Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-07-02

that through you. said !, turning to-
ward Mr. Joseph, whereupon be in turn
became discounted.
i do not understand you, he said.
Perhaps you will deny coming to
my room last night, said i.
~ certainly must do SO, he replied.
/ have no recollection of having visit.
ed you.
At this moment there were cries
from the next room. The maid had
awakened from her swoon.
"'Stay In here, cried, and / went
to the girl and compelled her to come
back with me. She was sobbing vio-
lently and crying out Historically:
II didn't mean to tell, Joe. could
not help it. / could not help it.
Now, then. Mr.. Joseph Milton,
said /, you will please explain your re-
lations with this girl, who thus famil-
iarly calls you by your name.
"'If you think that she IL addressing
me, said he, you are vastly mistaken.
do not tolerate such familiarity from
servants.
"'No? said / with a sheer. Yet
you do not hesitate to kiss your pretty
servants in the dark Railways
He colored deeply, looked confused
ly at his cousin and dropped his head,
but he made no reply.
Perhaps / can explain, said Miss
Milton. My cousin is very foolish
about pretty maids, but am sure that
Rose here means Lindley.'
But, said /, his name is Robert
Lindley.'
"'Robert Joshua Lindley,' replied
Miss Milton, but his fellow servants
called him Joe.
"At this the valet made move as
though about to leave the room, but
forestalled him.
Don't try to get away, my man,
said l. 1t will do you no good. have
taken the precaution to telephone to the
police station, and two officers are wait
ing for you outside
81 do not know what you mean, he
replied boldly.
." i mean, said !, that you have
been giving Mr.. Milton cigars STEPPED
in stramonium, and that you are the
scoundrel at the bottom Of this whole
devilish plot.
You are crazy, said he. How are
You going to prove it?'
" Listen, said I. You stopped me
from taking cigar from that box yes
terday, telling me that they were your
private property. Later in the night,
7 IS
the preoaution to remove all the cigars
and substitute others, but you did not
know that previously, while you were
at dinner, had appropriated two of the
original lot for purposes of analysis. /
had myself forgotten the fact, when Mr..
Joseph came to my room last night, and
it was quite by chance that gave him
one of your poisoned cigars to smoke.
discovered my mistake when he be-
came violently delirious and quickly
administered an antidote and got him
to bed in his own room. You have heard
him assert that he has no recollection
of his visit to my room. That is the pc
culiar property of the drug which has
favored you in this diabolical intrigue. ;
1.-THE fellow had no more to say, and
| called in the officers, who took him
away. We afterward convicted him of
assault with intent to kill, and he re-
oeived long term sentence. The girl
Rose turned states witness, and her
confession corroborated all my suspi-
cions except one, and this brings me
back to the question which you asked,
and which prompted my narrative of
this curious case. was mistaken in
supposing that she had stolen the money
under hypnotic suggestion. She was
simply infatuated with the valet, and it
was he himself who took the money,
which he gave to her to hide. The hyp-
MOTTO trance into which she passed in
my presence was her first experience of
that kind. She was merely great
sensitive, made more so by the hys-
terioal condition into which she was
thrown by first meeting Mr.. Joseph i'll
the hall and mistaking him for the
valet when he kissed her and after
ward by finding that / had witnessed
that incident and followed her to her
room. Another fact worth mentioning
is that it was, after all, Mr.. Joseph's
infatuation for the study of toxicology
which led to the mischief, for it was in
one of that young gentleman's books
that the valet obtained his knowledge of
the drug. / may also add that the re-
straint between the cousins was due to
the fact that Miss Milton was rather
fond of Mr.. Joseph, but was aware of
his clandestine OSCILLATION with the
maids"