It Actually Takes Him Weeks To Find
Out That It Is Those Persecuting Torrents That Have Been
Making All The Mischief.
It is time for him to get out
of Switzerland, then, for as soon as he has discovered
the cause, the misery is magnified several fold.
The roar
of the torrent is maddening, then, for his imagination
is assisting; the physical pain it inflicts is exquisite.
When he finds he is approaching one of those streams,
his dread is so lively that he is disposed to fly the track
and avoid the implacable foe.
Eight or nine months after the distress of the torrents
had departed from me, the roar and thunder of the
streets of Paris brought it all back again. I moved
to the sixth story of the hotel to hunt for peace.
About midnight the noises dulled away, and I was
sinking to sleep, when I heard a new and curious sound;
I listened: evidently some joyous lunatic was softly
dancing a "double shuffle" in the room over my head.
I had to wait for him to get through, of course. Five long,
long minutes he smoothly shuffled away - a pause followed,
then something fell with a thump on the floor.
I said to myself "There - he is pulling off his boots
- thank heavens he is done." Another slight pause - he went
to shuffling again! I said to myself, "Is he trying to see
what he can do with only one boot on?" Presently came
another pause and another thump on the floor.
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