Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1911-02-08


had reached the age Of childhood now;
Infancy was behind #. and it was time
for the appearance Of the normal psy-
Geological Instincts OF affection.
We saw tbs light Of intelligence
come into its eyes as It turned them
on as and gazeo at US. puzzled. appar-
emily, and uncertain, as some house
pet that sees it's image for the first
time in a glass. But It manifested
none Of the childs affection for its
parents. 1t seemed to divine, By some
horrible intuition, the awful circum-
stances Of its birth. It shrunk back,
retreated into a corner Of the hall,
and crouched there, glaring and GLIB
bering at US. AS It swayed uncertain
ly from side to side it stumbled over
the projecting edge Of a mummy case
and fell. 1t leaped to its feet with
shrill scream of pain and fell upon the
inanimate wood, reducing 1t to splin-
tiers with a few well-directed blows Of
its naked fists. And now it had
learned the secret of its strength. 1t
came out Of its corner. its eyes fixed
savagsly upon the doctors.
Take care!" 1 screamed.
I was too late. With the cunning of
a cat 1t had crouched down, it averted
its gaze one moment; then, straight
as an arrow, it leaped for the doctors
throat, seeking, with the wild beasts
instinct, for the great vulnerable art
cries. Brodsky staggered under the
impetus of the attack; / glanced hast
lily round me and perceived an instru-
ment of iron with a long handle of
wood, such as is used for opening
pr eking cases. l flung myself upon
the thing and belabored it with all
my strength. It left the doctor and
turned upon me, snarling. hit it with
all my force upon the bridge of the
nose, and with whine it fell at my
feet, fawning upon me. 1t had dis
covered the meaning of its second
lesson, the strength Of others. Brod-
sky rose slowly. His shoulder had
been bruised, but he was not other
wise injured.
We three withdrew into a corner of
the room and watched the creature
The fight had been beaten out of 1t;
with the short memory of the savage
1t seemed already to have forgotten
it's sudden murderous onslaught. 1t
was now crouched upon the floor, fin
geTing the tool which / had let fall,
patting and turning it over with an
aspect of intense curiosity. This was
the stage of prehistoric man, the sep
aration from the beast by the faculty
of Imagination.
Professor Adams found his voice.
This is terrible. doctor" he whis-
pered TREMENDOUSLY plucking at Brod-
sky's sleeve. What will you do with
it? ! have some chloroform in my
room; l keep It for cleaning the
papyrus. Shall bring it in? You can
destroy"
st is not necessary" I answered.
Look"
They glanced back at the creature.
1t was still seated upon the floor, but
had dropped the tool and now sat,
crouched in a heap, staring before 1t
idly, while a low whimpering sound
came from between its lips. And it's
aspect had changed. With the arrival
of adolescence the features had in
sensibly altered; already had noticed
how the soul within, working upon the
plastic clay, moulding it in it's own
image, had thrown back the fine fore
head of the mummy, enlarged the
jaws, heightened the arms and bowed
the lower limbs, until it began to show
the semi-human appearance of the
primeval man. But now the muscles
had wasted upon the limbs, the face
was lined, the thick growth of beard
that had sprung out upon the lower
half of the face was turning white.
The creature was aging visibly before
our eyes. It's span of normal life was
almost over.
And then occurred. the most pathetic
Of all the incidents that | remember.
Perhaps primitive man feeling his
strength go from him, might have
wondered in his dimly developed mind
at the slow approach of death, pom
dered upon the unknown gulf before
him, toward whose edge he was ap-
preaching with Irresistible movements
and longed that his little, helpless
life should not go out alone. without
some human companionshIp. The crea'
ture half rose, and. very bent and
faltering, stumbled toward us and cow
cred at our feet. laying its head down
much as an old dog might seek its
master in the hour of death. In spite
of my repugnance tears sprung into
my eyes. This was our first ancestor,
the father of the race. Brodsky
stopped over the thing and laid his
hand upon its head. The head was
raised one instant; l saw an agony Of
question In the eyes. Then the body
collapsed. It moved family once or
twice, and long sigh shook the frame
A moment afterward 1t began to grow
cold. turned 1t upon its back. The
face was that of an old savage In the
last extremity of old age.
We placed the body back in the case
and left ii with Professor Adams
Then we departed. We did not know
whether hours or days had passed
whether It were night or morning. But
the streets were still dark; and when
the doctor pulled out his watch we
saw that 1t lacked an hour Of midnight
Only two hours had passed since We
first entered Adams house; but they
were the longest l had ever passed
Neither of US spoke that night as the
express train whirled as back to our