I  reach  a  sheltered  place,  where,  for  want  of  a  seat,  I
have  been  standing  up  for  some  time,  when  a  policeman
passes  by.  He  asks  me  how  it  is  that  I  am  there  at
such  a  late  hour.  I  tell  him  that  I  could  not  find  any

lodgings,  &c He  can  see  by  the  gas-light  that  my

clothes  are  very  wet,  and  I  appear  to  be  extremely
fatigued.  He  wishes  to  afford  me  a  shelter  for  the  re-
mainder of  the  night  at  the  police-station.  I  follow  him  ;
but  the  head  officer  cannot  allow  that  I  should  stop  in,
because,  says  he,  there  is  no  charge  against  me.  On  the
kind  request  of  my  guide,  he,  however,  consents  to  send
me  to  a  workhouse,  and  writes  a  few  words  to  that  pur-
pose, which  he  hands  to  the  policeman.  On  our  way  to
the  poor-house,  my  imagination  again  works  on  my
mind.  I  fancy  that  we  are  closely  followed  by  an  evil
spirit,  under  the  shape  of  a  wolf,  and  with  a  human  voice.
I  often  complain  to  the  officer  that  there  is  a  demon
behind  us,  who  throws  at  me  the  same  white-coloured
liquid  from  which  I  formerly  suffered  so  much,
dreaded  shower  burns  all  my  body  like  boiling  lead ;  it
is  accompanied  with  imprecations  and  fits  of  laughter


120  STATE    OF   MIND    DURING   INSANITY.
from  my  pursuer.     We  arrive  at  the  poor-house.     They
give  me  a  bed,  in  which  I  soon  fall  asleep.
