The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1873-01-15

obedience. I gave her a poWerful
antidote for the poison 1 suspected,
and went home perturbed and anx-
ious in mind l did not sleep that
night. and all the next day I wa: III
a high fever of excitement. "a ring 9
at the bell made metre"-ole-a seeP
on the gravel or1''de my once once
stonned str INV lseath, and L hardly
1922 ,a,t, WI - a. / expected to hear, yet
SKY H e,1. Sure that before I slept I
lla55illd hear something.
And now I must tell the story as
it was told to me:
DR.. Spencer returned home in
morning after my visit to Clifton
House. He looked wretchedly, the
nurse said, appeared gloomy and
depressed. Miss Melrose came
with him, and was decolohsly sad
over the death of her sister. Wo:
men of. stamp. always do mourn to
perfection. They never overdo nor
underdo the thing, as women OF
feeling are likely y to do.
DR.. Spencer came at once to his
wife's chamber. He thought she
looked ill, and prescribed a cordial
at once, saying he would go and
fetch it.
sYou are always ordering cordials
for her," said Mrs. Hurd, musingly.
"Why not take something yourself d?
You look like ghost. :
He eyed her keenly, but replied,
composedly:
Il think L will take some of the
cordial myself, for I do not feel
quite we'll. Alicia, dear, shall ]
bring it here and drink your
health p
Mrs. Spencer smiled sadly in as.
sent-she never disputed her hus'
band-and he went out. Presently
he returned with two glasses. Bott
contained liquid, colorless, ano
odorless. Mrs. Hurd was watching g
him with her heart in hor throat
for, as she told me, she felt that the
decisive moment had come. There
was something in the gray pallor ii
the doctors rigid face that told hel
of desperate purpose in the mans
l soul.
! He lifted the glass on the right O.
the tray and gave it to his wife.
. "Drink it, dear,'' he said, cit is {
panacea for all evils. I also an
going to take glass Of it!' ard he
pointed to a glass still on the tray
Mrs. Spencer accepted it, and was
putting it to her lips, when Mrs
Hurd Interrupted.
"It you will bring her tumblel
of water, doctor; Mrs. Spencer
complains that the cordial leaves {
bad taste in her mouth, and my ole
bones are so full of rheumatism
that it nearly kills me to go dowr
stairs" .,s#
The doctor turned and bent or
her look ,as if he would read hel
through. But she kept her face
passive. If he had any suspicious
her manners quieted them, and
putting down the glass, he left the
room. Then Mrs. Hurd changed
the position Of the glasses.
| When he came back-and he was
gone but a moment - the nurse
stood just where he had left her
and Mrs. Spencer was laying back
in her chair with her eyes closed
Again he lifted the glass-this
time it was the one intended for
himself-and placed itat the lips Of
his wife. She drank the contents,
swallowed little of the water he
had brought her, and thanked him
in her sad, seeming way. ~
"Now, for mv..own cordial" said
he, with affected gayety. Il Indulge
in something a little stronger" and
as he spoke he tossed off the mkt
ure..
cit made me stone cold to my
fingers ends to, see him do it," said
Mrs. Hurd, relating the circum.
stances to me; "but, Heaven is my
witness, I felt not a twirge of con-
science. I argued like this: If it
was a simple cordial, as he said, it
would do him no harm. If it was
poison, his blood would be upon his
own sinful head"
He went to bed half an hour
after, complaining of fatigue. In
the morning they found him dead
I was called to the post mortem
examination, ar d we discovered in
the stomach Of the deceased a suffi-
cient quantity of the deadliest poi
son known to modern science to kill
half a dozen men.
My brother physicians agreed that
the man was insane. and. had prob
ably taken the dose in one of his
unsettled fits Of mind. | did not
dispute them, but even before Mrs.
Hurd told her story I had my own
theory in regard to his death.
There was no public exposure,
however. Mrs. H,lrd and I agreed
that it would profit no one to make
the affair public, and so we kept our
own counsel.
Miss Melrose, in spite Of my con-
viction that she had been an active
party in the conspiracy against Mrs.