The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-07-05


bigamist-all great criminals are pretty,
in modern novels. felt agitated; and
my fears were not Gained when, i'll the
most natural tone in the world, she sug-
gested that / should accompany herin
her carriage, which was waiting, to her
house.
ventured to ask the symptoms of my
future patient. The lady explained
''TOngue parched, eyes red, partial para
lysis of the extremities, excessive ner-
vous irritability."
saw 1t at glance-chronic arsehlcal
poisoning of the worst kind. suggest
ed ''the irritability accompanied by pros
tration, with impaired respiration."
And, as expected, the answers were
affirmative. / saw at once--polsoning
by arsenic. I, said to myself, am call
ed in to Iull suspicion, when ltls TOO
late. Yes, it is too true. Here Is another
beautiful demon;here Is the same perfect
form, the same grace, the same tender
roseate color, the same shower OF radiant
curls. She is very beautituf; and byall
the experience set forth in that mirror of
life. the modern novel, she is about to
become guilty of murder, or arson at
least.
The carriage stopped at a handsome
house, in handsome square in the
suburbs. l found the patient asleep
My worst suspicious were realized
fever, eXfoliatiOn of the cuticle of the
tongue, the membrane of the eyes red. /
made my resolve at once; / will expose
the Vaccinations of this vile creature,
unmask this villainy, defeat the COM
initial of this horrid crime. But how?
MADAM" I said, with promptitude,
''this is serious case--a very serious
case. I must watch your husband to-
night Awed by my manner, and per-
haps, alarmed by the evidence of my
suspicious, she consented. My resolve
was fixed; / would watch and 1 saw in
imagination cause cete6re-a trial at
the Old Bailey or Westminster Hall
my name and fame established forever.
The thought was, perhaps, selfish; put
criminals must be punished and Justice
must have its course.
I had read in French book once how
great criminal was detected in the act
of numbering his master by a mirror
that the person watching had seen the
reflection Of the assassin sitting the cries
Of his victim with pillow. l deter
mined to set my trap by the same means.
placed the mirror in such way as
to command the head Of the bed; and
having, with the consent of the patient,
who seemed passive in the hands of his
hendish wife-strange faulty made
the necessary dispositions of my watch,
] placed myself in an arm chair. l sat
some time musing on the terrible effects
Of poisoning. by small doses, admins
tered by GINNING hand. L saw in inn
agination the cruel and relentless assas-
sin stealthily encroaching, as a serpent
envelops its victims in it's folds, day by
fo off, nth, Of hn
ferer obnoxious to its designs. 1 thought
of the terrible sufferings, the protracted
agony, the gradual prostration of the
victim; the gloating cruelty of the poi
soner, as, hour by hour, she watched
and measured the fading strength of
her prey; and, thinking thus, I suppose
fell asleep.
was awoke suddenly by the door
opening steathily, noiselessly. All! it
IL true-my worst suspicious are realized.
I did not move. A figure clad in loose
dress entered. The looking-glass before
me covered the head of the bed the fig
urg fell within its angle of incidence.
/ saw at once it was the guilty wife.
She addl essed some remark to her VIC
tim. He was awake; and l then saw
her take from vase close by tumbler
and a vase of antique form, from which,
still noiselessly, she poured draught.
] saw it all in an instant; the looking
glass revealed every movement. She
raised the goblet; the unhappy husband
raised himself on his elbow. He was
about to drink.
.sStay, demon!" I said, in voice of
thunder, addressing the lady; "would
you poison your husband? Stay-drink
not Of the accursed craught; it is poisonW
The lady gave shrek, and the glass
fell upon the floor.
seized the vase containing the fluid.
] examined and tasted. 1t was-toast
and water!
I received my congo next morning
from brother practitioner. he pa
tient was a member of Parliament, en-
taste for literature, and philanthropy
as perpetual chairman to public dinners
In the white-bait season, particularly
those held at Greenwich. He was suf-
fering from billousness and indigestion,
caused by his ministerial duties in this
respect. His young wife, with per-
haps pardonabie anxiety, had overrated
the severity of his complaint, and had
been misled by novels into believing
that pretty women are generally demons.
/ am wiser now; but this was my first
and last patient.
MoRAL.-Do not accept spasmodic
pictures in morbid fiction as the reflect
ION of nature. Don't take what you see
in loOking-glass to be a fact, or more
than partial evidence of the truth and
worth of anything; and don't take it
for granted that women are wicked be-
cause they are pretty.