pages: unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf, 39
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unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 39 | INTRODUCTION all of which had been donned in honor of his expected guest, was not yet cold. Heart failure had come suddenly and unannounced. The day before he had cleaned up his souvenirs in readiness for my coming and arranged a quan- tity of data for me. On the wall above the silent form were all of his gold medals, photographs taken at various stages of his life, orders presented to him by royalty- all the outward and visible signs of a vigorous, active, and successful life, the life of which he would have told me, had I arrived ahead of Death. And when all these were arranged, he had forgotten his morbid dislike of strangers. The old instincts of hospitality tugged at his heart strings, and his wife said he was almost young and happy once more, when suddenly he grasped at his heart, crying, "My heart! What is the matter with my heart ? " That was all! There we stood together, the woman who had loved the dear old wizard for years and the young magician who would have been SO willing to love him had he been allowed to know him. His face was still wet from the cologne she had thrown over him in vain hope of reviving the fading soul. On the floor lay the cloths, used SO ineffectually to bathe the pulseless face, and now laughing mockingly at one who saw himself defeated after weary months of writing and pleading for the much-desired meeting. I feel sure that the personal note struck in these remi- niscences will be forgiven. In no other way could I prove the authoritativeness of my collection, the thorough- ness of my research, and the incontrovertibility of the facts which I desire to set forth in this volume. [ 32 ] |