Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1911-06-23


the shop. but Sterling certainly had no
recollection of the previous introduc-
! tion. | took his hand and was careful
to get well around in front of him so
that the light from the window would
| give me a good view of his face. 1t
was not much changed, except that it
seemed little shrunken and, / might
say, older. The paIlor was now con-
81 Mt, the nervous symptoms some
what less marked. The change, in
/ brief. was nothing to be amazed at,
except as to the eyes One of them
was now almost entirely brown, with
faint blush spots; the other was most
| ly blue, with Il brown nothing.
The longer examined him the more
deeply | was impressed by the differ
ence between his present state and
that in which | had seen him Mt the
shop. but especially by the change in
his personality.
thought that the alteration in his
looks was progressing, but after about
an hours observation | agreed with
Hayward that it had stopped.
ITS nothing TO what It was the last
time" said Hayward. His eyes are
only half changed. ! guess this won't
last long He'll change back again
during the evening probably. l wish
you could be here"
| assured Hayward that would not
desert him and that the interest of the
case would sufficiently reward me.
! We spoke without reserve in Sterling's
presence, for he gave no heed to us
unless some special effort was made
to attract his attention. He sat by
the window, playing softly on his
banjo and sometimes singing in his
high, whining tone until about 6
o'clock when we all went into the
kitchen, where Hayward began TO
prepare food But as there was no
sign Of an approaching change in Ster-
ling's state | decided to go home for
my supper | was living with Pro-
fessor Conrad. and it was agreed that
should bring him back with me.
| knew John Conrad well enough to
be sure that he would break any en-
gagement for the sake of seeing so
queer n case as Sterling's, and indeed
| had but just begun to tell him about
1t when he dragged me away, half fed.
By way of atonement he stopped at the
College inn and purchased a liberal
provision to sustain us in our vigil
We went through the inn garden to
Hayward's house and were welcomed
with nervous eagerness. Sterling was
as l had last seen him and seemed to
feel only a faint interest in our COM
ing, but he became somewhat i'll tenn
pered under Conrad's examination.
During the latter part of the evening
he sat by the window, occasionally
playing on the banjo and singing, and
our praise of his performance seemed
to crafty a childish vanity In him.
Toward midnight he began to show
signs of excitement, and Hayward told
us that this was the prelude Of the
change
HE wouldn't hurt u.s." said the car
penter. Its himself"
"SuicidalT asked Conrad, and Hay
ward answered that in the paroxysms
of the change the young man seemed
to wish to end his life.
The words were hardly uttered when
Sterling vanished through the open
window. 1t was done so suddenly
that | knew not the way of 1t. He
seemed to slide out head first.
sprang forward and looked out. The
man was on his feet and apparently
unintured. | climbed out hastily and
dropped to the ground. Hayward and
Professor Conrad went out by the
door
Sterling had run around the corner
of the house, and l followed, but he
was out of sight, probably in the inn
garden. AS | stood bewildered Hay
ward rushed by me. and l heard him
say, 1.-THE river!'
would have run after him, but
Conrad detained me.
Hold on" said he. THAT fellow
won't go far. He'll fall in fit Well
find him hereabouts."
Accordingly we searched through the
shrubbery Of the garden and with
in five minutes found Sterling lying
on his back in the grass. We raised
him up. and he walked between US to
the house without resistance and with
out speech.
When we reached the sitting room
we put Sterling into a chair facing the
light. looked at him and uttered a
cry. The change had taken place
both of his eyes were blue. He was
MS | had seen him in the shop.
He recognized me and muttered a
greeting, using my name.
II have these spells" he said. LET
me lie dcwa I'll be all right in an
hour or two"
We assisted him to sofa and
watched beside him for perhaps an
hour while he seemed to sleep. At
last he raised himself suddenly and
asked. where's Mr.. Hayward"
We told him the truth, and he ex-
hibited considerable feeling.
Somebody ought to let him know
that I'm all right" he said.
1t was a very popular suggestion,
and / accordingly went out to look for
Hayward. He was not by the river,
and after a half hours search | re.
traced my steps. In front of the inn
| came upon Professor Conrad stand
ing with his hat in his hand and hav-
ing a rather wild aspect, as | saw by
the light of the moon, which had now
broken through the clouds