him, and would never consent to their marriage; that if she would
poison me, they would be married and go to California to live; and,
therefore, that it would be well for her to poison me before Mrs.
Pattmore died."

"What!" I exclaimed, "is Mrs. Pattmore dying? What is her disease?"

"I do not know," replied the Captain; "but I fear that _she, also, has
been poisoned_."

"How long is it since you had this talk with Annie?" I inquired.

"About three days ago, and she has been sick abed with excitement and
remorse ever since. She says that she expects to hear of Mrs. Pattmore's
death at any time, and she is sure that Pattmore has poisoned her. Mr.
Chapman told me, when I last saw him, Mr. Pinkerton, that you were the
only person who could help me; and so I have come to you to save Mrs.
Pattmore and my sister. I feel that Mr. Chapman was right, Mr.
Pinkerton, and I beg you to give me your assistance--I will pay you
liberally."

_CHAPTER III._

When the Captain had finished his almost incredible story, I hardly knew
what to make of it. It was impossible to doubt his word; yet it seemed
almost equally hard to believe that his sister could have tried to
murder him. Pattmore's intention of killing his wife in order to marry
Annie, was another piece of cold-blooded villainy which was almost past
belief. The question frequently came into my mind: Are all the parties
in their right minds? After I had thought about the matter in silence a
few minutes, I said:

"Well, Captain Sumner, yours is certainly a strange case, and I cannot
give you any answer until I have had time for reflection. Return in
three hours and I will then tell you my decision. I will help you if I
possibly can do so."

He rose to go, but stopped a moment as he reached the door, and said,
with the utmost simplicity and confidence:

"I _know_ you can help me if you will do so, and no one else can."

After he had gone, I sent a man to the Captain's boarding house with
instructions to learn all he could about the boarders. He reported that,
among others, there was a Captain Sumner boarding there with his sister,
Mrs. Annie Thayer. My detective also learned many things about the
Captain and his sister which corroborated the account given by the
Captain. Having satisfied myself that the Captain's story was true--in
part at least--I sat down to reflect upon the strange medley which he
had told me.

Mrs. Thayer had, undoubtedly, committed a serio