ith him all the day?'

'All the day.'

'And you say you thought he became somewhat lethargic about five
o'clock?'

'That is so. Not enough to take particular note of at the time, but in
the light of what has happened since, I recall it to mind.'

'Now think,' he said presently, 'has he not, say since lunch, shown any
symptom of light-headedness or anything of that sort?'

'Thank you for asking that, doctor,' I replied. 'You have reminded me
of something which I had forgotten. It may mean nothing, but at a time
like this one reflects upon the minutiae of life. We were walking
through a field this afternoon, which was dotted with rough granite
rocks. I fancy he must have hitched his foot in one of them; at any
rate, he would have fallen heavily but for Captain Springfield, who
just in the nick of time helped him up. But he showed no signs of
light-headedness, not the slightest. We were all acting like a lot of
children, and romped as though we were boys home from school. The
happening seemed perfectly natural to me at the time, and but for your
question I should not have mentioned it.'

'I am going to speak to you in an entirely unprofessional way, Captain
Luscombe,' said the doctor. 'I am not sure, and therefore I speak with
hesitation. But it looks to me as though your friend had been
poisoned. I don't know how it could have happened, because, as far as
I can judge, you account for almost every minute of his time since this
morning. But all his symptoms point in that direction.'

'May they not be the result of some slow-working malady which has been
in his system for years?' I asked.

Dr. Merril shook his head. 'Hardly,' he replied; 'if the malady were
slow-working, it would not have expressed itself so suddenly. In the
case of a slow-working poison, too, his suffering would have been of a
long drawn-out nature. This is altogether different. A few hours ago
he was, according to your account, active, buoyant, strong. He was
playing games with you in the fields, as though he were a boy.
Now,'--and the doctor looked significantly at the bed.

'Can you suggest nothing?' I asked again.

The doctor shook his head. 'It is just as well to be frank,' he
replied. 'The thing is a mystery to me. His symptoms baffle me. He
has drunk nothing but what you have told me of, he has eaten nothing
except what has been consumed by the whole household. I don't know
what to say.'

'And yet he'll die if noth