The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1870-12-08

He gave sigh of intense satisfaction
as he put down the glass. Ambrosia,
by Jupiterp he exclaimed. 1.-THE man
who invented that tipple ought to be-
immo rtalized by a statue of the whitest
marble. 1 have no wish to be thought
presumptuous, but cannot resist asking
you to mix one more potation."
Gone half-a-dozen, if you like"
Unless your taste differs very much from
mine, you will find No. . an improve
ment on No. l."
He refilled his pipe while I was mix
ing the second tumbler, but still kept II
watchful eye on my proceedings; not
that he was any longer suspicious of my
good faith, but because he was desirous
of taking lesson in the art of concoct
ing such delicious drinks. When all the
other ingredients were properly COM
bined, opened one of the packets as
before, and shook the contents into a
tumbler, and then having we'll stirred
the whole, handed the glass to Tracy
But the powder in this case possessed
properties very different from that of
the innocent alkali of which had made
use previously.
AS before, Tracy's lips seemed glued
to the tunbler till he had drained the
contents to the last drop.
"How does that suit your taste Z" l
said. els it equal to the first -
"Such question is hard to answer"
he replied "The beauties of both are
so evenly balanced that BAcchus himself
would find it difficult to decide between
the two. l have to thank you, my dear
young friend, for having opened up a
new vista of pleasure undreamed Of by
me before"
L must give you one or two of my
recipes, and then you can mix for your
self. One more tumbler, and"
Even while 1 was speaking the pipe
dropped from his lips, and his eyes began
to wander. Slowly and deliberately
proceeded with my preparations fo" an
other tumbler. Tracy, after glancing
down reproachfully at his pipe, took no
further heed of 1t, but planting both
his elbows firmly on the table and taking
fast hold of his head between his hands,
he tried his utmost to bring his weak,
wavering gaze to bear on my manipu-
lating fingers. But the effort was too
much for him. His eyes closed, opened,
closed again, and then, with "a few in
coherent words of apology, his head
dropped forward on the table; his ner-
vous arms lost all power of tension, and
in twenty seconds he was faster asleep
than he had ever been in his life before.
1t was to this end that all my efforts
had been directed. The powder putby
me into the second tumbler was power
ful Indian narcotic, which had latterly
had occasion to use in some Of my chem
ical experiments. Although successful
so far, it was not without more unequal
beating of the heart than usual that /
proceeded to carry out the remainder of
my designs. However honest ones de-
signs may be, there is something ncfari-
Gus in the act Of feeling in mans
pockets-something that goes utterly
against the grain; yet that was precisely
what | had now got to do. Before pro-
ceeding any further, however, thought
it advisable to have a third person by
me to act as witness of what might
follow. So / went down stairs to my
landlady's room, with the intention of
getting either the worthy dame herself,
or her husband, to act the part of chorus
in my forthcoming little drama. Fortu-
nately found the old lady's son, who is
Il strapping sergeant in the Guards, and
who made no difficulty about going back
with me.
We found Tracy still asleep, with his
head on the table. From this posture l
gently raised him, and laid him back in
the easy chair in which he was sitting
My next proceeding was to insert my
hand into each of his pockets, one after
the other, in search of the missing dla-
mond, l found the young lady's purse,
but the ring was not in it also found
number of pawnbroker's duplicates,
but none of them having reference to
the object of which l was in search.
Here, too, was my pencil-case, which,
together with the purse, did not fail to
appropriate. One after another, l
searched all the pockets 1 could find,
but still the ring WAS not forthcoming,
and began to tear that he had already
disposed of it, in which case it was
probably lost beyond recovery. My
friend, the sergeant, seeing my perplexity,
suggested that the ring was perhaps
sewn up in the lining of his coat, or
waistcoat. Acting on this hint, l felt
all over the lining of his coat, but with
out success; but on coming to the waist
coat, found something hard, over which
a patch of wash leather had been care
FULLY stitched. A few seconds sutficed
to unrip the sewing, and therein,
wrapped up carefully in cotton wool and
tissue paper, was a ladys diamond ring
In silent triumph, held it up on the
tip of my finger for the sergeant's in
spe ction.
Hurrah that's jolly and no mistake" Z"
shouted the Guardsman, with wave OF
his pipe. "How will Mr.. Slyboots feel
when he wakes up!"
We were not left long in doubt on
that point. Mr.. Tracy began to yawn
and stretch and pull himself together.
1t was peculiarity of the narcotic l had
given him that its effect, when admins
tered in small doses, was of very short
ulation, and knew that Tracy's stupur
would not last above half an hour, at
the most. To assist his recovery, held
vial Of strong smelling salts to his
nose. He opened his eyes, sat up,
sneezed, and stared vacantly around.
Good evening, governor" said the
sergeant. "You seem to have had quite
ii refreshing little snooze."
Mr.. Tracy did not respond to this
friendly greeting. His fingers were busy
fumbling at his waistcoat, and the next