The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-03-23

n was operated Sn nSSe"tJ'
one most likely to be an efficient aid,
he handed it to Eaton. "Will you
help me, please? Strike a light and
hold it as l direct-tEen draw it away
slowly"
He lifted the partly closed eyelid
from one Of the eyes of the uncon-
sciOus man and nodded to Eaton:
Hold the light in front Of the pupil
Eaton obeyed, drawing the light
slowly away us Sinclair had directed,
and the surgeon dropped the eyelid
and exposed the other pupil.
"What's that forY" Avery now
asked.
81 was trying to determine the Sc
robustness of the injury to the brain.
I was looking TO see whether light
could cause the pupil to contract,
There was no reaction"
His optic nerve is destroyed"
"Ah! He was blind?"
Eyes, he was blind" Avery admit
ted.
Blind" Sinclair calculated. Blind,
and operated upon within two years
by Kuno Garrt!" KunO Cart operat-
ed only upon the all-rich and powerful
or upon the completely powerless and
poor; the unconscious man in the
berth could belong only to the first
class of CARTS clientele. The sur
geon's gaze again searched the fea'
lures in the berth; then it shifted to
the men gathered about him in the
aisle.
who did you say this wasp he de
manded of Avery.
II said his name was Nathan
Dorne," Avery evaded.
mo, no." Sinclair jerked out i'm,
patiently. Isn't this" He hest
tated, and finished in a voice suddenly
lowered: isn't this Basil Santoine?'
Avery, if he still wished to do so
found it impossible to deny.
Basil Santoine !" Connery breathed
To the conductor alone, among the
four men standing by the berth, the
name seemed to have come with thu
sharp shock of q surprise; with it haC
! come an added sense of responsibility
and horror over what had happened
to the passenger who had been con
fided to his care, which made hin
whiten as he once more repeated The
name to himself and stared down q
the mar in the berth.
Conductor COnnery knew Basil San
tome only in the way that Santoint
was known to great numbers Of otheI
people-that is. by name but not b!
sight.
Basil Santoine at twenty-five hac
been graduated from Harvard, though
blind. His connections-the famil!
was OF well-tO-dO southern stock-hii
possession Of enough money for hi
WI support, made it possible for hin
to live idly II he wished; but Santoin,
had not chosen to make his blindnes
an excuse for doing this. He hat
at once settled himself to his chosen
profession, which was law. He ha,
not found II easy to get q start ii
this. and he had succeeded only afte
great effort in getting a place with
small and unlmportant firm. Within
a short time. we'll within two years
men had begun to recognize that Il
this struggling law firm there was
powerful, clear, compelling mind
SantOine, a youth living In darkness
unable to see the men with whom h
talked or the documents and book
which must be read to him. was be
ginning 10 put the stamp OF his pc,
sonality on the firms acsairs. A yea
later his name appeared with other
OF the firm at twenty-eight bis wa
he leading name. He had begun
specialize long before that time, 1
corporation law; he married shortl
after this. At thirty the firm nam
represented to those who knew II
particulars only one personality, IN
personality Of S%antoine; md at thlrt!
f~ye-though his indifference Ia none
was proverbial-he was man times
millionaire.