Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-01

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ways. Yet all afternoon, subsequent to
that chance encounter, the remembrance
OF Mr.. Cochran strolling down to the river,
talking in pleasant. friendly manner to
the gillie. had never been entirely out of
his mind-he had seemed so extraordinarily
healthy and content. and just now poor
Thurso had an immense envy of such gifts.
He finished dressing without any severe
return of pain, but just as he was prepar-
ing to go downstairs, dismissing Mr.. Coch-
ran from hts mind, 1t came on again in
sudden stabs and flashes of anguish. 20
that for moment he held on with clench-
ed hands and bitten lips to his table. feel
ing that. he must grip hold OF something.
At the moment his eye fell on the bottle
of laudanum which stood by the looking
glass, and though never before had he TAX
en- two doses ON the same doy, yet never
before had the pain been SO agonizing and
SO persistent, and next moment he had
poured a full dose into his graduated glass
and drank 1t. But the beads Of perspira-
ton from the pain were standing on his
forehead, he felt faint and sick with 1t,
and sat down for q moment to wait for the
blessed relief that would SO soon come.
On his very sensitive and excitable nerves
the drug exercised an almost instantane-
Gus effect, not soporiflo at all, but tram
Quillizng, rand at the same time stimulate
ing. The pain faded like the melting away
Of the vapor of breath on q frosty morn
ing, and as it faded a warm tingling glow
began to invade him. 1t was as II on some
bitter, biting Arctic night the sun Of the
south poured Its warm, bracing rays on to
his brain; happiness and content were un-
folded like a map, the newborn sense of
well-being stretched and summed itself in
this luminous peace.
He had not to wait long. Before the
seconds had licked themselves into a min
ute this divine remission of pain began.
and, with it, the no-less blessed glow OF
content; and couple Of minutes after
ward It was not so much In the utter re-
lief of pain that his body reveled as In
the ,ecstatic sense of supreme bodily har-
mony. And then, as always, this well-be-
ing Of the body spread, like some warm, in
coming tide, to his mind, the one reacting
on the other. The horror and suffering of
his poor fever-stricken village ceased to
weigh upon him and darken the soul with
its anguish and his own helplessness. In
stinctively his mind ceased to dwell on the
thought Of the bedside of the stalker whose
life was despaired of, but went to another
bedside where life that had almost been
despaired Of yesterday was coming back
from the entrance to the valley Of the
shadow, and had crawled out today from
the thorn-hedge of illness, SO to speak, on
to the high-road Of recovery. This case
was that of a woman-the wife of Dun
can Frazer, one Of his fishing gillies. And
In this spirit he looked hopefully forward,
while the soothing, stimulating drug made
its benef1cent way within him, to further
amelioration tomorrow.
Thurso had sat down for a moment to
recover from the fafntness that had seized
him at that sudden onslaught Of pain, but
also in order to abandon himself more en-
tirely to the raptures of these drug effects.
Then, after a few minutes, he got up, re-
membering two things, the first that he was
keeping Maud waiting, the second that for
the first time he was consciously reveling
and delighting In the bodily sensation that
the opium produced. Up till today he had
taken it purely incidentally, in order to re-
lieve pain when the pain was intolerable
or paralyzing to exertions that he was
called upon to make, and having taken it
like medicine he had done no more than
take the medicinal advantage Of Its re-
storing qualities. But tonight he knew
deep down in himself that he had done
something different, had taken 1t in a diff
ferent spirit. True, the pain had been very
acute, but as he drank he knew that he
had welcomed and waited for not only the
remission Of pain and the return Of energy,
but for that glow of seeming exquisite
health and harmony of sensation that 1t
gave him. Yet though he no longer. as he
got up, abandoned himself to this, he was
wildly conscious that he had done SO. And
as he went downstairs third>thought lau-
danum born. occurred to him. He must not
let Maud know he had taken 1t again. He
must not let her see how suddenly and COM
pletely the pain had gone, for fear that she
might guess Already he was slightly
ashamed of what amounted to coWardice:
well that it was impossible to be ashamed
of anything But If she asked? Well, in
that case it would be better to put the
/
whether he had taken laudanum again or
not was his affair. Perhaps-yes, that was
the right plan. He would be silent and
quiet till dinner was nearly over, and then
She had told him that 1t would. and indeed
the pain often left him as suddenly as 1t
came on. as II a tap had been turned on
or off.
his head. Another thought flashed there
too. There was paradise in that little bot
tie; whether one was in pain or not there
was paradise there. He felt he would will
ingly endure tortures, II at the end he
could push open those golden gates again.
Pain was nothing compared to these
pleasures. Surely now and then a half
hour in paradise could not hurt him. He
was perfectly willing to pass through hours
Soup had already arrived when he came
downstairs, and according to his plan, he
said little till he had eaten couple Of
demand more Of the something roast" and
Maud had given him an approving nod. He
finished his second helping. and leaned back
in his chair.
IT don't like telling you that you are
right" he said, ''but honesty compels me
to. Dinner, or suggestion, or both. have
certainly done the trick. They've turned
off the tap. Quite. quite of. 1t doesn't
even drip. will even allow it was sugges-
ton, If you like, because I am SO pleased
that will allow anything"
''Oh, ThurSo, I'm SO glad! she said
"And 1 SO often wish could take 1t for
you"
you wouldn't like it when you got IT,
said he rather grimly.
mo. but should like to take 1t. could
bear lots Of pain If knew 1t was otherwise
somebody else's. But it must be so diff
cult If 1t is only your own. And now you
may tell me about today. Oh, how wise
was not to let you talk about 1t before
I'm sure you were taking neuralgia view.
Apple?"
Eyes, two, please I was I was thinking
only of poor Sandie, who am afraid Is dy-
ing, and not of Duncan FraZer's wife, who
appears to be better. Headache made me
forget that. But that's not what 1 wanted
to talk to you about. IT'S this, Maud"
He oaused moment.
II know you will feel with me about It,"
he said. though dare say Lily will make
a fuss when she knows 1 think I must
turn this house into a hospital for them.
You see, If one case appears in one OF the
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