Of all the sciences which have puzzled the sons of men, none had such an
attraction for the learned Professor von Baumgarten as those which relate
to psychology and the ill-defined relations between mind and matter. A
celebrated anatomist, a profound chemist, and one of the first
physiologists in Europe, it was a relief for him to turn from these
subjects and to bring his varied knowledge to bear upon the study of the
soul and the mysterious relationship of spirits. At first, when as a young
man he began to dip into the secrets of mesmerism, his mind seemed to be
wandering in a strange land where all was chaos and darkness, save that
here and there some great unexplainable and disconnected fact loomed out
in front of him. As the years passed, however, and as the worthy
Professor's stock of knowledge increased, for knowledge begets knowledge
as money bears interest, much which had seemed strange and unaccountable
began to take another shape in his eyes. New trains of reasoning became
familiar to him, and he perceived connecting links where all had been
incomprehensible and startling.
By experiments which extended over twenty years, he obtained a basis of
facts upon which it was his ambition to build up a new exact science which
should embrace mesmerism, spiritualism, and all cognate subjects. In this
he was much helped by his intimate knowledge of the more intricate parts
of animal physiology which treat of nerve currents and the working of the
brain; for Alexis von Baumgarten was Regius Professor of Physiology at the
University of Keinplatz, and had all the resources of the laboratory to
aid him in his profound researches.
Professor von Baumgarten was tall and thin, with a hatchet face and
steel-grey eyes, which were singularly bright and penetrating. Much
thought had furrowed his forehead and contracted his heavy eyebrows, so
that he appeared to wear a perpetual frown, which often misled people as
to his character, for though austere he was tender-hearted. He was popular
among the students, who would gather round him after his lectures and
listen eagerly to his strange theories. Often he would call for volunteers
from amongst them in order to conduct some experiment, so that eventually
there was hardly a lad in the class who had not, at one time or another,
been thrown into a mesmeric trance by his Professor.
Of all these young devotees of science there was none who equalled in
enthusiasm Fritz von Hartmann. It had often seemed strange to his
fellow-students that wild, reckless Fritz, as dashing a young fellow as
ever hailed from the Rhinelands, should devote the time and trouble which
he did in reading up abstruse works and in assisting the Professor in his
strange experiments. The fact was, however, that Fritz was a knowing and
long-headed fellow. Months before he had lost his heart to young Elise,
the blue-eyed, yellow-haired daughter of the lecturer. Although he had
succeeded in learning from her lips that she was not indifferent to his
suit, he had never dared to announce himself to her family as a formal
suitor. Hence he would have found it a difficult matter to see his young
lady had he not adopted the expedient of making himself useful to the
Professor. By this means he frequently was asked to the old man's house,
where he willingly submitted to be experimented upon in any way as long as
there was a chance of his receiving one bright glance from the eyes of
Elise or one touch of her little hand.
Young Fritz von Hartmann was a handsome lad enough. There were broad
acres, too, which would descend to him when his father died. To many he
would have seemed an eligible suitor; but Madame frowned upon his presence
in the house, and lectured the Professor at times on his allowing such a
wolf to prowl around their lamb. To tell the truth, Fritz had an evil name
in Keinplatz. Never was there a riot or a duel, or any other mischief
afoot, but the young Rhinelander figured as a ringleader in it. No one
used more free and violent language, no one drank more, no one played
cards more habitually, no one was more idle, save in the one solitary
subject.
No wonder, then, that the good Frau Professorin gathered her Fraulein
under her wing, and resented the attentions of such a mauvais sujet. As to
the worthy lecturer, he was too much engrossed by his strange studies to
form an opinion upon the subject one way or the other.
For many years there was one question which had continually obtruded
itself upon his thoughts. All his experiments and his theories turned upon
a single point. A hundred times a day the Professor asked himself whether
it was possible for the human spirit to exist apart from the body for a
time and then to return to it once again. When the possibility first
suggested itself to him his scientific mind had revolted from it. It
clashed too violently with preconceived ideas and the prejudices of his
early training. Gradually, however, as he proceeded farther and farther
along the pathway of original research, his mind shook off its old fetters
and became ready to face any conclusion which could reconcile the facts.
There were many things which made him believe that it was possible for
mind to exist apart from matter. At last it occurred to him that by a
daring and original experiment the question might be definitely decided.
"It is evident," he remarked in his celebrated article upon invisible
entities, which appeared in the Keinplatz wochenliche Medicalschrift about
this time, and which surprised the whole scientific world—"it is
evident that under certain conditions the soul or mind does separate
itself from the body. In the case of a mesmerised person, the body lies in
a cataleptic condition, but the spirit has left it. Perhaps you reply that
the soul is there, but in a dormant condition. I answer that this is not
so, otherwise how can one account for the condition of clairvoyance, which
has fallen into disrepute through the knavery of certain scoundrels, but
which can easily be shown to be an undoubted fact. I have been able
myself, with a sensitive subject, to obtain an accurate description of
what was going on in another room or another house. How can such knowledge
be accounted for on any hypothesis save that the soul of the subject has
left the body and is wandering through space? For a moment it is recalled
by the voice of the operator and says what it has seen, and then wings its
way once more through the air. Since the spirit is by its very nature
invisible, we cannot see these comings and goings, but we see their effect
in the body of the subject, now rigid and inert, now struggling to narrate
impressions which could never have come to it by natural means. There is
only one way which I can see by which the fact can be demonstrated.
Although we in the flesh are unable to see these spirits, yet our own
spirits, could we separate them from the body, would be conscious of the
presence of others. It is my intention, therefore, shortly to mesmerise
one of my pupils. I shall then mesmerise myself in a manner which has
become easy to me. After that, if my theory holds good, my spirit will
have no difficulty in meeting and communing with the spirit of my pupil,
both being separated from the body. I hope to be able to communicate the
result of this interesting experiment in an early number of the Keinplatz
wochenliche Medicalschrilt."
When the good Professor finally fulfilled his promise, and published an
account of what occurred, the narrative was so extraordinary that it was
received with general incredulity. The tone of some of the papers was so
offensive in their comments upon the matter that the angry savant declared
that he would never open his mouth again or refer to the subject in any
way—a promise which he has faithfully kept. This narrative has been
compiled, however, from the most authentic sources, and the events cited
in it may be relied upon as substantially correct.
It happened, then, that shortly after the time when Professor von
Baumgarten conceived the idea of the above-mentioned experiment, he was
walking thoughtfully homewards after a long day in the laboratory, when he
met a crowd of roystering students who had just streamed out from a
beer-house. At the head of them, half-intoxicated and very noisy, was
young Fritz von Hartmann. The Professor would have passed them, but his
pupil ran across and intercepted him.
"Heh! my worthy master," he said, taking the old man by the sleeve, and
leading him down the road with him. "There is something that I have to say
to you, and it is easier for me to say it now, when the good beer is
humming in my head, than at another time."
"What is it, then, Fritz?" the physiologist asked, looking at him in mild
surprise.
"I hear, mein herr, that you are about to do some wondrous experiment in
which you hope to take a man's soul out of his body, and then to put it
back again. Is it not so?"
"It is true, Fritz."
"And have you considered, my dear sir, that you may have some difficulty
in finding some one on whom to try this? Potztausend! Suppose that the
soul went out and would not come back. That would be a bad business. Who
is to take the risk?"
"But, Fritz," the Professor cried, very much startled by this view of the
matter, "I had relied upon your assistance in the attempt. Surely you will
not desert me. Consider the honour and glory."
"Consider the fiddlesticks!" the student cried angrily. "Am I to be paid
always thus? Did I not stand two hours upon a glass insulator while you
poured electricity into my body? Have you not stimulated my phrenic
nerves, besides ruining my digestion with a galvanic current round my
stomach? Four-and-thirty times you have mesmerised me, and what have I got
from all this? Nothing. And now you wish to take my soul out, as you would
take the works from a watch. It is more than flesh and blood can stand."
"Dear, dear!" the Professor cried in great distress. "That is very true,
Fritz. I never thought of it before. If you can but suggest how I can
compensate you, you will find me ready and willing."
"Then listen," said Fritz solemnly. "If you will pledge your word that
after this experiment I may have the hand of your daughter, then I am
willing to assist you; but if not, I shall have nothing to do with it.
These are my only terms."
"And what would my daughter say to this?" the Professor exclaimed, after a
pause of astonishment.
"Elise would welcome it," the young man replied. "We have loved each other
long."
"Then she shall be yours," the physiologist said with decision, "for you
are a good-hearted young man, and one of the best neurotic subjects that I
have ever known—that is when you are not under the influence of
alcohol. My experiment is to be performed upon the fourth of next month.
You will attend at the physiological laboratory at twelve o'clock. It will
be a great occasion, Fritz. Von Gruben is coming from Jena, and
Hinterstein from Basle. The chief men of science of all South Germany will
be there.
"I shall be punctual," the student said briefly; and so the two parted.
The Professor plodded homeward, thinking of the great coming event, while
the young man staggered along after his noisy companions, with his mind
full of the blue-eyed Elise, and of the bargain which he had concluded
with her father.
The Professor did not exaggerate when he spoke of the widespread interest
excited by his novel psychophysiological experiment. Long before the hour
had arrived the room was filled by a galaxy of talent. Besides the
celebrities whom he had mentioned, there had come from London the great
Professor Lurcher, who had just established his reputation by a remarkable
treatise upon cerebral centres. Several great lights of the Spiritualistic
body had also come a long distance to be present, as had a Swedenborgian
minister, who considered that the proceedings might throw some light upon
the doctrines of the Rosy Cross.
There was considerable applause from this eminent assembly upon the
appearance of Professor von Baumgarten and his subject upon the platform.
The lecturer, in a few well-chosen words, explained what his views were,
and how he proposed to test them. "I hold," he said, "that when a person
is under the influence of mesmerism, his spirit is for the time released
from his body, and I challenge any one to put forward any other hypothesis
which will account for the fact of clairvoyance. I therefore hope that
upon mesmerising my young friend here, and then putting myself into a
trance, our spirits may be able to commune together, though our bodies lie
still and inert. After a time nature will resume her sway, our spirits
will return into our respective bodies, and all will be as before. With
your kind permission, we shall now proceed to attempt the experiment."
The applause was renewed at this speech, and the audience settled down in
expectant silence. With a few rapid passes the Professor mesmerised the
young man, who sank back in his chair, pale and rigid. He then took a
bright globe of glass from his pocket, and by concentrating his gaze upon
it and making a strong mental effort, he succeeded in throwing himself
into the same condition. It was a strange and impressive sight to see the
old man and the young sitting together in the same cataleptic condition.
Whither, then, had their souls fled? That was the question which presented
itself to each and every one of the spectators.
Five minutes passed, and then ten, and then fifteen, and then fifteen
more, while the Professor and his pupil sat stiff and stark upon the
platform. During that time not a sound was heard from the assembled
savants, but every eye was bent upon the two pale faces, in search of the
first signs of returning consciousness. Nearly an hour had elapsed before
the patient watchers were rewarded. A faint flush came back to the cheeks
of Professor von Baumgarten. The soul was coming back once more to its
earthly tenement. Suddenly he stretched out his long thin arms, as one
awaking from sleep, and rubbing his eyes, stood up from his chair and
gazed about him as though he hardly realised where he was. "Tausend
Teufel!" he exclaimed, rapping out a tremendous South German oath, to the
great astonishment of his audience and to the disgust of the
Swedenborgian. "Where the Henker am I then, and what in thunder has
occurred? Oh yes, I remember now. One of these nonsensical mesmeric
experiments. There is no result this time, for I remember nothing at all
since I became unconscious; so you have had all your long journeys for
nothing, my learned friends, and a very good joke too;" at which the
Regius Professor of Physiology burst into a roar of laughter and slapped
his thigh in a highly indecorous fashion. The audience were so enraged at
this unseemly behaviour on the part of their host, that there might have
been a considerable disturbance, had it not been for the judicious
interference of young Fritz von Hartmann, who had now recovered from his
lethargy. Stepping to the front of the platform, the young man apologised
for the conduct of his companion. "I am sorry to say," he said, "that he
is a harum-scarum sort of fellow, although he appeared so grave at the
commencement of this experiment. He is still suffering from mesmeric
reaction, and is hardly accountable for his words. As to the experiment
itself, I do not consider it to be a failure. It is very possible that our
spirits may have been communing in space during this hour; but,
unfortunately, our gross bodily memory is distinct from our spirit, and we
cannot recall what has occurred. My energies shall now be devoted to
devising some means by which spirits may be able to recollect what occurs
to them in their free state, and I trust that when I have worked this out,
I may have the pleasure of meeting you all once again in this hall, and
demonstrating to you the result." This address, coming from so young a
student, caused considerable astonishment among the audience, and some
were inclined to be offended, thinking that he assumed rather too much
importance. The majority, however, looked upon him as a young man of great
promise, and many comparisons were made as they left the hall between his
dignified conduct and the levity of his professor, who during the above
remarks was laughing heartily in a corner, by no means abashed at the
failure of the experiment.
Now although all these learned men were filing out of the lecture-room
under the impression that they had seen nothing of note, as a matter of
fact one of the most wonderful things in the whole history of the world
had just occurred before their very eyes Professor von Baumgarten had been
so far correct in his theory that both his spirit and that of his pupil
had been for a time absent from his body. But here a strange and
unforeseen complication had occurred. In their return the spirit of Fritz
von Hartmann had entered into the body of Alexis von Baumgarten, and that
of Alexis von Baumgarten had taken up its abode in the frame of Fritz von
Hartmann. Hence the slang and scurrility which issued from the lips of the
serious Professor, and hence also the weighty words and grave statements
which fell from the careless student. It was an unprecedented event, yet
no one knew of it, least of all those whom it concerned.
The body of the Professor, feeling conscious suddenly of a great dryness
about the back of the throat, sallied out into the street, still chuckling
to himself over the result of the experiment, for the soul of Fritz within
was reckless at the thought of the bride whom he had won so easily. His
first impulse was to go up to the house and see her, but on second
thoughts he came to the conclusion that it would be best to stay away
until Madame Baumgarten should be informed by her husband of the agreement
which had been made. He therefore made his way down to the Graner Mann,
which was one of the favourite trysting-places of the wilder students, and
ran, boisterously waving his cane in the air, into the little parlour,
where sat Spiegler and Muller and half a dozen other boon companions.
"Ha, ha! my boys," he shouted. "I knew I should find you here. Drink up,
every one of you, and call for what you like, for I'm going to stand treat
to-day."
Had the green man who is depicted upon the signpost of that well-known inn
suddenly marched into the room and called for a bottle of wine, the
students could not have been more amazed than they were by this unexpected
entry of their revered professor. They were so astonished that for a
minute or two they glared at him in utter bewilderment without being able
to make any reply to his hearty invitation.
"Donner und Blitzen!" shouted the Professor angrily. "What the deuce is
the matter with you, then? You sit there like a set of stuck pigs staring
at me. What is it, then?"
"It is the unexpected honour," stammered Spiegel, who was in the chair.
"Honour—rubbish!" said the Professor testily. "Do you think that
just because I happen to have been exhibiting mesmerism to a parcel of old
fossils, I am therefore too proud to associate with dear old friends like
you? Come out of that chair, Spiegel my boy, for I shall preside now.
Beer, or wine, or shnapps, my lads—call for what you like, and put
it all down to me."
Never was there such an afternoon in the Gruner Mann. The foaming flagons
of lager and the green-necked bottles of Rhenish circulated merrily. By
degrees the students lost their shyness in the presence of their
Professor. As for him, he shouted, he sang, he roared, he balanced a long
tobacco-pipe upon his nose, and offered to run a hundred yards against any
member of the company. The Kellner and the barmaid whispered to each other
outside the door their astonishment at such proceedings on the part of a
Regius Professor of the ancient university of Kleinplatz. They had still
more to whisper about afterwards, for the learned man cracked the
Kellner's crown, and kissed the barmaid behind the kitchen door.
"Gentlemen," said the Professor, standing up, albeit somewhat totteringly,
at the end of the table, and balancing his high old-fashioned wine glass
in his bony hand, "I must now explain to you what is the cause of this
festivity."
"Hear! hear!" roared the students, hammering their beer glasses against
the table; "a speech, a speech!—silence for a speech!"
"The fact is, my friends," said the Professor, beaming through his
spectacles, "I hope very soon to be married."
"Married!" cried a student, bolder than the others "Is Madame dead, then?"
"Madame who?"
"Why, Madame von Baumgarten, of course."
"Ha, ha!" laughed the Professor; "I can see, then, that you know all about
my former difficulties. No, she is not dead, but I have reason to believe
that she will not oppose my marriage."
"That is very accommodating of her," remarked one of the company.
"In fact," said the Professor, "I hope that she will now be induced to aid
me in getting a wife. She and I never took to each other very much; but
now I hope all that may be ended, and when I marry she will come and stay
with me."
"What a happy family!" exclaimed some wag.
"Yes, indeed; and I hope you will come to my wedding, all of you. I won't
mention names, but here is to my little bride!" and the Professor waved
his glass in the air.
"Here's to his little bride!" roared the roysterers, with shouts of
laughter. "Here's her health. Sie soll leben—Hoch!" And so the fun
waxed still more fast and furious, while each young fellow followed the
Professor's example, and drank a toast to the girl of his heart.
While all this festivity had been going on at the Graner Mann, a very
different scene had been enacted elsewhere. Young Fritz von Hartmann, with
a solemn face and a reserved manner, had, after the experiment, consulted
and adjusted some mathematical instruments; after which, with a few
peremptory words to the janitors, he had walked out into the street and
wended his way slowly in the direction of the house of the Professor. As
he walked he saw Von Althaus, the professor of anatomy, in front of him,
and quickening his pace he overtook him.
"I say, Von Althaus," he exclaimed, tapping him on the sleeve, "you were
asking me for some information the other day concerning the middle coat of
the cerebral arteries. Now I find——"
"Donnerwetter!" shouted Von Althaus, who was a peppery old fellow. "What
the deuce do you mean by your impertinence! I'll have you up before the
Academical Senate for this, sir;" with which threat he turned on his heel
and hurried away. Von Hartmann was much surprised at this reception. "It's
on account of this failure of my experiment," he said to himself, and
continued moodily on his way.
Fresh surprises were in store for him, however. He was hurrying along when
he was overtaken by two students. These youths, instead of raising their
caps or showing any other sign of respect, gave a wild whoop of deligilt
the instant that they saw him, and rushing at him, seized him by each arm
and commenced dragging him along with them.
"Gott in himmel!" roared Von Hartmann. "What is the meaning of this
unparalleled insult? Where are you taking me?"
"To crack a bottle of wine with us," said the two students. "Come along!
That is an invitation which you have never refused."
"I never heard of such insolence in my life!" cried Von Hartmann. "Let go
my arms! I shall certainly have you rusticated for this. Let me go, I
say!" and he kicked furiously at his captors.
"Oh, if you choose to turn ill-tempered, you may go where you like," the
students said, releasing him. "We can do very well without you."
"I know you. I'll pay you out," said Von Hartmann furiously, and continued
in the direction which he imagined to be his own home, much incensed at
the two episodes which had occurred to him on the way.
Now, Madame von Baumgarten, who was looking out of the window and
wondering why her husband was late for dinner, was considerably astonished
to see the young student come stalking down the road. As already remarked,
she had a great antipathy to him, and if ever he ventured into the house
it was on sufferance, and under the protection of the Professor. Still
more astonished was she, therefore, when she beheld him undo the
wicket-gate and stride up the garden path with the air of one who is
master of the situation.
She could hardly believe her eyes, and hastened to the door with all her
maternal instincts up in arms. From the upper windows the fair Elise had
also observed this daring move upon the part of her lover, and her heart
beat quick with mingled pride and consternation.
"Good day, sir," Madame Baumgarten remarked to the intruder, as she stood
in gloomy majesty in the open doorway.
"A very fine day indeed, Martha," returned the other. "Now, don't stand
there like a statue of Juno, but bustle about and get the dinner ready,
for I am well-nigh starved."
"Martha! Dinner!" ejaculated the lady, falling back in astonishment.
"Yes, dinner, Martha, dinner!" howled Von Hartmann, who was becoming
irritable. "Is there anything wonderful in that request when a man has
been out all day? I'll wait in the dining-room. Anything will do.
Schinken, and sausage, and prunes—any little thing that happens to
be about. There you are, standing staring again. Woman, will you or will
you not stir your legs?"
This last address, delivered with a perfect shriek of rage, had the effect
of sending good Madame Baumgarten flying along the passage and through the
kitchen, where she locked herself up in the scullery and went into violent
hysterics. In the meantime Von Hartmann strode into the room and threw
himself down upon the sofa in the worst of tempers.
"Elise!" he shouted. "Confound the girl! Elise!"
Thus roughly summoned, the young lady came timidly downstairs and into the
presence of her lover. "Dearest!" she cried, throwing her arms round him,
"I know this is all done for my sake! It is a RUSE in order to see me."
Von Hartmann's indignation at this fresh attack upon him was so great that
he became speechless for a minute from rage, and could only glare and
shake his fists, while he struggled in her embrace. When he at last
regained his utterance, he indulged in such a bellow of passion that the
young lady dropped back, petrified with fear, into an armchair.
"Never have I passed such a day in my life," Von Hartmann cried, stamping
upon the floor. "My experiment has failed. Von Althaus has insulted me.
Two students have dragged me along the public road. My wife nearly faints
when I ask her for dinner, and my daughter flies at me and hugs me like a
grizzly bear."
"You are ill, dear," the young lady cried. "Your mind is wandering. You
have not even kissed me once."
"No, and I don't intend to either," Von Hartmann said with decision. "You
ought to be ashamed of yourself. Why don't you go and fetch my slippers,
and help your mother to dish the dinner?"
"And is it for this," Elise cried, burying her face in her handkerchief—"is
it for this that I have loved you passionately for upwards of ten months?
Is it for this that I have braved my mother's wrath? Oh, you have broken
my heart; I am sure you have!" and she sobbed hysterically.
"I can't stand much more of this," roared Von Hartmann furiously. "What
the deuce does the girl mean? What did I do ten months ago which inspired
you with such a particular affection for me? If you are really so very
fond, you would do better to run away down and find the schinken and some
bread, instead of talking all this nonsense."
"Oh, my darling!" cried the unhappy maiden, throwing herself into the arms
of what she imagined to be her lover, "you do but joke in order to
frighten your little Elise."
Now it chanced that at the moment of this unexpected embrace Von Hartmann
was still leaning back against the end of the sofa, which, like much
German furniture, was in a somewhat rickety condition. It also chanced
that beneath this end of the sofa there stood a tank full of water in
which the physiologist was conducting certain experiments upon the ova of
fish, and which he kept in his drawing-room in order to insure an equable
temperature. The additional weight of the maiden, combined with the
impetus with which she hurled herself upon him, caused the precarious
piece of furniture to give way, and the body of the unfortunate student
was hurled backwards into the tank, in which his head and shoulders were
firmly wedged, while his lower extremities flapped helplessly about in the
air. This was the last straw. Extricating himself with some difficulty
from his unpleasant position, Von Hartmann gave an inarticulate yell of
fury, and dashing out of the room, in spite of the entreaties of Elise, he
seized his hat and rushed off into the town, all dripping and dishevelled,
with the intention of seeking in some inn the food and comfort which he
could not find at home.
As the spirit of Von Baumgarten encased in the body of Von Hartmann strode
down the winding pathway which led down to the little town, brooding
angrily over his many wrongs, he became aware that an elderly man was
approaching him who appeared to be in an advanced state of intoxication.
Von Hartmann waited by the side of the road and watched this individual,
who came stumbling along, reeling from one side of the road to the other,
and singing a student song in a very husky and drunken voice. At first his
interest was merely excited by the fact of seeing a man of so venerable an
appearance in such a disgraceful condition, but as he approached nearer,
he became convinced that he knew the other well, though he could not
recall when or where he had met him. This impression became so strong with
him, that when the stranger came abreast of him he stepped in front of him
and took a good look at his features.
"Well, sonny," said the drunken man, surveying Von Hartmann and swaying
about in front of him, "where the Henker have I seen you before? I know
you as well as I know myself. Who the deuce are you?"
"I am Professor von Baumgarten," said the student. "May I ask who you are?
I am strangely familiar with your features."
"You should never tell lies, young man," said the other. "You're certainly
not the Professor, for he is an ugly snuffy old chap, and you are a big
broad-shouldered young fellow. As to myself, I am Fritz von Hartmann at
your service."
"That you certainly are not," exclaimed the body of Von Hartmann. "You
might very well be his father. But hullo, sir, are you aware that you are
wearing my studs and my watch-chain?"
"Donnerwetter!" hiccoughed the other. "If those are not the trousers for
which my tailor is about to sue me, may I never taste beer again."
Now as Von Hartmann, overwhelmed by the many strange things which had
occurred to him that day, passed his hand over his forehead and cast his
eyes downwards, he chanced to catch the reflection of his own face in a
pool which the rain had left upon the road. To his utter astonishment he
perceived that his face was that of a youth, that his dress was that of a
fashionable young student, and that in every way he was the antithesis of
the grave and scholarly figure in which his mind was wont to dwell. In an
instant his active brain ran over the series of events which had occurred
and sprang to the conclusion. He fairly reeled under the blow.
"Himmel!" he cried, "I see it all. Our souls are in the wrong bodies. I am
you and you are I. My theory is proved—but at what an expense! Is
the most scholarly mind in Europe to go about with this frivolous
exterior? Oh the labours of a lifetime are ruined!" and he smote his
breast in his despair.
"I say," remarked the real Von Hartmann from the body of the Professor, "I
quite see the force of your remarks, but don't go knocking my body about
like that. You received it in excellent condition, but I perceive that you
have wet it and bruised it, and spilled snuff over my ruffled
shirt-front."
"It matters little," the other said moodily. "Such as we are so must we
stay. My theory is triumphantly proved, but the cost is terrible."
"If I thought so," said the spirit of the student, "it would be hard
indeed. What could I do with these stiff old limbs, and how could I woo
Elise and persuade her that I was not her father? No, thank Heaven, in
spite of the beer which has upset me more than ever it could upset my real
self, I can see a way out of it."
"How?" gasped the Professor.
"Why, by repeating the experiment. Liberate our souls once more, and the
chances are that they will find their way back into their respective
bodies."
No drowning man could clutch more eagerly at a straw than did Von
Baumgarten's spirit at this suggestion. In feverish haste he dragged his
own frame to the side of the road and threw it into a mesmeric trance; he
then extracted the crystal ball from the pocket, and managed to bring
himself into the same condition.
Some students and peasants who chanced to pass during the next hour were
much astonished to see the worthy Professor of Physiology and his
favourite student both sitting upon a very muddy bank and both completely
insensible. Before the hour was up quite a crowd had assembled, and they
were discussing the advisability of sending for an ambulance to convey the
pair to hospital, when the learned savant opened his eyes and gazed
vacantly around him. For an instant he seemed to forget how he had come
there, but next moment he astonished his audience by waving his skinny
arms above his head and crying out in a voice of rapture, "Gott sei
gedanket! I am myself again. I feel I am!" Nor was the amazement lessened
when the student, springing to his feet, burst into the same cry, and the
two performed a sort of pas de joie in the middle of the road.
For some time after that people had some suspicion of the sanity of both
the actors in this strange episode. When the Professor published his
experiences in the Medicalschrift as he had promised, he was met by an
intimation, even from his colleagues, that he would do well to have his
mind cared for, and that another such publication would certainly consign
him to a madhouse. The student also found by experience that it was wisest
to be silent about the matter.
When the worthy lecturer returned home that night he did not receive the
cordial welcome which he might have looked for after his strange
adventures. On the contrary, he was roundly upbraided by both his female
relatives for smelling of drink and tobacco, and also for being absent
while a young scapegrace invaded the house and insulted its occupants. It
was long before the domestic atmosphere of the lecturer's house resumed
its normal quiet, and longer still before the genial face of Von Hartmann
was seen beneath its roof. Perseverance, however, conquers every obstacle,
and the student eventually succeeded in pacifying the enraged ladies and
in establishing himself upon the old footing. He has now no longer any
cause to fear the enmity of Madame, for he is Hauptmann von Hartmann of
the Emperor's own Uhlans, and his loving wife Elise has already presented
him with two little Uhlans as a visible sign and token of her affection.
