Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-12-31

! could not understand his delay.
Once or twice already he had been
late in relieving me. but never more
than three or four minutes. The man
had one virtue at least-punctuality.
Thus when $50 came and finally
the half.hour, strong sense OF i'm
pending trouble came upon me.
seemed to foresee an untOward hap.
pening. Alarm possessed me.
Much as | hated to confess my
weakness by telephoning his room,
finally made up my mind to call him.
No answer. rang twice and then a
third time, but without result. Great
ly troubled, sat down beside Alexan-
dra-who was apparently sleeping
now--and for quarter-hour longer
waited in extreme Impotence.
No relief came. Six forty.five came
and went, and now seven o'clock drew
near. For the fourth time I rang
equally in vain. l felt entirely at a
loss.
Could it be, | thought, that he had
left the house?
Could he J. va departed with bro
deur-I.ave serted the ease It 50
critical moment?
1t seemed impossible; but with Ii
drugaddid all things are possible.
Yet, after all. this could not be he
answer. Even had he wished to go
Andre would not have permitted it.
But then he might have gone alone?
Whittier and to what purpose?
The question baffled me- My anx-
iety and fears were growing swiftly.
Quarter past seven. Still no En-
gazy. was now seriously alarmed,
and quite convinced that some disas-
trous event had deprived me of the
relief | needed so badly Sitting there
by the bedside, still attentive 10 the
instruments, l considered what was
best to be done.
Even then dared not leave the pa
tient for a moment lest some unfore-
seen development take place and the
whole experiment end in catastrophe.
Fortified by the realization of my ur-
gent duty to Alexandra, | grew calm.
or, and tried to think my way through
the difficulties now enmeshiny me.
My mind reverted to old Mrs.
Spragg. | wondered where she might
be and how | could summon her
Heartily wished telephone had
been wired to her room in the un.
known upper regions of the house and
to the kitchen. But this detail had
been neglected 1t was futile to waste
my energies in wishing for the impos
sible.
decided to resign myself to an.
other hour of waiting. Surely realiz
ing the imminence OF the decisive
change in Alexandra's condition
Vital Ergazy would return before
long.
| had no alternative save to wait
with what patience could muster; to
read the instruments, write the chart
records, and regulate the necessary
conditions. Accordingly | settled my
self to those tasks as composedly as
possible. Although was droppin-
with fatigue, | called on still deeper
reserves OF nervous force to sustain
me-
At eight-ffteen took down the
telephone receiver again and called
Gramercy 1852 the number of the
instrument in Brodeur's Office in New
York. l had determined to summon
Il him to return at once. In this, too,
was foiled
Party doesn't answer" was all
could get. After three attempts
abandoned the futile effort.
Meshed, as | seemed to be. in
maze Of sudden and unforeseen diff
culties, | felt sense of utter loss. 4
terrible suspicion, too. was beginnn.
10 creep over me, numbing my hear
and chilling the soul within me.
Could it be possible that this who'll
sequence OF events was pure decep
ton to mask some terrible crime?
Could the doctors be numbering thi
woman under the plausible guise o
an operation?
Could all this elaborate and won
drOus apparatus be mere hoax {,
l1eld ssaaesdtSilIsh plot?