Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-05-05
CHAPTER XIV.


alive and WELL stood-Maurice aylmer.
CHAPTER XIV.
MY Dear Major Jen-In the joy with
which you and Miss Dallas hailed the
appearance of the man whom you
thought dead, I was-for the time be-
ing-quite forgotten; and very natur-
ally, too. Profting by the occasion, 1
left the room and went to the bedroom
where Mr. Sarby lay in trance, SINH
lar to that into which Mr.. Aylmer had
fallen, both frances being caused by
the poison of the deviI-stick AS you
have learned from his own lips. 1 re-
viVed him, as l revived his friend; SO
now, my good Jen, you have your two
boys with you again, alive and well.
The comedy is finished; and was l not
right in denying to these past events
the misleading name of tragedy?
Naturally, you will wish to know
how the dead came to be alive, and for
what reason I behaved as I did. Well,
here you shall find the whole explana-
ton so fully given that there will he
no necessity for you to seek me. In
deed, if you do so, you will not find
me, as by the time you receive this
letter I shall be well on my way to
New York. Thence it is my intention
to go abroad, and-as I told you at our
last meeting-you will never see me
again. When you finish this letter,
you will no doubt, be glad of this, and
it is just as well that I should remain
beyond your reach.
4 am-as you know-a physician,
but l am also what you may not know
"a man of genius. have brains, but
no money; and for experiments in
chemistry, money, I regret to say, is
extremely necessary. This being the
case, l have needed money and that in
large quantities, all my life. AS 1 could
not make it for myself-not having
the mercantile INSTINCT resolved TO
gain it by making a rich marriage. For
many years 1 have travelled the world.
Like Ulysses / have known men and
cities. and some years ago, Chance-a
deity at whose shrine 1 always pay my
devotions-led me to Barbados. While
there I was attracted, as I always am
by the weird and mysterious, by the
superstitions of the African race 1
studied the cult of Obi, the belief Of
the Noodoo Stone, and by a strange
chain of circumstances, which l need
not relate, I gained possession of that
all snegroid America. With this stone
in my possession I was king-so TO
speak-of all the black race This
power I determined to use to my own
advantage, and through it to make a
rich marriage.
Il discovered that Mrs. Dallas was
the richest women in the West Indies.
that she had one fair and manageable
ter were under the influence of ne
gress called Dido, who was a profound
believer in the cult of Obi I deter
mined. therefore, to bend the negress
TO my viii by means of the Voodoo
Stone, and to marry the daughter I'm
fortunately, Mrs. Dallas and her child
were in America. So thither 1 went in
order to prosecute my suit and obtain
a rich wife in the person of Miss Isa-
bella Dallas. From information OBJ
tanned in Barbados I found where they
we're living, so to their town I repair
ed, and established myself as a physi-
,ian I made the acquaintance of your
self of Mr. Aylmer, and Mr.. Sarby, and
also of Mrs. Dallas and her daughter
The young and charming girl whom I
Intended to make my wife.
But here, as you may guess, I
found an unexpected obstacle. The
young lady was in love with Mr.. Avl-
mer. and would have nothing to do
with an elderly bachelor like myself
I determined to remove that obstacle:
not by death, but by gentler means
which would do away with all risk.
and place Miss Dallas in my power.
Need I say that l allude to the devil
stick?
4 knew that you possessed it. my
dear Major, as I had been informed of
its existence and Of its owner by Dido
over this negress, by means of the
Voodoo Stone l possessed complete
power. She was ready to do whatever
wanted. and I employed her in for
warding my schemes, Her grandmoth-
err had come from Ashantee. the native
country of the wand of sleep. and knew
all about it; also she knew how TO pre-
pare the poison. These secrets she
transmitted to Dido, and resolved 10
obtain the devil-stick, to make Dido
prepare fresh poison, and to use the
stick against my rival. Mr.. Aylmer.
And now word about his poison.
1t does not kill, but merely places its
victim in a trance state, which so
closely resembles death that not even
ference II the trance continues the
victim dies-but there is an antidote-
which, by the way, I obtained from
Dido-and this antidote if used IN
time. can restore the victim from a
state Of catalepsy to his pristine vigor.
I had made up my mind to use the
stick. and so, as I was anxious to give
Mr. Aylmer a chance of escape, I pro-
phesied to him a state of life in death.
This phrase describes exactly the
trance state of those wounded by the
devil stick-impregnate with its poi
son.
However, Mr.. Aylmer did not take
my warning and leave off courting
Miss Dallas On the contrary, he an
nounced his engag cement, and carried
off the young lady in triumph. AS you
may guess from what 1 have said be-
fore, I doomed him from that hour.
made Dido hypnotic Mrs. Dallas in
order to have the devil-stick stolen. Ii
you remember Major, I offered to buy
ii, but as you refused, 1 had to have II
stolen. In order to compromise the
mother, I arranged that she should
steal it She did, and without having
the slightest notion that she was COM
hitting the crime. When Dido obtained
the devil-stick she filed it with the
poison. Then shelby my directions
hypnotized Miss Dallas put the devil
stick into her hand and sent her forth