ned me afresh. I resolved that in some way I would free her. But
how?

"Day after day I brooded upon it. Burrill became more bestial, more
besotted, more contemptible, every day. My sister's strength was almost
gone, her reason was tottering.

"I began to cultivate Burrill. I flattered him; I caroused with him. I
had sunk so low myself that he could feel at ease with me. But drunk or
sober I never once forgot a resolve I had taken. Matters were going from
bad to worse. It must be Sybil's life or _his_. I resolved that it
should _not_ be my sister who was sacrificed.

"When I found that no more time could be wasted, I laid my plans. I
feigned illness and kept my room for several days.

"Burrill came daily to see me. I told him that I had some rare new fun
in my head, and we planned that I should feign to be worse than usual.
Burrill knew that our people had made efforts to stop our nocturnal
expeditions, and he agreed with me that the thing should be kept secret.
On that last night he left the house early, saying that he would spend a
couple of hours at 'Old Forty's,' and then meet me at a place appointed.

"At nine o'clock I stole out, and no one at Mapleton discovered my
absence. I did not intend that they should. I waited at the place
appointed for our meeting until I grew impatient. The time came for him
to appear; he did not come. I knew where I should find him, and set out
for 'Forty Rods.' I was determined to let that night end Sybil's
troubles.

"Half way between the saloon and Doctor Heath's I saw him. He passed
close to me, as I came up from Mill avenue, and reeled across the road.
He was not going toward our rendezvous, but away from it.

"I followed stealthily. I did not make my nearness known. I think he was
too drunk to know where he was going or where to stop. He reeled past
Doctor Heath's house, and was nearly opposite the gate of the empty lot
before he discovered that he had gone too far.

"He turned, and while he leaned against the fence and seemed to ponder,
I crept upon him, knife in hand; I struck him, once, again, a third
time. He uttered one groan loud enough to have been heard some distance
away, and then fell heavily. I had struck home. When I was sure that he
was dead--I seemed to know just how to act--I ran to the gate of the
Burns' lot and opened it wide. The body was twice my weight but I
dragged it inside before my strength gave out.

"Then, for a while, I seemed panic stricken. W