Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-01-27

T.
been burning and staging and II. v.
4 they mad begun to get Unframed and
swollen. Nothing tha. be had done
Tor them had relieved the paiu. and
as ne tossed he found himself uu...r-
going the most cxcruciating torture.
Ara. naturally. !or he had not only
been badly burned but poisoned by
! the acid as well.
Finally nc lcaped out Of bod lie
could stand it no longer. tic threw
on some clothes. tho vcrv touch of
which on his raw flesh almost caused
him 10 scream. There was just one
! idea in his head. AS long as D,. Scar
! Icy Was in tho house why not ask him
I ior something. to relieve tho terrible
/ pain.
Tom toptocd out down ;hc hall and
until nc came to Scarlcy's loor. lie
! paused. Would the doc,o, 30 angry?
/ lie coaid no, help it. He tapped Itsht-
~.
Scarlc. J.. Amazed.
! \ moment later Scarlcv opened tho
doo". WHY. Fonts you" bc ~
claimed. catching sight Of tho puir.d-
up HANGS. Whats the natter"
oh. Or. Scar!cy." imnlor"d the sur
i fcrins gardener begging your pardon
for waking you uu IN tho middle or In.
night, but that plant down there mist
be bi"omn' scrious-it must
\ Scarlcy looked at. him in araazc,non,.
/ then terror. What did Tom know? lie
brszened it out.
What plant" What do YOU lncaa?''
That night blooming ccrcus" re-
+ turned Tom. wrnginS his hands in
/ agony Miss Doris saw ii in the con-
aervatory,. while was working about
and she asked me to carry ii 10 her
room, where She could sec it open. |
] carried it, but on tho way stumbled.
and "a near az can remember, some
I OF tho soil got on my hands. romem-
Der now that 1t stung, but didn',
I think anything of ii at the time. It's
. been getting worse, and now it's swol-
len 50 that can't sleep. Can't you do
som ching for me-"
/ Scarley listened in growing fear.
/ You took plant 70 Miss Doris's
! ROOM" he qucried. trying TO cover his
amazemcnt.
Tom nodded Instantly Scarlcy real
lied that the plot which he had aimed
At Ramsay had miscarried. If anything
happened to Doris. Ramsay was not the
one TO rest until he had traced it All
out and ferrctcd out Scarley himself
/ Sclfprcscrvation was Scarlcy's first
law. Toms ha nds could wait lie dash
cd down the hall. sprinting as fast
as his long legs could carry him, nor
did he knock at Doris $ door. for he
! knew that that was now useless.
lie burst in. The lights were still
I lighted, and there on the floor lay
+ Doris. AS he entered Scarlcy yanked
/ his pocket handkerchief from his peck
ct aud tied it securely over his nose,
4 folding tho handkerchief diagonally,
making il as efficient an emergency gas
| mask "a he could. Even then he got
some Of the fumes into his lungs. but
/ not enough TO put him out. Besides,
/ he held his breath as much as he
could.
Hc Saves Doris.
There. only a few feet from Doris,
was the fatal plant, still throwing oft
\ the deadly vapor Scarlcy dashed over
and seized il, careful not 10 repeat the
performance OF Tom, who had follow
ed by this time.
/ out Of the window Scarley hurled
the offending plan: With a curse at ii
and his luck which had made his clever
scheme miscarry. Through the glass
it crashed. falling with a thud ON the
I lawn below.
Then he turned, caught the slight
form OF Doris in his arms and dashed
/ out into the hall with hcr.
Tom saw and forgot his pain. switch
/ ing on a light in another room where
S,s4 RI 10y do Cd &c I'M
a couch bending over her administers
ing the rcstorativcs lie knew 50 we'll
for just that poison he had used. lie
\ had no fear that anyone would sus-
poet him for that. His scientific knowl-
edge would always explain il.
/ The crash OF glass and The falling
! flower pot had been sufficient. how
ever. 10 attract Ramsay downstairs
and. in fact, everybody in the house
Ramsay dashed up, seeing the light
and burst in OF Scarlcy and Doris
Hastily. 10 his inquiries, Tom told
what had happened and as he got down
TO tho rescue by Scarlcy by throwing
the thing out OF Tho window Doris re-
covered and was listening vaguely.
As she realized that the prompt ac-
ton of Scarlcy had saved her life she
With his extraordinary presumption.
Scarlcy took her hand. He smiled SER
pentincly at Ramsay.
1T must have hccn another plot Of
tho Hidden Hand" he nsinuated I'm
glad | was on tho job 10 rescue Sou.'
Doris WAS TOO weak TO think. Scar
/ icy's lccr plainly told Ramsay that it
was Scarlcy now who was the hero in
pors'a eyes and that the crafty doe
tor intended to keep ii so.
4 Reckoning Hand.
l, was the following morning that
Doris was wandering over the Whit
noy grounds. drinking in the fresh air
that was rapidly repairing the damage
done by TIC poisonous fumes from
which Scarlcy had rescued her.
Finally she came around to a spot
where tho gardener, Tom, was trim
ming 4 hedge and she stood tax ing
10 him about the events OF the night