The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-07-06
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by A. CONAN DOYLE.
PART u.
BY A. CONAN DOYLE.

not act. however. with undue precip
itation. Ny plans were already
formed There is no satisfaction in
vengeance unless the offender has
time to realize who it is that strikes
him. and why retribution has come up
-on him. had my plans arranged by
which | should have the opportunity
of making the man who had wronged
me understand that his old sin had
found him out 1t CHANGED that some
days before gentleman who had been
engaged in looking over some houses
in the Brixton road had dropped the
key of one of them in my carriage. II
was claimed that same evening and re-
turned; but in the interval had taken
"a moulding of il, and had a duplicate
constructed. BY means of this l had
access to at least one spot in this great
city where l could rely upon being
free from interruption How to get
Drebber to that house was the diff
cult problem which had now to solve.
''He walked down the road and went
into one or two iquor-shops, staying
for nearly half an hour in the last of
in his walk. and was evidently pretty
well on. There was hanson just in
front of me. and he hailed it. / fol-
lowed it so close that the nose of nv
horse was within a yard of his driver
the whole way. We ratified across Wa
terloo bridge and through miles of
streets, until, to my astonishment, we
found ourselves back in the terrace in
which he had boarded. l could not
imagine what his intention was in re-
turning there; but 1 went on and
pulled mp my cab a hundred yards or
SO from the house. He entered it and
his hanson drove away. Give me a
glass of water, if you please. My
mouth gets dry with the talking"
handed him the glass and he drank
IL down.
That's better" he said. well,
waited for a quarter of an hour or
more, when suddenly there came a
noise like people struggling inside the
house. Next moment the door was
flung open and two men appeared, one
of whom was Drebber, and the other
was young chap whom had never
seen before. This fellow had Drebber
by the collar. and when they came to
the head of the steps he gave him
shove and kick which sent him half
across the road. You houndr he cried.
shaking his stick at him III teach you
to insult an honest girlr He was so
hot that l think he would have
thrSshed Drebber with his cudgel, only
%Iz~ ha. - r-rra,-a1
road as fast as his legs would carry
him He ran as far as the corner, and
then. seeing my cab, he hailed me and
jumped in. Drive me to Halliday's
private hotel said he.
when | had him fairly inside my
cab my heart jumped so with joy that
/ feared lest at this last moment my
;aneurism might go wrong. l drove
along slowly, weighing in my own mind
what it was best to do. might take
him right out into the country, and
there in some deserted lane have nv
last interview with him. l had almost
decided upon this, when he solved the
problem for me. The craze for drink
had seized him again, and he ordered
me to pull up outside gin palace. He
went in, leaving word that 1 should
wait for him There he remained IN
til closing-time. and when he came out
he was SO far gone that l knew the
game was in my own hands.
Don't imagine that I intended to
kill him in cold blood. 1t would only
have been rigid justice if had done
so, but could not bring myself to do
it. I had long determined that he
should have a show for his life If he
chose to take advantage Of it. Among
the many billets which l have filed in
America during my wandering life,
was once a ianitor and sweep-out of
the laboratory at York college. One
day the professor was lecturing on
poisons, and he showed bis students
some alkslcid, as he called it, which
he had extracted from some South
American arrow poison, and which
was so powerful that the least grain
meant instant death. l spotted the
bottle in which this preparation was
kept, and when they were all gone
helped myself 20 little of it. was
fairly good dispenser, so l worked this
-alkaloid into sraall. soluble pills, and
each pill Put IN box with similar
pill made without poison. l deter
mined at the tine that, when had nv
chance, my gentlemen should each
have draw out =. one of these boxes,
while ate the pill that remained. 1t
would be quite as deadly, and good
deal less noisy than firing across q
handkerchief. From that day l had |
always ny pill-boxcs about with me,
and the time had now come when
was to use them
1T was nearer one than twelve. and |
a wild. bleak night, blowing hard and |
raining in torrents Dismal as it was |
outside, l was glad within-so glad |
that ! could have sho1ted out from |
pure exultation- II any of you gentle |
men have ever pinned for a thing and |
longe,i for 1t during twenty long years,
and then suddenly found 1t within |
your reach, you would understand nv /
feelings lit cigar and pulled at it /
10 steady NY nerves, but nv hands /
were Trembling and my temples throb-
bling with excitement As 1 drove, 1 |
could SIC old John Terrier and sweet |
Lucy looking at me out of the dark
ness ard smiling at me, just as plain as
j see you all in this room All the way
they were ahead of me, one on each /
side of the horse, until pulled up al /
the hcnse in the Brixton road
There was not soul to be seen, nor
a sovEd to be heard except the drip
ping Of the rain When looked in at
4 he rstndovx xov-rd n-abha- All Ind
died together in a drunken sleep i
shook him by the arm It's time to go
out said