The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-07-25
OF UHGE.IIIaIII|I MIND.
Rv MARY T. ELuoIT-


cottage when there came !; knock at
the front door.
''Cecile." said the mother ''go and
see Who is there
Cecile opened the door and revealed
the figure of Il stranger standing with
his back to the cottage The girl wait
ed for him io turn. but since be did
not she eeughed to attract his atten-
ton. This failing. she said. Monsieur.
what can do for YOU" Since he still
paid no attention To her. thinking him
to be deaf. she touched him on the
shoulder. Then he turned and looked
her in the face He was of small
stature. and his countenance was intel-
lectual He locked at the girl with &
puzzled expression, but did not speak
The girl repeated her question.
Il don't know" said the stranger AT
last.
well, come in. 1t is beginning to
rain"
He entered the heuSe and sat down
by the fireplace. ppering into the fire
as one in Il dream
Nine. Tourget looked at him i'm
patiently and was about TO say some
thing irritable when Cecile threw her
deprecatory glance Then the latter
said to the stranger:
Have you supped. MONSIEUR"
The man. as If awakened from a
dream. glanced up at her. smiled
faintly-the girl thought it a very
pleasant smile-turned his big eyes up
on the supper. arose and took a seat
by the table. Cecile served him, and
he ate with the same preoccupied or.
rather, somnabuiistfc air he had main.
tained since his arrival When he had
finished Nine. Tourget questioned tim.
From where do you Gomez
Il started from B. this n4orEang.''
From B.2 On foetg~
Yes. No believe had q horse"
You believe yoH had horses,
A puzzied look passed over the, stran-
gers face Then the;arese and, going to
the fireskEe. fell into the same dreamy
condition as before. Decile. abeckoning
her mother TO follow her. i4eft the
room
II wesnder III he lis III .oT's-ithe girl
began
-Ie fs'either a mental dTEbecile or is
shamning In order TO secure food :and
lodging. He may stay Till IInoruing.
but no longer We are aso .poor to
take care of mental wredks.''
He lis mo iimpostcr, mamma. lam
sure of that. Nor was he born men,
tally weak We must keep linn tilI,we
can find out who he is and can turn
him over to his friends
During the evening The mother sat
by "a table knitting the stranger ON
ONE side OF the FIRE, Cecile on the
other. Now and again he would turn
his glance from the t6xmes land look
1T tCediie, who. by file way. was very
camelY. At 8 o'clock Mime. Tourget
asked him if he would like to go to
bed. Not yet was his reply. Ppm
thinking and haven't got Through"
G'ecile gave her mot her "a glance thar
she world look after the poor man.
and Nine. Tourget went TO bed. The
stranger sat for an Vaoar peering into
the fire. occasionally stirring the
coals with.a poker. Then suddenly he
seemed TO return to normal con-
di1ion. 'Cecile noticed the change and
expected an explanatfeza. Turning to
her. he said:
You're "a nice girl. Would you like
to marry meT'
] Up to this time CeefIe had hoped
that after all the stranger might be of.
a healthy mental condition. Now she
gave that up. He must certainly bel
insane. She realized the necessity of
getting him to bed quietly To humol.
him she said:
viii consider your proposition and
give Won an answer in the morning
that is If you win 90 to bed.
She arose. the stranger followed her.
and she conducted him to his room.
The next morning CeciIe. locking
from her bedroom window. saw the!
stranger walking in the yard. His
abstraction seemed to have left him
At least it was not so pronounced.
At breakfast he was a new man.
though bis memory was evfdently |
badly impaired He remembered tol
have started from B. the morning i
before on horseback, but could NOT ne
call what had become of his horse.
Cecile. with q paipitating heart. won
dered il he wou1d remember having
proposed to her. Since his remarka blpj
recovery she secretly hoped that he
would. He manifested no disposition
to proceed on his Journey and durtnc
the morning sat by the fireplace with
something of his previous abstraction
bat now he spent a past of his fine
IN making drawings IN pencil on the
backs of old letters ne took from his
pocket Cecile spied upon them. but
could make nothing ont of them. They
were neither figures n0r landscapes
In the afternoon while he was thus
engaged horseman rode. up to tn,
house in . hurry and asked il they
had seen anything Of a man who wa,
o have passed there the day before.
describing the stranger. When takep
o where he was sitting the new ar
stzy, II s-s--. 80 |