A Strange Story

A certain lady was stricken with an illness which the doctor was unable to diagnose. She was poor and a stranger, and through the good offices of charitable people she was moved to a private hospital, where she was examined; yet no one was able to diagnose the illness — which led many physicians of internal diseases to examine her in order to learn the truth of her malady.

On the evening of last Tuesday this lady died, and by order of the doctors of this hospital she was moved to the medical department of the American University of Beirut, so that the necessary autopsy might be performed on her body and the real disease that led to her death discovered. She was shrouded and laid out on a slab there, beside the bodies of four other women.

She returns to life

Dr. Yamout graduated this year from the American University, and he keeps up his studies in fulfillment of certain examinations in anatomy.

On Wednesday morning Dr. Yamout was the first to enter this department, where he inspected the first corpse; and when he had finished his examination he noticed a movement in the place where the lady had been laid, and then saw her sitting up on the slab. He approached her gently and cautiously, thinking of what might befall this woman were she to learn that she was in the room of the dead and that medicine had been on the point of performing her dissection; and he came up to her, saying:

— You have wakened early; I hope you have not disturbed the other patients.

— No, sir; but I feel cold.

— You are in my room, where I am attending to your examination.

So saying, he threw a jacket over her, then summoned some nurses to move her quickly to the hospital.