The sober-minded,sensible,well-instructed Dr.Butts was not a little exercised in mind by the demands made upon his knowledge by his young friend,and for the time being his pupil,Miss Lurida Vincent.
"I don't wonder they called her The Terror,"he said to himself.
"She is enough to frighten anybody.She has taken down old books from my shelves that I had almost forgotten the backs of,and as to the medical journals,I believe the girl could index them from memory.She is in pursuit of some special point of knowledge,I feel sure,and I cannot doubt what direction she is working in,but her wonderful way of dealing with books amazes me."What marvels those "first scholars"in the classes of our great universities and colleges are,to be sure!They are not,as a rule,the most distinguished of their class in the long struggle of life.
The chances are that "the field"will beat "the favorite"over the long race-course.Others will develop a longer stride and more staying power.But what fine gifts those "first scholars"have received from nature!How dull we writers,famous or obscure,are in the acquisition of knowledge as compared with them!To lead their classmates they must have quick apprehension,fine memories,thorough control of their mental faculties,strong will,power of concentration,facility of expression,--a wonderful equipment of mental faculties.I always want to take my hat off to the first scholar of his year.
Dr.Butts felt somewhat in the same way as he contemplated The Terror.She surprised him so often with her knowledge that he was ready to receive her without astonishment when she burst in upon him one allay with a cry of triumph,"Eureka!Eureka!""And what have you found,my dear?"said the doctor.
Lurida was flushed and panting with the excitement of her new discovery.
"I do believe that I have found the secret of our strange visitor's dread of all human intercourse!"The seasoned practitioner was not easily thrown off his balance.
"Wait a minute and get your breath,"said the doctor."Are you not a little overstating his peculiarity?It is not quite so bad as that.
He keeps a man to serve him,he was civil with the people at the Old Tavern,he was affable enough,I understand,with the young fellow he pulled out of the water,or rescued somehow,--I don't believe be avoids the whole human race.He does not look as if he hated them,so far as I have remarked his expression.I passed a few words with him when his man was ailing,and found him polite enough.No,Idon't believe it is much more than an extreme case of shyness,connected,perhaps,with some congenital or other personal repugnance to which has been given the name of an antipathy."Lurida could hardly keep still while the doctor was speaking.When he finished,she began the account of her discovery:
"I do certainly believe I have found an account of his case in an Italian medical journal of about fourteen years ago.I met with a reference which led me to look over a file of the Giornale degli Ospitali lying among the old pamphlets in the medical section of the Library.I have made a translation of it,which you must read and then tell me if you do not agree with me in my conclusion.""Tell me what your conclusion is,and I will read your paper and see for myself whether I think the evidence justifies the conviction you seem to have reached."Lurida's large eyes showed their whole rounds like the two halves of a map of the world,as she said,"I believe that Maurice Kirkwood is suffering from the effects of the bite of a TARANTULA!"The doctor drew a long breath.He remembered in a vague sort of way the stories which used to be told of the terrible Apulian spider,but he had consigned them to the limbo of medical fable where so many fictions have clothed themselves with a local habitation and a name.
He looked into the round eyes and wide pupils a little anxiously,as if he feared that she was in a state of undue excitement,but,true to his professional training,he waited for another symptom,if indeed her mind was in any measure off its balance.
"I know what you are thinking,"Lurida said,"but it is not so.'Iam not mad,most noble Festus.'You shall see the evidence and judge for yourself.Read the whole case,--you can read my hand almost as if it were print,and tell me if you do not agree with me that this young man is in all probability the same person as the boy described in the Italian journal,One thing you might say is against the supposition.The young patient is spoken of as Signorino M ...Ch....But you must remember that ch is pronounced hard in Italian,like k,which letter is wanting in the Italian alphabet;and it is natural enough that the initial of the second name should have got changed in the record to its Italian equivalent."Before inviting the reader to follow the details of this extraordinary case as found in a medical journal,the narrator wishes to be indulged in a few words of explanation,in order that he may not have to apologize for allowing the introduction of a subject which may be thought to belong to the professional student rather than to the readers of this record.There is a great deal in medical books which it is very unbecoming to bring before the general public,--a great deal to repel,to disgust,to alarm,to excite unwholesome curiosity.It is not the men whose duties have made them familiar with this class of subjects who are most likely to offend by scenes and descriptions which belong to the physician's private library,and not to the shelves devoted to polite literature.
Goldsmith and even Smollett,both having studied and practised medicine,could not by any possibility have outraged all the natural feelings of delicacy and decency as Swift and Zola have outraged them.But without handling doubtful subjects,there are many curious medical experiences which have interest for every one as extreme illustrations of ordinary conditions with which all are acquainted.
