Gunnison news-champion., 1908-09-18

large shecis RULING Roisei.ssly tn.
operafiau Saz over On the sfrefch.r
iay a voang ~ausan unconscious Her
face ~as beautnul. bui white az the
covering sheets. snd her head ~as
wound ~tth bsadasss She bre- .h.a
faiHtl1 through parted Hps
Osf of The Operating room came the
surgeon who had finished his work
md With him his assistants. Young
men in blouses and black caps mos o;
them wearing pointed boards An oa.r
Of csrbolie acid followed them
Poor girl said one as he watched
n" siretcher tHrn into one of the
wards. \ wonder IL sheB SPEAK be
lore she dies
II viii he better for her assassin
II she doesn't. said sRother
Then they weuf of 10 various ds-
ties. Last IT an came Auguste Caseau
hurrying and behindhand. as usual lie
lad risen late had reached the hos
aital late and had had no breakfas,
OI an the medical students at the I.ari-
eoisiere hospital there ~ss none more
popular than Cssesu, but the pleasures
of Paris at night often made him neg
isct his duties Of the day In the pres
ent instance he did not know Who the
yoIng woman was whom he had just
seen under the knife. nor had he Anv
idss how her skull had been crushed
with such ffightful wounds. All ~
Knew was that she had remarkable
beauty and was doomed 10 die
He was hurryins On to q neighbor-
ing cafe when a stranger waiting at
the door touched his arm. The mans
eyes were eager he spoke with IN
concealed excitement and seemed like
one who had gone many hours without
sleep.
Tell me" he said. did she SPEAK ,"
Csseau shook his head. looking q
the man suspiciously.
Can she live?"
God knows, the doctor took Is
pieces of bone out OF her head"
Holy Mother. l6 pieces OF bone,"
Caseau was walking meantime to-
ward the cafe, and the man followed
him. His eagerness for informati0a
argued some special knowledge, anA
Csseau was curious viii you drink ?"
he said. when they had taken seats At
a table
The stranger called for absinthe and
drained his glass quickly.
Pardon me. | forgot that you DO
not know. ! have been through 20
fx>- h. Ia.s 4
dazed- DO you believe in occult things.
hallucinations and so on?'
Caseau was only in his second year.
and the lectures on hallucinations did
not begin until the third. so he an
swered guardedly.
That depends" he said. with an air
of holding knowledge in reserve He
questioned with his eyes, and for the
first time appeared sympathetic. The
man ordered another absinthe
Il will tell you about it," he said.
Il shall go mad unless I tell some one.
In the first place, let me assure you
that usually | am the most matter-of-
! never get excited. but last night"
He paused and little shiver ran over
him
But last night" repeated Caseau
encouragingly
1T was about nine o'clock when I
reached the corner of the Rue Breda.
where | live. ] hurried upstairs Our
apartment is on the fifth floor look
ing out on the Rue Fontaine, and
balcony runs along the windows where
my wife keeps flowers growing. 1t is
a nice place to sit summer evenings,
and ! expected to find her there.
Imagine my surprise, then. on open.
ing the door. TO find the apartment
quite dark. except for the glow Of the
little nightlamp from the bedroom at
the end of the corridor And instead
of seeing my wife come running TO
meet me. all smiles, found her sitting
on the bed in fit OF hysterical weep
ing. Hurrying to the bedside I be-
sought my wife to be calm. assuring
her that | was there to protect her.
AT last my wife recovered sum
GENTLY to explain her fright as well as
she was able to do SO She had dined
alone about six O'Clock and about
seven had given Amandine. our serv-
ant. permission to go out for the even
ing. Then she had spent a little time
tidying up the apartment and about
half-past seven had settled down to read
in the room where we have our library.
This room faces on the Rue Breda.
In front of this room there is a short
stretch of balcony. which ends in an
iron partition that separates it from
the balcony Of the house adjoining.
which is No. 4. 1t would be possible
for man to climb on this partition
and step from one balcony to the
other
As my wife read she must have
dozed, for presently, although her back
wss turned to the window. she seemed
to see a man of large stature standing
on the balcony outside and peering in
to the room. This man had bushr reA