Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-02-23

q bill game. 1t makes my blood boil
to think that David did not 90 out and
thrash him with his bare knucklos, for
lam quite satisfied that Goliath in
tended to fight fair and square Mar
quis Of Queenbury rules, just like any
other man who is not a gentleman.
"WeD, when ! was about twenty
five ] had, by diDt Of hard word and
good luck in having hung out my
shinglc in a particularly unhealthy
neighborhood. arrived at condition
when might indulge my ket-book
in what I may call the anti-fattenina
process to q certain extent In other
words, / could afford to take an after
noon and a fye-dollar bill Of for q
pleasure iaunt once in while. In
deed, l had begun to readpoems about
domestic bliss and occasional love
stories. But before | could permit
myself to think of marrying ] de-
tcrmincl TO gel, once for all, thor
oughly even with the absurd race OF
big men. ! had scheme which had
worked ont very thoroughly. ] was
going TO completely humiliatc some
great brute Of man, and | was going
to do it without the aid ola weapon OF
any description. ] provided myself
with a pair OF shears
"Wcapons?" suggested the Colonel.
'Not at all, answered the Doctor
instruments Of torture. | slipped
them into the pocket of my ovcrcoat
and rode down to the Bowcry in a
| Third avenue car. | was in com
placent mood. The night was clear,
the air crisp with jus! a suggestion of
downfall of snow. You know what
such night means Oh the B1wcry.
All the animal spirits Of those animals
down there are at the boiling point of
cxhilaration When 7 was quite well
down the Bowcry ] left The car and
began searching in thc saloons for my
man. II did not take me long to find
him. He had just cleaned ont a saloon
driven the inhabitants of the place
out. l mean. and pummeled thc bar
keeper until the latter was willing to
buy him OF at any price when I en-
tered / treated him. treated him
again. l became his conidant his
fast friend. let him knoH that 7 had
money and that my main object in life
was to see that he had royal time Of
it that evening In this Eay snc
ceeded in Turing him to hotel that I
had previously selected oad whore !
had engaged q room for the night
Once in the room j proceeded to make
things as comfortable as possible for
him-and incidentally Tor myself, for
by this time he was beginning 30 got
pugnacious again. I occomplishe i
this by keeping The table between IL,
and a bottle OF champagne on it,
which [ begged him not to spill. lie
had as much respect for a bottle of
champagne as though he had been
better born, and IeucceedeJ. He was
still quite sober when asked him il
he knew anything about poison..
" Nav, he answered, after q fow
moments OF contemplation, as though
he were wondering why in the world
] should ask such a question as that.
Nav; nuthin' 'cept rat poison. Why?'
"'Oh, I answered as delicatcly as
possible, merely because l am a doc
tor and know q great deal about tbom.
You see I have made a special study Of
them.
well, Doc. he asked in a fow mo-
ments, what has that got to do with
il? Gimme some more fzz AMI be
quick about it, 1 tell You, or I'll run
me fingers in yer eyes and hang EN-
on me watch-chain
"Do you know, continued pour
ing out the champagne, that there is
n certain violent poison which does
not act on the stomach as long as the
person who has swalloweI it remains
perfectly still, but which is absolutely
fatal if that person makes Il single yio-
lent motion-for instance, such a mo-
+ ton as rising from a chair, or striking
another person, or even uttering too
ornate an oathY
"'What are yer driving at, growled
my burly guest.
&" Simply this, answered, that l
would advise you to remain as still rs
you possibly can, for have given you
a dose Of that poison in one Of these
glasses Of champagne--in the last one
in fact.
'But," interrupted the Colonel,
"you had agreed, as it we're with your
self thai you would not use weapon.
Now poison, in my opinion, would be
a weapon.
"Wait a moment, said the Doctor
"Well, the wretch wa the msot fright
ened man have even seen in my life.
He sat in his chair, perfectly rigid.
almost believe he was afraid to talk for
a time. But the suspense was too
great.
"'Yer amt goin' to kill fcllor
what's doin' yer no harm, are yer?' he
asked SO plaintively that ] almost
/ laughed IN his face
! G.No opcv-oro1 tkaon porfactlv