The String of Pearls (1850), p. 164

mother hard-earned gold, and your name shall never pass our lips. Oh, no—no—no, do not say that I am mad. Do you see these tears? I have—I have not cried so since my poor father called me to him and held me in a last embrace of his wasted arms, saying, ' Tobias, my darling, I am going—going far from you. God's blessing be upon you, poor child.' I thought my heart would break then, but it did not, I saw him put from the face of the living into the grave, and I did
not quite break my heart then, but it is broken—broken now! Mad! mad! oh, no, not mad—no—no, but the last—but the last. I tell you, sir, that I am—am—am not mad. Why do you look at me, I am not mad—one—two—three—four—five—six. God—God—God! I am mad—mad. Ha! ha! ha! There they come, all the serpents, and Todd is their king. How the shadows fly about—they shrink—I cannot shrink. Help! God! God! God!"
"This is horrible," said Colonel Jeffery.
"It is appalling, from the lips of one so young," said the captain.
The medical man rubbed his hands together as he said—
"Why, a-hem! it certainly is strangely indicative of a considerable amount of mental derangement, but we shall be able, I dare say, to subdue that. I think, if he could be persuaded to swallow a little draught I have here, it would be beneficial, and allay this irritation, which is partly nervous.''
"There cannot be much difficulty," said the colonel, " in making him swallow anything, I should think."
"Let us try."
They held Tobias up while the doctor poured the contents of a small phial into his mouth. Nature preferred performing the office of deglutition to choking, and
it was taken. The effect of the opiate was rapid, and after some inarticulate moans and vain attempts to spring from the bed, a deep sleep came over poor Tobias.
"Now, gentlemen," said Mr. Chisolm, "I beg to inform you that this is a bad case."
"I feared as much."
"A very bad case. Some very serious shock indeed has been given to the lad's brain, and if he at all recovers from it, he will be a long time doing so. I do not think those violent paroxysms will continue, but they may leave a kind of fatuity behind them which may be exceedingly difficult to grapple with."
"In that case, he will not be able to give me the information I desire, and all I can do is to take care that he is kindly treated somewhere, poor lad. Poor fellow, his has been a hard lot. He evidently has a mind of uncommon sensibility, as is manifest from his ravings."
"Yes, and that makes the case worse. However, we must hope for the best, and I will call again in the morning."
"Will he awake soon?"
"Not for six or eight hours at least, and when he does, it is very unlikely that those paroxysms will again ensue. He will be quiet enough."
"Then it will be scarcely necessary, during that time., to watch him, poor fellow?''
"Not at all. Of course, when he awakens it will be very desirable that some one should be here to speak to him ; for, finding himself in a strange place, he will otherwise naturally be terrified."
As this was promised by the colonel, and the medical man left the house, evidently with very slender hopes in his own mind of the recovery of Tobias. The colonel and his friend retired to another room, and,then, after a consultation, they agreed that it was highly proper they should inform Sir Richard Blunt of
what had taken place, for although poor Tobias was in no present condition to give any information, yet his capture, if it might be called by such a term, was so important an event that it would be unpardonable to keep it from the magistrate. They accordingly went together to his house, and luckily finding him at
home, they at once communicated to him their errand. He listened to them with the most profound attention, and when they had concluded, he said—