"Listen to me,Alvin Mulrady,"he said,leaning over him with burning eyes."Listen,while I have brain to think and strength to utter,why I have learnt to distrust,fear,and hate them!You think you know my story.Well,hear the truth from ME to-night,Alvin Mulrady,and do not wonder if I have cause."He stopped,and,with pathetic inefficiency,passed the fingers and inward-turned thumb of his paralyzed hand across his mouth,as if to calm himself."Three years ago I was a miner,but not a miner like you!I had experience,I had scientific knowledge,I had a theory,and the patience and energy to carry it out.I selected a spot that had all the indications,made a tunnel,and,without aid,counsel or assistance of any kind,worked it for six months,without rest or cessation,and with scarcely food enough to sustain my body.Well,I made a strike;not like you,Mulrady,not a blunder of good luck,a fool's fortune--there,I don't blame you for it--but in perfect demonstration of my theory,the reward of my labor.It was no pocket,but a vein,a lead,that I had regularly hunted down and found--a fortune!
"I never knew how hard I had worked until that morning;I never knew what privations I had undergone until that moment of my success,when I found I could scarcely think or move!I staggered out into the open air.The only human soul near me was a disappointed prospector,a man named Masters,who had a tunnel not far away.I managed to conceal from him my good fortune and my feeble state,for I was suspicious of him--of any one;and as he was going away that day I thought I could keep my secret until he was gone.I was dizzy and confused,but I remember that I managed to write a letter to my wife,telling her of my good fortune,and begging her to come to me;and I remember that I saw Masters go.Idon't remember anything else.They picked me up on the road,near that boulder,as you know.""I know,"said Mulrady,with a swift recollection of the stage-driver's account of his discovery.
"They say,"continued Slinn,tremblingly,"that I never recovered my senses or consciousness for nearly three years;they say I lost my memory completely during my illness,and that by God's mercy,while I lay in that hospital,I knew no more than a babe;they say,because I could not speak or move,and only had my food as nature required it,that I was an imbecile,and that I never really came to my senses until after my son found me in the hospital.They SAYthat--but I tell you to-night,Alvin Mulrady,"he said,raising his voice to a hoarse outcry,"I tell you that it is a lie!I came to my senses a week after I lay on that hospital cot;I kept my senses and memory ever after during the three years that I was there,until Harry brought his cold,hypocritical face to my bedside and recognized me.Do you understand?I,the possessor of millions,lay there a pauper.Deserted by wife and children--a spectacle for the curious,a sport for the doctors--AND I KNEW IT!I heard them speculate on the cause of my helplessness.I heard them talk of excesses and indulgences--I,that never knew wine or woman!Iheard a preacher speak of the finger of God,and point to me.May God curse him!""Go slow,old man;go slow,"said Mulrady,gently.
"I heard them speak of me as a friendless man,an outcast,a criminal--a being whom no one would claim.They were right;no one claimed me.The friends of others visited them;relations came and took away their kindred;a few lucky ones got well;a few,equally lucky,died!I alone lived on,uncared for,deserted.
"The first year,"he went on more rapidly,"I prayed for their coming.I looked for them every day.I never lost hope.I said to myself,'She has not got my letter;but when the time passes she will be alarmed by my silence,and then she will come or send some one to seek me.'A young student got interested in my case,and,by studying my eyes,thought that I was not entirely imbecile and unconscious.With the aid of an alphabet,he got me to spell my name and town in Illinois,and promised by signs to write to my family.But in an evil moment I told him of my cursed fortune,and in that moment I saw that he thought me a fool and an idiot.He went away,and I saw him no more.Yet I still hoped.I dreamed of their joy at finding me,and the reward that my wealth would give them.Perhaps I was a little weak still,perhaps a little flighty,too,at times;but I was quite happy that year,even in my disappointment,for I had still hope!"He paused,and again composed his face with his paralyzed hand;but his manner had become less excited,and his voice was stronger.
"A change must have come over me the second year,for I only dreaded their coming now and finding me so altered.A horrible idea that they might,like the student,believe me crazy if I spoke of my fortune made me pray to God that they might not reach me until after I had regained my health and strength--and found my fortune.When the third year found me still there--I no longer prayed for them--I cursed them!I swore to myself that they should never enjoy my wealth;but I wanted to live,and let them know Ihad it.I found myself getting stronger;but as I had no money,no friends,and nowhere to go,I concealed my real condition from the doctors,except to give them my name,and to try to get some little work to do to enable me to leave the hospital and seek my lost treasure.One day I found out by accident that it had been discovered!You understand--my treasure!--that had cost me years of labor and my reason;had left me a helpless,forgotten pauper.