The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-04-29


pulse. hurriedly passed my hand be-
meath the covers to find if there was
any heart action. There was none. 1
turned the head toward me. The jaws
had fallen; the eyes were wide open,
fixed in the awful stare of death. The
man was corpse. Surprised and
shocked out of my ordinary profession
al bearing, / exclaimed:
Madam, am too late. Your hus-
band is dead. He must have died four
or five hours ago. 1t is very strange
that you should not have known his
condition.
''She turned hastily and sat the lamp
upon the table. Then going around
so as to place the structure between US,
she faced me, leaning forward with her
hands resting on the polished surface.
The look she turned upon me was one
which no man could ever forget who
had once seen it. She spoke. Her voice
had harsh, vibrant, rasping sound
that made my nerves jump at every
word
"'Dead. Dead 1t is not true. You
are lying to me. You are one of our
enemies. He is yet living and you
would bury him. Ny God You would
bury him alive. You shall not. You
shall not
al was so amazed, surprised and over
whelmed that | could not think or act,
but rose half up from my chair. At
my motion, still repeating those words:
you shall not, you shall not, she
stepped backward, tore open bureau
drawer, took out something and again
faced me. l saw then what that some
thing was. 1t was a six-shooter of the
largest size, a weapon having almost
the power and accuracy of rifle. She
held it cooked full upon me, using both
her hands to steady it, the weight be-
ing too much for the slight strength of
her single arm. / could plainly see
her slim forefinger resting against the
trigger. l sat down again as she hiss
ed at me these words:
"'Liar Murderer You shall not
do it. Restore my husband. Now, at
once, or / will shoot you rs you sit
there
at was four good long steps between
us. There, too, was the barricade of
the table. Should / rush upon her
must receive at least one and probably
two or three shots. She could not miss
me, and bullet would surely disable
me. These things flashed through my
brain, and the idea was dismissed in
the winking of an eyelid. Then the
full terror of my situation came upon
me as wave The woman's brain had
turned. She was crazy and possessed
of that one fatal idea Between myself
and death was the slightest pressure of
finger, mere muscular contraction,
responsive at any instant to the dis
ordered impulse Oft lost mind. am
not ashamed to say that when the full
realization of my critical position came
upon me that was scared, badly scar
ed, scared completely out of my senses.
sat there helpless, dazed and bewil-
deTed. The woman's voice aroused
me.
"'Restore him. she said. Begin
now.'
"What / did was not the result of
any forethought, but simply a mechan-
ical act induced by fright. l reached
down, picked up the medicine case,
opened it, and began lingering over the
vials, saying all the while:
"'Well, well, be patient, and we will
try what we can do
al did not know my own voice, it
sounded 80 far off and queer. But /
began to recover myself somewhat, and
my thoughts assumed something like
order. | ventured to look up at her.
She was now sitting down in chair,
her arms resting on the table, her hands
still clasping the pistol, its ugly muz-
zle pointing straight at me. She held
it firm and true There was no hope
for me in that face. No feeling there
save the concentrated force of her in
sane determination.
Hurry she said.
"Her voice was a sa whip to my mind.
The first coherent idea that / formed
was, anything to gain little time. So
/ spoke to her again, never raising my
head, for man don't care to gaze upon
such faces or into such eyes any often
than he can help. / lied to her good
and hard, too.
"'There is possibility / said,
that he is in cataleptic trance. Liv-
ing, but presenting all the appearance
of death. If this is so, | may be able
to revive him.
"'Revive him, then,' she answered,
do your work, and do il quickly.
Bring him to look at me, to talk to me-
"Ah, me, no one has ever worked
such marvels since the gentle Nazarene
walked the earth. My panic had grad
ually worn away, however, but the
sense of deadly peril still remained.
A careless movement, an incautious
word, might bring bullet crashing
into my brain. But the quick move
ment of my mind brought suggestion
of a means of escape. Pulling myself
together, spoke again:
Madame, 1 will use my utmost
skill in spite of the extraordinary situa-
ton in which you have placed me.
That would do in any event, and is
all can do. | had no idea of being
called to such ease, and the simple
medicines have with me are useless
in this instance. / require rare drugs
of extraordinary power. With your
permission / will return at once to
town and get what | need. The delay
will in no way affect your husbands
condition.
"Would this pretense deceive her?
She did not answer at once, and when
she did the structure of my hopes fell
in ruins.
"'No,' she replied. You can not leave
here. will call a servant, and you
can send for what you wish.'
"My despair was only for a moment,
for her very wordswere pregnant with
a great idea. / would send a message
/ for x.yhat T xv;ahad huf IN wOuld no for