Part 22 (1/2)

Herkiures, his face paled Crushi+ng it in his palm, he rose, and in a voice harsh with fury unloosed a stream of profanity that surprised his hearer

”You contemptible, short-bred loafer!” he concluded ”What do you takeas that?”

Murray smiled ”You'll _have_ to, old man It isn't pleasant, of course, but you won't allow Muriel and the children to lose that money I like your spirit, but I shall kill myself just the same, and it's up to you to see that they are not ruined”

Again Herkimer becaoing to do it, nevertheless I'veelse, but I intend to right one of !” bellowed the physician ”da me to help you steal a million dollars Does that occur to you?”

”The end justifies the means in this case You're not rich That twenty-five thousand--”

Herki the paper at the speaker

”Well, if you won't take my money, you'll have to helpI shall be dead

Knowing the truth and all it means, you'll _have_ to come

You--_can't--stay--away_”

”Oh, is that so?” the doctor mocked, furiously ”I'll show you whether I can or not” He jerked his watch from his pocket and consulted it

”There's a train for Boston in twenty et back here in time even if I wanted to Now, kill yourself and be damned to you” He seized his hat and rushed out of the roo the door behind him

A moment later Murray heard a taxi-cab whir noisily away from the club-house door

Manifestly, there were more difficulties in the way of this enterprise than he had counted upon Without the co-operation of some reliable physician the clubman dared not do aith himself in New York; coroners are curious, medical attention is too prompt, he was too well known, the very existence of that treation He decided to go hunting, and he knew just the right place to go, too, he thought

Several years before he had joined a gunning club which owned a vast expanse of rice-fields and hly, he concluded that it offered perfect facilities for such an action as he conteuide, and boarded a train for the South that very night In his pocket he carried a vial containing twenty-five grains of powdered cocaine

The club launchthe twenty-mile trip down the Sound he learned all he wished to know

The shooting ell-nigh over; there were no other members at the club-house; he would have the place all to hi pains to write nu others to Muriel It was his first letter since their parting, and the strain of holding his pen within formal bounds was almost too much for him It was a pity she would never understand his , he reflected It was a pity he had never understood his own feelings before it was too late

Manlike, he had throay the only precious thing of his life while searching for counterfeit joys, and, retted his folly now that he had lost her

That evening he inforuide that he intended to hunt by hiro's warning assured him that he knew the channels well and was amply able to handle a canoe

He rose early, forced himself to eat a substantial breakfast, for the sake of appearances, then set out in his Peterboro Thewas chilly and he had purposely donned a heavy sweater, shell vest, leather coat, and hip-boots He paddled down the river for a mile or more, then let his craft drift with the current Far away on one horizon was a dark, low-lying fringe of pinesthe mainland; two miles to seaward sounded the slow rumble of the restless Atlantic; on every hand were acres upon acres, rass interlaced with creeks and channels; nowhere was there a sign of human life

He took the little bottle from his pocket, reached over the side and filled it ater He replaced the cork and shook the vial until the white powder it contained was thoroughly dissolved There were twenty-five grains of it, eight fatal doses, and he had seen that it was fresh This time there could be no question of failure, he reasoned Nor was therehad rely difficult of identification, even at the hands of an expert toxicologist But there were no experts in this country, no doctors at all, in fact, this side of Boonville, twentythe cork into the stream and raised the bottle to his lips His pulse was even, his mind was untroubled He drank the contents, filled the bottle and let it sink; then rose to his feet, and, bearing his weight upon the gunwale of his canoe, swaear he sank, but the cold water sent hiain The blind instinct of self-preservationa powerful swimmer, he struck out He had planned too well, however His boots filled, his clothing became wet and he went down for a second tile, the ainst his own determination He rose slowly to the surface, but the shore was far away, the canoe, bottoasped wildly for breath as his face es He choked, horrible convulsions seized hi He rose and sank, rose and sank, enduring the agony of suffocation, all the ti ; soed and hauled at hiain His senses wavered, left hi above him A moment later he heard his naamekeeper's batteau

As in a dream he heard his rescuers explain that they had been out in search of poachers and had rounded the bend below in ti him back to the club-house now as fast as arained sufficient strength he sat up