Show THE liffe F 40 E to ift wa it 0 sario 0 D appleton century co ino ina CHAPTER IX continued 21 24 2 1 hale was pondering the resolution and finding additional grounds for it when he reentered entered re the camp alter after midnight ile he had walked further been away longer than he ha realized the house was waa very quiet he glanced into the living room and study both rooms were dark in the lower hall the sole remaining light was that which burned all night in a single amber tinted bulb Appio approaching aching the staircase he real izod that the upper hall was similarly dim the members of the family were all in bed or at least were shut away in their rooms joan and bert must have returned long ago ills his foot was on the lowest step when the telephone bell in the hall closet rang insistently its shrillness was stilled by the closets closed door ile he doubted it if banks or anyone else would hear it it ile he went to the closet closing the door behind him in an instinctive consideration for the sleeping household the voice of an operator came to him new york wants mr hale it said laid hale Is speaking all ali right mr hale please hold the me line during the instant that he waited hale hala glanced at his wrist watch twenty minutes to one he could not imagine who had called him up at that hour unless it was knee land what could kneeland celand want unless there had been some come ace accident d ent but the voice he heard next was not Kne elands it was a mans mana voice anxious yet apologetic wr mr hale it said this Is kauf man im sorry to disturb you at Ws this hour dut but ald you get the telegram I 1 sent you today for an instant halo could not re member who kaufman was ills ilia thoughts had been far removed from anyone named kaufman ills his mind busy with that problem he answered automatically no I 1 received any telegram the voice became more urgent less apologetic it said what 1 I was afraid of ive been pretty busy ever alya I 1 sent the telegram this noon dut but after I 1 gotto got to bed I 1 remembered that you told mo me you were several miles from a telegraph office you said messages always delivered promptly or even telephoned when I 1 began to think that over I 1 decided to call you up yes hales scalp was prickling he had remembered now who K kaufman a u man was w what bat was in that telegram he jerked out I 1 1 I told you in I 1 it t th that at the analysis ot of the tha milk you sent me showed a small quani quantity ity ot of ot of mercury it much it anywhere near a killing dose but vou app I 1 remembered that water you sent me tor for analysis that was pretty serious and never mind the water hale interrupted tell me about the milk of mercury la Is a deadly poison it ile he did not recognize his own voice yes it Is why I 1 tele graphed 1 it was a small quantity but it has no place in milk after that water analysis at an exclamation cla mation from hale the voice went on hurriedly well its the sort qt of thing that suggests to a suspicious mind like mine taken in connection with the analysis that someone who like you Is giving you very small doses of poison so small they may not show any serious effects for some time you looked pretty husky vie the day I 1 saw you still it if kept up long enough kill in the end endl I 1 see theroa theres no immediate danger the voice went on unless the doses are increased but I 1 telegraphed you at once then when I 1 thought it over I 1 got fussy thank god you pu did thank you too kautman kaufman I 1 wont forget it Is there anything else you ought to tell me about itt only to lay oil off milk for a while and keep both eyes open kauf mans voice was now quite cheerful having done his duty its as he saw it he was ready to drop the matter and get back to bed wall wait a minute theres one thing more on my mind hale asked his next question in a voice that was not quite steady you say there wa sonly a little poison in that milk how many such doses could a person take before before it killed oh quite a lot if im right in my guess the plan was to give it in such small doses over a long period as to cause a very gradual falling failing in the patient something that would look like what used to be called ailed a slow decline the effects ff ts vary in different pa but the same as those of any slow poison gastric disturbance indigestion lassitude that sort of thing the special effect is on the kidneys it might go on tor for acet or even months before an developed the plan in such cases Is 13 to have the patient die a seemingly natural death by gradual stages have you had many doses no thanks again kaufman goodnight good night hale hung up the receiver ile he seemed to be in a dream a nightmare the whole situation had unfolded before him and he was numbed by it he put it to himself in unconsciously melodramatic terms my god theres a killer among the words echoed in 6 his brain like a retrain refrain while his hurrying feet carried him to joans door ile he remembered the strange visitor to that room the visitor who had seemed a nightmare he remembered joans symptoms the seen joan sit up lip in bed as she her self leaned over the small table at the head bead of that bed she had expected recognition discovery then as now her distorted face must have shown not so much fear as frenzy even fury at the tha interruption she tried to push past hale but he held her firmly what have you got in your hand he asked in a low voice it was something she was trying to conceal by twisting her right arm out of his grasp and hiding aiding her right hand behind her back taking a stronger grip on her left aam arm hi be seized that struggling left hand and wrenched from it the bottle it held A glance at the label was enough he dropped the bottle into his pocket kept his hold bold on her wrist lind and drew miss hosanna along the hall toward his own quarters when they had reached his room he stopped opened the door and motioned her to precede him she held back 1 what do you want the ques ilon was almost inaudible she bad trouble in forming the words with her stiff lips but her head was erect and her pate pale eyes burned into his he answered under his breath A little talk with you miss no ho sanna we cant talk here in the hall you know she hesitated another second then crossed the threshold when they were inside the room he closed and locked the door he drew forward a chair for her and seated himself facing her now he ha said very quietly well get to the bottom ot of this what does it mean meant miss hosanna was already getting herself in hand she straightened in her chair and stared at him bun with icy resentment looking back at her trying to grasp the incredible fact that it was really miss hosanna who sat opposite him miss hosanna from whom he had taken that bottle hale told himself the tableau was grotesque miss Hos hosannah hosannas Hosan annas nag plump fO form arn was encased in a dark dressing gown shapeless and rather heavy tor for so warm a night ocher on her head was a gray net evidently designed to keep in position a ring of curling pins la in her hair her face shone with th the remains of a coating of retiring bream cream which had not been wholly wiped off the purplish 1 color that I 1 had suffused it during her brief struggle had faded almost to its nor mat mal hue she would have I 1 looked as harmless as the pink sofa cush 01 r 4 V it a far stranger thing that you are doing miss hosanna asked hale I 1 doctors uneasiness ile he remembered everything he did not know what he was to do when he reached her door he stood before it cor considering Aldering the question wake her up and ask her it if she was all right idiotic he had no reason to believe she had drunk any milk that night indeed now that he considered the matter he had every reason to feel that she had not done so his warning to her had been imperative and s she he had ato heed it from tomorrow she would be ba sate safe he would take herto her to doctor crosby early in the morning both would have to know what he had learned that much was certain in the me meantime a antime she was sate safe or was she not leave door ills his feet would not carry him away ills his brain would not direct him to move ile he could not stir until he knew that all was well with her how could he get that knowledge without disturbing her ills his hand closed on the doorknob door knob turned it softly ile he did not expect that the door would open she had promised to lock it regularly and the memory of that nightmare she had dwelt on would surely make her do so but incredibly the door opened ile he widened the opening slightly and noiselessly and peered in looking toward joans bed he gave no thought to the possibility of being discovered in such a situation but be did not cross the threshold indeed the narrow opening did not allow that thal he would merely make sure that joan was sleeping and go back to his quarters with an easier mind CHAPTER X The room was so dark that tor for a moment he could see nothing then as his eyes became accustomed to the blackness he saw the dim outlines of 0 windows opposite him ile he glanced toward the bed it was occupied and he heard quiet breathing it was not until then that he saw something else something very close to him at his right between him and the head of the bed it turned with alow a low gasp came toward him with a little rush wrenched tho the doorknob door knob from his handby handay a strong pull on od the inside and slid through the opening closing the door behind it it had moved with such rapidity that it struck against him as it came ile he recoiled a step then caught its arm and heldia hel held dIt it for an instant it struggled frantically but in silence then under tinder his unyielding grip it collapsed in the halls dim light hale stared down into the convulsed face of miss hosanna ile he knew now what face joan can had seen in her nightmare that face familiar yet terrible whose identity she would not confide to io him then as now miss hosanna had been startled during her visit she had bad ion to which her brother had compared her it if it had not been for her burning eyes her manner had something of its usual dignity he had bad always known that she had courage now she proved that aside from her moment of panic she also had self sek control she took the aggressive gres sive at once this Is a strange thing tor for you to do mr hale she said between 1 straight lips it a far stranger thing that you are doing miss hosanna 1 hale asked the question very quietly holding her eyes he sat facing her like a gray rock but he was inwardly shaken and appalled miss hosannah Hosa Hos annal miss hosannah Hos annal 1 I suppose supposed oseI 1 was walking in my sleep her head was erect now her shoulders back she radiated de defiance it ance 1 I guess youve heard of sleepwalking sleep walking before she ended 17 1 have but I 1 dont remember hearing of anybody who went about polon poisoning tn g others in their sleep TO BE CONTINUED |