Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-10-27
PLANT NO. 9O63.


at times.
had not seen my friend for some time
when he invited mo to spend few days
with him at his pretty villa overlooking
the Royal gardens at Kew On the first
evening of my visit / sat with him on the
balcony Of an upper room
Close to us was the great palmhousc
Wilmoro pointed to it.
Whenever l look at that house" he
said Il think of the events of night that
] spent in it with u man who would have
committed murder had l not been in
strumcntal in preventing him."
/ did what any one else would have done
asked Wilmorc to tell his story
Don't mind if do, - he replied, "only
/ must not be too long about it.
"Wcll, it is almost % years since l set
fled here near this wonderful garden. |
put up my brass plato and waited for pa
tients. | could do this with little anxiety,
for had n slight income 20 keep me GO
ing.
There came to Kew about tho Same
time Il colont, his wife and his daughter
Apparently they did not intend to reside
here pcrmanently-thcy took rnishcd
house by the quarter.
constantly. Like myself, they had oh.
tanned private pass and used to enter by
that little gate opposite to us. They were
seldom in the gardens when the general
public were admitted.
ITO be candid with you the beauty of
the cOloncl's daughter was to me far moro
enchanting than the beauty of the gardens
Yes, it was n case of love at first sight
Il am not going to describe her except
TO say that every man before he reaches
my age experiences the sort of intoxica
ton that did then and to him the beau
ty Of tho loved object is Incompatible
"Tho girl | must tell you, was one of
the most healthy looking girls have over
seen. We doctors know at u glance where
health has its abode.
Il took Il dislike to tho coloncl-natur.
ally perhaps, for ne seemed to guard his
daughter with exceeding stcrnncsS. He
dislikcd me, too, it was plain j shall
never forget how he used to watch me and
frown. Though | was in love, was not
quite devoid of reason and could find many
excuses for the mans apparent antago-
nsm Doubtless he wanted u quiet time,
rs ! did. Besides, the colonel might well
have imagined ut times that ] followed
them 1t had really reached that stage
with me that | felt dcspondcnt when |
could not SEE them. OF the colonels wife
] need say lttle-shc seemed to be an UNI
usually modest, quiet, even timid, woman.
For two weeks ] had to be absent from
Kew on business
"On returning, my first visit was to the
Pardcns-;ot the rhododcndron walk They
were splendid sight, but l saw nothing
of thcm--I was looking for "a face Just
rs | reached tho open ! saw three figures
coming from the direction of the grove of
bamboo.
Il fancy betrayed my feelings little
Il could not help it. / was shocked al
most paralyzcd, to see the girl, upon
whose image every fiber of my brain had
dwclt, supported by h,r mother pale
sickly, utterly broken down in health.
"Sho looked at mc-oh, what u pitfu
look! Her eyes were unnaturallv large
and unnaturally bright Her face had he.
come thin; its color had decpcncd. She
was plainly suffering from some sort Of
slow foyer, fever that was consuming
her strength little by little
Later in the day | was at the railway
station, getting some books from smiths
library. saw the Colonel mt the ticket
Office. He was inquiring for a ticket to
Holyhcad. He did not see nc.
1t occurred to my mind all at once that
l might SEQ his wifi ana daughter by
themselves next day Perhaps | should
have chance to introduce myself i'm my
professional capacity That night | con
coctcd all sorts of plans. In the morning
j was in the gardens early. As the time
drew nigh that those who / wished to see
arrived | was close to their customary
gate. They came somewhat late, and ]
followed them. felt mcan-ycry mean
in doing so
"Thcy made their way to the quietest
place in tho gardons-the rhododendron
valley. There is II fountain beside the
path to 1t, They stopped ut it. / saw the
elder lady take handkerchief, saturatc 1t
at the fountain and apply it to the girl 5
forehead Us she stood beneath the arching
shade of u yow tree, leaning against 1,
branch Of it, Presently they proceeded
slowly, l following Fortunately there
were no others at that early hour to see
me. Tho two disappeared round Il turn
ing into the valley. As they did so | saw
something white fall When reached it.
found it to DO the handkerchief.
'Wcll, as ! am telling the story, l had
better tell it all, l put the handkerchief to
my lips and kissed it. To my alnazemcnt
nn odor came from it that | had smcllcd
but once before and had never forgotten.
1t was the odor Of the Thug plant.
1T WAS Il fortunate thing that ] had
travelled in tho cast. While doing so met
"a lady, the wife of Madras artillery 0tli-
Ger, who told mo that she was ON the point
of death She described her sickness most
carefully None of her doctors had been
able to euro her She had done some scry-
Ice to the medicine man of tina station
He was noted among his caste for skill in
curing by means of herbs. He begged that
he might SEQ the lady and at last was al
lowed. He entered the room, looked az
her, went about in an amazing manner,
smelling everything on the bed, the up
holstcry, the rugs, curtains, blinds, and
reached the window. There he poupced
upon a plant that the officers wife had
had for many years, having brought it
from her own English homo. The 'mcdi-
cine man plucked from the pot small
weed that had not been attended to. Will
a cry Of delight he said that the sahib 4
wife would live.
II sought out the medicine man. ,
continued Wilmore after pause, "ant
after some persuasion no told mo that tn,
weed he had found was of the sort SUD
posed to be used now , thugs instead OF
their former strangling cord It's odo,
was poisonous, was emitted only at night
must be inhaled from the plant or from
some article saturated with it; that til
thugs covered tho plant during the nigh
and collected the poison.
Nov, in tho handkerchief had pickle
up In the gardens | recOrni,cd the 2 Tor