The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-02-22

| to laugh. but checked myself when saw
| the expression Of his face.
| soothingly. 1t certainly, can't be so seri-
| Gus. What has he been Up to now?
| "' IT'S damned queeebhslness, said Whit
ing excitedly, and 1 can't Imagine his mo-
tive; but these are the facts. For several
! weeks this fellow has logged my footsteps,
| and after 1 have made professional call
| and left the usual prescription he has sent
| note to the patient initiating my hand
| writing and changing the medicines for 9TH
| ers which, had they been taken as directed
| would have in some cases proved fatal. For
] tunately the druggists have telephoned me
| that there was some mistake. and I have
| been able to correct it. But, Of course, this
| constant changing Of prescriptions has at
| fected my practice terribly, and people are
| beginning to think that my mind is unbal-
| anced.
but, my dear fellow said T. trying to
| quiet him, why not give up your practice
for few weeks and take a decided rest,
| and meanwhile we will deal with this fell
| low Davis he deserves
| Sc But that is not ALL continued Whiting
| despairingly. 1t is true I don't need the
| income from my practice, and work more
from the love of it than for the fees, but
he has gone still further and dared to call
| en- Miss Wiley. my fancee, and tell her
| many Of the foolish escapades Of my COL
| lege days. the secret of which 1 thought
| was buried In my own breast I have tried
|
deny the tales, and l fear it is all over for
me in that quarter | can't see how she
! could listen to the cad or where she could
| have met him..
Davis actions seemed to be more mex
plicable than ever and l lOnged to get hold
of the brute and force an explanation from
| him; but, hiding my anger, 1 tried to quiet
Whiting and finally prevailed upon him
| to take heavy dose of choral which l
| prepared and to try and get a nights
| promising fO CHI
! and attempt to patch up matters.
Il left him asleep on his lounge and, as
| 1t was still early, walked over to Madison
! avenue, determined to call on Miss Wiley,
whom I knew slightly, and tell her of Whit
| ing's condition.
| There was a light in the drawing-room,
and. ringing the bell I gave my card to
| the servant. but he ushered me in unan-
hands on the keys while standing at her
| side and looking down ardently into her
| upturned face was-Davis.
| For a moment l could not speak and
seemed glued to the floor but Davis quickly
advanced and, after few polite inquiries
about my health and his dear friend Whit
ing. pleaded an engagement and left.
| His presence in the house and his I'M
mistakabe lovelike attitude made it very
i painful for me to speak. but remembering
| the condition of poor Whiting, and how
heart-broken he seemed, 1 ventured to
speak about Davis and asked where she
| had met him.
! oh, I have only known him a few
weeks she said He called with letter
| of Introduction from DR.. Whiting. and said
they were fellow students in the South He
has been most kind and attentive to, me,
! and is teaching me sonae of his own songs.
And she ratified on about his divine voice.
while I sat speechlessj at the new compli-
cation of affairs.
"At last 1 blurted out, Would you kindly
let me the letter of Introduction adj
ha6 mo
letters to some of his friends in Europe
and | wished to see his methods.
Il felt that this was a most feeble excuse.
but L could think of nothing else, and of
course Miss Wiley was too polite to express
her surprise at the strange request. Going
to dainty writing desk in the corner, she
came back and handed me the letter.
There was no doubt of, the chirography
being exactly similar to Writings. l saw
the same old fashioned capitals. and crisp,
sharp endings of each MolG, and as for the
signature. his bank would have sworn to it.
Besides there was his crest and seal. which
| now knew SO well. I don't know what
/ said In thanking her, for my head was in
in a whirl, but 1 had enough sense to say
good night and quickly withdraw.
"How Davis could have obtained the paper
and SEAL or how he learned of those college
scrapes of Writings, I could not imagine.
But l saw that his relations with Miss
Wiley had gone so far that it would do no
good for me to interfere. and that 1 should
only be snubbed by her for my impertinence
In meddling in other peoples business.
whiting out when I called at his
rooms next morning, and his servant told
me that he had gone to the country for a
rest and left no address.
ut was perhaps month afterward that
he turned up at the club one night, look
ing more CHASTITY than ever. He could not
say where he had been and positively de-
clined to discuss the Davis matter.
II know he talked wildly about hypnotic
1t
thought his mind was affected, and tried
to calm him. but he grew more and more
excited, until finally I saw him turn pale
and clutch the back Of chair, and noticed
a little stream of frothy blood oozing from
between his clenched teeth as he staggered
out of the ROOM
| II jumped up from the sofa and followed
as quickly 1 could, but when I reached
the front door he was gone, and 1 met
! Davis just coming in. He walked leisurely
into the cafe and leaned against the man
tlepiece. To my excited inquiries about
Whiting he simply smiled and SAID he had
not noticed him going out, but 1 saw him
scratching a small, red spot from his cuff
! with his finger nail, and felt they
must have met.
Gentlemen said Davis in his drawl-
ing voice, I beg you will congratulate me
on my approaching marriage, and pardon
my not mentioning the lady's name in the
club Steward, please take the orders
! Most Of us refused to drink with him..
for we despised the man, and I left him
| chatting with few of his particular GRO
MES and went up to Writings room. 1
| heard afterward that Davis left very short
| ly after did.
whiting had not come home, and 1 spent
the night hunting through hotels police
! stations, hospitals and even the morgue
| for felt sure that he had ruptured blood
vessel in his lungs, which must quickly
prove fatal. But l could find no trace of
him, and finally. utterly worn out went, to
my rooms to toss about until midday with
| a horrible nightmare, in which Whiting
and Davis were struggling in one another
| grasp, each striving to kill the other.
| "At lunch I picked up a morning paper
and scanned the sociey news listlessly until
my eyes lit upon 1.-The rumored engagement
| Of DR.. J. H. Davis formerly of New Orleans
and Miss a;a Isabelle WHY the well known
| II sat musing over the strange vicissi-
! tudes Of fate and wondering what mad he
come of poor Whiting Suddenly newsboy
| rushed into the restaurant calling extras,
and the first headline saw
" Sudden death of DR.. Davis eagerly
read the usual detailed account Of how he
had been found that morning dead in his
bed. evidently, theSUaper stated, from a
ruptured blood vessel, las the bed clothing
and carpets were stained with blood, but
no wound was found on his body.
strangely enough he lived in one of the
old tenements back of Whitng's home, and
showed that his rooms and Writings must