The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-26
AN EVENTFUL NIGHT.
Ivy CLARA PARKER.
Copyright by IA, =. =. NcC7r, Co.. 1899.
FART III.


recting. and with reason. that now had been
given leisure for thought. lucid Ideas must
| begin To flow from me. while. in reality, had l
| been tapped for speech at that moment must
| have babbled forth mere scraps Of tho per-
picking chaos with which my mind was reeling.
Was tho girl insanc2 Was 1t my duty TO
| hand over the little crumpled confiding note TO
| the stern dark man beside me? Never
| Whether the girl was insane or not. that note
| was mine. II insanity had been its inspiration.
some rcvcrent hand must deal with It's own
| folly. II not insane-what then was expected
| OF me? Why was ! warned against the dog
beneath her window? Could It lie that she
actually medltatcd q theatrical flight? II so.
where were tho needed ladders? What was TO
| be done with the dog?
And how do You IND her. slrf" broke in
Mrs. Hoskns chcerfully. Pretty bad. amt
she? / had n niece once that was took the
same way. and We was upwards OF three days
O.gitting her to sense things. II she would only
take little material sleep now"
Her words came to me like IN inspiration.
Blessed be thy wngging tongue Hoskins, oh.
long NAV Il wave" went up my mental shout,
while outwardly I said n few grave things
about nerves" and mental pressure" which
| seemed to hit the mark somehow. for my
listeners did not Jocr me. but on the contrary,
| looked reasonably impressed.
ITO sneak candidly." | exclaimed boldly.
| while was grorinG for words ~ though Crap
plug with foreign tongue. Il fear congestion
| ~ the nerve centres. but | can't be sure.
| There Is nothing more Elusive than these
| symptoms However. | shall give her n auet-
ing powder. and in three or four hours shall
| he ahlo to tell exactly how much we have 10
| fear"
My proposal which involved q long stay at
the house. was not pleasing; that much
| could gather from the frown upon Browns
dark face. but II excited no suspicion. and with
| n faint CLEAN OF hope glowing at my heart
took the water which Mrs. Hoskins was still
| holding. ami after pouring out half OF II with
| great show OF caution. managed, while appai-
! emily mixing 1t with the contents ~ q SIN all
| black bottle which smellcd like varnsh. to
drop into 1t half n chocolate cream which
| nimbly extracted from a bon bon dish on the
| table al which | was working. Indeed. felt
rather shocked at the lIght-nngered dexterity
l suddenly developed; 1t seemed to indicate an
aptitude for questionable practices anything
| but encouraging TO contemplate.
They seemed ~ expect that would admins
| teri my own medicine. but after covertly rim
! sing the candy about ~ long as dared In my
! guilty effort 70 dissolve Il and color the wa ter
resuectabe brown. handed tho glass sternly
| 20 Mrs IloskIns. ! had no right 70 touch the
| impuisiNe girl who had thrown herself on my
! honor. under the false impres sion that must
| be some peaceful Old fellow. with manageable
| daughters and all that. though how she could
hav" expected any such antiuua,ed party to
climb ahou, through windows and toy with
| hluulhvund-, could nu'. nor cannot yet. con-
GIVE. However her Innocent hlundcra had
| nothing 10 DO with my plain course ~ duty. so
! looked On her win what grnce might while
| III" clumsy H".kins, ilttcd uron her arm the
| slender r"ure and forced nv harmless dose
| between tn" scarlet lips. d-yOutly praying the
Will" thai the candy had all dissolved
Not even a pto'cssonaI ar,-t could have put 10
shame her restless impaticnce, the drowsy
| We must hav" the rom perfectly Quiet
now, I said MIR brown wouii It he t pos.
Ills Tor or at nj hour or So" - The trouG" with my
! tooth has used mo up badly: but what rnn I
h. %6sa doe @ a e." h S o "a gny yS
IA he VII! And then look at the thanks he
H"ti lst nim DAG man ,s out o. his grave
! Idi let the man die, aud how quickly frovi-
! hay" IN ones pocket. imagine" hall laughed,
| half sneerrd. nv companion. But come below
with me. snd we will have them set us out
4. NAV GG imagined. all this talk hal not
n%ep carTrf %n n IN the e,s SGS sobm MrH!1o
| ,hcre lighted dm,y. nv lamp which Mrs
Ho-kins carried. OF course I knew ] must
! was tempting indeed so stu held TO my I'M.
| gracious blustcr You ars very kind" said
| cover m warm We physicians need eomo
| chr'. though our patients seem 10 doubt 4.
nicE At mt" coii m"n,. Il You you'd sond i
| M; that and agass OF wine wouldn't be at all
You shall hnv" them Immediately" said
Brown Int lei us say bottle Of wine ir stead
| oIaGlass and by tn" way. air, DO YOU know that
| strnnE" You must think me- aud he paused.
while his loot was actually raised e GO and
| back into my shaky brcastwnrks
VIM, under h"aySns wa, 20 saw What hId
a En% wh g" NJ wns o" sr %n 'ho
M ssr,aSI.Iy; S&, ,ooF for sra"'sd
and ilosklns moving forward a, that moment
al m" glare OF light which the smalllamp could
Il nm pr icton, q whom ron have perhaps
beard" said boldly, setting fire TO my ships
With ar nn,a,,tcr a, n hand, i supposed that
| Il am something Of n stranger here" was tho
ovasvc reply, and with n long look Mt mo he
wns gone, leaving mo in f'v"rsh uncertainty
Gladly now would | hnv' entorcd tho sick
room alone, on some rr"teNt or another, in
s'ow.pacing Hoskins was ever ut my heels.
| and 70 all my suggestions that the Young lady
herself might take. some sleep while kept
watch. she brought forth the same ram bling
| argument, a Qnllt IN n chnlr, ana me IN N.
| couldn't he in any way disturbing TO orc
| more accustomed TO company than TO be with
out" she exclaimed amaby until gave up.
| fairly worn out.
rook possession Of the room assigned to
! me Ms soon ~ n lamp n fire. and neatly set
! lunch table had made Il ready. Once alone in
I side that room. the door shut on all intrudcr4
/ and brought before the bar OF sober Judgment
| ] felt that strait Jacket was all | lacked
| for n fully equipped mailman. Yet condemn
my folly az I would felt no desire to retreat
! Even then might have cropt down stairs. on
| some preteXt or other. have skunk from the
| house. and made or without much chance OF
! detection. But there | sat, turning over and
over aga II every project that presented itself to
| my teverish fancy for carrying ont the scheme
Of the crumpled note. which now boldly con-
| suited
Consult II as ] would. however, there was
nothing moro TO he got from It than that was
| expected to help perfect stranger, Young
| girl apparently confined to her bed with a seri-
| GUS illness, TO rise from that bed and bolt
| through srcond-story window. guarded by an
ugly bloodhound. out intoa freezing night, in
| the care Of n single man, OF 40 reckless char
! actcr that he had, earlier in the evening. hid
/, den himself in an innocent mans carriage.
! killed that helpless man, taken his belongings.
and was now tostino himself upon her no.