The Vestibule Limited Mystery — page 177: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

168 THE VESTIBULE LIMITED MYSTERY. “The porter had a half-grown Maltese cat ina orape-basket in the smoking compartment. I in- fluenced Robert to allow a few drops of the fluid to trickle down its throat, and the result was that the animal died in a few minutes.” Andrews gives me a startled look. “Hold on there. Do you mean to tell me that in the face of all this, that man was fool enough to swallow the balance of the—the opiate?” I smile at his astonishment. “Not much, colonel. He deliberately emptied all of the poison into the bowl, and washed it down.” “You saw him do this?” eagerly. I know what manner of straw he grasps for. 66 Yes. 99 “You will swear to it?” “ At anv time.” “Then, my dear man, what do you ‘mean “by de- — claring that we piteinted to poison young Ham- mond, and to say we are responsible for his nearly dying-at the hospital, when in the same breath you declare he did not take the liquid at all? You have no case.” His spirits rise. It is the first gleam of hope that has come to the poor wretch for some time—his hands have suc- ceeded in grasping the edge and it is my duty to beat them off again, leaving him BOND O SruE in the Pool of Despond. “It is true, colonel, that Robert’s condition was the result of an epileptic fit or something of that nature, to which he is subject; but that does not let you out. “The proof is overwhelming that you three formed a clique on board the Limited—that you ~Ecomicbooks (elo)