The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1913-02-20
A RdmbIe In
Aphdsia
Experience of a Man Who Lost
His Memory and Enjoyed II
By 0. HENRY
Copyright. 1910 by Doubleday. Page
& Co


ing In precisely our usual manner
She left her second cup OF tea to fol
low me 10 the front door. There sh,
plucked from my lapel the lnvisibl,
strand of lint ithe universal act Of
woman TO proclaim ownership ant
babe me take care OF my cold.
When | set out had no thought OF
premonition OF what was 10 occur Tn,
attack came suddenly.
For many weeks | had been toilini
almost night and day az famous rull
road law case that ! won triumphantiy
but few days previously In fact.
had been digging away at the law al
most without cessation for many years
Once or twice good Or. Volney. my
friend and physician. bad warned me.
III you don't slacken up Bedford. .
be said. you'll go suddenly to pieces.
Either your nerves or your brain will
give way. Tell me, does week pass
In which you do not read in the papers
Of cGse OF aphasla-of some man lost,
wandering nameless. with his past
and his identity plotted out--and all
from that little brain eliot made by
oyerwork or worryT
That morning as | walked / was
thinking OF DIR. yolney's words. | was
feeling as well as | usually did, posi-
bly, in better spirits than usual
| awoke with stiff and cramped mus
rles from having slept long on the In.
commodious seat of day coach.
leaned my head against the seat and
tried to think. After a long time
said to myself. 81 must have name Of
some sort" | searched my pockets.
Not card not letter. not paper or
monogram could find But found In
my coat pocket nearly $1,000 in bills of
large denomination. 81 must be some
one. of course" ! repeated TO myself
and began again TO consider
The car was well crowded with
men. among whom, | told myself
there must have been some common
interest. for they mingled freely and
seemed In the best good humor and
spirits. one OF thcma stout, spec
tacled gentleman enyeloped In a decid-
ed odor OF cinnamon and aloes-took
the vacant half of my seat with
friendly nod and unfolded newspa-
per In the intervals between his
periods OF reading we conversed. as
travellers will. on current affairs.
found myself able 10 sustain the con
versation on such subjects with credit.
at least to my memory. BY and by
my companion said;
you are one OF us. OF course. Fine
lot of men the west sends In this
time. I'm glad they held the conven-
tion in New York I've never been
east before. My names r. T. Bolder
-Bolder & Son Of Hickory Grove, Mis-
souri,"
Though unprepared. | rose 10 the
emergency. as men will when put TO II.
Now | must hold n christening and
be at once babe. parson and parent.
Ny senses came 10 the rescue Of my
slower brain. The insistent odor of |
drugs from my companion supplied one
idea; glance at his newspaper assist
ed me further.
my name said | gllbly, SIS Ed |
ward Pinkhammer ! am n druggist, |
and my home is in Cornopolis. Kan"
Il knew you were druggist" said |
my fellow traveller afrably. II saw
the callous spot ON your right fore
finger, where the handle OF the pestle
rubs. or course you are a delegate to
our national convention"
Are all these men druggists" |
asked wonderingly.
They are This ear came through
from the west. And they're your old
time druggists. too: none OF your pat
ent tablet and granule pharmashootists
that use slot machines instead OF pre-
'scription desk We percolate our own
psregoric and roll our own pills, and
we amt above handling few garden
seeds in the spring and carrying u side
line OF confectionery and shoes. | tell
you, Hampinker I've got an idea TO
spring on this convention. New ideas
is what they want. Now. you know
the shelf bottles OF tartar emetic and
Rochelle salt Ant, ct Pot. Tart, and
Sod. ct Pot Tart. Ones poison, you
know, and the others harmless. It's
easy 10 mistake one label for the other.
Where do druggists mostly keep 'em?
Why, as far apart as possible ON diff
ferent shelves. That's wrong. | say
keep 'em side by side so when you
want one you can always compare it
with the other and avoid mistakes. Do
you catch the idea?"
at seems TO me very good one"
said.
IAN right. When I spring Il on the
convention you back it up. Well make
some OF these eastern orange phos-
phate and massage cream professors
that think they're the only lozenges in
tle market look like hypodermic tab
let's"
IF / can be OF any aid" l said
warming. "the two bottles of-er"-
..Tartrate OF anthony and potash
and tartrate Of soda and potash"
"ShalI henceforth sit side by side" I
concluded firmly.
Here's another one OF these fake
aphasia cases." he said presently. hand
ing me his newspaper and laying his
finger upon an article. II don't believe
In 'em. | put nine out of ten of 'em
down as frauds. man gets sick of
his business and his folks and wants