Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-03-11


serious about his complaint except that
he appeared weak and languid and un-
able or unwilling to attend to his 30
cial duties. He would spend the day
at such times resting on the bed or
couch either smoking gloomily or clos
ing his eyes in a moody. detected man.
ner. He would lie In this way for
hours without moving a muscle, but
he was not asleep. The slightest noise
would arouse him. He would merely
open his eyes and ask, whats the
matter, William" Then without even
waiting for my reply he would close
them wearily and relapse into his for
mer languid condition.
BY this time I was considerably at
tached to him, and it gave me as much
anxiety as relative to see him slowly
going into decline. The dread Of the
Inherited disease intensified my feel.
ings for the man. / had no faith In
DR.. Squires. but could offer no good
substitute.
Left to myself a great deal, took
to reading the books which found In
Mr.. Goddard's study. Many Of these
were medical treatises. Evidently the
man had tried to make study Of his
complaint and had collected all the lit
erature possible upon the subject.
These books were handsomely bound
and copiously illustrated, but they
were too technical for my limited un-
derstanding. Nevertheless l frequent
ly found myself turning over their
leaves and aimlessly reading para
graphs here and there.
One day l was engaged in this idle
amusement when I happened to open
the book alta chapter headed, "Poisons
and Their Administration" had not
read many lines before l suddenly
closed the book with bang. An idea
had occurred to me that fairly startled
me. I was instantly positive that l
had at last a clew to the sickness OF
my master and possibly the reason for
DR.. Squires' mystery.
The doctor was slowly poisoning Mr..
Goddard while pretending to help him
to ward off an inherited disease.
This, accounted for the peculiar Ian
guild condition Of my master at certain
intervals. After every dose Of the in
sidious poison he was made weak and
listless. Each attack helped to break
down his naturally rugged constitu-
ton. 1t was merely question Of time
before he would succumb to the poison
instead Of to any mythical disease.
Confronted by this thought, l was
uncertain for time just what to do.
My first impulse was to go to my mas
ter and tell him my suspicious 30 he
could be placed on his guard, but as
my life has never been guided by i'm
pulse soon dismissed this from mind.
Besides, had nothing but my suspi-
cions to reveal-not q single fact to
prove anything. 1t was my duty to
collect facts and then to confront the
doctor with them and have him ar
rested. If he was determined to put
my master out Of the way and gain
the hand and fortune Of Miss Stetson,
was equally determined to thwart
him in his little game. The stakes
were high for him, and knew that he
would play cunning. skillful hand,
but as he would suspect no danger
from me l had the advantage Of work
ing secretly and without much fear Of
discovery.
A professional burglar has little Of
the detective spirit in him, and soon
found myself enjoying the scent with
all the keenness Of an experienced Of
ficer Of the law. had hunted detec-
tives before. dogged their tracks, pen
etrated their disguises and followed
up little clews that they left behind in
their work. but all In the interest Of
crime. Now, however. ! had turned
reformer and was legitimately pursu-
ing q criminal whose evil genius had
been directed toward the destruction
Of one whom had learned to like. It
was no ordinary man that 1 had to
fight against. and this gave more zest
10 my unQertaklng.
I discovered that my master had
night appointment with DR.. Squires
about once week. These appoint
ments were irregular. Sometimes they
were early in the week and, again, In
the middle or the end. Evidently the
doctor told him each time when to
come again.
Upon reflection was satisfied that
there was a strange coincidence be-
tween these weekly night calls and my
masters periodical attacks Of languor
and sickness. Almost every time after
he had met the doctor ut night he had
been Ia bed good part Of the follow
ing day. This convinced me that the
poison was administered ut the doc
tors Office and was not intrusted to
his patient.
This conclusion was reached one day
when 1 was considerably detected. l
had been working up the case for near
ly a week, and everything seemed to
point to the fact that l had made
mistake IN my reasoning. I could dis
cover nothing to corroborate my suspi-
cions. On that very day l had man.
aged to secure the medicines my mas
ter was in the habit Of taking, and,
carrying them with me to the city, l
had them analyzed by an expert chem