Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-07-24

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1 promised to do my best.
The earl received me most cor
daily. He was a man of about FIVE
and-thirty, healthy and stronghold
ing, though somewhat pale, the re-
suit of leading a studious life. The
wound in the hand was of not much
consequence, and within a quarter
of an hour 1t was sewn up and
bandadged. Then 1 approached the
heart question, of course, very deli
cately. He laughed.
81 don't think there is anything the
matter with my heart; but you are
welcome to sound it, if it's only to
please the ladies'"
Now, if there is an organ which I
profess to understand with some
thoroughness, it is the heart. But
1 could find nothing in the world the
matter with his. The action was
somewhat weak, but that must be
expected in a mar who spends almost
all his time in the library. So far as
1 could ascertain, there was not a
trace of disease.
"There's no heart disease in our
family" said the earl cheerily.
This was a direct contradiction of
the dowager's words, but I paid lit
tie attention to it at the time. Every
doctor knows how unreliable pa
tients are in their statements. There
r some who take a delight in ex-
~aggerating every trifing ailment,
there are others who take a delight
in minimizing them. Before I had
left I had come to the conclusion that
the earl was one of the best fellows
I had met. There was not a scrap
of %affectation or nonsense about him.
His great hobby was sketching. j
have never met a man with such a
remarkable talent. Every thought
that passed through his mind seemed
to be transferred to paper. For in
stance, while we were chatting, he
sketched my likeness. 1t was quite a
little work of art, and he gave it to
me as a souvenir. I still have it,
with the characteristic signature,
"Pomeroy, December Goth, 1895"
"We are both students, DR.. Light
foot" he said warmly, "and if we
don't become very intimate, it will be
your own fault. 1 am quite glad
cut my hand. 1t has been the means
of introducing us"
That concluded my interview with
the earl of Pomeroy.
The same night, at ten o'clock, the
dogcart again dashed up to my sur
gerry. This time the groom was
white with excitement.
"Come at once. sir" he said hus-
kily.
"Is anything wrong?" I asked.
"The earl is dead!"
For a moment [ gazed at him in
stupifed silence. Dead? A man
whom, only a few hours earlier, I had
seen in the prime of life and in sound
health! 1t seemed impossible.
"How did it happen?" 1 asked.
Ellis lordship went to the library
after dinner, as usual. He fell asleep
in his armchair before the fire, and
and about an hour ago the house.
keeper found him, sir. He was
dead!"
Tears were trickling down the
mans face as he spoke. 1 felt that
my medical knowledge must be il
some way altogether at fault, but il
was no time for idle conjecture. J
sprang into the dogcart, and three
quarters of an hour later stood il
the castle hall.
Everything was, of course, in con
fusion. The servants were horror
stricken. The young countess, over
come with grief, had been carried I'M
conscious to her room. The only per
son who showed any nerve and pres
ence of mind was the dowager. She
looked pale, but cool and collected
In fact, she was one of those de
termined, strong-minded women who
can face any emergency.
She led me at once to his bedroom
where he had been carried. I shall
never forget the scene that followed
He lay on the bed, his face just as
had seen it in the morning, except
that it was now pale and rigid.
"How is it, DR.. Lightfoot," she sale
sternly, that when you saw the ear
this morning you were not able t.
foresee this calamity?"
II don't believe it was possible fol
any medical man to foresee it,"
replied firmly.
"But l warned you that the ear
suffered from his heart"
II found nothing amiss with the
earl"
"We hoped that in sending fol
you," she said bitterly, 1--WE should
have better advice than could be OBJ
tanned from an old practitioner like
DR.. Thornton. Evidently, our con
fdence was misplaced"
She swept contemptuously from
the room, and left me there, feeling
more perplexed than I have eve1
been before or since.
I knew quite well that T was not il
any sense of the word to blame fol
what had happened. The question
was, ought I to grant a certificate
ITO % certified that the earl died Of
heart disease, I stultified myself. I.
I refused a certificate, a coroner
inquest would be required, and the
whole countryside would be indig
nant at what they would call my
clumsiness in not avoiding it. I wa.
turning the position over in my mind
when the butler entered, begging mt
to go to the servants hall as tn,
housekeeper had been taken i'll.
1t wal she who found the earl deat
in his chair. Fully two hours passed
before T was able to leave her, ant