The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-10-02

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room, among her own familiar furniture and
ornaments. She could see the sunlight on
the wall playing with the ahad0ws OF the
laburnum leaves. She could hear the tick of
the clock, the loud chirping of the sparroWs
at the windows and the distant roar of the
street traffic. She could smell the faint per-
fume of the mignonette in the flower boxes
on the sill. But she could neither sur nor
speak. No movement resulted from her
frenzled efforts to rise, and when, IN agony
at the discovery, she tried to call for help, no
sound followed Though acutely senslDle Oh
the horror of her position and OF her own
helplessness and danger, Dolly sat uulnD ana
and motionless; and by degrees the senses OF
sight and hearing, hitherto clear and ac-
curate. became dim and distorted. The we'll
known objects surrounding her took strange
and fantastic shapes, ana the customary
| sounds assumed new and unnatural meaning
Dolly was no longer in her own room In the
little lodging in the Borough. These bios
| SONS which surrounded her were not the
counterfeit flowers of chintz and carpet, nor
that monotonous hum the roll of distant
wheels. They were real flowers, and they
| frlnged the margin of bright river that
| glided by to the cadence of its own soft sing
| ing, And along its banks walked Dolly, and
be moved silently at her side There was no
caressing touch no look of love in his eyes,
| no tone OF tenderness in his voice; and at
every step he seemed TO force her nearer to
the rivers brink. Then the aspect of the
70 utter sounds of warning and woe. The
lights that had fiecked its shadows disap-
peared. and the flowers that had edged its
margin dropped and faded. The stream once
glittering in its own brightness, and borrow
ing further beauty from the earth and sky,
grew murky and Opaque. Strange shapeless
monsters seemed to writhe and wallow be-
meath its surface; and still Jack pressed
closer to her side. till the narrow pathway
crumbled under her feet, and she fell head.
long into the depths of the rushing torrent.
Then succeeded an Unreasonable period of
rapid transit through seething waters, and
ai,erwards OF silence, of darkness of insensi-
bilty, of humiliation.
When Dolly returned to consciousness. and
found herself in her own. bed, she at first
imagined herself to be waking after All ordi-
nary nights rest She was, however, soon
convinced by sense of prostration and indie
Unable fear that something unusual had oc
CURED. This conclusion, moreover, was con.
firmed by the presence of two strangers, who
| presented the appearance of nurse and
| doctor In attendance on her. Before, how
| ever, she Lad had time to satisfy herself of
| the truth of her impressions she relapsed into
! insensiDility. On reopening her eyes after
| an interval she observed no change in the
| character of her surroundings. The doctor,
| indeed, was not visible; but from q CONVEX
sation which she overheard she had little
doubt that 1t was he who was describing to
some interested inquirer in the adjoining
room the nature of her own malady. The
voices of the speakers were low, the door be-
tween the bedroom and dressing room was
nearly closed, and vet with a morbid acute
ness of hearing Dolly caught distinctly the
meaning of every whispered word, and recog-
nized. the questioner's voice to be her hus-
bands.
moment?"
Most positively. Through the whole of
the delirium this extraordinary dread CT you
has been her one dominant idea. If she
caught sight OF you now, could not answer
for the consequences"
But thought you said the crisis was past,
| ana that she would probably wake again in
perfectly rational condition"
Quite so; and In ordinary circumstances
you would naturally be the first perso S she
would be allowed to see; but must tell you
honestly that these are not ordinary circum-
stances"
What do you mean?"
II neah this Rightly pr wrongly, yonr
vile has the grayest suspicious about gu.
She believes you to be engaged in some con-
spracy against her life F"
But surely you attach no Importance to
what people say 10 their delirium?"
mot generally, but this Is a peculiar case.
There has been logical conference in her
| rawlings throughout her illness, which con-
| vinces me that her distrust of you was the
| cause and not the consequence, of her attack
| of brain fever. Till am satisfied that her
| approximations are removed, it would be mad
| ness to let her see yeu. As it is, if she hap
| pened to oyerhear your voice, the result
| might be very serious. You must be con-
| tented, for the present, to leave her with
me-"
"But you'll find out the meaning of it all,
and give me the earliest possible news?"
"Of course / will"
"And talk to her at once?"
No, not to night. She is till in state Of
| great prOstration. Tomorrow, when she has
mad some natural sleep aud taken some
nourishment. it may be different"
The doctor was justified in his fear of the
effect of his patient of the sound of her
husbands voice, as was proved by the condi-
ton in which he discovered her on re-enter-
ing the sick room. He was mistaken however,
in his belief that the explanation of her
agitation would necessarily be deferred. As
soon as he had taken his place at the invalid's
bedside. she introduced the topic herself.
Even during the short period which had
proceeded Dolly's relapse into unconscious
ness, the appearance of her medical attend
ant had attracted her favorable attention.
Beyond the expression of kindness which
suggested ready sympathy, she had noticed
| look Of power and determination which
promised assistance as well as pity. The
conversation which she had overheard
confirmed her original impression, and while
reminding her Of the actual nature OF her
awful secret, pointed out suitable repository
for it.
ert BallantyneW
YES" was the answer. given after
pause.
| citedly, "a heartless, wicked man. l can see
his face now; low, dark forehead; cruel
cunning eyes
"Oh, no, Balantyne is not as bad as that"
II known more than you think. de and
Jack want to poison me, that Jack may
marry again."
pray compose yourself, madam. You
are under some strange deluSiUD,
1T is no delusion; opened Sir Roberts
letter and learned the whole plot"
MY dear Mrs. Rivers! assure you must
have mistaken mis- meaning"
But l remember the very words: /
should employ arsenic, and should suggest
its administration in small doses.'"
"My good lady, let me set your mind at
rest. Your husband Is writing novel,"
YES. BE calls 1t The Poisoned Potion
The villain murders his wife, with the OBJ
ject of marrying woman with money; and
your husband required assistance on medi-
cal point. He wanted the name of a poi
"But if that is ALL" interrupted Dolly,
what was the risk Sir Robert warned him
against?"
"Perhsps." was the answer. given with a
| smile, "Ballantyne was thinking of his own
| early literary efforts. first work is gener-
| ally q heavy drain on an authors pocket"
| 1t might have been supposed thai these eX-
| the groundlessness of the invalid's appre-
| tensions, but she was still dissatisfied. The
| story was plausible enough, but how could
she be sure of its truth? Might it not be it.
| self a fiction devised for the purpose Of alay-
ing her excitement? Moreover, was it
| probable that Jack would c0ntiie the history
| of his novel and his correspondence with Sir
| Robert Ballantyne to this new acquaintance?
Was it likely, when he had never men
| toned the subject even to his wife, that he
| should communicate it to the doctor, who no
| doubt was the local practitioner summoned
| at the time OF her attack of illness?
Convinced by these considerations that
she was the victim OF deception, Dolly put
| further question:
sBut how do you know all about my hus-
| bands book and Sir Robert Ballantyne's
| letter?"
my dear Mrs Rivers. am Sir Robert
Ballantyne."
And well for Dolly that it was so, and
| that the services of such skilled physician
| had been available.
| Her condition, indeed, had at first seemed
| hopeless, but care and skill eventually
| triumphed, and from the moment when
the cause of Dolly's apprehensons was re-
moved. her recovery was rapid and uninter
| rupted.
/