Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-05
rescued man was still sense

TO the -oCtor, VINO hurried hin
at once into the prepared room
When. assisted by some of the othel
men. he had undressed him. rubbed hin
down and put him to bed, and had seer
some of the others who had been rescued
from the wreck. he sought out Lady d.
Lannoy. He told her that his anxiet!
was for the mans sight: an announce
ment which blanched his hearers cheeks
She had so made up her mind as to hi:
perfect safety that the knowledge of any
kind of i'll which had come upon hin
came like a cruel shock. She questioned
Mr.. Hilton closely; that he thought il
well TO tell her at once all that he sur
missed and feared:
THAT fine young fellow who swan out
with his horse TO him, tells me that wher
he neared him he cried out that he was
blind. 1 have made some inquiries from
those on the ship, and they tell me that
he was passenger, name Robinson. Blu,
not only was he not blind then. but that
he was the strongest and most alert man
on the ship. If it be blindness II must
have come on during that long swim. II
may be that before leaving the ship he
received some special injury-lndeed, ne
has several cuts and burns and bruises
and that the irritation of the sea water
increased it, 1 can do nothing till he
wakes. At present he is in such state
that nothing. likely to be of service. can
be done for him. Later l shall. If neces-
sary. give him a hypodermic to insure
sleep. In the morning 1 shall examine
him carefully, fully.
II am myself an oculist: that is my de-
partment in ST. Stephens Hospital.
have an idea of what is wrong: 1 may be
able to diagnose more exactly when car
use the ophthalmoscope." His words. to-
gether with his appearance, and even the
firm tone of his voice. gave stephen conf
dence. and raised some of the gloom
that had fallen upon her Laying her
hand on his arm unconscfously In the ex-
tremty of pity. she said. earnestly:
"Oh. do what you can for him: He
must be noble creature. and all that is
possible must be done. I shall never rest
happily If through any failing on my
part he suffers as you fear"
II shall do all that 1 can" he said
with equal earnestness, touched with hel
eager pity. And 1 shall not trust myself
alone. If any other can be of some serv-
ice. Depend upon it, Lady de Lannoy,
that all shall be as you would wish"
There was little sleep in the castle that
night till late. Mr.. Hilton slept on a sofa
in the queens room. after he had admin
istered to his patient narcotic hypo-
dermically.
AS soon as the eastern sky began to
quicken he rode. as he had arranged
during the evening, to DIR. Winters house
at Lannoch Port. where he was staying.
There he selected from his own impedi-
menta such instruments and drugs as he
required. and hurried back.
1t was quite painful scene 1or MI.
Hilton when his patient did wake. For
tunately some of the after-effects of the
narcotic still remained. for his despair
at realizing that he was blind was ter
ribIe. 1t was not that he was violent;
would have been foreign to Harolds ma
ture. But there was despair which was
infinitely more sad to witness than any
passion He simply mOaned to himself
in sort Of far-away whisper:
Blind! Blind"'. and again in every
phase of Mortified amazement. as though
he could not realize the truth: Blind!
Blind" The doctor laid his hand on his
breast and said. very gently:
my poor fellow. 1t is dreadful thing
to face. to think of. But as yet l have
not been able to come to any conclusion:
unable even to examine you. l do not
wish to encourage hope that may be false,
but there are, cases when injury is not
vital. and perhaps only temporary. In
such case your best chance, indeed your
only chance. is to keep quiet. 1 am a
surgeon. Hilton is my name; I am the
oculist Of st. Stephens of London / am
now about to examine you with the oph-
kaleidoscope. You are man; none of US
who saw your splendid feat last night
can doubt your pluck Now l want you
to use some of It to help us both You,
to help me in my work. Whatever 1t Is
you suffer from must have come on
quickly. Tell me all you can remember
of it,
Harold told all he could remember of his
sufferings When he spoke of the return
of the old rheumatic pains his nearer
, said. involuntarily. Good" Harold
recognized that he had rightly appraised
his remark. and by it judged that he was
d well-educated man. Something In the
method of speaking struck him. and he
said. as nonchalaptly as he could:
by the way, which was your univer-
sity?''
Cambridge. Trinity" He spoke with
out thinking, and the instant he had done
so stopped. The sense of his blindness
rushed back on him. He could not see
and his ears were not yet trained to take
the place of his eyes. He must guard
himself. Thenceforward he was so eau
tious in his replies that Mr.. Hilton felt
convinced that there was some purpose
In his reticence. He therefore stopped
asking questions and began to examine
him with the ophthalmoscope. He was
unable to come to much result; his opin-
ion was shown In his report to Lady dc
LannOy:
Il am unable to say anything definite
as yet. The case Is a most interesting
one: quite apart from the splendid fellow
who is the subject of it. have hopes
know more
When he went back to the patients
room he entered softly. for he thought
he might be asleep. The room was. &C
cording to his instructions. quite dark
and as II was unfamiliar to him he felt
his way cautiously. Harold. however
heard the small noise he made and said
quietly:
who Is there?"
1T is /: Hilton.
Are you alone?'
Yes
Look round the room and see. Then
lock the ooor and come and talk to me-
II you will You will pity a poor blind
fellow l know. The darkness has come
down upon me quickly and am not &C
custOmed 10 it, There was break In
his voice which moved the other. He lii
candle, feeling that the doing so would
impress his patient. end went round the
room: not with catlike movement this
time-he wanted the other to hear him
When he had turned the key In the lock
as sharply as he could, he came to the
bedside and sat down. Harold spoke
again. after a short pause:
is that candle still lit?
Yes. Would you like II put out?'
If you don't mind, Again / say pity
me and pardon me. But 1 want to ASK
you sonnet hing privately. between our two
selves, and / will feel more Of equality
than II you were looking at me. while
canr OF see you" Mr.. Hilton blew out the
candle.
There, We are equal now.
Thank you a long pause; then ne
went on:
when a man becomes suddenly BLIND