The new age. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1902-190?, 1902-11-22

did not press me to talk, but sought TO
encourage me by saying that things
would soon come right.
| do not believe that man standing
defenseless before a crouching lion
feels the terror | did when / found
that had been wiped out OF existence.
For want Of a maine they called me
mo IL IT. the hospital, and | never
heard 1t without a gasp and a shudder.
In way, the old suit of clothes and
empty pockets suggested that | was a
poor man, yet when they came to see
that | was one who had bathed daily
and had taken proper care of my nails
and teetA-tAey- were puzzled Ny
speech proved me to be English. but
that was no great point gained. There
are hundreds of Englishmen to be met
in Paris, and how were they to hunt
out my record without a name and
with a very bad personal description?
1t was two weeks before | was well
enough to leave the hospital, and then
came the question of where should
go and what should do. l was penni-
less and among strangers. Influenced
somewhat by sympathy, no doubt. but
more by professional interest, the head
surgeon took me to his own home to
see If time or accident would not bring
back my memory. |. who had an in
come of 1900 per year, valet at my
rooms i'm London and was looked upon
as a gentleman of leisure. became the
doctors man." | BACKED his shoes,
brushed his coat and hat, ran on err
rands and bought meat and vegetables
for the family table. There was not
working my brain over the mystery,
but try as hard as I would could not
go back further than the hospital.
When l woke up, there my life began
anew.
During the six months l was with
the doctor various suggestions were
made and followed. l took long walks
to see IL l could identify streets and
squares and buildings, and I mingled
with crowds in hopes that might see
a face l could recall. map of Lon
don was shown me, and the doctor
called off the names of hundreds of
streets. 1t was all In vain, however
The book was closed, and l couldn't
open 1t. There would come moments
when l could almost grasp the past,
but as my heart began to thump and
my brain to whirl. memory would slip
away again.
At the end of six months and while
we seemed as far from the solution
as ever | started out one morning to
get a pair of the doctors boots re-
paired. Just as / was turning into a
small street to visit a cobbler. l came
face to face with a member of my
London Cuba man with whom l was
well acquainted. My whiskers and |
eyebrows had grown again and I
looked like my old Self. He at orce |
put out his hand and saluted:
'Why, old boy, you've been dead for
months and months, and yet find you
n Paris very much aliver'
l looked at the man i'm open mouthed
for a minute and then
vent down in a heap. l was taken to
his hotel instead of hospital, and
lfter a time was restored to conscious
hess, and the very first words ut
cred were a shout:
Write it down-write it down! My
lame is Joseph Kiddy. bachelor, of
Londonr'
Everything came back to me with a
'ush, and for time | was so excited
hat | acted like a lunatic. At home I
vas supposed to be dead, and my law
'ers had searched in vain for traces of
ne. AS | got out, Paris looked as Of
I'D to me. Every little incident came
Jack, and the French doctor who had
'een so kind to me was one of the
Ieartiest in his congratulations. 1
ought the aid of the police to hunt
own Graham and his friend. but moth
ne ever came of it. They had moved
n to find other victims.