ARTHUR
58

I called Thetford and his wife. I begged for a short delay, until I saw these people, and tried to get some respite from my punishment. They are deaf to my plea, and ready to exercise their office by force. I deliriously muttered with anger and terror. I heaped the most bitter executions on my murderers, and in turn, begged for mercy, and poured reproach on the wretched people he had chosen for his ministers. My struggle and screams are in vain.

I don't have a perfect memory of what passed until I arrived at the hospital. My passion combined with my illness left me panicked and wild. Under my circumstances, the slightest movement cannot be endured without suffering. Then what should I have? felt, scorched and glare by the sun, sustained by hard planks, and carried miles upon rough pavement?

I can't make you understand the sadness of my feelings. Dashed and torn by shelves is an indescribable torment lower than this. No one excites my astonishment but I did not die before the wagon moved three steps.

I don't know how, or by whom, I was removed from this vehicle. Insensitivity finally made me feel relieved. After a while I opened my eyes, and slowly gained knowledge of my situation. I lay on a mattress, whose condition proved that a half-rotting corpse had recently been dragged from it. The room was large, but it was covered with a bed like my bed. Between each of them, there was hardly a distance of three feet. Each suffered woe, whose groans and distortions bespoke the despair of his condition.

The atmosphere was filled with a foul smell. Steam, suffocating and ferocious, barely allowed me to breathe. No suitable container is provided for evacuation generated by drugs or diseases. My nearest neighbor struggled with death, and my bed, extended leisurely.

You would hardly believe that, in this scene of horror, the sound of laughter should be heard. While the upper rooms of this building were filled with sick and dying people, the lower apartments were dance parties.hired, for very large wages, the, to care for the sick and carry away the dead, neglect their duties, and consume food provided for the patients, in debauchery and riots.

"The "female face, swollen with malignancy and drunkenness, is sometimes seen inward. A dying eye is fixed on him, begging for grace, perhaps, a drop of cold water, or his help to change the posture that forces him to see a terrible squirming.

Visitors have left the banquet for a moment, only to see who died. If he enters the room, blinking eyes and staggered footsteps indicate he is in no way qualified to serve the needed help. At this time he disappeared, and the others went up the stairs, the coffin was kept at the door, the poor man, whose heart was still trembling, was caught by the rough hands, and dragged along the floor into the hallway.

Oho! how poor is the conception formed, by a fortunate few, of the suffering that causes millions of their fellow men to be condemned. This suffering was more frightening, as it seemed to flow from the depravity of his servants. My own eyes will only make me appreciate the existence of such a great evil.It is no wonder that to die in the attic, and the dungeon, and the stables, unvisited and unknown, have been, have been, by so many people, it was preferable to be brought here.

Three days passed, during which each hour was expected to be the last. That, in the midst of such a contagious and deadly atmosphere, amid the causes of destruction that accumulate every hour, I still have to endure, to me nothing less than a miracle. much done to this house the only one who fainted alive had to myself almost beyond my belief.

Some inexplicable principles make the powerful enemies of human life harmless. My fever subsided and disappeared. My power was revived, and the first use I made of my limbs was to keep me away from the contemplation and suffering of those evils."

After satisfying my curiosity in this, Wallace went on to remind me of the state of our first interview. He has raised doubts as to whether I am the person he met at Lesher's . I admitted myself to be the same, and in turn inquired about his behavioural motives on that occasion.

I admit," he said, with some hesitation, "I only intend to exercise with your simplicity and ignorance. However, you should not imagine that my stratagem was too deep and deliberately conducted. My profession in the tavern was sincere. I do not mean to hurt, but to serve you. It wasn't until I reached the head of the ladder that the rogue invention happened. I see nothing at the moment, but ludicrous mistakes and shame. The scheme was executed almost at that very moment.

After I returned to the living room, Thetford charged me with messaging in a distant quarter of town. It was only after I had done this task, and had departed again, that I fully thought of the consequences.

That Thetford and his wife will detect you in their bedroom is beyond doubt. Perhaps, being tired of my long delay, you will simply undress and go to sleep. Married couples will make preparations to follow you, and, when the curtain is opened.not drawn, will find a strong young man, sound asleep, in their place. These images, which previously made me laugh, now produce very different emotions. I fear the fatal disaster of Thetford's fiery passion. In the first transport of his anger he may shoot you, or, at least, may order you to be dragged to jail.

Now I solemnly regret my joke, and rush home, that I can prevent, as far as possible, any evil effects that might flow from it. Recognition of my own right of choice in this matter, at least, will divert Thetford's anger to itself, to whom it must be paid fairly.

Married couples have entered their rooms, and no alarms or confusion follow. This is an unexplained condition. I waited impatiently until morning had to give a solution of the difficulty. Morning arrives. A strange event indeed, happened in their bedroom. They found a baby asleep in their bed. Thetford had been woken up twice in the night, once by a noise in the closet, and afterwards by a voice at the door.