yes. She rested on
him and on the bed like a leaden weight. He kissed her fondly, a great
agony filling his soul.

Adam Adams looked around the room. On the table rested a glass, with a
dirty substance at the bottom. He tasted the stuff. It was sweetishly
bitter. He ran outside.

"Tell me at once, did Matlock Styles say anything about poisoning this
young lady?" he demanded, catching the old woman by the arm. "The
truth now, remember!"

"No, he didn't say anything. But he had some poison, a powder--you put
it in water. It kills a person in six to ten hours, sure."

"We must have a doctor!"

Tom Ostrello had heard the talk and saw what had happened.

"I'll get a doctor, if you'll watch the old woman. I can get a horse
at Styles' farm."

"Do it, and hurry!" cried Raymond. "Take the best horse and bring the
doctor at once. Tell him it is poison--a powder in water. Offer him
any amount of money--"

"I will!" Ostrello shouted back. He was running down the hill path
with the swiftness of a college sprinter. In a moment the bushes hid
him from sight.

Adam Adams was talking to the old woman. "You know about the poison.
Is there nothing we can give her to counteract the effects? Do
something, and I'll not be so hard on you when you stand up for trial."

"I can do nothing. But wait, yes, I can! Make a fire, and boil some
water!"

She ran to the back of the cottage and to some bushes growing close at
hand. With her bare hands she dug at the roots and tore them up,
stripping off the bark with her teeth. Adam Adams comprehended, and
lit a fire and set on the kettle to boil. Then the roots were placed
in the boiling water.

"Make her drink--it will do her good," said the old woman. "I swear it
will help, at least a little--until the doctor comes." And with
shaking hands, she poured the concoction she had made into a saucer to
cool.

It was no easy matter to get Margaret to swallow, but after a while it
was accomplished, and her heart appeared to beat a trifle more
steadily. But still she did not rouse up or open her eyes, and Raymond
was as depressed as before.

"We can't overcome the effects of the drug," he groaned. "Oh, if only
the doctor would come!"

"Give her some more," said the old woman. "Give her all of it," and
this was done.

Slowly the time dragged by, until they heard a shouting in the
distance, followed by a pistol shot. Then two horses burst into view,
one ridden by