The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-01-20

H..
frcm n watch, but he could not The
secondhand csept slowly On, round and
round: sometimes for second he had
the Illusion that fl had stopped, but on
II went, until at last the minute Rand
marked ten minutes past the hour He
sprang up and stepped to the bedroom
door. Then he paused and felt unable
TO open 81 he went back and sat
down again. trembling all over. It was
half past IL before he could steady HIM
self sufficiently TO open the bedroom
He had left the candle there burning.
BY the light OF it he could see his wife.
Her face was towards him, her pretty
mouth just open. He could hear her
regular breathing. as she slept pesce-
fully. He expected % find her dead
He stood for one moment indecisive.
and then picked up the bottle labeled
poison. He took il into the sitting
room, stepping noiselessly SO as not
TO wake his wife. Under the lamp he
looked at the bottle carefully. snelt
the contents. and finally tasted them.
He saw at once what had happened.
The man who made up the prescrip-
sIons had labeled them just wrong. put
medicine and the medicine label On the
poisonous IMMINENT. Had he not in
tended 10 kill his wife that night An
drew Thirdly would have accidentally
have caused her death Less than an
hour before he wanted to kill lfsr. Now
he said, fervently and sincerely:
Thank God. she's safe"
The impulse had passed; filed with
horror though he was at the crime he
tried to commit, his mind was perfect
ly clear and his nerves steady again
He determined to float the labels OFF
the bottles ard then label them cor
reetly. Then no one would know. In
the eyes Of the law he said to him
self, II am not a murderer. But he
got no consolation out Of that. II was
only an accident. for which he was in
no way responsible, that had prevented
him; he had believed that he was CIV
Ing his wife poison: he was not morally
any the better because a chemists as
sisrant had been in a hurry.
It occurred TO him in his quiet re-
morse that ne might now. with the
poison bottle in his hand, sentence him
self TO death. He might. But he
would leave his wife without provision
OF any kind made for her. His suicide
would bring her misery. He had under
taken a responsibility in marrying her.
and had no right to shirk it. Besides.
the punishment of the law for murder
involved infamy as well as loss Of life.
Suicide would bring him pity rather
than contempt He thought over the
problem as calmly and fmpassive as If
it concerned some third person, and
came to no solution at all.
But he came Unexpectedly, in one
mental movement. upon the solution OF
an entirely different problem 1t was
mechanical. difficulty which had 50 far
rendered an invention of his almost
useless. He had spent hours in trying
to overcome il. and in vain. Now, when
he was thinking of nothing of the kind,
when il was late at night and his emo
tons had so far been disturbed that he
would have considered himself unfit for
work, light suddenly flashed in upon
him. Sitting down to the table, he
made a few memoranda on a sheet of
paper. and the thing was practically
done. A few hours ago the perfecting
Of his invention, meaning, as he knew
=
ture. would have caused him the great
est pleasure; now il caused him none
He had frequently heard of the tortured
feelings of the condemned murderer; he
now envied them. For he was a muir
dcrer, and uncondemned. and in conse-
quence' the more tortured.
Sir Andrew Thrifty, knighted In ac-
acknowledgement of his wealth and serv-
ices TO philanthropy, survived his wife
By one year Lady Thirdly had been
married to him for twenty years. and
for the last nineteen their mutual de-
votion had been remarkable and touch
Ing. He was a man-so all agreed who
knew him during those nineteen years
--of wonderful unseifishness and hr-
mility. He achieved much. and TO moth
ing that he achieved did he attach the
shghtest Importance. In the company
of any one he was uniformly cheerful;
IN solitude he was very melancholy.
His death. which was universally re-
GREETED in that part of the county
where he had lived, happened from
anisadventure. During his last years
he had suffered much from insomnia.
and was in the haSit of taking a sleep
Ing draught- One night his valet, mis-
taking this sleeping draught for an
other medicine. gave him an overdose
OF 1t. The mistake was discovered and
medical assistance summoned at once.
Before the doctor arrived Sir Andrew.
apparently but partly conscious, spoke
OF payment. Of his great thankful
ness that payment had been asked.
and would be made. Those standing
round did not understand.
Lady Thrifty, had she been alive.
could have explained the words by the
light of something which her husband
had told her little more shan nineteen
years before BARRY PAIN
Copyright. 1895