rved
partly by me and partly by an intelligent officer whose watch upon the
man had been secured by me.

To be more particular, the afflicted man was observed often to start
suddenly and in alarm, look quickly round, and make some unintelligent
monosyllabic answer, seemingly to an inaudible question that no visible
person had asked. He acquired the reputation, too, of having taken
lately to nightmares, for in the middle of the night he would shriek in
the most dreadful fashion, alarming his roommates prodigiously. After
these attacks he would sit up in bed, his ruddy face devoid of color,
his eyes glassy and shining, his breathing broken with gasps, and his
body wet with a cold perspiration.

Knowledge of these developments and transformations spread throughout
the garrison; but the few (mostly women) who dared to express sympathy
or suggest a tonic encountered so violent rebuffs that they blessed
Heaven for escaping alive from his word-volleys. Even the garrison
surgeon, who had a kindly manner, and the commanding general, who was
constructed on dignified and impressive lines, received little thanks
for their solicitude. Clearly the doughty old officer, who had fought
like a bulldog in two wars and a hundred battles, was suffering deeply
from some undiscoverable malady.

The next extraordinary thing which he did was to visit one evening (not
so clandestinely as to escape my watch) a spirit medium--extraordinary,
because he always had scoffed at the idea of spirit communications. I
saw him as he was leaving the medium's rooms. His face was purple, his
eyes were bulging and terrified, and he tottered in his walk. A
policeman, seeing his distress, advanced to assist him; whereupon the
soldier hoarsely begged,--

"Call a hack."

Into it he fell, and asked to be driven to his quarters. I hastily
ascended to the medium's rooms, and found her lying unconscious on the
floor. Soon, with my aid, she recalled her wits, but her conscious
state was even more alarming than the other. At first she regarded me
with terror, and cried,--

"It is horrible for you to hound him so!"

I assured her that I was hounding no one.

"Oh, I thought you were the spir--I mean--I--oh, but it was standing
exactly where you are!" she exclaimed.

"I suppose so," I agreed, "but you can see that I am not the young
man's spirit. However, I am familiar with this whole case, madam, and
if I can be of any service in the matter I should be glad if