erpolated the
reader, speaking to herself. With heightened interest she read on:

"On inquiry it appears that among her former schoolmates and teachers
she was popular, though not inclined to make intimates. She is reputed
to have been rather high-tempered, but seemingly throughout her
childhood and young girlhood there was nothing about her conduct or
appearance to indicate a disordered mind. Indeed there was no suggestion
of mental aberration on her part from any source until within the past
month. However, I should add that it is rather hard to arrive at any
accurate estimate of her general behavior by reason of the fact that
mother and daughter led so secluded a life. They had acquaintances in
the community, but apparently no close friends there or elsewhere.

"About four weeks ago, on the twenty-eighth of last month to be exact,
the mother, described to me as being in a state of great distress,
visited Justice Cannavan, then sitting in chambers at White Plains, and
asking for a private interview with him, requested an inquiry into the
sanity of the girl Margaret, with a view, as she explained, of
protecting her own life. Her daughter, she alleged, had without warning
developed a homicidal tendency aimed at the applicant.

"According to Mrs. Vinsolving, the girl, who always theretofore had been
a devoted and affectionate child, had made at least five separate and
distinct attempts to kill her, first by putting poison into her food and
later by attempting to strangle her at night in her bed. Next only to a
natural desire to have her own physical safety insured, the mother was
apparently inspired by a wish to surround the truth regarding her
beloved child's aberration with as much secrecy as possible. At the same
time she realized that a certain amount of publicity was inevitable.

"Acting under the statutes, the justice appointed two reputable
practicing physicians of the county, namely Dr. Ernest Malt, of
Wincorah, and Dr. James P. McGlore, of Pleasantdale, to sit as a
commission for the purpose of inquiring into Miss Vinsolving's mental
state. The mother, still exhibiting every evidence of maternal grief,
appeared before these gentlemen and repeated in detail the account of
the attacks made upon her, as previously described to His Honor.

"The girl was then brought before the commission. It was explained to
her that under the law she had the right to demand a hearing in open
court before a jury chosen to pass u