“How so?” the doctor inquired.
“Well, because it dealt with the bodily, not the spiritual side of life. It was not confided to me under the sanctity of the confessional, for the man had nothing to confess in the matter. He simply wanted my opinion, and if possible some comforting assurance. Given under these conditions I can repeat it to you.”
Urged by the doctor, the priest continued:
“At one time the man lived in one of the Eastern Townships of the Province of Quebec, in a district known as the Valley of Trelane. Once a year it was his custom to go to Quebec and market his stock of furs, for, like others who dwelt in the valley, he combined the pursuit of farmer with that of a hunter and trapper.
“On one such trip his wife accompanied him. This was against his wishes, since the journey at that early day was beset with dangers and hardships.
“One day, as they walked about the city, they came upon a tentshow, stationed on a vacant lot. Outside the tent, banners announced the exhibition of a so-called ‘wild-man,’ said to have been captured in the jungles of Africa. They visited this show, and from Delloux’s description the creature was evidently a huge gorilla.
“After a brief look at the ugly thing, Delloux made to go away, but his wife would not consent to leave. Fascinated, she stared between the iron bars, and the hideous-featured animal crept close to her, and crooned and gently whined as it gazed at her with little black beady eyes, which peeped from its black wrinkled face.
“At length Delloux induced his wife to accompany him. As she moved away the animal became violent. Tearing frantically at the iron bars, it growled and screamed. So vigorously did it shake the bars that it seemed the cage must fall to pieces. The owner of the show urged them to leave quickly.
“They returned to their home, and later, when their child was born, it resembled—in miniature—the gorilla!”
“It is not an impossible instance of pre-natal influence,” the doctor remarked.