Year: 1873




fined and nice. followed her to he
home the devil that has taken pos
session Of me, led me. She went In
end soon came out again iHto her it'll
garden. and tended her lowers-poo
child! Doctor, III had had 1 pisto
with me / should have shot her. 70,
may smile; but some day soon, shal
take . pisto! on purpose to shoot her.


ut was clearly no use to argue with
him. The BEST way with such people
Is to admit their facts. and try to work
round them.


| "'TheD.' said I, the only thing you
can do is to submit to the restriction
Of an asylum. till this feeling ha,
passed. 8


4 1T will not pass. III were to gc
to mad-houss would aham sane
Sooner or later their vigilance over
me would be relaxed. Then should
murder my keeper, and 60 straight fol
that innocent GIRL


"'Then leave the country


"Well, that would save her; but
doctor, one life is A. dear to its holder
as another. II I don't kill her, I must
kill some one else'


my dear fellow replied, in q
light tone as could assume. 'these
fancies are curable. Put yourself un
der skilled medical treatment. You
are all to bits, physicslly. Get sound
In body, and you'll get sound in
mind


"iOn the contrary, am to bits rs
you say, mentally, and my body suf-
fers through my mind. Medical
treatment! I have consulted every
practitioner Of note here and In Eu.
rope. Some think am fooling them,
some look wise, aud talk Of treatment
as you do. All have failed. Doctors
are of no use TO me-


"'Then may ask you why you
have come here?'


To ask your advice as q friend.
be answered, drawing his chair closer
to me and lowering his voice, ia
ask you one qn.s stion as . friend aud q
God fearing man. and 10 which ask
you to give me plain yes or no.
! "'Go on


Feeling as feel, shall be justi.
lied before God in taking my own life.
viii it be deadly sin for me to do fol
myself what I would do for 4 mas,
dog?'


II repeat his words almost as he
! spoke them. 1 cannot give you the
fainiest idea Of the solemn deliberaiion
with which he put this awful ques-
ton. For some time could not say a
word. Then l started up and told
him that would not answer him We.
or no; that it was not fair 70 ask me
TO take such responsibility. Then he
rose, and said that he must resolve it
for himself, and saw plainly which
way it would go. Give me till to-
morrow to think 1t over.' I said de-
tanning him.


Tomorrow may be too late,' he
replied. The fit may come upon me
tonight, for all know
"'Come home with me; / am not
afraid. You would not hurt me- I
said.


~ would try very hard not to do
SO, butt know myself. I cannot
trust myself. Don't you trust me?


al will trust you; but I will do
more. You are not armed 1 suppose. ;
"'No,' he replied with a shudder
mot Now.'


will take care that you shall not
be, and I'll carry my pistol in my
pocket. On the first indication OF
homicidal mania, give you my word
III shoot--ani I shoot straight I
said this to satisfy the poor fellow. In
his weak state could have laid him
down like child. 1t did satisfy him,
and we went home together. / led
him to talk of our old soldering days,
and gradually got him back to his
wound and made him describe the
first sensation Of pain in his head, and
repeat all his different medical advis.
ers had said. I happened to have q
strong preparation of hasheesh by me.
| gave him dose. aud while under its
influence, carefully examined his
head. Now the head, you must re-
member does not fstten or waste away
like other parts of the body. Still his
head had become mere skin aud bone,
and this state, perhaps, gave me an
advantage over others who had made
the examination. At last l felt, or
thought | felt, faint twitching-a
sort of abnormal pulsation-about two
inches above the left ear. It might be
merely nervous, but it might be caused
by the ball.


"Then set my mind to work, and
thought the whole case over steady.
In the first place was that impulse to
take human life, Of which my friend
had spoken, really uncomfortable :?
For example, suppose that one day he
did take pistol on purpose and go to
that young lady's garden would he
shoot her? To suppose that the in
sane mind never changed its purpose,
or tsrns from the fell designs of its
purpose, is to say In other words that
the insane mind Is stronger than the
sane mind. If a man with q broken
leg were to tell you he was going to
run a foot race with you would you
believe him, because your common
sense revolts against the idea Of his
running with q leg disabled. But If
one with his brain disabled declares
that he Is going to dc something de-
pendent upon the action ofthe mind,
common sense does not argue 80 we'll
I'm the second place, did my poor
friend, with his impaired means Of
judgment, believe that the impulse
was uncomfortable Because If he
did the end would be the same, SO far
as he was concerned. He would sac
rifice bis own life to protect that of
others, though they were In no actual
danger.


I'm the third place, night not this
! story Of the impulse be q mere pre-
! tpnoA In ovc.cn thA o.,n, ,,,,forioc -