Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1908-08-25

some-George Ransome. He was placed
here under peculiar circumstances"
Il should say they were peculiar, very
peculiar circumstances !" exclaimed the
doctor. do you know, madame, that
Mr.. Ransome came here as suspected
murderer? He came straight from the
Jail at Villefrandhe, where he had been
detained on the suspicion of having kill
ed his wife,"
There was not one jot of evidence TO
support such a charge. / know all the
circumstances Surely, sir, you, who
must have a wide knowledge of human
nature, did not think him guilty?"
Il hardly made up my mind upon that
point, even after l had seen him almost
every day for six months; but there is
one thing / do know about this unhappy
gentleman his lunacy was no assumption,
put on to save him from the consequences
of crime. He was a man of noble in
tellect, large brain power, and for the
time being his reason was totally OBJ
scured."
TO what cause did you attribute the
attack?''
"A long period Of worry, nerves COM
that catastrophe on me cliff Whether his
hand pushed her to death, or the woman
flung her life away, the shock was too
much for Mr.. Ransome's weakened and
worried brain. All the indications of his
malady, from the most violent stages to
the gradual progress of recovery, pointed
to the same conclusion. The history of
the case revealed its cause and its earlier
phases; an unhappy marriage, jealous
wife, patience and forbearance on his
part, until patience degenerated into de-
spair, the dull apathy of wearied in
tellect. All that is easy to understand"
did other people think him guilty
the people he had known in Nice, for in
stance?"
Il fancy there were very few who
thought much about him. answered the
doctor. Luckily for him and his belong
ings-whoever they might be-he had
dropped out of society for some time be-
fore the catastrophe, and he had never
been person of importance In Nice. He
had not occupied villa, or given par
ties. He lived with his wife at an hotel,
and the man who lives at an hotel counts
for very little on the Riviera. He is only
a casual visitor, who may come and go
as he pleases. His Observation-Disclosures he
has rank or fashion or.inordinate wealth
to recommend him-excite no interest. He
is not parsonage. Hence there was very
little talk about the lamentable end of
Mr.. Ransomes married life. There were
hardly half dozen paragraphs in our
local papers, all told; a patient might
congratulate himself upon his obscurity."
A sigh was Mildred's only answer
Monsieur Leroy saw tears in her eyes, and
asked no more. He was shrewd enough
to guess her connection with his former
patient--a second wife, no doubt. No
one but wife would be so intensely in
terested.
IF there is anything can do for you,
or for my old patient" he began, see
ing that his visitor fingered.
"Oh, no, there is nothing if
you would let me see the rooms in which
he lived
"AssuredIy. 1t is a melancholy pleas
ure, at best, to- recall the sorrows we
have outlived, but the association will be
less painful in your case since the-friend
in whom you are interested was so speed
lily and so thoroughly restored to mental
health. / take it that he has never had
a relapse"
Never"
1T was not likely, from the history of
the case"
She was shown George Ransome's room.
which was empty. The bare, whitewash-
ed walls chilled her as if she had gone
into an ice vault. Here on everything
there was the stamp of State prison
iron bars, white walls, deadly monotony.
She was glad to escape into the open air
again, but not until she had knelt for
some minutes beside the narrow bed up
on which George Ransome had lain sew
enteen years ago, and thanked heaven for
his restoration of reason, and prayed that
his declining days might be blessed. She
prayed for him, to whom she might new
ermore be the source of happiness, she
who until so lately had been his nearest
and dearest upon earth.
A law which she recognized as duty
had risen up between them. and both must
go down to the grave in sadness rather
thau that law should be broken.