was

damp and decayed, indifferently furnishedevidently, recently

occupied and temporarily used. Some thick old hangings had been

nailed up before the windows, to deaden the sound of the shrieks.

They continued to be uttered in their regular succession, with the

cry, ‘My husband, my father, and my brother!’ the counting up to

twelve, and ‘Hush!’ The frenzy was so violent, that I had not

unfastened the bandages restraining the arms; but I had looked to

them, to see that they were not painful. The only spark of

encouragement in the case, was, that my hand upon the sufferer’s

breast had this much soothing influence, that for minutes at a time

it tranquilised the figure. It had no effect upon the cries; no

pendulum could be more regular.

“For the reason that my hand had this effect (I assume), I had

sat by the side of the bed for half an hour, with the two brothers

looking on, before the elder said:

“‘There is another patient.’

“I was startled, and asked, ‘Is it a pressing case?’

“‘You had better see,’ he carelessly answered; and took up a

light.

“The other patient lay in a back room across a second staircase,

which was a species of loft over a stable. There was a low plastered

ceiling to a part of it; the rest was open, to the ridge of the tiled

roof, and there were beams across. Hay and straw were stored in

that p