Smyrna times., 1902-09-03
RNA TIMES, WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, SEPTEMBER g. 1902

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 Il name they called me
mo. AZ in the hospital and l never
heard it without a gasp and a shudder.
In a way, the old suit of clothes and
empty pockets suggested that l was a
poor man, yet when they came to see
that l was one who had bathed daily
and had taken proper care of r'y nails
and teeth they were p;...~.i. My
speech proved me to re -. at
that was no great point r.-.. l..er2
are hundreds of EnglishmCn ta i.u - II
in Paris, and how were t!:cy 10 Eant
out my record without Il 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 l should do. | was penni-
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. l, who had an in
come of $1,000 per year, a valet at my
rooms in London and was looked upon
as gentleman of leisure. became the
6nnfnpfc sun1 - 4,
brushed his coat and hat ran on err
rands and bought meat and vegetables
for the family table. There was not
an hour of the day that l was not
working my brain over the mystery,
but try as hard as l would | could not
go back further than the hospital.
When l woke up, there my life began
anew.
During the six months | was with
the doctor various suggestions were
made and followed. l took long walks
to see if l could identify streets and
squares and buildings, and ] mingled
with crowds in hopes that might see
face l could recall. A 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 | couldn't
open it. 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 l started out one morning to
get a pair of the doctors boots re-
paired. Just as | was turning into
small street to visit a cobbler. | came
face to face with member of my
London club-a man with whom / was
well acquainted. My whiskers and
eyebrows had grown again and
looked like my old self He at once
put out his hand and saluted:
''Why, old boy. you've been dead for
months and months. and yet find you
in Paris very much alive!'
l looked at the man in open mOuthed
astonishment for a minute and then
went down in a heap. l was taken to
his hotel instead of a hospital, and
after a time was restored to conscious
ness, and the very first words 1 ut
tered were a shout:
write it down-write it down! MY
name is Joseph Kiddy, bachelor, of
LOndonv'
Everything came back to me with a
rush, and for time was so excited
that l acted like a lunatic. At home
was supposed to be dead, and my law
yers had searched in vain for traces of
me- AS / got out, Paris looked as of
old to me. Every little incident came
back, and the French doctor who had
been so kind to me was one of the
heartiest in his congratulations. 1
sought the aid of the police to hunt
down Graham and his friend, but moth
ing ever came of it. They had moved
/ on to find other victims.