Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1915-03-18
DEATH SAVED HIM
BY OLIVIA MEREDITH.

scription clerk for Davis 81 Co I'm
dead for the want of sleep. The end
| OF a long day. Oh, my!"
! There was a tinge OF relief in his
I first words, for a respite, relief seemed
/ in view He had put out most OF the
lights, he had just locked the street
door, when the knob was turned and
a small boy breathless and perspiring,
shouted Justify:
Il must get in, doctor says must
hurry" and he waved fragment of
paper which Boyd recognized as pre-
/ scription He let the boy in. Mid
night WEAKNESS made him sway. the
| lights were poor, he almost nodded
putting up the prescription. 1t was
For Mr.. Lewis a heart tonic, Boyd
noted that He was so Done out, that as
he gave the waiting boy the bottle
| he left the last phial he had used IN
| filing the prescription upon the case
| counter Then, without even undress-
| ing, he flung himself on the lounge
! lust behind the case and was plunged
| in sudden slumber Immediately
Long hours, irregular meals lack of
air and exercise were fast Jndermin
/ ing a splendid constitution. There
| was no nine-hour rule at the Davis
| establishment.
"U-um! just about half slept out"
yawned Boyd at daylight, rousing up
at the call of an alarm clock. unre
! freshed for another day of hard work
Wen, if | can stand it out III soon
have enough TO start a course at the
medical college"
Boyd cooked his sparse breakfast on
| a spirit stove. He tidied up and
ventilated the store and set at put
| ting the disordered prescription desk
in order. AS he picked up a phial ly
ing upon it he raised it slowly. A
shudder passed over his frame He
turned deadly white He uttered a
| great gasp. His horror-stricken eyes
were glued to the label on the bottle
"The last used last night in max
ing up that prescription he spoke
! breathlessly, "an6-poisonl
Hc' had he come to make the fatal
error? His dazed, tired eyes mad read
"ascetina" for arsenic He had un-
Willingly substituted for a harmless
! Alternative enough of the deadliest
poison known to materia medica to kill
dozen men.
Sick al heart, Boyd Leslie dropped
the fatal phial and sank to chair
overcome The deed was done, with
| out any doubt, Oh, was there the
merest vestige OF hope that the pre-
scription had not been used? Shak-
| ing from head to foot with anxiety
| and dread the young drug clerk hur-
| ried on hat and coat and rushed from
| the store
He knew where the Lewis home was
located. His heart beat like trip
| hammer as he turned into the street
upon which it fronted. 1t seemed TO
| halt with a shock as he saw on the
| bell handle OF the house-a streamer
of crepe!
How he lived through that day,
| Boyd Leslie could not realize. He
heard that the physician attending
| Mr. Lewis had given a certificate Of
death from natural causes. First an
| impulse came to his mind to confess
his mistake publicly Then dread of
| consequences made OF him q coward
The episode passed by He was SAFE
| in the general acceptation of that
word But his mind was in torment.
| AS to restitution-ah, there he could
act He had robbed the Lewis family
Of a protector. He would take his
place.
His motives we're never suspected
by Verona or her mother.
AS the weeks passed on, however,
the interest he took in the children,
his Kindness in loaning Mrs. Lewis
small amount that enabled her to
renew mortgage on the homestead,
began to endear him to the lonely.
loyable young girl,
AS to Boyd, an angel with flaming
sword seemed to stand between him
and the beautiful girl who had won his
souls devotion.
Il dare stay here no longer" he told
himself one day q will find some
"HJ " 6AfS my lilllb savings W MIS-.
Lewis and forget Verona"
His heart smote him the evening he
announced to the family the demands
of a fictitious position in another
state.
He saw no other way out Of his diff
ficulty, however They helped him pack
his effects, and during the process
Verona brought a small chest of odds
and ends to find for Boyd a blood
thermometer he had loaned her moth.
er when she had touch of fever.
1t contained some papers of the
dead father, some phials of medicine,
a sealed bottle. Az his eyes fell upon
this, Boyd Leslie grasped it with
sudden eagerness that fairly startled
Verona
Ihis-this is prescription you had
hlled the night before your father
died?' he uttered hoarsely.
Yes. Poor. dear father!" replied
Verona, sadly He died before broth