The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-24

Some days later Fournier aStonished
mn. by comm. down the stairs in great
! haste. CARRYING in his hand Il dead
| Guinea pig.
! May ask you to have this animal
| put in the furnace or have II buried
or thrown away" he said hurriedly' Il
see ! am already five minutes late for
my lecture"
| lie was gone ere | had time to think,
but, as ! sat with the Guinea pig be-
fore me- | hegan to wonder whether my
master had not acted with design and
| intended either to pit me in the way
| of SuSpectnS. or. at least to prepare
| me. in Il measure. for some coming an
| nouncement The more | considered
the surer became that there could be
no other reason for his not leaving the
animal for a few hours. or until he
| could dispose of it himself.
Convinced of this. ventured To make
a careful examination of the body. |
soon found. as | expected to find that
| it's death had been OccaSioned by no
| wound, blow or other external physical
cause: but ! was rather surprised To
! discover that all symptoms of death
! through the medium of electricity were
| also lacking. No theory seemed to re-
| main but that of poison. and, fully de-
| termined to exhaust all the evidence
W NIlltil Iliu bttli III ilN
| took out the brain. stomach and in
testines and proceeded to subject them
| to a thorough analysis.
This work employed me several days.
| but | found absolutely no sign upon
| which to base the barest suspicion of
| the use of any known drug. There
seemed tn he no escape from the diem
ma that either Prof. Fournier was the
! most accomplished toXicologist ever
l.. 4 a l..,I
! from purely natural causes.
During the time occupied i'm these cx-
periments. the professor had not al
luded to the subject. though ] purpose
| ly allowed him to observe my employ
| ment. Some days. however. after I
| had reached the end of all the means Of
| investigation at my command and was
| absorbed in what seemed a hopeless
| attempt to deduce "A conclusion. he came
| to me while ut work in the labOra-
| tory.
| Doctor" he said placing his hand
| familiarly upon my shoulder: ARE
| you minded To take part in Il little ad
| venture that lies before me-"
with the greatest of pleasure In the
| world" ! exclaimed.
II will not conceal from yau." he con-
tinued. seriously. that there is con-
siderable danger involved
"You are going to face it," Iuiered
| He nodded.
"Then ! see no reason why ! should
| not" | said. unless you would inti-
mate that | possess less courage than
| yourself"
You see ! was young and inclined
| to be over-Sensitive in those days.
| Not at ALL" he replied. kindly. IL
have been requested to undertake this
task under circumstances that admit
of no honorable refusal otherwise.
| very much doubt
And L." interrupted, have been
placed in precisely the same position
We'll we'll" he said. I'VE will not
quarrel in the dark 1t is only fair that
should explain the situation. The
fact is. have been asked by the minis
try to go to Ar,euil and investigate
this. new epidemic"
And YOU dream for moment tina,
/ would hesitate To accompany you"
| / exclaimed
NO" he said. and then. after a shor,
pause. but | am not sure whether
want you'
That il altogether Il secondary con-
sidcIation." | cried. saly. Permit me
to announce that | am going. When dc
We set OUT"
Tomorrow morning" he replied. alb
sently. hut ut the same time grasping
| my hand.
\ few moments later he left the
room. and ! sat down to ponder ovei
the situation and to consider what
| should need To take with me.
The town of Arteuil was one of those
places which had shot up within tn,
last decade. Situated in the midst ri
large manufacturing district. il
formed a sort Of oasis in the desert oi
hideous factories and toll lsodden hu-
manity. The country round about was
fiat and uninteresting. but Arteui it.