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

room. But there was one change.
The bunch of flowers which had been
placed On his breast was lying on
the ground.
l pointed this out in silence to the
butler, who trembled violently, and
for the first time showed signs of
fear. Placing my fingers on the
earl's heart, l felt after a moment
a slight movement. He was alive!
I began to see there was something
mysterious in the whole affair. Be-
tween us we applied restoratives, I'M
til the faint CLEAN of life became
more steady.
Seeing that there was NO imme-
date danger, 1 decided to leave the
butler with his master, while I visit
ed the library. While still uncon-
scious it was evident that Lord Pome-
roy had visited that apartment. I
was curious to know what had hap
pened there.
l found the electric-light burning
brightly. He had switched it on in
entering, just as he would have done
in the ordinary way. Nothing was
disarranged. 1 went across to his
writing table, and there 1 found, per-
haps, the most remarkable piece of
evidence that ever fell into mans
hand. 1t was half a sheet of note
paper, with three sketches drawn in
the earl's mastery way. The first
was a sketch of a little medical syr-
inge, the second was a poppy-the
opium plant; the third was a por-
trait-exact and unmistakable-a
portrait of the Dowager Countess of
Pomeroy.
1 understood the meaning of it at
once. To sketch whatever was in
his mind was a kind of second nature
to the earl; he would do it almost
unconsciously. The meaning of his
sketch was that somebody-the dow
ager countess-had used a syringe
to inject a drug, and the drug was
opium.
But the countess had made a mis-
calculation. She had injected sufi-
cient opium to cause the appearance
of death, but not sufficient to kill.
I could only marvel at the diaboli-
cal cunning of the woman who had
attempted the crime. Her motive
was clear-she wished to see her own
children inherit the title and estates.
The method in which she had ap-
preached the crime was mastery in
it's long-sightedness. She first quar-
relied with the family doctor; then,
taking advantage of a trifing acct
dent to the earl, she sent for a young
and unknown practitioner, who would
naturally be somewhat easily led
away by anything that was said by
such a great lady. Her design had
been frustrated by the accident of
my being detained in the house, for
if in the morning she had seen signs
of returning consciousness in the
earl, she would, no doubt, have finish.
ed her work.
1 had now two tasks before me
to restore the earl to health and to
prevent a recurrence of an attempt
on his life.
The first was comparatively easy
At the end of a couple of hours he
was able to take nourishment, and
his mind appeared quite clear,
though, of course, he remembered
nothing that had happened after the
time he fell asleep in the library. ]
told him what had happened.
"But the matter must be husheG
up, Lightfoot, for the sake of the
family" he said eagerly.
"Quite So" I said; ''but we mus
also take care that it does not oc
cur again. I suggest that the dow
ager countess be sent for at once ant
confronted with you"
My plan was carried out, and sue
ceeded better than ] had expected
for, instead of attempting to deny
it, she entirely lost her self-posses
sion, and, falling on her knees, begged
for forgiveness.
I pointed out that in remaining 81
lent I was compromising a felony ant
jeopardizing my future career, SO
insisted on the dowager countess re
firing altogether from society, ant
living on her own property in the
north of England.-London Answers