LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 755, 21 November 1876, Page 3

LITERATURE.

DR. BASILIUS.

Chapter IT. (Continued.)

'Oh! yes,' he went on, 'we have here another proof of the good opinion men have of humanity. It astonishes you to hear me acknowledge that lam rich ? One seldom speaks of his own wealth, for two reasons; the first, because the rich man fears to be robbed—but this is not the principal reason; he fears much more, he fears that the source of his riches will be discovered. Now, tbis source, my young friend, is generally corruption, usury, fraud, theft, even assassination. You can comprehend what disgrace would be reflected upon most of our millionaires if the source were found. The travellers who have sought the source of the Nile, having reached the fourth degree of latitude, have found nothing but dirty marshes, whose emanations produce deth. My young friend, most of the great fortunes came from marshes ofteu more infectious than those of the Nile ; do not inhale them too near, or you will run the risk of breathing more carbonic acid than azote or oxygen. As to myself, that's another thing—l am an impudent rogue; I proclaim whence my riches come. Like Dr Faust, I have given myself to Satan. Satan allows me to drink from his cup of science. I light against the heavens —I cure, but take good rare to make my price beforehand, because, if I did not, I should have threadbare trousers and a coat out at the elbows, like yours.' ' Well, doctor, since you know mo to be poor, why have you come to me?' ' The fact is, my friend, I prefer something to gold—it is my whim. Now the partiality for which you almost reproach me is a whim, and nothing else Do you smoke opium, Mr Van den Beek ?'

To my reply in the negative, he said : ' You are wrong, opium is an excellent thing ; they say it emaciates. Look at my figure. They say it destroys the sight. Look at my eyes.' Uttering these words he struck his large, round stomach a vigorous blow, which made it resound like a hag of money, and shot a flash from his eyes which dazzled me.

' They say it shortens life,' he continued j ' error, lie, caluiany; it doubles it.'

! 'Doctor,' I ventured, frightened at Esther's continued sleep, *do you not find that my wife's lethargy is alarming ? ' 'Lethargy? Do you know that the Orientals, Turks, Arabs, even the Chinese, whom we look upon as the outlines of creation, as the counterfeits of humanity, understand life in a much more logical way than the inhabitants of the West ? What is our stupid or clamorous intoxication, this intoxication from wine or beer, ingurgitation which makes man more debased than animals, in comparison with the inhalation of a perfumed vapour which, ever tending to rise, goes up to the brain in lieu of descending to the stomach ? What is it in comparison with this fairy torpor which disentangles the soul from its terrestrial coat, and permits it to journey from paradise to paradise ?' 'Doctor, dear doctor, let us talk about Esther, I supplicate you,' I interposed. ' Well, so be it! since you absolutely wish it,' said Dr Basilius ill-humouredly. ' You must know,' I began, 'that before leaving Harlem she had a cough which worried me.'

' Ah ! you belong to Harlem ?' interrupted my visitor. ' A pretty little city, upon my word !'

' Charming, doctor ; but permit ' Without heeding me the exasperating man went on.

' If you really are of Harlem, I suppose you are acquainted with the famous " Night Round " by Rembrandt, which is now in Van Damme's cabinet ?'

' Yes, but I wanted to tell you-—' ' Oh ! my dear fellow, what I want to tell you is much more interesting than what you want to tell me—l refer to a chef-d'muvre of the man who will live as long as the canvas upon which this tfief-d'ceuvre is traced, that is to say, for centuries ; while man, God's chef-d'oeuvre, made of flesh and bone, lives thirty, forty, fifty, sixty years j after which, he rots — Pugh ! Ah I'

'Doctor,' I essayed once more, after a shudder.

1 Well,' he pursued tranquilly, ' this famous picture is nothing but a copy, my dear Mr Van deen Beek. And if you are desirous of knowing; the original, you have but to come to my house; you will not only see the " Sight Round," but my whole gallery. I possess a very fine gallery in the house on the quay. Thanks to my wealth, I have collected there Oriental delights and the intellectual enjoyments of Eui*opeans. So you will find everything in my house: the chef d'mtvre of art and nature; the best wines of Hungary, France and Spain; in fine, the most beautiful samples of the three races that people the world, the black race, and white and yellow race.' •My God ! my God !' I murmured, pacing the floor excitedly, 'is it possible that this pitiless prater is the Dr Basilius whose marvellous cures have been related to me ?'

Then, stopping before him like a man who has made up his mind, I urged once more :

' Sir, examine my wife, I beseech you ; afterward—Oh ! bless me ! we will converse on any subject.' ' It is singular,'said Dr Basilius as though addressing himself, and nevertheless loud enough for me to hear, 'it is singular how persistent a«man is to face grief.' ' Let me state her trouble,' I quickly broke in.

•' Do not lose your time, young man. I know all about her case—it is pulmonary trouble troubled, with pulmonary complaint—lungs—lungs—ah ! ah ! ah ! lun derstand the whisperings of the winds, can interpret the pattering of the rain, the roll of the thunder, and should I not know about your wife's complaint ? Well, I should like to c\ire her—but it is rather late,' he added with a fatal laugh. ' How rather late ?' I asked with terror, ' you say it is rather late ?' 'Without doubt; your wife ceased to breathe at half-past eight o'clock this evening, the very moment you dealt my door the first blow.'

With a terrible cry, I threw myself upon the bed. My wife was icy cold.

Chapter 111.

I was frantic with despair. I implored the wonderful man to rescue her through the power of his marvellous science. ' Such is the law, my boy,' he replied, voluptuously savoring the opium filled vapor; 'we only flourish to wither; we only grow large to be cut down; happy even when the scythe of death cuts us off in our beauty and youth, when we perfume the atmosphere around lis, and not when the autumn wind has made us pine away, when winter has covered us with snow. And I also, such as you see me, I was a pretty, fair, rosy, charming child. Ah !ah! ah ! one would not think it to-day, hey ? ' And he gave vent to that nervous laugh which had such a strange effect in the death chamber.

' Sir,' I said, stung to the quick by this accursed laugh, ' I regret that I am obliged to teach one of your age and profession a lesson; since ycu have been here, not for one moment have you ceased to be wanting in respect for my grief.' ' At my age, my young friend,' he replied calmly, ' one abides by one's habits, and I possess the habit of respecting only what I comprehend.' ' Well, I shall imitate you sir,' I answered harshly, 'and shall not lose my time in seeking to understand your scepticism. Will you be good enough to retire; I wish to pray here beside my wife, and your presence is odious to me.'

The doctor coolly drew forth a large watch, fastened to his neck by a massive gold chain, and looked at the face. ' The recognition of which you spoke a short while since,' he said, ' has lasted just one hour ami two minutes. 'Ah!ah !ah ! that is very long, young man.' Then picking up his hat which he had thrown in a comer, and readjusting his oilskin trouscrSj he walked toward the door. Upon reaching it, he paused and faced me, enunciating slowly : f To be continued.^