A third time, and it was then that, by a violent effort, bursting the spell which appeared to bind me, I sprang from the bed and rushed downstairs.

My mother was running wildly about the room; she had awoke and found my father senseless in the bed by her side.

I essayed to raise him, and after a few efforts supported him in the bed in a sitting posture.

My brother now rushed in, and, snatching up a light that was burning, he held it to my father's face.

'The surgeon! the surgeon!' he cried; then, dropping the light, he ran out of the room, followed by my mother; I remained alone, supporting the senseless form of my father; the light had been extinguished by the fall, and an almost total darkness reigned in the room.