the moment she almost forgot her own
situation. The doctor continued thoughtfully:

"He is not sufficiently ill to be given anything without his consent,
and as things are I daren't press him too much; he might think it
peculiar.... No, it is no good; there has got to be some other way,
something altogether different. Quickly too. To postpone it now would
be the greatest risk of all.... It would have been very natural to
have two members of a family fall ill with the same disease, but it
can't be helped now. I happen to have some stuff here which will
accomplish my purpose just as satisfactorily. That's why I came back
this afternoon; I don't want to waste any time."

Esther's brief elation vanished like a bubble into the air. Some fresh
horror was afoot. What was this man plotting now? She held her breath
and listened painfully. She heard the doors of the oak armoire creak
on their hinges as they swung open, then came the click of a glass jar.
Holliday spoke, a tinge of fascinated curiosity in his tone.

"What sort of stuff do you mean? Not any kind of poison?"

"Good Lord, no! That would be asking for trouble. This must be a
natural death; there's no good attempting anything else. Here's the
thing I propose to use."

"What is it? It looks harmless."

"Simply tetanus."

She thought that her heart entirely stopped beating. Tetanus! Gripped
by a sickening fear she forced herself to lie quite still, while waves
of horror passed over. She heard as in a dream the stifled ejaculation
of the young man.

"Tetanus ... why, God in heaven, that's lock-jaw!"

"Quite. The anti-toxin for it has been discovered, as a matter of
fact. I have discovered it. However, that is not known to the public
yet; it was very recent."

There was the sound of a long-drawn, shuddering gasp.

"But how do you mean to ... won't it be dangerous?" Holliday faltered.

"As it happens it is quite simple--a piece of luck. In fact that is
why I thought of tetanus. It seems Clifford has been going about for
nearly a week with an open cut on his thumb. Half the time there's no
bandage on it, although I've warned him more than once of the risk of
infection. This morning his aunt persuaded him to let me disinfect it
properly and bandage it. So that is what I am going to do when I get
back this evening."

There was a choking sound, as if Holliday were in danger of being sick.
A chair scraped on the floor; there was the cl