The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-20

loSeIner With a Jugged marsh mare,
thought my lines had fallen in pleasant
places. I made the host and hostess sit
down with me- They were full of old
superstitions, ghost tales, bird and fish
lore, and stories of the old marshlands
that would make the fortunes of anyone
able to write them as they were told.
The old beer improved on acquaintance,
and to crown all Ben Pope produced some
cigars. smuggled up river on wherry,
which were very much finer than he had
any Idea of. The only disturbing element
TO the interest and comfort of the night
was Dan. He would not settle himself
Generally he was content to lie quiet
against a good fire as long as he was
permitted to do so. But on that evening
he ndgeted about, shifted here and there
groWled for no apparent reason and gem
orally misconducted himself till made
MIN understand I would have no more
Oh It, Then he lay down and kept casting
pltliul slances at me. Poor little Dan!
- curious now dogs seem to have a
pfesclence of evil. Poor little Dan, Even
now feel thickness in my throat when
l thlnk of him, and scalding at the
back of my eyebalIs.
Hae We got our masters reu-m
feady?' said Ben, after supper
Inc bed an sheeats is agin the fire."
answered his wife. 'Iu goo up an maak
1aO Oeu ulrechefly.
Doan't you forgit narthen," said Ben.
ASaln Dan growled, and again I fan
cled saw sinister expression across
the hosts face. But put it down to i'm
aglnatlon, or to an effect of light and
shade from the candle Mrs Pope was
ughtlng to take up stairs with her.
1t was close to II when 1 said good
might. had had sufflciency of old ale.
ana felt droWsy and ready for bed. For
tunately for me, as it turned out, Ben
and Mrs. Pope had more than sufficien-
cy.
The wind howled and roared round the
house, and [ could hear the wash of the
river and the groans and creaking of the
Iefryooats chain in the stiffness of the
marshlands. 1t was comfortable to see
another blazing fire in my room.
Dan always slept on my bed and I
gave him good rub down so that he
might not foul the coverlet. He lay down
by the fire while undressed, but as soon
as went towards the bed he jumped up
and followed me. When I turned down
the sheets he sprang up and rolled over
on the pillow.
Dan" said I, "come off. That's not
your place"
But before I finished speaking, he leapt
up with a little whine of pain, and sprang
down to the floor, barking excitedly
What on earth-?'' I began to say,
when suddenly's Dams bark died away in
gasp. His eyes looked dumb anguish
at me. He staggered as he stood, and
with little sigh he rolled over on his
SIDE 'Dan," said I, 'Dan." bent down
to him. He was dead
For a moment the shock stupefed me.
What could have caused his death? I
picked him up and examined him care
fully, but I could see no wound. I re-
membered his whine as he rolled on the
pillow, and I believe 1t was by the just
vengeance of God upon the guilty alone
that suspicion came to me. I looked at
the pillow closely, taking care not to
touch it. 1 saw nothing. Then I
took a microscope that I always carry,
and went over the FELLOWSHIP inch by
inch. Nearly in the center I found AN
infnitesimal trace of bloou, so small as
to be no larger than a pins point; but
it was blood, and the blood was fresh. /
think I told you that hau made a spe-
cial study of hypodermic toxicology; and
particularly of Indian and South Ameri-
can native poisons. I remembered that
curari would cause a death very similar
to poor little Dams. I took my gun
stock and pressed it down on the pillow
beside the trace of blood, watching the
spot through the microscope at the same
time. AS I pressed 1 saw two or three
tiny points push through the FELLOWSHIP.
When I withdrew my stock they vanish
ed back into the feathery softness In
which they lay. , E
Good Godi'' I whispered; s'What a
deVilish contrivance!'
I had pair of pliers in my pocket
for extracting cartridges. I pressed the
gunstock down again, and, with infinite
caution, I applied the tweezers to one
of the points that reappeared on the
pressure. I pulled, and after something
inside gave way with a jerk, I extract
ed a needle-then another-then another
I carried them to the light. The points
were smeared-one with blood, the others
with some viscid substance.
/ loaded my gun, and then sat down on
a plain wooden chair that could bide no
deviltry. What had I better do? 1t was
Important to lose no time; but it was
equally important to get away without
discovery for meant to catch the muir
derous villains so that there should be
no escape-no equivocation.
waited half an hour: then noiselessly
dressed-and opened my door. I could
hear the inkeeper and his wife snoring
heartily in some room near. Thank God
they had soaked themselves with pure
ale. 1 slipped downstairs in my stock
1nged feet, and, to my delight, found the
door unbarred. A slight click of the lock
held me breathless for a minute or two,
but the snoring was still aua.Jle, muf-
fled but regular.
The wind had dropped considerably,
and a spot or two of rain was falling.
The moon was rising, and it was getting
lighter every minute. The tide had turn.
ed again, and, with the ebb, the Upper
had gone down. Beside the horse ferry
was a small duck punt, with pair Of