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take care of them for her. I heard afterwards, however, that
the genuineness of the things was proved by the friends and
relations of the murdered woman, and that there was no
doubt about them. Yet nothing was destined to come of it,
after all.
Five days later, all had heard that he was ill and that his
life was in danger. The nature of his illness I can’t explain;
they said it was an affection of the heart. But it became
known that the doctors had been induced by his wife to in-
vestigate his mental condition also, and had come to the
conclusion that it was a case of insanity. I betrayed noth-
ing, though people ran to question me. But when I wanted
to visit him, I was for a long while forbidden to do so, above
all by his wife.
‘It’s you who have caused his illness,’ she said to me; ‘he
was always gloomy, but for the last year people noticed that
he was peculiarly excited and did strange things, and now
you have been the ruin of him. Your preaching has brought
him to this; for the last month he was always with you.’
Indeed, not only his wife but the whole town were down
upon me and blamed me. ‘It’s all your doing,’ they said. I
was silent and indeed rejoiced at heart, for I saw plainly
God’s mercy to the man who had turned against himself
and punished himself. I could not believe in his insanity.
They let me see him at last. he insisted upon saying good-
bye to me. I went in to him and saw at once, that not only
his days, but his hours were numbered. He was weak, yel-
low, his hands trembled, he gasped for breath, but his face
was full of tender and happy feeling.