The Caucasian., 1911-06-04

he lOOkeu toward NE W1tlOut SlgG
OF remembrance and seemed about To
rise from courtesy, but he was clearly
in d condition Of weakened will, AID
his impulse could not express itself
in action.
This is my nephew, Albert Ster
ling" said Hayward. DIR. Eldred"
They were precisely the same words
that be had used two hours before q:
.he shop. but Sterling certainly had he
recollection Of the previous introduce
ton 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. It
was not much changed. except that it
seemed a little shTunken and, | might
say. older. The pallor was now con-
stant, 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
~ blue. with brown nothing.
The longer examined him the more
deeply l was impressed by the differ
ence between his present state and
that in which l had seen him at the
shop. but especially by the change in
his personality.
| thought that the alteration i'll his
looks was progressing, but after about
an hours observation | agreed with
! ". IL, 4, i
It's 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
| l assured Hayward that l 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-
/ Iing'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.
.Tknew John Conrad well enough to
be sure that he would break any en-
gagement for the sake of seeing so
queer a case as Sterling's, and indeed
/ l had but just begun to tell him about
| it when he dragged me away, half fed.
/ By way of atonement he stopped at the
| College inn and purchased 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 I 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 Conrads exa mination.
1 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
4 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.
'sHe wouldn't hurt US" said the car.
penter Its himself"
"Suicidal?' 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 l knew not the way of it, He
seemed to slide out head first.
sprang forward and looked out. The
man was on his feet and apparently
uninjured | 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 | heard him
say, "The riyerP'
would have run after him, but
Conrad detained me.
Hold on" said he. "That fellow
won't go far He'll fall in fit. Wen
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
as had seen him in the shop
He recognized me and muttered a
greeting, using my name.
Il have these spells" he said Let
me lie down I'll be all right in an
hour or two.'