Show M E D U A rv AD by josephine daskam bacon copyright ty by 0 appleton Ao and company service CHAPTER VI continued ive been with the doctor seven years schaffner began ever since he came over here ile he told me all about it so that tt if anything ever happened to him I 1 could go on with it you see n he e knew e w her first in paris twelve ye years ars a ago g 0 her hair was a dark auburn then and beginning to go gray she even pretty then he said except that she had bad regular features and strange greenish eyes rut but no color and not attractive at all ile he was waa only an operator and artificial hair worker in a little shop in paris and he ha happened to bo be the one to wait on her when she came in to consult about her hair she afford to let it go gray you know she said they all did in her family she was a kind of pupil teacher in a convent poor as aa a rat of course ile he did pretty well for her and she used to come in now and then well he hit on something one day and lie he wanted to try it on somebody so BO he offered this miss bliss lee to make a regular red blond of her it if shed take tho the risk she agreed and he brought it up a few shades to begin and after that they got it where he wanted it pretty nearly as aa where you saw it last I 1 imagine motherwell nodded its been used of course enormously since hut but it never has had in all these years the wonderful results it had on her lie ile cant understand it N nobody 0 body can its something la her constitution she like other people she seemed to take it right into her ber system he be says and it affected gradually the whole pigmentation lie says her eyebrows and lashes changed I 1 know her complexion has ile he injected it finally hypodermically ohl oh I 1 you understand it matter that part the point Is she turned into a bremen tremendous dous beauty it was very much remarked of course lie ile sold that formula to the biggest specialist in paris and got enough to set up a little laboratory and do nothing but consultations ile he was always interested in explosives and th tb co altars you know are all yawns tawna stopped him so then white met her and sh she 0 finished him at first sight lie ile came to the school to see some friends child I 1 believe she came straight to the professor and offered him five thousand a year to work in new york and take care of her of course he accepted what does he care where he be works ile he took me on as assistant and hes made a great name for himself among the chemists and inventors the professor has ashes his on only ly patient you know not only did he promise her but he want to touch that sort of thing of course we havo have all we can do no he paused and turning to a little electrical grill lifted a coffee pot from it and poured himself a cup handing another to his guest now where was I 1 oh yes some things been happening to her we think now it was taking the cure at white sulphur maybe she wanted to lose some weight and she admits that she went on one of those terrible diets the women read in little books you know awful anyway theres no doubt that tho the hair lost luster a and nd her skin got a q queer u eer color ile he changed her diet and strengthened the formula a little hes always had a special one for her the trade never had it and she looked a little better but tho the hair got streaked and yellow looking lie ile could cover that up of course but naturally she was gett getting ng worried last wednesday there was a grayish tinge to it she thought more a sort of shadow than a color she expressed it and she lost her nerve and dashed over to our place and read him the riot act lies iles told her often and often that she must bo be calm and keep everything in equilibrium as ile he calls it ila he swears the mind has a great deal to do with tho the way the tha hair takes his bis formulas you know the professor does always has well I 1 there but I 1 feel assured that she got him pretty rattled himself anyway he be told her he would give it a light bleach it she wished and refresh the whole thing all over again lie ho explained that it be absolutely guaranteed but that he was reasonably sure of it she was very anxious to try it and he ha did it in the little inside laboratory we have there its a nervous job you know a seventeen volume bleach bleab h and the tint and the rinse just so many minutes apart you cant take any chances he took another cup of coffee I 1 the water was pulled off he be went on in a lowered voice somewhere in the building they began to use it you see and theres never enough pressure in those old io laces the whole thing hung fire II 11 iii was nearly crazy the color setting every second it was almost aubuch arburr au burh he says bays and he be rinse fast enough and he dare show it to her so he did something hes hea often and often done on test hair bair artificial and sprayed on a very light bleach of his own that nobody has do you know anything about permanganates nothing said motherwell 1 I suppose not it matter lie ile sprayed it lind and put her under the rinse and it turned light emerald green in eight seconds second sl 1 god knows how she fainted and he be had a hard bard time with her must have lie ile was all alone of course he had to get her out here and there ta Is where he be lost hla his head if only I 1 had been there surely as I 1 told him there were wa ways y a she could have called her husband by telephone and said some thing anything lie ile ought to have bava realized but he was nearly crazy ile he came right out with the truth you see and blurted out that it was unlikely he could do anything that was fatal but he be said it was creeping down her forehead as 1 if her blood he be said was green my gd G 0 d I 1 lie ile drank again thirstily 1 I tell you that dd d d color will not change cli angel 1 he cried his voice on edge theres nothing to do but heavens and earth motherwell burst in arent there such things as wigs you could ae excuse me but I 1 cant argue with 7 you ou schaffner began irritably 1 I must ask you to believe that every possibility every shade of possibility he ha stopped swallowed hard and controlled himself we had a dozen wigs and trans trana formations out here in six hours he said think a moment such hair against a her skin I 1 it was ghastly she looked sixty iler her skin Is like vellum grain firmness contour all gone gonel I 1 she has lost ten pounds the pigmentation has completely altered there are no precedents I 1 ile he gasped and wiped his forehead but lie he has arrested the green in the skin he went on thank 0 d over we injected well you aou know and that was risk enough ills eyes drooped there Is only one thing to do now he said his voice guttural with fatigue the head must be shaved and a white wig fitted and she must go homo home and make a clean breast of everything and clear us from god knows what suspicions mr wells we did our best no one on earth can do more why certainly certai doctor schaffner anybody would agree with you motherwell assured him but why give everything up cant all this wear off grow oft off she Is young 06 has bag superb health nature is on her side why a white wig she to Is forty six years old said schaffner quietly it Is no use um the game Is played A a ahl motherwell whistled slowly the deuce you say P I 1 ire he sipped his coffee that that makes a difference it he said it makes such a difference mr wells schaffner returned slowly marking each word on the palm paira of his left hand band with the fingers of hla his right that mr crandall white will never lay eyes on his wife again if you wish my opinion 1 motherwell regarded him thoughtfully you mean 1 I mean that she looks at all this from a very businesslike point of view mr air wells she knows her husband very well of course you cant deny thail well she knows what he married her for all oh I 1 said motherwell 1 I see she has told the professor how it stands and he has told me I 1 dont talk with her much you see iles hes devoted to her mr wells theres nothing he do just think what she has done for him I 1 lie he says ho he owes everything to her and la in a way he does ho he might never have got his chance without her lots of people dont you knowl 1 11 I know As she put it to him would mr white that could have married anybody practically in europe or america have picked out a woman of thirty nine with gray hair that was what she was you know ita hard to know how any man would take such a blow but it a man like that I 1 she face it ilow how many women could 1 I dont know said Bloth erwell 1 I dont know schaffner honestly I 1 exactly you dont know the doctors voice grew thick and drowsy well she bhe does docs know and shed rather lie ho remembered her ashes all through she says we cant do anything and shea right we cant it grows so deep over the forehead you take her away nothing can affect her skin now you cant live on coffee P lie ile was waa drunk with fatigue As motherwell studied hla his worn face in silence half scornful half pitiful of hla his closed eyes a clumping step rose on the wooden stairs schaffner asleep now heard nothing but motherwell listened through the open door and looked with interest at tho hairy foreign man who had ii peered erad out at them from the ground floor ile he stood over in the doorway one arm in a black oilcloth wristlet extended lie he cried in a rough excited growl mot ca I 1 I 1 lave ave betl in his hand dangled a long tress ot of horrid emerald hair halt half its ita length was fit for medusas Me dusas own head but the lower halt half was pure dead white what you sink eh he asked and showed it proudly to the young man motherwell stared vaguely at it then at the sleeping doctor shaking him gently he tried to rouse him wake up doctor wake apt he ha said youre wanted want edl I 1 As schaffner opened his eyes reluctantly luct antly the man shook tho the parti colored tress before them in silence the doctors eyes focused slowly upon it his whole tired face lifted and lightened as it if by magic white 1 lie he cried incredulously good G d hes got white I 1 do you see that do you see it leaping from his chair he snatched the tress and ran down the hall to whore where the professor sprawled in hla his uncomfortable chair sunk in sleep wentzell wake cupl see what weve gitl he called in hla his ear car look at this I 1 lies got white 1 in a flash of 0 recollection while the drowsy man struggled in hla his chair motherwell Mot berwell saw himself at a runt rant table and heard that voice man it if we could get white it would bo be wortha million to us I 1 lie he chewed at his bis lip the german stared nt at the trees blinking A A slow smile spread over his face ace ah I 1 he be said slowly dots goot I 1 ferry goott goot I 1 ferry soot goot 1 I he la Is goot boy dolph I 1 come now and go down dorfi bring her down schaffner went into the tha bedroom and the professor with swimming bloodshot eyes like ilka the eyes of a sick newfoundland dog motherwell thought stared at him and talked brokenly lie ile seemed to think he was waa addressing dd some old friend and fellow student you see bee he began confidently id vas only seventeen zev enteen volumes how could I 1 know id bould act za bot she la Is unique dot boman tou toa know she sha eliass defter ber perspired not yen ton drop yes no ber perspiration vot Is i dot tor for pores und perfectly berfect ly healthy if she rubs ruba spoons or forks or no matter id all cornea comes alaf blaak k on her hands idiosyncratic yes yea chemical ly idiosyncratic out of the door came the nightmare woman that had been clella white the beautiful leaning on coggeshall and doctor schaffner but what good will it all be sho she was complaining in a fretful broken v voice 0 ice the voice of a woman no longer young and sick with rind and fear much goot much goot the tha professor urged and there was real tenderness and hope in hla his voice drust now to old wentzel old wentzel who vo bould uld gif a handt off his wrist to help you I 1 now come und you vill sen see it vill not be ba so dreadful any morel you wait here it wont be long threw back at motherwell over hla big shoulder and the strange tired procession crept down the hall and disappeared TO OB |