Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-02-20

The unemployed waiter was on the
house-steps looking about him-with moth
ing to see. He made his bow to Mrs.
Vimpany, and informed her that the land
lady had gone out
You will do as wei" was the reply.
us Mr.. Vimpany here?'
The waiter smiled, and led the way
through the passage to the foot of the
stairs. You can hear him, ma'am." 1t
was quite true: Mr. Vimpany's snoring
answered for Mr.. Vimpany. His wife as
cended the first two or three stairs, and
stopped to speak again to the waiter She
asked what the two gentlemen had taken
to drink with their dinner. They had TAX
en- 1.-The French Wine"
tAnd nothing else?'
The waiter yentured on a little joke.
Nothing else" he said, land more than
enough of it, too"
''Not more than enough, 1 suppose, for
the good Of the house" Mrs. Vimpany re-
marked
81 beg your pardon, ma'am; the claret
the two gentlemen drank is not charged
for in the bill
what do you mean?"
The waiter explained that Mr.. MOuntjOy
had purchased the whole stock of the wine.
Suspicion, as well as surprise, appeared in
Mrs. Vimpany's face. She had hitherto
thought it likely that Miss Henley's gen
tlemanlike friend might be secretly in love
with the young lady. Her doubts of him.
W
went on up the stairs by herself and
banged the door of the private room as the
easiest means of waking the sleeping man.
To the utmost noise that she could make
in this way, he was perfectly impenetra-
Bile For a while she waited, looking at
HIM across the table with unutterable con-
tempt
There was the man to whom the religion
of the land and the law of the land, acting
together in perfect harmony, had fettered
no Soma
ton, might have wasted time in useless
self-reprOach. Mrs. VimDany reviewed
her miserable married life with the finest
mockery of her own misfortune. "Vir-
tue" she said to herself, lis its own re-
ward"
CHANGING with careless curiosity at the
disorder OF the dnner-table, she noticed
some wine still left in the bottom of her
husbands glass. Had artificial means
been used to reduce him to his present
condition? She tasted the claret No;
there was nothing in the flavor of it which
betrayed that he had been drugged If
the waiter was to be believed, he had
only drunk claret-and there he was, in
state of helpless stupefaction, neverthe-
less.
She looked again at the dinner-table and
discovered one, among the many empty
bottles, with some wine still left in it,
After moment of reflection she took
clean lumber from the SidebOard
Here was the wine which had been an
objett of deriSion to Mr.. Vimpany and his
friends. They We're gross feeders and
drinkers; and it might not be amss to put
their opinions to the test. She was not
searching for the taste of a drug now; her
present experiment proposed to try the
wine on its own merits.
AT the time of her triumphS on the cOun-
try Stage-before the date of her unlucky
marriage-rich admirers had entertained
the handsome actress at Suppers which of
Inv hot
table could supply. Experience had made
her acquainted with the flavor of the
finest claret-and that experience was re-
newed by the claret which she was now
tasting. 1t was easy to understand why
Mr.. MountjOy had purchased the Wine
and, after u little thinking, his motive for
inviting Mr.. Nimpany to dinner seemed
to be equally plain. Fooled in their first
attempt at discovery by her own prudence
and TACT his suspicious had set their
trap. Her gross husband had been tempt
ed TO drink and to talk at random (for
Mr.. Mountjoy's benefD in state of in
toXication!
What secrets might the helpless wretch
not have betrayed before the wine had
completely stupetied himl
Urged by rage and fear she shook him
furiously. He woke; he glared at her with
blood-shot eyes; he threatened her with
his clenched fist. There was but one way
of lifting his purblind stupidity to the
light She appealed to his experience of
himself, on many former occasion: You
fool, you have been drinking again-and
there's patient waiting for you" To
that dilemma he was accustomed; the
statement of it partially reused him. Mrs.
Vimpany tore off the paper wrapping and
opened the medlcine-botCle which she had
brought with her.
He stared at it; he muttered to himself:
rs she going TO poison me?" She seized
his head with one hand, and held the open
bottle to his nose. Your own prescrip-
tion," she cried, for yourself and your
hateful friendSl'
His nose told him what words might
have tried vainly to say; he swallowed The
mixture. IF / lose the patient" he NUT
His resolute wife dragged him out of his
chair. The second door in the dining-room
led into an empty bed-chamber With her
help, he got into the room and dropped on