UP his
case once more"
ibid he operate. or try some new
throat cure?"
Exactly. He was on the verge OF
discovering some way OF operating Tor
throat cases with complete success.
You can imagine how excited he was
over his discovery. Unfortunately the
patient he experimental on died under
the operation. not because the light
went out or any nonsense of that kind.
but from failure OF the hearts action
owing TO excitement. Heritage had
had no sleep for a fortnight. and he
| broke down altogether. For months he
was really mad, and when his senses
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