Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1906-10-06
CHAPTER I.

Only at the urgent desire of many mem
bers of my own profession have l under
taken task necessarily disagreeable, and
do now recall the details of a case which
take to be without parallel In the rec
oris of crimnology. In the mental state
Of the afflicted being there was, indeed,
little that was abnormal. Manias that are
similar to his fill our asylums. But that
laborous studies in the byways OF sci
snce, rather than In her more freQuented
paths, had placed at the will Of his dis
ordered brain weapons Of a deadly poten-
cy, transformed a personal misfortune
Into great and urgent public danger.
spent four years at Cambride, where,
though my degree was high one,
found too many distractions to make
such progress as / could have wished in
my profession. Yet my interest in med
icine grew steadily, and on leaving the
university I determined, having both the
means and the time at my disposal, to
seek out q spot where could throw my
self into my work without the Interrupt
lions of old friends and old associations.
The reputation of Heidelberg attracted
me, and hither 1 migrated.
Sufficient for myself. The man who
was to be associated with me in my
strange quest | will describe with equal
brevity. My cousin, Sir Henry Graden,
KIT, MD, FRS, F.R.S.G., was a man
Of remarkable personality-a surgeon OF
brilliant gifts that had made for him a
European reputation, yet an eccentric
or 30 tho world held hiIn-who lacked
the steady application necessary for com
plete success. He would throw himself
into the solution of a problem, or the
prosecution of a new experiment with
the utmost zeal yet on achieving the
desired result he would shake of the at
mosphere of the hospital and laboratory
and start on some wild-goose chase that
might include the ascent Of an unclimb-
able peak, the capture of a rare species
Of wild animal, or the study of little
known tribe of savages. In person he
was of great stature, and heavily, al
most clumsily, built, with rugged,
weather-beaten face, keen yet kindly
grey eyes, and brown hair, somewhat
grizzled about the temples. In age he
was well past the forties. In dress and
department he might pardonably have
been mistaken for prosperous Yorkshire
grazier. Indeed, he was wont to COM
plain that he acted as magnet to all
the tricksters of London; though, from
the shrewd smile with which he accom-
panied his protests, it was easy to see
that he thoroughly enjoyed the diversion
Of turning the tables on his discredit-
able opponents.
1t was towards the end of my second
year at Heidelberg. An autumn sun had
sunk to rest in a golden haze over the
wooded hills, and the night, lum-
inous under the harvest moon, lay upon
the old town. l was sitting at my table,
on which a shaded lamp threw its vel
low circle, arranging the notes of the
lectures / had that day attended, when
there came knock at the door behind
me. l cried a sulky invitation, for
feared the appearance Of one of my pre-
posterous student friends, with his jargon
Of the duel and the promenade. But the
next moment an enormous hand had
dragged me into the realization of my
duties as host by standing me on my
feet amid the clatter of a falling chair
"Why, Cousin Graden" 1 cried, fol
indeed it was he who had thus treated
me- "What cyclone has blown yor
here?
heard" said he, throwing himself on t.
a sofa that cracked again under hi!
weight-he was a famed breaker o.
furniture was cousin Harry Graden
'sThey told me that you'd shut yourself
up for nigh two years-work, work, worl
--as if there was no young blood In you
veins. and no green world lying arount
YOU with not yard of 1t that ism
worth all the most learned dissertation
ever written"
knew his favorite doctrine. 1t woul,
have been as foolish to argue with hin
a. to attempt to uphold the necessit,
for the Union with an Irish Home Ruler
But what are you doing hereY
repeated.
''It's to Berlin that I'm bound, to rea
q paper before a society that Is goo
enough to be interested in some notes
took recently on the Kaffr witch-doctors
I'd few days in hand, so l thought
would take peep at my dear Heidelber
and, incidentally, at my worthy cousin
Robert Harland."
He rose and stalked about the room
clucking to himself like a contented her
Same old jugs and china pipes; sam
wainscot, a shade darker maybe; sam
old oak beams, a thought more smoky
same schlagers above the mantelpiece.
He took down one Of the student
dueling swords, and slipped his han
into the heavy hilt. Raising his long arl
into the orthodox attitude, he swept tn
keen. thin blade in Kissing circles.
do you ever tramp on the sawdus
and drum with the schlager, and bleed
the tank, Cousin Roberto
mot 1. Though l have heard Of 20,
triumphs in the past, you man Of blood
"And who has been gossipingT
professor Won Stockmar. He asks
me to supper the second day l arrive