The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1913-02-21
worth r,ms; one which. indeed.

Cameron, you must remember, has
been with his Chinese captors for four
weeks. In that time he must have
picked up something Of their language.
It IL only natural that he should. So,
you see. to hear him use few words
Of pidgin-English In his insane gibber-
ish is not 30 remarkable, after all. And
as for that spirited denial just before
he dropped OF to sleep, It is very evil
dent that they accused him Of some
thing with which he had no connec-
ton. though quite cognizant OF the
facts"
But the girl would have none Of It.
Tolerantly she listened, and tolerantly
she smiled when had finished.
mo. no, Philip" she insisted, 81 see
1t all quite clearly. Whatever crime
was committed. the creature lying
there committed 1t. But he is not my
uncle. Others mlstook the resemblance
for identity, just as you did. only the
situation was reversed. Those who
abducted Uncle Robert thought they
were abducting that villain we are
now housing"
It was an ingenious notion, but OF
course 1t was not possible. However,
| saw that it would be idle to continue
to dispute with her
What would you suggest, then i?
Shall we send our invalid to a hos
pital2" l asked. in pretended serious
ness.
| But very sagely she shook her head.
ooh, no." she returned. I'VE must
keep him. He Is very valuable to us.
Perhaps we can do as contending
armies do-arrange an exchange Of
| prisoners"
In spite of my wretchedness, | sup
pressed a smile. 1t was all very anus
ing; and yet the fear that she was SUI
| fering alteration due to hysteria, tenn
pered pitifully the humor of it.
When, later in the afternoon, DR.
Massey called, told him everything.
| including this hallucination Of Eve
lyn's.
You did perfectly right" he said, in
tone Of cordial approval. THE malady
with which Cameron Is afflicted has a
tendency to distOrt certain lineaments.
Especially at times of excitement his
face changes. 30 that Miss Grayson is
justified In fancying that this is not
the Robert Cameron she knew.
have noticed the dissimilarity myself,
but 1t Is due, of course, entirely to dis
torted expression. In couple of days,
at most, he will be fully restored, and
then he himself will be the best one to
rectify her error. Meanwhile, If l were
you, l would not dispute her. She has
gone through a great deal, and gone
through 1t bravely; indeed with cour-
age that Is quite phenomenal, and she
Is entitled to any little consolatory be-
liefs that she chooses to entertain"
And then, as II such advice were not
wholly superfiuous, he added: BE
kind to her, Clyde! be good to her.
She is wonderful young woman"
Whereat l grasped his hand. and
promised him, lifting him a notch in
my estimation because Of his perspi-
cacity. And all the while lump kept
rising In my throat and threatening
my tear ducts.
On the following day heard moth
Ing from Miss Clement, which some
what surprised me, though she had
told me that her prospective inform
ants were likely to take their own
time. Early, on the second morning,
however, ! had a note from her, the
enigmatic character of which impelled
me to speculation.
Dear Mr.. Clyde" she wrote, II hope
you can make It convenient to visit me
this evening, at the Mission. want
to talk with Ling Fo, an exceptionally
well-educated young Chinaman, who
tells me that his people are much mys-
titled over recent event; and, II
what he says be true-and / never
knew him to liza new complexion is
placed upon this whole matter. Come
about nine-thirty. after our service is
over"
AS DIR. Massey's orders forbidding
any one save Mr.. Bryan to enter Cam
eron's room. issued Immediately after
our hideous experience, had not vet
been rescinded, our knowledge of his
condition was, perforce, cleaned entire
ly through physician and nurse Both
now assured me that he was progress
ing satisfactorily. and that there had
been no return OF the dementia.
Evelyn still persisted In her notion
that the patient was not her uncle. but
his double, and following the doctors
directions I refrained from trying to
convince her OF the truth; even going
80 far as to pretend that believed
As she did, and planning to begin ne
gotiations through Miss Clement and