Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1894-05-30
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SMASTyDI5Yl s.
N.,N,f WtSMRLlEr.
PART IL
CHAPTER yI-CoSrIS,rn
by A. CONAN DOYLE.

they could protect each oiher, but
singly they were at my merry. / did
not act, however, with andu precip-
itation. My plans wara already
formed. There is no satisf; ction in
vengeance unless the offenlcr has
time to realize who it is that strikes
him. and why retribution hascom up
on him. had my plans arri nged by
which should have the opportunity
of making the man who had wronged
me understand that his oil sin had
found him out. IL CHANGED ihat 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 even ng and re-
turned; but in the interval had taken
moulding OF it, and had a duplicate
| constructed. by means of this | had
access TO ut least one spot ir this great
city where | could rely upon being
free from interruption. How To get
Drebbcr to that house was the diff
cult problem which had nov TO solve
He walked down the road and went
into one or two liquor-shops staying
| for nearly half an hour in IL e last of
! them. When he came out he staggered
! in his walk, and was evidently pretty
well on. There was hanson Just in
front of me, and he hailed H. | fol-
! lowed IL so close that the nose of nv
! horse was within yard of his driver
| the whole way. We ratified across Wa
tcrloo bridge and through miles of
streets, until, to my astonishment, we
| found ourselves back in the terrace in
which he had boarded. / could not
imagine what his intention was in re-
turning there; but | went on and
pulled up my cab hundred wards or
so from the house. He entered il and
ms hanson drove away. Give me a
glass of water, if you please. My
mouth gets dry with the talking"
l handed him the glass and he drank
il down.
That's better" he said 'Well. I
waited for quarter of an hour or
more, when suddenly there came n
noise like people struggling inside the
house. Next moment the door was
lung open and two men appeared one
of whom was Drebber, and the other
was a 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 a
shove and kick which sent him half
across the road. You houndr he cried.
shaking his stick at him. IN teach YOU
TO insult an honest girlr He was so
hot that | think he would have
thrashed Drcbber with his cudgel, only
that the cur staggered away down the
road As fast as his legs would carry
him. lie 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
hen | had him fairly inside nv
cab my heart jumped so with joy that
| feared lest at this last moment my
ancurism might go wrong. | drove
along slowly, weighing in nv own mind
what IL was best to do | might take
him right ont into the country, and
there in some deserted lane have nv
last interview with him 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 ] should
wait for him. There he remained I'M
til closing-time, and when he came ont
he was so far gone that L knew the
game was in my own hands.
Don't imagine that | 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
1T. | had long determined that he
should have a show for his life if he
chose 10 take advantage of it. Among
the many billets which have filed i'm
America during my wandering life, /
was once janitor and sweep-out of
the laboratory at York college. One
day the professor was lecturing on
poisons. and he showed his students
some alkaloid, 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. spotted the
bottle in which this preparation was
kept, and when they were all gone |
helped myself TO little of il. / was
fairly good dispenser, so worked this
alkaloid into small, soluble pills. and
each pill put in n box with similar
pill made without poison. ! deter
mined at the time that. when had nv
chance, my gentlemen should each
have draw out of one of these boxes
while ! ate the pill that remained. II
would be quite as deadly, and "a good
deal less noisy than firing across
handkerchief. From that dav had
always my pill-boxcs about with me
and the time had now come when
was 90 use them.
1t was nearer ono than twelve and
wild, bleak night, blowing hard and
raining in torrents. Dismal as il wa,
outside. ! was glad within-so clad
that / could have shouted out from
pure "Xultation. II any Of You gentle
men have ever pinned for thing and
longed for it during twenty long years.
and then suddenly found IT, within
your reach, YOU would understand INV
feelings. lit cigar and pulled Al Il
60 steady my nerves, but my hands
were trembling and my temples throb.
bling with excitement. As I drove
could see old John Fcrricr and sweet
Lucy looking at me ont Of the darlf-
ncs, and smiling no me. just a., plain as
] see you all in this room. All the ,ya,.
they were ahead of me. one ON each
side Of the horse, until pulled up m
the house in the BriVton road.
There was not soul 90 be- seen nor
p sound % bc heard except tho drir
ping Of the rain. When I looked I'm n,
tho window ! found Drcbbcr AIN mud
died together ia a drunken ,Icrp
L.