The daily Alaskan., 1913-09-23
CARTONS
 NURSE
By ELIZABETH WEED

When l wns In Che medical depart
 mcnt of Che British nrmy iu India and stationed at Hongyoug I was sent to
 au Interior station to see a young on
 ccr. Lieutenant Caxton. who was llL l found thc lieutenant in the house Of Q
 widow with a very pretty daughter llr wB8 u bed intermIttently, for al times Doe was quite able to be up nnd
 about When hc was confined to his
 room Che young woman had tb0 care
 Of hlm.
 The thought entered my head chat perhaps C0Nton was Bojcrng in order
 Go remain Iu close proximity to the girl but ! was soon convinced that ho was really II Ills symptoms not being fa. mlllar to mc. rdId not know what to do
 for hlm except Co give him stlmulat. 1 Ing drug -quInluc- to help him to throw
 or what was troubling him. But be ! did mot Improve aud was puzzled
 what next Co do.
 hud some experience with Indian poison rascg. though not much, and lf ! Cuxtou hud not been ln Che care Of 0 l girl who trrutcd him with such tender ness thnt [ could not doubt she was in l love with hlm would have believed ruut for some reason or other she was poisoning him,
 Talking one day with che widow, ] earned th1i they were not n family Indigenous to India, but had come r0u Java lt then lusIed upon me hal bud heard that a Javaneso girl who loves a man win either have him
 or aI hIm This gave me n clcw to ! CaEfDn8 cnse
 l From chat time forward ! watched Ibis uurcs every movement ] also cold CuEtou of my belief that bis nurse wan la love with him. Ho confessed chat uc had begun to suspect as much | himself and that hc had occasionally treated her with more consideration thun be should have done | asked | |hm lf hc had noticed that he was bet ter nt such times, and he said that come Co think of lt, be thought be had. From uH ] 8urmlscd that when be gave her hope sine lcsseucd or discOn uuuud her poison doses.
 My problem was to discover lf she was really poisoning him and if so fin whnl wuy. In most such cases the |dug Is administered ln the food. ] succeeded in getting samples Of the
 food tle patient was taking rt times when he was Iu a low condition and |analyzed them. but ] could not find the ! slightest trace of anything that should l u0t have been there Eastern races l are famous for their methods of poi souiug. and ] had during my service |n mdm gathered some information l regarding them. l therefore kept my eyes open with n view to discovering
 some other way by which CaXton's |uursc was working Ou him, lf she was doing SO at ull. Of which was by no means sure.
 suggested to him to get out of the house. Uut be said there was no hos pIt for him to go to and ho was re. ruly.ug much better nursing than he
 wDuI ln hIs quarters. ! saw that it would not be easy to make a change, and tHr only other way for me tO do was to solve the puzzle Of bis illness.
 A common way of administering pol. son iu countries where it is much used is by means Of a finger ring. A person woalug one will clasp the hand Of an. other. and a minute point prlckng the skin win. inject a poison l noticed tlut CaXtou's nurse wore a ring on her finger and suspected that she gave him doses in that way. prgteudcd to admire tbe ring ui asked her to let me examine lL -ac handed It to me
 without hcs''a:iou and ] looked 1t over very ..uny. No poison was not adm rcd iu that way. The ring wa perfectly plain gold, and 1T there haG ,rDa any injecting apparatus, howcvua .sHtc ! would have discOv. cred .t
 AuoC 'mlI0n method Of innlctIng poison k t.aDugh thc nlr It Is often brcgthrI aG sometimes inhaled from perfume There are persons in In- dla who have taken deadly poison in minute doses. gradually Increasing them uu thal,Ison takers have become Immune tD Mrm and SO saturated with the drug that .hoIr very breath is dead ly Go others l sHuddercd at the idea Of Cuxtou's n.gsp being one Of these But after coGuiviug to get so near her
 for few minutes that could take nnr breath fo't no unusual sensation
 from iD whatever So gave up this rIrw
 Seeing a plant in Cayton's room, ! fold his nurse to take it out since the perfume of flowers is considered harm. ful to the sick She obcyed, and after that did not see lt in the room again ulI one morning ! went in to sec Cax- ton before his nurse had fixed his room for Che day Then ! saw the plant and asked him how it came to be there. contrary to my instructions. He informed me that bis nurse was accus.
 toned to bring lt to his room before leaving him for the night and taking lt away lhc first thing in the morning.
 | at once bounced upon this as af.
 fordIng solution of the puzzle. had