IT was late in the evening before I could arrange to be with the patient. I found him with less appearance of delirium than might have been expected from the augmented severity of his sufferings. He remained restless and agitated, until about one in the morning, speaking very little, but occasionally murmuring inarticulately in his slumbers. On becoming more calm, he manifested much solicitude for his fellow sufferer.
'Doctor, how does my brother do? Do you think he will get over it?'
He had been removed to a different ward, that he might not be affected by the situation of the other, and was doing well. I stated as much.
'I feel cold, very cold,' he continued. 'Wouldn't some of that warm drink give me a little heat? No! I've tried that; it burns my throat. Yet, I'm all dried up inside.'
'Cool! The sound is enough to make me shiver. But I will take some, for the sake of the experiment.'
He touched a little of it to his lips, and then drank the whole of the potion. It agreed with him better than warm drinks, which were more suitable to his condition. Then sinking into quietude, he seemed about to be falling asleep. All at once, he burst out into exclamations of horror and alarm, and cries for assistance; vehemently declared his innocence; and in the course of his ramblings, made a complete exposure of his secret. He terminated by springing up in bed, and attempting to jump on to the floor. His eyes fell upon me, and he seemed to recover his mental faculties as speedily as he had lost them. He reclined back on his pillow, and said, with much earnestness:
'Doctor, what have I been uttering? Have I revealed any thing?'
'You have disclosed some things which I should not hear, except in the confidence of a physician,' I replied.
'What!--any thing that would criminate me?'
'I see that I have unwittingly taught you my secret. Curse this wild delirium! But on whom should the curse fall! I will trust you. I know that until I am dead, you will not be able to betray any thing; and after that, it will be at your option, at any rate, to make that public which will endanger the life of another.'
'Have no fears of me, if there is a possibility that any one may receive injury from my information.'