ickly joke, poor fellow,
about his wearing a beard, and feeling a little spiteful, in consequence,
when he saw other people taking the trouble to shave; but he said nothing
about any infirmity or delusion, and shortly after left me.

"In my professional capacity I could not help taking some interest in Mr.
Strange. I did not altogether lose sight of him after our sea-journey to
Marseilles was over. I found him a pleasant companion up to a certain
point; but I always felt that there was a reserve about him. He was
uncommunicative about his past life, and especially would never allude to
anything connected with his travels or his residence in Italy, which,
however, I could make out had been a long one. He spoke Italian well,
and seemed familiar with the country, but disliked to talk about it.

"During the time we spent together there were seasons when he was so
little himself, that I, with a pretty large experience, was almost afraid
to be with him. His attacks were violent and sudden in the last degree;
and there was one most extraordinary feature connected with them
all:--some horrible association of ideas took possession of him whenever
he found himself before a looking-glass. And after we had travelled
together for a time, I dreaded the sight of a mirror hanging harmlessly
against a wall, or a toilet-glass standing on a dressing-table, almost as
much as he did.

"Poor Strange was not always affected in the same manner by a
looking-glass. Sometimes it seemed to madden him with fury; at other
times, it appeared to turn him to stone: remaining motionless and
speechless as if attacked by catalepsy. One night--the worst things
always happen at night, and oftener than one would think on stormy
nights--we arrived at a small town in the central district of Auvergne: a
place but little known, out of the line of railways, and to which we had
been drawn, partly by the antiquarian attractions which the place
possessed, and partly by the beauty of the scenery. The weather had been
rather against us. The day had been dull and murky, the heat stifling,
and the sky had threatened mischief since the morning. At sundown, these
threats were fulfilled. The thunderstorm, which had been all day coming
up--as it seemed to us, against the wind--burst over the place where we
were lodged, with very great violence.

"There are some practical-minded persons with strong constitutions, who
deny roundly that their fellow-creatures ar