DURINGthefalloftheyear1827，whileresidingnearCharlottesville，Virginia，IcasuallymadetheacquaintanceofMr。
AugustusBedloe。Thisyounggentlemanwasremarkableineveryrespect，andexcitedinmeaprofoundinterestandcuriosity。Ifounditimpossibletocomprehendhimeitherinhismoralorhisphysicalrelations。OfhisfamilyIcouldobtainnosatisfactoryaccount。
Whencehecame，Ineverascertained。EvenabouthisagealthoughI
callhimayounggentlemantherewassomethingwhichperplexedmeinnolittledegree。HecertainlyseemedyoungandhemadeapointofspeakingabouthisyouthyetthereweremomentswhenIshouldhavehadlittletroubleinimagininghimahundredyearsofage。Butinnoregardwashemorepeculiarthaninhispersonalappearance。Hewassingularlytallandthin。Hestoopedmuch。Hislimbswereexceedinglylongandemaciated。Hisforeheadwasbroadandlow。Hiscomplexionwasabsolutelybloodless。Hismouthwaslargeandflexible，andhisteethweremorewildlyuneven，althoughsound，thanIhadeverbeforeseenteethinahumanhead。Theexpressionofhissmile，however，wasbynomeansunpleasing，asmightbesupposed；butithadnovariationwhatever。Itwasoneofprofoundmelancholyofaphaselessandunceasinggloom。Hiseyeswereabnormallylarge，androundlikethoseofacat。Thepupils，too，uponanyaccessionordiminutionoflight，underwentcontractionordilation，justsuchasisobservedinthefelinetribe。Inmomentsofexcitementtheorbsgrewbrighttoadegreealmostinconceivable；seemingtoemitluminousrays，notofareflectedbutofanintrinsiclustre，asdoesacandleorthesun；yettheirordinaryconditionwassototallyvapid，filmy，anddullastoconveytheideaoftheeyesofalong-interredcorpse。
Thesepeculiaritiesofpersonappearedtocausehimmuchannoyance，andhewascontinuallyalludingtotheminasortofhalfexplanatory，halfapologeticstrain，which，whenIfirstheardit，impressedmeverypainfully。Isoon，however，grewaccustomedtoit，andmyuneasinessworeoff。Itseemedtobehisdesignrathertoinsinuatethandirectlytoassertthat，physically，hehadnotalwaysbeenwhathewasthatalongseriesofneuralgicattackshadreducedhimfromaconditionofmorethanusualpersonalbeauty，tothatwhichIsaw。Formanyyearspasthehadbeenattendedbyaphysician，namedTempletonanoldgentleman，perhapsseventyyearsofagewhomhehadfirstencounteredatSaratoga，andfromwhoseattention，whilethere，heeitherreceived，orfanciedthathereceived，greatbenefit。TheresultwasthatBedloe，whowaswealthy，hadmadeanarrangementwithDr。Templeton，bywhichthelatter，inconsiderationofaliberalannualallowance，hadconsentedtodevotehistimeandmedicalexperienceexclusivelytothecareoftheinvalid。