The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1896-07-25

Thought OF Lati1l i would write the
thing in Latin. although there was q
chance Of her being familiar with tho
language. AS opposed to the certainty
Of English there was no choice in tho
matter. Iwent to work at onoe, and
the necessary words came to me with
surprising small effort, considering I
had allowed years to pass without any
attempt at furbishing up my old col-
iege studies. Ny completed prescrip-
tion read like this:
10 sATTERLEE & FINK. DRUGGISTS.
For MT, Wiman's residence, Hanson
place. South roadt
In nomine Dol. 3 drRchms.
Statim mite auxilium, 5 ounces.
Homo mortuus est, 10 ounces
Uxor f~urioass me, 2 drachms.
Teneus cum pistole, 5 drachms.
ADRIAN EDWARDS, NJ. D.
1T was very hard Latin: so bad that
/ expect the soul Of my old professor
up in Heaven grew heavy with indigna-
ton, but if the right man got hold of it
its purport was plain. Translated it
meant: In the name of God send help
Immediately. A man is dead; his wife
insane, holding me with a pistol Iput
signs of drachms and ounces at the end
Of each line to add to the prescriptions
like appearance of the whole. When /
had finished I said:
The prescription is ready. You can
call the servant
"She struck q little ornamental gong
upon the table and the negro who
had come with me came in
to the room. His eyes opened
and his face turned ashy as he saw how
things were. But he was already in
and dared not retreat. knew his type
too we'll to count upon any assistance
from him save in his capacity as q
messenger.
"She made the negro take thespaper
from me and hand it to her. 1 felt my
heart beat dnl and heavy with anxiety
as she attempted to read it. She gave
no sign, but handed the message to the
darkey, telling him to go to town at
once and procure what ~wasNcalled for,
He left the room. SoonI heard a sound
of a horses hoofs over the graveled path7
way in the yard, the slam Of a gate and
1 knew nay call was on its way.
"Along there in that room with that
crazy woman and the dead man 1 could
do nothing but sit and wait and think.
AS the moments passed with Ieaden
%slowness, possibly long before it could
in reason be expected, my nerves grew
tense with anxiety and every sense
keenly alert for signs of approaching
rescue. My brain grew sick with appre-
tensions of probable miscarriage of
the message. Again my mind began to
call up visions of all the bloody, man
gled wounds 1 had ever seen or imag-
ined. A double sense seemed to pos
sess me, a feeling OF anxious hope and a
sickening impression of evil all
around and about ready to close in and
destroy me.
thine and again / thought 1 heard
the l~onged-for sounds Of rescuers APP
preaching, to find that it was but the
rising wind, the first breath ofA fresh
'norther' agitating the trees or thing
a window sash.
AT last the welcome sound cN&ne in
fact and not in fancy, with unexpected
~suddenness, breaking upon me near at
hand without prior announcements. I
heard the front door of the house open
suddenly with q crash and a noise of
hurrying people in the hall. She heard
it at the same instant, a look of start
led questioning crossed her face and
then the fury of a demoniac possessed
her as she screamed at me:
80, villain, they come to help youl
They may bury my husband, but you
will go with him.
II saw her finger contract upon the
trigger. l covered my face with my
hands, expecting the explosion, the
pain, the dreadful crash What 1 did
hear was a sharp click, a rush, half
smothered CALCULATIONS, noise of strug-
Cling and something that was heavy
which fell upon the floor. Hooked up.
1.-TWO men had hold of her. She was
trying to free herself, wild-eyed but
silent. Another man picked up her pis-
toll from the floor, looked at it a mo
ment, pointed it downward, snapped 1t
six times and said:
why, Doe, there dain't a thing in
this gun. '"-Globe- Democrat.