Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-08-22

The first ,cord sulV tras "Strychnia."
CourSed inStantaneOusly through my brain.
! saw that the chapter which some one had
been studying with the closest care-fOr
the pages were we'll thumbed-was that
in which the whole subject of poisoning
by means of strychnia, the symptoms, the
dose, the fatal period, and the post mortem
appearances are treated with mastery pre-
CiSiUrI.
What did it mean? Let my reader place
himself in my position, q prisoner abSo-
lutely ut the mercy OF Il man whom | hon
e,tly believed to be capable of any crime,
ii he wishes to understand the dark and
terrible flncieS which forthwith took pos
session of my brain. Who could have
bought this book merely in order to study
the subject of poisoning by strychnia with
an innocent intention? That WAS the first
question that | asked myself. Once more
| remembered the awful words of GregSOn.
Was it possible that murder was really
about to De done ut Great LOrtOn Hall?
Nay, aS the man whom | knew to be the
only one likely to commit such crime
was on board the Golden Hawk ut this mo-
ment, might it not be the case that the
crime had already been committed, and
that while he was flying from Justice he
had carried me with him to prevent my
being nj any service to Daisy or her uncle?
Aud il there had been murder, who was
the victim? Was it the millionaire? Or
WAS it-could it be my darling?
sat dazcdand helpless for time under
the horror of this new train OF thought.
But was now face to face with problem
which demanded the full Use of all my
flculticS. II | wereItO deal with it to any
useful purpose. | must treat il with all the
coolncSs aud deliheratiOn OF which | was
c.,naple. Gently closing the book flung
my cigar aside, and going to the bath room
blthed NV head in the cool refreshing WA
ter of which there was apparently an I'M
limited supply. Then | came back to my
seat and carefully tried IN experiment
which had occurred to me.
LAYING the closed book on its back on
the palm of my handI allowed 1t again to
fall open at its own will. Once more II
opened ut page $50, and again read that
first sentence of the page, which describes
how The patient complains OF choking
sensation. and of thirst and dryneSs oil the
throat; but the effort To drink often occa-
sions rigid spasms of the muscles of the
law Sometimes there is fOaming ut the
mouth. and the froth may be tinged with
blood, " etc, etc.
| repeated the experiment in another
manner: the result was the same. l tried
II acain and again. and always the volume
opened nj the same page. Yes, 1t was quite
clear 10 me now that the owner Of this
hack had bought it for the simple purpose
of studying the subject of poisoning by
means of strychnia. All the pages OF this
volume. il is true, were cut open, but 1t
WAS only at this part Of it that there were
any of those unmistakable signs which
showed that it had been read and studied
with care again and again. =,
read the whole chapter through WIN
attention, and it says something, thinN,
for NV command over my own nerves that
7 did not forthwith fancy that l was my
self suffering from that feeling OF suiioca-
tionr which is described Is the earliest
symptom aftex the poison has been swat
lowed For | could not drive out OF my
mind the possibility that this accidental
discovery might have the deepest personal
interest for myself If l had fallen INTO
tba hands of a murderer, what assurance
had ! that he might not try his friShttul
orts unon me9 The thought WAS one that
Il was difficult to face with compOSure. L
heo.,n To realize what is the lot OF the cap
tive who lies in perilo his life, and who IS
noyyerless to defend himself against the un-
Known doom which may be hanging over
him .,,,
Terrible was the long night through
which / now passed. The gale nau eNl-
IDENTIFY risen to great height; ana the lpo-
tiou of the vessel wassueh rs to be 9lStTeSS-
inc even to the most experienced Oh SAILORS
I'm Mace of the dead silence OF the morning
my nrison cell was now filled with tnat IN
Jcscriboble tumult of sound that marks the
nrooress of n battle between good vessel
and n raging sea. could hear the shrleS
of the wind and the roar OF the waves,
while even above these sounds rose the
the constant groaning and creaklng OF the
strsining timbers which showed how hiaruiy
the shin was beset by the storm. eonl1
feel too the heavy fury of the blows when
aocb successive wave delivered against the
S;de of the Yacht. A storm at sea Is an
oyvfnl thing to the landsman ut the best OF
+;mes Let my reader try If he can con-
- - ,vbat this storm was to me-held like
. rat in a tray in the middle Ofthe laboring
VET Yet despite my fears and the tqmult all
-o,,n5 me I slept, and my sleep was
Strangely free from those hideOus dreams OF
which I had been apprehenslye. When |
woke at last the bright lghto OF the electric
Iamp had disappeared, and some lalnt Iays
from the outer sky were entering utS 49, 90
through the funnel which served tne pun,
nose Of o window. looked at my %a.en
and discovered that it was nine clocA -