Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-26

Copyright, 1899, by S. 5. Mcclure Coz
When Brown saw that | had been inter
rupted he. too, came to my side, and the
pair grouped themselves about me, anC
stared at me, expecting, and with reason
that, now / had been given leisure fol
Thought, lucid ideas must begin to flow
from me, while, in reality, had l beer
tapped for speech at that moment, | mus
have babbled forth mere scraps of the per-
picking chaos with which my mind was reel
tng.
Was the girl insane? Was it my duty tc
hand over the little crumpled confidng 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 reverent hand must deal
with its own folly. If not insane-what then
was expected OF me? Why was l warned
against the dog beneath her window? Could
II be that she actually medtated theatr
cal flight? If so, where we're the needed
ladders? What was to be done with the
dog?
"And how do you find her, sir?" broke
In Mrs. Hoskins cheerfully. pretty bad,
amt she? l had a niece once that was
took the same way, and we was upwards OF
three days a-gitting her to sense things.
1f she would only take little material SLEEP
now"
Her words came to me like an inspira-
lion. blessed be thy wagging tongue,
Hoskins, oh, long may 1t wave," went up my
mental shout, while outwardly l said a few
grave things about NERVES" and mental
pressure" which seemed to hit the mark
somehow, for my listeners did not jeer me,
but on the contrary looked reasonably i'm
pressed.
ITO speak candidly," exclaimed boldly,
while l was cropping for words as though
graphing with a foreign tongue, ~ fear
congestion of the nerve centers but l can't
be sure. There is nothing more Elusive
than these symptoms. However, l shall
give her quietng powder, and in three or
-four hours / will be able to tell exactly
how much we have to fear"
My proposal, which involved long stay at
the house. was not pleasing; that much
could gather from the frown upon Browns
dark face. but it excited no suspicion, and
with a faint gleam of hope glowing at my
heart took the water which Mrs. Hoskins
was still holding, and, after pouring out half
of 1t with a great show of caution, man
aged while apparently mixing it with the
contents of small black bottle which
smelled like varnish, to drop into it half
chocolate of cream which | nimbly ex-
tracted from a bon-bon dish on the table
at which l was working. Indeed, / felt
rather shocked at the light-fi fingered dex
terity 1 suddenly developed; it seemed to
indicate an aptitude for questionable prac
tices anything but encouraging to con-
template.
They seemed TO expect that l would ad
minister my own medicine. but after COW
ertly rinsing the candy about as long as l
dared in my guilty effort to dissolve 1t and
colorNthe water a respectable brown. l
handed the glass sternly to Mrs. Hoskins. l
had no right to touch the impulsive girl who
had thrown herself on my honor under the
false impression that l must be some peace
full old fellow with marriageable daughters
and all that, though how she could have ex-
pected any such antiquated party to climb
about through windows and toy with blood
hounds 1 could not. nor cannot yet con-
ceivei However, her innocent blunders had
nothing to do with my plain course of duty,
so I looked on with what grace might
while the clumsy Hoskins lifted upon her
arm the slender figure and forced my harm
less dose between the scarlet lips, devoutly
praying the while that the candy had all dis
solved.
Very neatly did the patient do her part
Not even professional artist could have put
to shame her restless impatience, the drowsy
opening of her eyes and their soft closing.
''We must have the room perfectly quiet
now" / said. "Mr. Brown, would it be
possible for me to have the use of a room
next to this for an hour or SO? The trouble
with my tooth has used me up badly, but
what can l expect? When one chooses the
life Of physician he chooses dogs life, let
him be clever as he will. And then look at
the thanks he gets. Let him drag a man
out of his grave clothes and it's Providence
that gets the credit, but let the man die
and how quickly Providence is let off scot
free"
"And yet Doctors fee is not bad thing
to have in ones pocket, / imagine" half
laughed, half sneered my companion. But
come below with me and we will have them
set us out some lunch"
AS may be imagined, all this talk had not
been carried on in the sick room. Gradually
We had drifted out into the hall, and stood
there, lighted dimy by a lamp which Mrs.
Hoskins carried. or course ! knew | must
not go below, though the suggestion of lunch
was tempting, indeed. so / still held to my
ungracious bluster. ~You are very kind" |
said, severely. But l must get my boots
VII anu SoNcI up w Z physicians Hepu
some care, though our patients seem to
doubt it. However" l added, more gra-
ciously, II might pick at a little cold meat
n you would send 1t up; that and glass of
wine wouldn't be at all bad"
"You shall have them Immediately" said
Brown. "But let us say bottle of wine
instead OF glass; and, by the way sir, do
you know that / have neglected to get your
name?t, How very strange you must think
me-" and he paused, while his foot was
actually raised to go and leave me in peace.
TO send that fatal broadside back into my
6haky breastworks
What under heavens was to say? What
did know of his knowledge of the people in
the city, where | was almost a total
stranger?
well we'll" exclaimed. with hollow
laugh 'this is drol, certainly, but 1 took it