Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-10
CHAPTER XXI.
woman-s wiles.

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Look sharp!" cried the black-bearaei
scoundrel who had feigned Illness "Give
i'm a settler. AIRY. He wants his nerves
calmin, bit!"
The fellow had seized my wrists, and
saw that one Of the men who had sprung
from his place Of concealment was pouring
some liquid from "a bottle upon a sponge.
caught a Whit Of its odor-an odors IA
miliar enough to me-the sieixly smell of
chloroform. .slte-2e
Fortunately am pretty athletic. and
with sudden wrench freed my wrists
from the ruff1an's grip, and hitting him one
from the shoulder right between the eyes.
sent him spinning back against the chest OF
drawers. To act swiftly was my only
chance. If once they succeeded in press
ing that sponge to my nOstrils and holding
it there, then all would be over; for by
their appearance I saw they were danger
Gus criminals and not men to stick at
tribes. They meant to murder me.
AS I sent down the man who had sham
med Illness his two companions dashed to-
ward me with imprecations upon their lips,
but with lightning speed I sprang toward
the door and placed, my back against #.
So long as I could face them I intended to
fight for life. Their desire was, knew. 10
attack me from behind. as they had already
done. / had surely had q narrow escape
from their bullets, for they had fred at
close range.
At Guys many stories have been told OF
similar cases where doctors, known to wear
valuable watches, diamond rings or scarf
pins, have been called at night by daring
thieves and robbed; therefore I always, as
precaution, placed my revolver in my pocket
when received a night call to case with
which I was rot acquainted.
I had not disregarded my usual habit
when I had nlacpd fherrnNnqtar and
stethosoope in my pocket previous to ac-
companying the girl: therefore It reposed
there fully loaded, fact Of which my as
Sailants were unaware.
In much quicker time than 1t takes to mar
rate the incident I was again pounced upon
by all three, the man with the sponge in
readiness to dash 1t to my mouth and nos
trfls.
But as they sprang forward to seize me I
raised my hand swiftly, took aim and fired
straight at the holder of the sponge, the
bullet passing through his shoulder and
causing him to drop the anaesthetic as
though it were a live coal and to spring
several feet from the ground.
"God I'm shot!' he cried
But ere the words had left his mouth
fred a second chamber, inflicting nasty
wound in the neck OF the fellow with the
black beard.
SHOOT! Shootl' he cried to the third
man. but 1t was evident that in the first
struggle. when had been seized, the fell
low s revolver udQ cropped on Qn6 Carpet
and in the semi darkness he could not re-
cover 1t. s2s GE
Recognizing this, I fired a pot shot in the
mans direction; then opening the door
swiftly sprang down she stairs into the hail.
One of the follows followed but the other
two, wounded as they were did not care to
face my weapon aEains They saw that
knew now to shoot, land probably feared that
might fnf1ict a fatal hurt
AS l approached the front door and was
fumbl;ng with the 1eck the third man flung
himself upon me. determined that should
not escape With great good fortune, how
ever l managed to unDolt the door, and
after desperate struggle, in which he en-
deavored to wrest ther weapon from my
hand. / succeeded at last in gripping him
by the throat and 'afeer nearly strangling
him flung him to tbs ground and escaped
into the street, Just 1asr His associates hear
ing his cries Of distress, dashed down the
stairs to his assistance. -as -. 2
Without doubt it was the narrowest es-
cape Of my life that have ever had at the
hands Of malefaeters, and 50 excited was
that 1 dashed down the street hatleSs-for
I had left it1fn the house-until emerged
into Lisson Grove Then, and only then, 1t
occurred to me that, having taken no note
Of the house, I should be unable to recog-
niZe 1t and denounce 1t to the police. But
when one is in peril OF ones Kfe all other
thoughts or instincts are submerged in the
one frantic effort Of self-preservation. Still.
1t was annoying to think that such scoun-
UTel 8 SnOuiu De allowed TO 30 SCoC Tree.
Breathless. excited and with nerves un-
strung. I opened my door with my latch
key and returned to- my room, where the
reading lamp had burned low, for 1t had
been alight all through the night. mixed
myself stiff brandy and soda, tossed it
Off and then turned to look at myself in
the glass.
The picture I presented was disreputable
and unkempt. My hair was ruff1ed. my col
lar torn open from its stud and one sleeve
OF my coat had been torn out, SO that the
lining showed through. I had a nasty
scratch across the neck. too. inflicted by the
flngernails Of one of the blackguards. and
from the abrasion blood had flowed and
made a mess OF my collar.
Altogether presented very brilliant and
entertaining spectacle But my watch.
robbery had been their motive, as no doubt
1t had been. then they had profited nothing.
and two of them had been winged into the
bargain. The only mode by which their
identity could by chance be discovered was
In the event Of those wounds being trouble
some. In that case they would consult a
medical man; but as they would. In all
probability, go to doctor in a distant
quarter Of London, and further. as 1t would
be impossible for the police to warn every
medico in London, the hope Of tracing them
by such means was but a slender one.
Feeling trife faint I sat in my chair,
resting for a quarter Of an hour or SO: then
becoming more composed put out the
study lights and after refreshing wash
went to bed.
The mornings reflections were somewhat
disconcerting. A deliberate and dastardly
attempt had been made upon my life, but
with what motive? The young woman,
whose face was familiar, had recollected,
asked most distinctly whether I was DR..
Boyd-a fact which showed that the trap
had been prepared. saw now the reason
why she was unable to describe the mans
sham illness, and during tho morning,
while at work In the hospital wards my
suspicious became aroused that there had
been some deeper. motive in It ali than
the robbery OF my watch or scarfpin. HUI
man life had been taken for far less value
than that of my jewelry. knew; never
theless the deliberate shooting at me while
I felt the patients pulse showed q de-
termination to assasstnate. By good for
tune. however. skad1 escaped, and re-
solved to be more careful In future when
answering night calls 70 unknown houses.
Sir Bernard did not come to town that
Gay; therefore, I was compelled to spend
the afternoon in thegssevere consulting
room at Harley street, being kept busy
the whole time. Shortly before g. o'clock.
utterly worn out, IA stpelled down to my
rooms to change hnys coat before going
down to the Savage Club to dine W. IA my
friencs-for 1t wass Saturday night, and
seldom missed the genial house-dinner
or ,at NEST BoheudaR Of Institutions
Without ceremony 4 threw open the
door OF sitting Isr0rn and entered hiaf