Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1906-09-21
CHAPTER I.

1t Is with no intention of delighting the
curious that l put my pen to paper.
Only at the urgent desire of many mem
bers of my own profession have under
taken task necessarily disagreeable, and
do now recall the details of a case which
i take to be without parallel In the rec
ords of criminology. 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
hborious studies in the byways Of sci
-ence, rather than in her more frequented
paths, had placed at the will Of his dis
ordered brain weapons Of deadly poten-
cy, transformed a personal misfortune
Into a 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
lcine grew steadily, and on leaving the
university l determined, having both the
means and the time at my disposal, to
seek out a spot where could throw my
self into my work without the Interrupt
tons of old friends and old associations.
The reputation of Heidelberg attracted
me, and hither l migrated.
Sufficient for myself. The man who
was to be associated with me in my
strange quest l will describe with equal
brevity. My cousin. Sir Henry Graden,
Kt., 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 80 the world held him-who lacked
Ihe steady application necessary for COM
plete success. He would throw himself
Into the solution of a problem, or the
prosecution of new experiment, with
the utmost zeal; yet on achieving the
desired result he would shake off 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 a rugged
weather-beaten face, keen yet kindly
grey eyes, and brown hair, somewhat
grizzled about the temples. In age he
was we'll 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 a 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
4oLI ta
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 yel-
low circle, arranging the notes Of the
lectures I had that day attended, when
there came a knock at the door behind
me- 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" l cried, for
indeed it was he who had thus treated
me- What cyclone has blown you
here?"
"Egad! I believe it's the truth I've
heard" said he, throwing himself on to
a sofa that cracked again under his
weght-he was a famed breaker OF
furniture was cousin Harry Graden
"They told me that you'd shut yourself
up for nigh two years-work. work, work
-as if there was no young blood In your
veins, and no green world lying around
you, with not yard of it that isn't
worth all the most learned dissertations
ever written"
knew his favorite doctrine. 1t would
have been as foolish to argue with him
as to attempt to uphold the necessity
for the Union with an Irish Home Ruler
But what are you doing here"
repeated.
''It's to Berlin that I'm bound, to read
q paper before a society that Is good
enough to be interested in some notes
took recently on the Kaffir wltch-doctors.
I'd a few days in hand, so l thought
would take a peep at my dear Heidelberg
and, incidentally, at my worthy cousin,
Robert Harland."
He rose and stalked about the room,
elucking to himself like contented hen.
Same old jugs and china pipes; same
wainscot, a shade darker maybe; same
old oak beams, a thought more smoky
came schlagers above the mantelpiece.
He took down one Of the students
dueling swords, and slipped his hand
into the heavy hilt. Raising his long arm
into the orthodox attitude, he swept the
keen, thin blade In kissing circles.
"Do you ever tramp on the sawdust,
and drum with the schlager, and bleed in
tho tank, Cousin RobertT
mot I. Though I have heard Of your
triumphs In the past, you man Of blood!'
"And who has been gossiping"
Professor Won Stockmar. He asked
me to supper the second day l arrived,
Tor the sole purpose, believe, Of i'm
pressing me with the fame Of q certain
iuslins desperate Of student one