The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-09-12
"Can you crawl through there :"

"Can you crawl through there 2
he asked Mabelle, who was too per
picked to answer. She was frighten
ed, too, as she had never seen Georg,
in such a mood before. He was 81
quiet and cold, she thought. With
her-when he knew it was she-he
was always jolly, light-hearted and
afectionate. Today his manners were
coarse and she shivered unconscious.
ly. Through the fence they both
managed to squeeze, and George wait.
ed until another man, from an upper
window, gave him signal.
Nov you wait here" he said,
land shall come for you in a few
minutes"
The silence oppressed her, and the
sense of foreboding evil was almost
maddening. ooh, why did I come :"
she sobbed to herself, "and why is
George so sccrctivc ?' She seated
herself on the grass slope and
vaguely wondered at the delay. A
low cry nearby startled her. She
jumped to her feet, and in doing so
saw, few yards off, the mangled
body of cat.
Poor Pussy" she called, softly,
"what big fight you must have been
in !" The cat tried to move, but
gave another heart-rending cry.
AS Mabelle stroked her, she found
that the little animals stomach had
been cut open, and in its mouth was
a gag which, being half 1oosened, al
lowed the few feeble cries she had
heard to escape. Before George re-
turned the cat died, and when he
came he was in such a hurry that
Mabelle could not tell him about it.
Up long flight of stairs she follow
ed until a large hall was reached.
We've got it all to ourselves"
George said visitors aren't allow
ed here as a general thing, but 1
promised you that I would show you
the source of all Our knowledge. I'd
do a great deal for Mabelle' brother"
Mabelle did not blush something
was tugging at her her strings,
and a sense of desolation was over
coming her. She felt as she had al
ways imagined she would feel, stand
ing by the grave of her dearest friend.
Bring her in" George called to
the same colored boy they had met in
the alley. He soon appeared, lead
ing beautifully marked hound who
went straight to Mabelle, laying its
glossy head on her arm.
"Come now, grille, that's not your
business" George said, as he lifted
the dog on the table.
Hand me, 1.-The curare, Twin" he
then said, pointing towards it.
"Curare? Why, what's that"
Mabelle asked. Then the horrible
truth flashed across her mind, and she
realized that she waS IN a 9lyisection-
al laboratory.
She remembered instantly all Miss
10 lj : the medical Schools tadgHf
the practice of vivisection, even when
many learned men in the profession
denounced it as cruel and misleading
Her mind reverted back to what
DR.. Charles Richet, professor of phys
iology, had said. He was vivisec-
tor, and she had read about him in a
paper Miss Ethel had given her.
Word by word she mentally went
over one of his speeches. 81 do not
believe that a single experimenter
says to himself when he gives curare
to rabbit or cuts the spinal cord of
a dog, Here is an experiment which
will relieve or cure the disease of
some man. No. he says to himself,
Il will clear up an obscure point. 1
will seek out a new fact
She made mighty effort to control
herself. "I must try to do whatever
Miss Ethel would want me to, she
kept saying over to herself.
George watched her curiously, then
reached for the curare himself.
Don't be a d baby" he said
"Tell me what curare is," she ask
ed, assuming an interest. 81 suppose
it is an an9sthetic.
"Well, hardly" George answered,
giving an unpleasant laugh. Anas-
thetics deaden pain, while curare
really intensifes it. Of course, out
siders think we use anasthetics, but
we rarely do, as under them the con-
dition of the animal is too abnormal
to afford satisfactory experiment"
Mabelle's eyes flashed as she lis
tened. "Under curare should think
the condition would be abnormal"
she said, excitement and indignation
depicted in her face.
"Why?" asked George, carelessly.
"Why?" she answered, because
suffering certainly brings on fever
ed condition, and you admit the ami
mails suffer intensely under curare."
She looked him straight in the eyes
as she continued: You know it,
George Wilson, you and the other
students, aye, and the professors, too.
You are all intoxicated with curiosi-
ty and desire for what you term
scientific research. Scientific re-
search Bosh 1t is a desire born
of the devil, and you, George Wilson,
are as much under its terrible in
fuence as was DR.. Jekyll under the
drug that made him as Mr.. Hyde, a
monster of cruelty. Yet you have
dared to make love to me, dared to
ask me to be your wife, dared to hold
me in your arms and sue for my
kisses"
She stopped breathlessly. In her
excitement she had thrown off the
role of her twin brother, and now
stood before her lover, an infuriated
tigress.
She saw the look of surprise and
amazement that sprang into his eyes ;
saw it followed by one of humiliation
and intense soul suffering, which sud-