The Washington herald., 1912-07-28

's>"b eSs JSs Aaoy W obAS ~ ooSiSe Ah~-
But nothing must 90 beyond yourself.
What do you say to the condition!"
y will not break your confidence
unless you have murdered some one,
laughed Philip, STOPPING to light fresh
pipe. In that event you'd better keep
quite, as I'd have to haul you back to
headquarters"
He did not see the deepening of the
flush in the others face.
Good" said the doctor. "Sit down,
Steele. / take it for granted that you
will help me-if you can. First, sup
pose / ought to confess that my name
is not Bofin, but McGill-Dudley Nc
Gill. professor of neurology and dis
eases of the brain"
Philip almost dropped his pipe.
Great Scott! and it was you who
wrote" He stopped, staring in
amazement.
Yes, it was | who wrote 'Freda,' il
that's what you refer to-" finished the
doctor. 1T caused little sensation, as
you may know, and nearly GOT ME
ousted from the college. But il sold
up to two hundred thousand copies, so
it wasn't bad turn" he added.
~ Wdo WHllC was away.
said Philip. Il got a copy in Rio ia
neiro, and il haunted me for weeks
after read it Great heaven, you
can't believe"
Il did" interrupted the doctor sharp
ly. Il believed everything that wrote
and mere Il was my theory of life u
He sprang from his chair and began
walking back and forth in his quick, ex-
cited way. The flush had gone from
his face now and was replaced by a
strange paleness His lips were tense.
the fingers of his hands tightly clench-
ed, his voice was quick, sharp, incisive
when he spoke
1T was my theory of life" he re-
pated almost fercely. "and that is the
beginning of why | am up here. My
theory was that there existed no such
thing as the divine spark OF love be-
tween men and women not related by
blood, no reaching out of one soul for
another-no faith, no purity, no union
between man and woman but that could
be broken by low passions. My theory
was that man and woman were but ma
chimes, and that passion, and not the
love which we dream and read of
united these machines; and that every
machine, whether II was a man or a
woman, could be broken and destroyed
in a moral sense by some other ma
chine of the opposite sex-if conditions
were right. Do you understand me?
My theory was destructive Of homes,
of happiness, of moral purity. 1t was
bad. l argued my point in medical
journals, and | wrote book based on
it. But ! lacked proof, the actual proof
Of experience. So ! set out to expert
ment."
He seemed to have forgotten now
that Philip was in the room, and went
on bitterly. as if arraigning himself for
something which he had not yet dis
closed.
1T made me a-a-almost a crini-
nal" he confined L had no good
thoughts for humanity. beyond my
small endeavors in my little field Of
science l was a machine myself. cold,
passionless, caring little for women
thus proving, if had stopped TO con-
slider myself, the nreasonableness OF
my own theory. Coolly and without a
thought of the consequences. set out
to prove myself right. When l think
of it now my action appalls me. 1t was
heinous, for the mere proving OF my
theory meant misery and unhappineSs
for those who were 20 prove it to me.
| was not cramped for money. So
determined TO experiment with six ma
chines-three young men and three
young women. planned that each
person should be unconscious of the
part he or she was playing, and that
each pair should be thrown constantly
in society. mind you, for
my theory was that conditions must be
right Through a trusted and highly
paid agent | hired my people-the men.
Through another. who was woman,
hired those of the opposite sex. One
OF the Young women was sent TO an OBJ
scure little place hundred miles back
from the Brazilian coast, ostensIbly to
act as governess for the children of an
American family which did not exist.
To this same place, through the other
agent. was sen: man. whose duty was
to get information about the country
for party of capitalists. Do you begin
TO understand now?"
Yes, l begin to understand" said
Philip.
This place to which they went was
made up OF dozen or so hovels,' con-
tinued the doctor, resunling his nervous
walk There was no one there who
could talk or understand their language
bu: these two. The consequence-con-
ditions were right. They would be
together. They would eth
er prove or disprove my theory that
men and women were but machines OF
passion. l knew that they would stay
at this place during the three months !
had allotted for my experiment. for l
paid them high price The girl, when
she found no American family, was
told to wait until they arrived. The
man, of course, had plenty of supposed
work to keep him there"
Il understand" repeated Philip.
THE second couple" continued the
DOCTOR, forcing himself into a chair op-
posite Philip, were in a similar way
sent up hereto an obscure northern