Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 196 — page 10: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

a <= —_ O —_—— of the gigantic Swiss, who was as strong, seem- ingly, as an elephant. aaa from daily contact with the unruly mad- mon, from whom the ablest doctors retreated in alarm, Peloton got the idea into his head that he knew a great deal more about insanity than | the savans who employed him, and he reason- ed that, if he could on nd succeed in setting up an asylum where only the most dangerous and violent patients would be received, the very class that the regular asylums preferred not to take, a fortune might be made, There was a dame in the next street who had a little drinking-shop, much frequented by the attendants of the asylum—a woman of a stature almost equaling that of the Switzer, and who was reported to be worth a trifle. Upon this lady Peloton had cast a longing eye, for he fancied that she was just the one to assist him in his enterprise, She had the “chink,” if report spoke true, which he lacked; she had the cour- age, too, and the personal strength necessary in carrying on such an affair. The dame was easily won, for to her mind he scheme appeared to be full of golden prom- The old secluded chateau by the banks of the Seine was secured and fitted up, and from the first the Retreat of M, Peloton flourished. The Retreat was like a living tomb to all those unfortunate souls consigned to its care. Professor Peloton did not pretend that he cured; he only kept. , In brief, the institution was one of those pri- vate mad-houses which are the disgrace of every community wherein they are permitted to exist. Not that the professor was not careful to keep within the letter of the law, for, neither he nor his amiable dame had the least desire for a sojourn at Toulon, but to evade the require- ments of the code was an easy matter with such an unserupulous rascal. The Retreat rarely had over ten or a dozen eae but at the prices the professor charged hat number was quite sufficient to pay him handsomely. And, from the rw way in which he carried on the instivution it wou:d not answer to have so many inmates that a ye force of attendants would be needed to take care of them, for such attendants as Peloton re- quired cost money, and even then were not easily to be procured. The first qualification which the professor desired in the servants was the faculty of minding their own business. Once in a while a peculiar case would come to the Retreat, when it was almost neces ‘ary thaf all connected with it should be almost blind, deaf and dumb, and such patients as these were tle very ones out of whom the institution made its money. — OW eu" These-cases wero-very hard ones to manage at first, for all-of them, laboring under the naturel delusion common to the insane, im- oy by ont pete were oop Daeg of “their lib- rty by unlawful means, and a great many ac- pt their neprest and dearest relatives of being in a conspiracy to shut them up away from the world, Of course there are always busybodies who would make trouble if these ravings were known. And now, haying described the institution over which ‘‘ Professo Py crs presided, we will process, to relate why it is introduced into 8. | ' ft was night and the master and mistress of this ‘“‘home” for the insane, sat’ in their recep- tion-room, enjoying a glass of wine and indulg- ing in ‘mutual congra tions over the success f their enterprise. © ae. “Ten more pr weshall be able to retire to a chateau arid set ss catbing bis huge pains togsthel” glesttly. sor, rubbing bis huge palms ner ¥ At this moment a servant en red with 't e intelligence that a gentleman d to speak With the proprietor of the Retgeat. ** Aha, maybe a new patient? We have just room for onemore. What is he like, Jack “An English milord, I think, sir—very well- dressed—a t deal of jewelry—a big dog’s head With diamond eyes for a scarf-pin.” “ A eliént then—if he be a client; something out of our usual Jine; show him in.” — ‘7 will retire until he goes,” said Madame Peloton, quitting the apartment. a “ass ered in the gentleman, then discreetly retired. At the first glance the master of the Retreat saw that the servant’s guess was correct; there was no mistaking the nationality of the visitor, for “ John Bull” of the most pronounced type stuck out all over him. ah In person he wa; a little under the medium hight, but rather stoutly built; he had curly, flaxen hair, cut short, and flowing mustache and side-wh‘skers of the same hue, which, with his bushy flaxen eyebrows, gave him a poodle- dog-like expression, Haw! Speak English?’ he asked, using his own language. The professor shook his head; he could master Wiresicli. German and Spanish pretty well, but the barbarous tongue of perfidious too much for him. ‘‘ Well, I can patter French @ bit, although I Ibion was erouls years like the last and’ |. know, whom he left bebind eee s’pose I make a beastly fist at it,” the visitor re- marked, speaking now in French, and really, for a foreigner, he did pretty well. ‘¢Monsieur’s accent is perfection!” Peloton cried, with true French politeness, “Oh, come, none of that! No humbug, you know, for of course you put it all down in the bill. Well, mossu, I’ve got a patient I want to put in this crib of yours. He’s a_strapper, too, and a plagued hard nut to handle.” The professor smiled and held up his big fist which resembled the butt end of a leg of mut- ton. ‘‘Do not fear, milord; my system consists of opposing force with force; the patient is vio- lent, good; I am more violent, better. I con- quer him; you perceive?” * Oh ys: {have heard your place and your system highly spokenof by a lotof fellows who generally know what they are talking about, and that is why 1 came to see you when this chap got so violent that there was no living with bim. I can hold my own, you know, tty well with an ordinary man, but this fel- ow isa perfect stunner, a blooming bloke, — know; he could give me a stone or two and me easily if he was himself, but when he gets ~ -¢ tantrums now he is a regular beastly evil. “* Have no fear, milord; I take charge of such eases myself. Boast Ido not, but I have held a wagon against a thousand-pound horse. In- sanity is a sad affair,” and the rogue shook bis head. ‘‘Is it milord’s father that is afflicted?” CHAPTER XIV. THE PATIENT. THE Englishman Pet up his eyeglasses and stared at the host for a moment, as if aston- ished at the question. Peloton saw that he had made a mistake. ** Ah, it is not milord’s sire!” **Oh no, bless you! That old fellow was com- fortably packed away long ago.” ‘*t have had such cases, milord, you know. An'old manin his second childhood, incapable of reasoning and yet obstinate enough to make a t deal of trouble. He is placed here; we take the best of care of him; no one pays an heed to his foolish notions, and it is much be ter than if- he was out in the world to make trouble.” . ‘Oh yes, I see;.a very comfortable arrange- ment, particularly for the kid who is anx- ious to get the Handling of the parental shi- ners, The Frenchman smiled; the Englishman had caught his meaning. youn ch ut, Isay, do any of your men speak En- ““f regret to say, milord, that English is to us an unknown tongue,” ‘But, how will my chap get along then? You won’t be able to understand him, and he won’t understand nih s : “So much the better,” replied the professor, ina very significant manner; “I will take care that his wants are supplied, and that is all that isnecessary. In fact, my dear monsieur, ene exception all my attendants are deaf and dumb. You will eee ‘that in an institute like mine it would be at times very inconve- nient be have Meg: Rai Mee re to i meaningless ravings of the patients.. Some 0 the deltistons tients entertain appear so like truth, that only a man educated with the in- sane would not be deceived. No doubt the gen- tleman in whom vot are interested labors under séme idea that you would rather all the world ‘should not know?” | ‘*Oh yes,” answéred the other, readily, ‘“‘ the old er used to be my steward, had charge’ of my property in England, you know, and my pi abroad, and while he was away ooking after these plantations some fellow led astray his daughter—a deuced fe ‘you m in England. Well; she wag a cursed idiot, like all the women and, what dies she do but go and throw herself’ into che river—made a deuced unpleasant corpse of herself.” satire ‘*T see, monsieur; the rest of the story is plain tome; when he returned and discovered what had ed the shock overturned his reason,” said the professor, the most profound thy in his manner. “By Jove! old fellow, you have hit it off as poy Hace vets, you had been there!” ‘“ Ah, monsieur, we have so many similar cases, and no doubt now, in bis delusion, the un- fortunate man blames you for the sad event.” “By George! you've hitit again; and it is all such deuced rot, you know. don’t believe I ever saw the girl ten times: while he was gone.” ‘¢It is one of the commonest freaks of the in- sane, milord; they always hate and seek to in- jure those whom in reason they loved the most.” « **Of course a report like that about a fellow is deuced awkward if it once gets round, and I don’t really believe that my life would be safe with the man at liberty.” ‘(No doubt, no doubt; it is a charity to put the poor creature where he will be well taken care of; and milord may rest assured that the most perfect secrecy is preserved in regard to any of our patients’ crazy fancies; and then, La Marmoset, the Detective Queen. too, the fact that no one in the establishment speaks English, and the gentleman not being able to converse in French, it will be clearly im- possible for any trouble to occur on that score.” Then the Englishman asked the terms, and the professor putting a pretty stiff price on, there was some haggling for a few moments, but finally the bargain was made. Paul Tomjohn, the visitor gave as his name, but, despite this plain appellation, the professor persisted in milording bim. On the Continent, where the Switzer had Sere up his education, every Englishman isa lord, or at least if not, he is made to pay like one. The patient was called John Smith. The details arranged, Peleton asked when he might expect the new boarder. ‘*To-night, if you are ready to receive him.” The professor assured him that the patient could come in five minutes if milord 80 pleased. The — round sum which the Englishman had planked down, inspired the Switzer with a deal of respect for the stranger. ‘‘Let me see,” said Mr. Paul Tomjohn, “if I mistake not your grounds run to the river?” **' Yes, monsieur.” ‘He is in Paris, only a few miles off; hw ns it do to bring him down the river ina t “Excellent, the very way, monsieur.” ‘“*T think that will be better than to bring him by day; his entrance here being unobserved, will not excite remark.” ‘Very true; it is a grand idea.” ‘*Tt will take me some time to get back to Paris; then, to engage a boatman, embark the patient, and pull dowf the river—it will be mid- ht before I can arrive.” ‘What difference’ does it make, milord? I myself will be on the look-out, and ine do not arrive until an hour or two after midnight it does not matter.” é; “Display a light as a signal so that I will know where to land, and about midnight ex- It will be a deuced jolly trip for the old bongar. ” And then milord Tomjohn took his departure, ©’ professor accompanying him to the door with the most obsequious teness. The Englishman had produced a most oo found impression upon the old scamp—a fact which he confided to his wife when relating the particulars of the interview. . “ He is a deep one, my ducky,” Peloton oeb- served. “*He looks soft, but he’s got an eye like a gimlet. That is the kind of customer I like to déal with, No fool, et Ss he looks like One, and the man in this World who gets the best of milord Tomjolin, must get up early in the morning.” } eee pia Ten minttes before midnight Peloton and the madame, he with a lantern, took their station, at the foot of the en, where the ever-mov- ing tide of the Seine hurried onward to the .ocean, and twenty minutes past twelve the ne UUttE UND EID EIEIII IIIS sound of oars was heard from’ the’ dar upon the bosom of the river.” Soon a light boat’ shot out of the gloom and approached the shore. : ° single man i ag the boat, ap ntly, and he was plying the oars. It was the young Englishman; but when the boat came near, the watchers saw a dark thass like a sleeping mam stretched out in the stern, © 0 The bow struck the beach and the English- man leaped out lightly. rasa te “Ex guish’ the light!” he exclaimed, ‘hur- riedly, ‘1 think that I have been followed!” Ina Ryle! Ws light disappeared. ~~ ‘A boat?” Peloton asked. ee ee ae “No, Oy a man swimming clear from the Pont, Neuf!” . y “Oh, impossible! No man could Swim:so far and keep up with a boat.” “Tt was either a man or a fish as big as a man: It doesn’t matter, though, except that I would like to know what is the game. Lend a hand here, for my man is sleeping.” one But, as Peloton bent over the prostrate form, the peculiar odor that the sleeper emitted re- vealed to Pema s+ the patient was not sleeping but dosed into insensibility. — CHAPTER XV. A CLEW, Crartry Jack Rinot was at his wits’ end. Ten days had elapsed since the mysterious dis- appearance of the American and not the slight- est trace of him could be discovered, although the lawyer, as stated, had taken upon himself the responsibility of offering a handsome re- ward and bad employed half a dozen private police agents. And Monsieur Preval, the head of the police bureau, spurred onward by the taunts of the dir had taken unusual pains but without avail. Attracted by the large reward offered, there had been twenty people to see him, all with theories as to how the American had been spirited away, but the lawyer did not want theories; he demanded the lost man or know- ledge of his whereabouts—dead or alive. As a last resource the lawyer and the chief of police had circulated a placard offering not only a fine reward for any mformation that (E(0) micboo “S (<0)