Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1913-07-31

would have experience which is in
compatible with youth. She world
belong neither to her own generation
nor the one next below her. Having
no proper position, being identified
with no particular age. she would be
worse enemy to herself than the mi
crobe that produces the decay of Old
age. All in vain. The opportunity to
preserve his daughters youth and
beauty was too tempting for him. He
gave me no peace till consented
when | began to give Wilhelmine
the antitoxin she was sixteen years
old. Hers was my first case and my
only one in practicing upon human
being after having satisfied myself of
the efficacy of my remedy. and natu-
rally my efforts We're not at once sue
cessful. l did not completely arrest
Wilhelmine's natural decay till she
was midway between seventeen and
eighteen"
Won Buest paused and resumed his
pipe.
well, professor" said Reinhard i'm
patiently, go on"
In what way? In the case of Will
helmine Weisbard there are many sto-
ries. What would you prefer to know
about her?''
Relnhard thought a few minutes.
then asked his friend to tell him if the
girl gained or lost by remaining young
and why.
what you ask to know" replied the
professor has in itself many branch
es. | will confine myself to one-Wil-
helmine's relations to her husband.
She married Max Mcneil. She was
then twenty. he thirty. He grew old;
his wife remained young. Her father
one day came to me with a cloud upon
his brow and told me that his son-in-
law. who was getting gray and other
wise showing signs of age, was max
ing his wife miserable by his jealous
behavior. She was still young and
beautiful and attracted younger men
than himself
From time to time Weisbard came
to me to tell me that matters between
his son-in-law and daughter were 60
ing from bad to worse. At last he con-
fessed that he regretted having urged
me to give the latter perpetual youth.
II have given her perpetual youth
replied. only so long as it may be de-
sired
His face lighted with pleasure
Can you re-establish the ordinary proc
r,f, n
There is nothing to re-establish.
Let your daughter stop taking the anti
toxin and the natural decay will be re-
sumed.'
II did not see Weisbard for a week,
| at the end Of which time he looked
more lugubrious than ever. l asked
him what troubled him. He told me
| that he had proposed to his daughter
| to cease taking my antitoXin and she
had fatty refused Weisbard had very
unwisely told his son-in-law that his
wife could resume the process of fol
lowing him to old age if she chose. and
| he had urged her to do So She was
obstinate, and quarrel had ensued
between the two that bid fair to wreck
their happiness forever-that is. all
that was left of it.
And here. my friend comes an in
stance Of the unity of nature. unity
that is best for us always. though
there are numerous instances in which
we believe her DEGREES are msfortunes
There was every reason why Frau
Mcneil should grow old. And yet
those old fellows like Ponce de Leon
were continually seeking for the elixir
of life. A man may be satisfied to
having perpetual youth would never
give it up, though it threw her out of
harmony with the rest of the universe.
AT first it seemed that remaining
young with her children would be a
boon to her 1t did not turn out so. A
melancholy phase of life is that we
cannot be of the next generation be-
meath us. Even a young body will not
bridge that gulf.
Every year after this the husband
grew older. while the wife remained
young and beautiful. and every year
the gulf between them grew wider.
| After awhile it became case of De-
cember and May. The older Frau
Mcneil grew in years the more pleas
ed she was with the attention OF
young men. They, while pleased with
her beauty, found in her an experience
which did not accord with their own
exuberance. This led to a continued
disappointment in her that soured her
disposition The couples chickering's
wore on Weisbard. who reproached
himself for being the cause Of their
troubles.
And yet there was one thing that
would have undone, partly at least
all the mischief All that was needed
was for Wilhelmine to stop taking the
antitoxin"
THAT could scarcely be expected,
remarked Reinhard. How did the
matter end?'
when Frau Mcneil was fifty years