Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1899-09-18

poisoned candy matter over her head,
and thought possibly l could brighten
her from using my name publicly, and
that was my whole object in doing it.
II assure you l never had any
thought of injuring anybody, and the
poisoned candy was safely tucked in
the bottom of the basket, the top lay
ers being perfectly free from any ar
senic.''
After the poison was received Mrs.
Scheib recalled that earlier in the day
some woman had inquired by telephone
whether Miss Campbell had received
package by mail. She felt sure it was
Mrs. Rathom's voice.
Miss Campbell, however, confessed
that she Herself did the telephoning,
as part of the plot to incriminate Mrs.
Rathom
When Miss Campbell returned at
evening she found the package await
ing her. She did not intend to open
it, but Mrs. Scheib recognized Mrs.
Rathom's handwriting, and was GU
rious When Mrs. Scheib accused her
of being afraid to eat the candies, the
presence of two sewing girls embar-
raised her and she and Mrs. Schefb did
eat from the top layers.
Then Miss Campbell began to fear.
Suppose that the candies had got
shaken up in the mails!
Suppose that little, just little, of
the arsenic had been shaken out of the
knife-opened candies in the bottom of
the box and had found it's way to that
top layer while the box was upside
down in the postofice!
Suppose
Miss Campbell grew maddened by
her suggestions.
She suspected that she was begin
ming to feel sick.
Yet the sewing girls and Mrs. Scheib
were there.
She had to conceal her fears and
wait
Perhaps no poison had been taken.
1t was foolish to be SO frightened.
Then she Wondered what the first
symptoms of arsenic poisoning were.
Was arsenic quick poison or slow
poison?
She tried to think, uut there had
been no poison case in all her girlish
experience.
Yes, the Botkin case-and death.
death to two women, was the story of
that crime! 1t was an awful time for
young Miss Campbell, but she did not
dare to betray herself
Mrs. Scheib might die and she might
be branded and convicted as the poi
soner
Or Mrs. Rathom might be hanged,
and she didn't want this.
Mrs. Scheib laughed and talked and
was witty, but Miss Campbell perspired
and began to feel an illness coming
on.
She mentioned it, for mental relief.
Mrs. Scheib said it was nothing
that she, too, did not feel just right.
And the girls alarm took sudden
growth.
She was surely getting sick.
Was it the first of the symptoms?
Nearly two hours of the anxiety had
passed away.
liz gill COu1u IL liz 4OAASOAs
She got up and ran for the nearest
drug store.
when Mrs. Scheib got sick" pro
ceeds Miss Campbell's own statement,
81 took some Of the powder to the drug
store on Larkin and Ellis streets, and
the boys told me there that it was not
arsenic.
81 insisted upon having an antidote
anyway.
Gle gave me some mustard and an
antidote. l asked him whether
should take the antidote right away.
but he said no, he would not take it
right away.
81 did not know whether it was the
poison or the medicine, but I was very
sick.
II went home and tried to get Mrs.
Scheib to take some of the antidote,
but she would not.
II poured some into a spoon and
took it myself, for fear had eaten a
small particle of the arsenic
She became worse than ever. Ter
she telephoned for Ra
Thorn, who promptly responded. Ra-
Thorn summoned Mr.. Scheib, whose
wife had unconcernedly gone to bed.
''Mrs. Scheib is poisoned" declared
Miss Campbell, "and she won't take
the antidote. Make her take it,
Mr.. Scheib rushed to his wife's room
and found the woman peacefully
asleep. He aroused her rudely, fear
ing that the seeming sleep was but
a stupor, and in alarm she sat upright.
Are you poisoned?" inquired Scheib,
who ha9 the bottle of antidote and
spoon.
Poisoned? Why, no! Who said I
was?"
Miss Campbell then felt sure that
only she herself had been poisoned.
She took some more mustard and an
other antidote, and the poetry of life
faded further away than ever. Ra-
them had vainly tried to find a doc
tor, so he took charge of the case him