Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-04-16

sides | have none. On the contrary
every one seems TO love me more than
I deserve. Haven't you noticed it,
Mrs. DaytoCT
The landlady smiled and stroked the
sick girls hand.
Indeed" she replied, l have noticed
that people love you, but | never
thought that il wa more than you de-
served. You are a dear little thing.
Addie."
And though she knew od | knew
that the every one" mentioned by the
poor girl meant ourselves, and possibly
her unknown employer. we were none
the less touched by her words. The
more we studied the mystery the deeper
and less explainable did it become.
And indeed l doubt if we should
have ever got TO the bottom of it il
there had not presently occurred in my
patient a repetition of the same dan
gerous symptoms, followed by the same
discovery of poison in the glass and
the same failure on the part of herself
and nurse 10 account for il. / was
aroused from my bed at midnight 10
attend her, and as / entered her Don
and met her beseeching eyes looking
upon me from the very shadow Of
death l made a vow that | would never
cease my efforts till | had penetrated
the secret of what certainly looked like
a persistent attempt upon this poor
girls life.
/ went about the matter deliberately.
As soon as | could leave her side /
! drew the nurse into a corner and again
questioned her. The were the
same as before. Addie had shown dis
tress as soon as she had swallowed her
usual quantity of medicine, and in a
few minutes more was in a perilous
condition.
Did you hand the glass yourself to
Adder
81 did"
'Where did you take it from
Fronting place where you left it
the little stand on the farther side of the
bed"
"And do you mean to say that you
had not touched it since 1 prepared itT
81 do, ma'am."
"And that no one else has been in
the room
"No one, ma'am."
l looked at her intently, / trusted
her, but the best of us are but mortal.
"Can you assure me that you have
not been asleep during this timer
Look at this letter l have been
writing" she returned. 1T is eight
pages long, and it was not begun when
you left us at TO-"
shook my head and fell into a deep
revery. How was that matter to be
elucidated. and how was my patient TO
be savedl Another draught Of this
deadly poison, and no power OF earth
could resuscitate her. What should l
do, and with what weapons should i
combat a danger at once so subtle and
so deadly Reflection brought no de
cision, and / left the room at last d.
| termined upon one point. and that was
the immediate removal of my patient.
But before l had left the house l
changed my mind yer on this point.
Removal of the patient meant safety to
her, perhaps, but not the explanation
of her mysterious poisoning. ! would
change the position Of her bed, and l
would even set a watch over her and
the nurse, but l would not take her
out of the house-not yet.
And what had produced this change
- -. an.rlg Tho Lob - "a vvgrnan
whom / met on the stairs. | did not
know her, but when | encountered her
glance | felt that there was some con
nection between US, and / was not at
all surprised 10 hear her ask:
"And how is Miss Wilcox todayF
Miss Wilcox is very low, " Ireturned.
''The least neglect, the least shock to
her nerves, would be sufficient to make
all my efforts useless Otherwise
"She will get wellF'
I nodded. | had exaggerated the
condition Of the sufferer, but some
secret instinct compelled me 10 do so.
The look which passed over the WON
ans face satisfied me hat / had done
well; and, though | left the house, it
was with the intention of speedily re-
turning and making inquiries into the
woman's character and position in the
household.
learned little OF nothing. That she
occupied a good room and paid for it
regularly seemed to be sufficient to sat
isfy Mrs. Dayton. Her name, which
moved TO be Leroux. showed her to be
French, and her promptly paid ten
dollars a week showed her to be re-
spectable-what more could any hard
working landlady require1 But l was
distrustfuL Her face, though hand
some, possessed an eager, fe~rocious
look which I could not forget, and the
slight gesture with which she had passed
me at the close of the short converse
ton l have given above had a sugges-
ton of triumph in it which seemed 70
contain whole volumes Of secret and