A FEARFUL ORDEAL

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 15, 16 April 1908, Page 7

A FEARFUL ORDEAL

r rtr ym + T they - went to live in a simple but comfortable cottage in N-^ street. The locate™ g f ?ll? lly T Plea K Sed her husband > and m 7m 7 aun.t, Hke the .dutWul wife she was, was pleased witß it too! She did, indeed, venture to suggest that it might prove to be the least bit lonesome in the long winter evenSS? $?<&£!. away and the great park acrossthe My uncle, by the necessities ' of a large and growing business, with wh'icb be allowed no other considerations to interfere, was obliged to be absent frequently from home ; but it .w a s rarely for more than an interval of a week, andyfche welcome of his homecoming seemed to my aunt, when at last that blissful hour arrived, ample compensation, for so many dreary hours of waiting. One evening late in. September my aunt sat alone \n the little front parlor, looking out across a dreary _ and lifeless stretch of the leafless park. She had jus*t left off crjVng. Her one- servant, imbued with the fever of the strikei that had been declared a few days

« i.^at ttSii-e-wsss*; -insfSttlv Sta iis? a l hIS great bu/ PP m aca cd n the d^or Wa com It may be wondered how it was that a timid fear SFuSSS. tht 6^^.^ '-»- '-ow Ihf ?£! mn n Th .hl b6ll i g J now x within her room wa « a madS s £V ld . n(>t dou bt. That he intended violencechild L 111!L 111 !, 11 ? gr , a ? sho would be- as helpless as a child, and the knowledge that no help was at hand all SJTi 4 ?? » tjousand other terrible considerations ceden? 2f O rt U -? he / mind - But ' COnfcrar 5r5 r to all P^ cedent, she did not scream ; she could" not utter a sound For some moments the -madman stood motionless' lnen he drew nearer to my aunt's chair, his -face relaxed into a serious expression, and with a nolite bow he aiwiouncod • p ITO « ft f' G °°?i evenin S II am Dr - Thome. I have come to perform the operation. It must be done to-night ' s He ope*ned his great-coat as he said this and drew irom thence a bundle of instruments, shiny and new wrapped in a brovn. paper. My aunt caught I glimpse of a keen.-bla.ded knife and a fine pair of scissors But where is the tabje ? ' inquired the lunatic' •looking round the room. 'We must have a table ''he added impatiently. a ' ' Why, you know, doctor, the table was not qiuite to our liking ,and was taken -baclf this morning But I know where one- can be had. If j^ou'll be seated I'll go and fetch it.' She arose and stepped hastily to the door, but the madman, as if expecfing her design, was after her. She ' turned; he laid a heavy hand .on her arm. ' I'll -go along,' he said in a perfectly rational manner. Out into the rainy night- and _along the' dark pathway my aunt went hastily with the madman at her side, clasping -in his powerful hand the«wlrawri knife. How she peered into the darkness for the friendly sigiht of the night watchman, how eagerly' she listened for the footfaJL-o* a policeman, or some sane human, being ! But N street was deserted and echoed to their footsteps alone. /All the houses were steeped in Stygian gloom, and not a ray of light gleamed from anywhere; Something prompted her to go on. With a nervous haste which she w a s anxious to conceal, shewalked forward, hoping by some chance or other to meet with a belated pedestrian. When they reached the narrow- lane at the end of N street to the right hand she saw a gleam of light and an opendoor. Some one was within.. As they drew nearer my aunt saw it was a' saloon. She could even hear low voices and the noise of -clinking glasses. A' few steps, more and she would be there; but she was fast becoming weaker ; she was reeling- like an' intoxicated person. She hurried 1 ; she almost ran. ; she must reach th a t door. On reaching it she fell senseless across the threshold. ■ . ' When she came to consciousness again a woman- was bending over her applying restoratives vigorously. She lay on. a bench, and from her posiiiion she could see Dr. Thome bound hand and foot, but still struggling and toam'iag in the awful delirium of insanity.