The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-15
The Globes Daily Short Story

heaven-it is enough to drive one to
lunatic asylum"
He quilted his chair, and, approach
ing me, placed his hand upon my shoul-
der.
Calm yourself, my dear Mr.. Altar
dyce," he said kindly. Remember that
no harm has come to you thus far,
though I admit that had I come an
hour later it might have been too late
to save YOU"
"But what is to be done?" I cried
despairingly. "TelI me that"
Listen" he replied, quietly. "This Is
what you are to do. The instant that
you feel return of the strange nausea
send for DR.. Broderick Mackenzie. He
Is an old colleague of mine, and the
greatest authority on poisons in the
kingdom. His address is q Redpoie
street, Cavendish square. You will tell
the doctor how you have been engaged
what you have been doing-whether
eating, drinking, working or reading,
when the attack seized you. If I am
| not very much mistaken, Mackenzie
will then be able to locate the origin
Of the poison"
Thanking the good-natured physi-
clan for his suggestion, I noted the
specialists address in my pocketbook,
and after some further chat we said
goodbye.
Next morning I rose perfectly re-
stored to my usual condition of health:
bue on my resuming work the old, old
sensation came back with horrible
force. Throwing down the Bible,
rushed to the nearest telegraph office
and wired to Mackenzie, begging him
to abandon all engagements and to
come to me at one.
Life and death depend upon your
| instant presence" I telegraphed. For
| heven's sake come"
An hour later he was at my side.
In few hasty words I told him all
| that had happened. He listened at
| tentively, and when I mentioned that
| was engaged on the translation of an
| ancient Italian Bible, a curious smile
| came into his gray eyes.
ALLOW me to look at the volume in
question:" he said abruptly.
I begged him to follow me into the
study. The Bible lay open upon the
table in the position in which 1 had
left it on the attack Selling me-
There it Isl said quietly.
The specialist assumed his glasses
| and took up the book. He shifted sus-
piciously at the pages, and then re-
placed the volume on the study table.
ut is as thought" he said solemn
ly; "the source of the poison lies here"
where, where?" well nigh scream
ed.
I'm this Bible" he made answer. IT
suspected the truth directly you told
| me of your sensations; and of the fact
| that you were engaged in work upon
| an ancient version of the Italian
| Testament"
I stared at him as though not UNDER
| standing his words. CDR. Mackenzie"
I breathed, ARE you speaking serious
| ly?"
my dear sir, I should not have come
| here, deserving my patients as have
| done this morning, had / intended to
| jest with you 1 repeat that this in
| nocent looking little volume contains
sufficient brucine to poison regiment
of men, and the sooner it is destroyed
the better"
But even now did not understand.
81 have heard of poisons in food and
drink" I said slowly, "but not in
books"
THAT is because the modern poison
er is happily less ingenious than his
predecessors in the middle ages" re-
turned DR.. Mackenzie, gravely. Il pre-
sumo you have heard of the notorious
Borgia family, who brought the icrime
in question to the degree of fine art.
Unless [ am greatly mistaken, this BIZ
BILE formed one of their deadly weapons
and we shall be able to ascertain that
fact by the aid of this magnifying
glass;
volume, and scrutinized the first page
with the aid of the glass.
"Aha, as / imagined" he exclaimed
with a smile of triumph. Look and
tell me what initials you see inscribed
on this page"
So small were the letters that I could
not have read them without the glass,
but now they stood out in firm black
type.
The initials were &C. B."
"All is clear now" cried the doctor.
"This Bible was formerly the property
of the notorius Caesar Borgia- Prepar-
ed by him with infinite care, it has pre-
served the poisoning qualities unto this
day, and I can safely affirm that had
you continued your work much longer
you would most certainly have sue
cumbed to terrible and eXcruciating
DEATH"
Little remains to record. The Death
Bible was consigned to the flames that
very day, and the work which had in
hand for the museum authorities was
carried on by means of another and
perfectly innocuous copy obtained
through a foreign firm of booksellers.
But although fifteen years have sped
since these strange incidents occurred,
they linger in my memory to this day.
and 1 shudder as I think how close I
came to the Valley of the Dim Shadow
when I pondered over the pages of the
Bible that was encrusted with DEATH
Philip Beaufoy in New York CONNER
cial Advertiser.
She Had Attended Sale.
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