Show WM M M FA 1141 W si A J aw AW service 0 D appleton canturk co imad CHAPTER IX continued 24 hale was pondering the resolution and finding additional grounds for it when he reentered entered re the camp after midnight lie ile had walked further been away longer than he realized the house was 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 mg night t III in a sing single e amber tinted bulb approaching the staircase he realized 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 his foot was on the lowest step when the telephone bell in the hall closet rang insistently its shrillness was stifled by the closets closed door he doubted if banks or anyone else would hear it 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 hale is speaking all right mr hale please hold the line during the instant that he waited hale glanced at his wrist watch twenty minutes to one he could not imagine who had called him up at that hour unless it was kneeland what could kneeland want unless there had been some accident but the voice he heard next was not Kne elands it was a mans vo voice I 1 ce anxious yet apologetic I 1 I 1 mr hale it said this is kaufman im sorry to disturb you at this hour but did you get the telegram I 1 sent you today for an instant hale could not remember who kaufman was his thoughts had been far removed from anyone named kaufman 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 I 1 was afraid of ive been pretty busy ever since I 1 sent the telegram this noon but after I 1 got to bed I 1 remembered that you told 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 kaufman was what was in that telegram he jerked out 1 I told you in it that the analysis of the milk you sent me showed a small quantity of of mercury it much it anywhere near enear a killing dose but you ou see I 1 remembered that water you sent me for analysis that was pretty serious and never mind the water hale interrupted tell me about the milk of mercury is a deadly poison on it he did not recognize his own voice yes it is why I 1 telegraphed 9 it was a small quantity but it has no place in milk after that water analysis at an exclamation cla clar from hale the voice went on hurriedly well its the sort of thing that suggests to a suspicious mind like mine taken in connection with the water 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 the day I 1 saw you still if kept up long enough kill in the end I 1 see 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 did thank you too kaufman I 1 wont forget it Is there anything else you ought to tell me about it only to lay off milk for a while and keep both eyes open kaui kauf mans voice was now quite cheerful having done his duty as he saw it he was ready to drop the matter and get back to bed 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 was only a little poison in t that hat milk how many such doses could a person take before ll 11 before it killed oh quite a lot if im right in I my guess the plan was to give it in such small doses over a long period as to cause a very gradual failing in the patient something that would look like what used to be called a slow decline the effects vary in different patients 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 for weeks or even months before an acute aia rasmus developed the plan in such cases is to have the patient die a seemingly natural death by gradual stages have you had many doses no thanks again kautman kaufman goodnight good night hale hung up the receiver 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 us the words echoed in his brain like a refrain while his hurrying feet carried him to joans door he remembered the strange visitor to that room the visitor who had seemed a nightmare he remembered joans symptoms the seen joan sit up in bed as she herself leaned over the small table at the head 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 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 her right hand behind her back taking a stronger grip on her left arm he seized that struggling left hand and wrenched from it the bottle it held A glance at the label was 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 hosannas hosannah Hos annas plump form was encased in a dark dressing gown shapeless and rather heavy for so wa warm rm a night on her head was a gray net evidently designed to t 0 k keep e e p in position a ring of curling p pins j n s in her hair her face shone with the remains of a coating of retiring cream which had not been wholly wiped off the purplish color that had suffused it during her brief struggle had faded almost to its normal hue she would have looked as harmless as the t oink ink sofa cush lii 1 it a far stranger thing that you are doing miss bliss hosanna asked hale doctors uneasiness he remembered everything he did not know what he was to do when he reached her door he stood before it considering the question wake her up and ask her 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 she had promised to heed it from tomorrow she would be safe he would take her to doctor crosby early in the morning both would have to know what he had learned that much was certain in the meantime she was safe or was she he could not leave the door his feet would not carry him away his brain would not direct him to move he could not stir until he knew that all was well with her how could he get that knowledge knowledge 1 without disturbing her his hand closed on the doorknob door knob turned it softly 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 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 he did not cross the threshold indeed the narrow opening did not allow that 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 for a moment he could see nothing then as his eyes became accustomed to the blackness he saw the dim outlines of the two windows opposite him he glanced toward the bed it was occupied and he heard luiei 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 a low gasp came toward him with a little rush wrenched the doorknob door knob from his hand by a strong pull on the ins inside ide and slid through the opening ca closing oj the door behind it it had moved with such rapidity that it struck against him as it came he recoiled a step then caught its arm and held it for an instant it struggled frantically but in silence then under his unyielding grip it collapsed in the halls dim light hale stared down into the convulsed face of miss hosanna he knew now what face joan had seen in her nightmare that face familiar yet terrible whose identity she would not confide to him then as now miss hosanna had been startled during her visit she had enough he dropped the bottle into his pocket kept his hold on her wrist 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 what do you want the question was almost inaudible she had trouble in forming the words with her stiff lips but her head was erect and her pale eyes burned into his he answered under his breath A little talk with you miss hosanna 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 said very quietly we well 11 get to the bottom of this what does it mean miss hosanna was already getting herself in hand she straightened in her chair and stared at him with icy resentment ion to which her brother had compared her if it had not been for her burning eyes her manner had something of its usual dignity he had always known that she had courage now she proved that aside from her moment of panic she also had self control she took the aggressive gres sive at once this is a strange thing for you to do mr hale she said between straight lips it a far stranger thing that you are doing miss hosanna 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 Hos Hof annal miss hosanna Hos annal I 1 1 I suppose I 1 was walking in my sleep her head was erect now her shoulders back she radiated defiance 1 I guess youve heard of sleepwalking sleep walking before she ended 1 I have but I 1 dont remember hearing bearing of anybody who went about poison poisoning ing others in their sleep 19 TO BE CONTINUED |