ecoming sluggish. In a few
moments he would be unable to think at all, it would be over--Muriel
would be rich again. She was still young; she might marry some good man.
From Spain they had gone by rail to--Paris? No, the Riviera--It was very
difficult to think. In Germany, he remembered, they had taken an old
castle for the--From Germany they had gone--gone. Yes. Muriel was--gone!

* * * * *

Murray awoke to find a trained nurse at his bedside. He was still in his
room at the club, and after a time reasoned that the cocaine must be
working very slowly. At the first words the nurse laid a hand upon his
lips, saying:

"Don't speak, please. You have been very ill." Stepping to the door, she
called some one, whereupon a man came quickly. Murray recognized him
instantly as the famous Dr. Stormfield. They had met here three years
previous and shot from the same blind.

"Hello, Murray!" the doctor began. "I'm glad you came around finally.
You've given us the devil of a fight."

"How long--have I been ill?" whispered the sick man.

"Two days; unconscious all the time. Lucky for you that I ran down for a
little shooting and happened to be on the launch from Boonville the
morning you upset. We picked up your messenger on his way to town, and I
got here just in time. Now don't talk. You're not out of danger by any
means." That evening the physician explained further: "You must have
suffered a terrible shock in that cold water. I never saw a case quite
like it. Your heart puzzled me; it behaved in the most extraordinary
manner."

"You say I'm not out of danger?"

"Far from it. Your heart is nearly done for, and the slightest exertion
might set you off. If you got up, if you raised yourself off the bed,
you might--go out like that." Stormfield snapped his fingers.

"I suppose my wife has been notified?"

"Yes." The doctor looked at his patient curiously. "Would you like to
have her come--"

"No, no!" A frightened look leaped into Murray's eyes. "That's not
necessary, you know." After a time he said: "Leave me, please. I'm
tired."

When the doctor had closed the door he lifted himself to his elbow,
swung his feet out upon the floor and stood up; then, faint as he was,
he began to stoop and raise himself, flexing his arms, meanwhile, as if
performing a calisthenic exercise. He was possessed by the one idea,
that he must succeed while there was still time.

The nurse found him face downwa