II

The physical comfort of his club was most agreeable after his recent

ordeal, but he enjoyed it only a few days, then began to look about for

a suitable place in which to end his grim comedy. He selected the spot

with little delay--a sharp turn in a hillside road that wound down from

the heights near Spuyten Duyvil--he had often passed it in summer and

knew the danger well. If his automobile went over the edge, now that the

roads were icy, who could say it was not accidental?

He did not advise Muriel of his return, fearing to trust himself either

to write or to telephone, but spent much time in front of the morocco

case with its three photographs, longing desperately to see her and the

children.

When he felt that an auspicious time had arrived, he 'phoned his friend,

Dr. Herkimer, and invited himself to dinner. Herkimer was delighted, and

a few evenings later the clubman motored out toward Yonkers, where he

was made welcome and spent an agreeable evening.

"Where's your chauffeur?" the doctor inquired as his guest drew on his

fur coat and driving-gloves, preparatory to leaving.

"I let him go to-night. I thought I'd enjoy running the machine, for a

change."

"The roads are bad; be careful you don't skid on the hills. I nearly

went over to-day."

Murray promised to heed the warning, and a few moments later was gliding

toward the city.

The beauty of this cold, sharp night was inspiriting; the moon was

brilliant; the air was charged with life and vigor. It gave him a thrill

to realize that he was sweeping to probable death; that nothing now

could intervene to thwart him, and while, of course, there was the

unpleasant possibility that a plunge over the declivity might do no more

than maim him, he had studied the place carefully and intended to reduce

that chance to a minimum by driving his car down the hill with

sufficient velocity to hurl it far out over the edge. There were

railroad tracks beneath; anything short of instant death would be

miraculous.

As he came out upon the heights at last it occurred to him that he was

behaving very well for a man about to die. His hand was steady, his

heart was not greatly quickened, he was absolutely sane and healthy and

full of the desire to live. A short distance from the crest he stopped

his machine, then sat motionless for a few moments drinking in the

beauty of the night and taking his farewell of Muriel. When he had

arrived at peace with himself he fixed his wife's image in his mind,

then, thrusting down the accelerator, let in the clutch. There was a

jar, a jerk, a spasmodic shudder of the machinery; the motor went dead.

This unexpected interruption affected Murray oddly, until he realized

that after stopping the car he had neglected to shift his gears to

neutral. With an imprecation at his stupidity he clambered out and

cranked the motor. When it failed to start he primed his carbureter and

cranked again. It was an expensive, foreign-built machine, and one turn

should have served to set it going, but, strangely enough, there was no

explosion. For fifteen minutes he did everything his limited knowledge

permitted, but the car remained stationary upon the crest of the hill, a

stubborn, lifeless mass of metal.

Evidently that jerk had wrought havoc with some delicate adjustment, he

reasoned, perhaps the wiring, but it was too dark to diagnose just where

the trouble lay. It was cold, also, and his numb fingers refused to be

of much assistance. He gave over his efforts finally, and stared about

with a troubled look in his eyes. This was childish, utterly idiotic. He

wanted to laugh, but instead he cursed, then cranked the motor viciously

until the sweat stood out upon his forehead.

An hour later he was towed into town behind a rescue-car summoned by

telephone from the nearest garage. As he left his machine to board a

Subway train, the mechanic announced:

"Maybe it was a good thing you broke down before you hit that hill,

boss. There was a bad accident at the turn, to-day; the police are going

to close the street till spring."

Murray was not superstitious, but, recalling his many failures at

Goldfield, he decided he would make no further attempt to do away with

himself by means of his motor-car. Now that this particular road was

closed to traffic, he knew of no other place so favorable to his

project, and, inasmuch as the time was growing short, to be only

partially successful in his attempt would mean utter ruin. With no

little regret, therefore, he made up his mind to fall back upon poison,

which at least was certain, even though possessed of obvious drawbacks.

His experience with DeVoe had rendered him a bit cynical regarding the

value of friendship, hence it was with no fear of a checkmate that he

telephoned to Dr. Herkimer and made an appointment for that afternoon.

When the doctor arrived at the club, Murray laid the matter before him

in a concise, cold-blooded manner, and was relieved to hear him voice

exactly the words DeVoe had used.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to call here for me to-morrow morning. You will find me dead

in my bed. I want you to examine me and call it heart failure or

whatever you think best. Your word will be sufficient; there will be no

suspicion, no further examination, at least, until the poison I intend

to use will have had time to disappear or change its form."

"And why should I do this?" The doctor looked his friend over oddly.

"Here is one reason which I hope is sufficient." Murray held out a

promissory note for the same amount as the one he had executed for

DeVoe.

Herkimer took it, then, as he read the figures, his face paled. Crushing

it in his palm, he rose, and in a voice harsh with fury unloosed a

stream of profanity that surprised his hearer.

"You contemptible, short-bred loafer!" he concluded. "What do you take

me for? What makes you think I'd do such a rotten thing as that?"

Murray smiled. "You'll _have_ to, old man. It isn't pleasant, of course,

but you won't allow Muriel and the children to lose that money. I like

your spirit, but I shall kill myself just the same, and it's up to you

to see that they are not ruined."

Again Herkimer became incoherent.

"Oh, swear as much as you please, I'm going to do it, nevertheless. I've

made a wretched failure of everything else, but I intend to right one of

my wrongs while there is time."

"Right! Wrong!" bellowed the physician. "Damn it, man! You're asking me

to help you steal a million dollars. Does that occur to you?"

"The end justifies the means in this case. You're not rich. That

twenty-five thousand--"

Herkimer flung the paper at the speaker.

"Well, if you won't take my money, you'll have to help me, out

of friendship. At nine o'clock to-morrow morning I shall be dead.

Knowing the truth and all it means, you'll _have_ to come.

You--_can't--stay--away_."

"Oh, is that so?" the doctor mocked, furiously. "I'll show you whether I

can or not." He jerked his watch from his pocket and consulted it.

"There's a train for Boston in twenty minutes and I'm going to take it.

I couldn't get back here in time even if I wanted to. Now, kill yourself

and be damned to you." He seized his hat and rushed out of the room,

slamming the door behind him.

A moment later Murray heard a taxi-cab whir noisily away from the

club-house door.

Manifestly, there were more difficulties in the way of this enterprise

than he had counted upon. Without the co-operation of some reliable

physician the clubman dared not do away with himself in New York;

coroners are curious, medical attention is too prompt, he was too well

known, the very existence of that tremendous amount of life insurance

would lead to investigation. He decided to go hunting, and he knew just

the right place to go, too, he thought.

Several years before he had joined a gunning club which owned a vast

expanse of rice-fields and marsh lands in North Carolina, and, knowing

the place thoroughly, he concluded that it offered perfect facilities

for such an action as he contemplated. Accordingly, he packed his guns,

wired for a guide, and boarded a train for the South that very night. In

his pocket he carried a vial containing twenty-five grains of powdered

cocaine.

The club launch met him at Boonville, the nearest station, and during

the twenty-mile trip down the Sound he learned all he wished to know.

The shooting was well-nigh over; there were no other members at the

club-house; he would have the place all to himself.

For several days he hunted diligently, taking pains to write numerous

letters to his friends, and among others to Muriel. It was his first

letter since their parting, and the strain of holding his pen within

formal bounds was almost too much for him. It was a pity she would never

understand his motives in doing this thing, he reflected. It was a pity

he had never understood his own feelings before it was too late.

Manlike, he had thrown away the only precious thing of his life while

searching for counterfeit joys, and, man-like, he regretted his folly

now that he had lost her.

That evening he informed his guide that he intended to hunt by himself

on the following morning, and in answer to the old negro's warning

assured him that he knew the channels well and was amply able to handle

a canoe.

He rose early, forced himself to eat a substantial breakfast, for the

sake of appearances, then set out in his Peterboro. The morning was

chilly and he had purposely donned a heavy sweater, shell vest, leather

coat, and hip-boots. He paddled down the river for a mile or more, then

let his craft drift with the current. Far away on one horizon was a

dark, low-lying fringe of pines marking the mainland; two miles to

seaward sounded the slow rumble of the restless Atlantic; on every hand

were acres upon acres, miles upon miles of waving marsh-grass interlaced

with creeks and channels; nowhere was there a sign of human life.

He took the little bottle from his pocket, reached over the side and

filled it with water. He replaced the cork and shook the vial until the

white powder it contained was thoroughly dissolved. There were

twenty-five grains of it, eight fatal doses, and he had seen that it was

fresh. This time there could be no question of failure, he reasoned. Nor

was there much chance of discovery, for after that drug had remained in

his body for a few hours it would be exceedingly difficult of

identification, even at the hands of an expert toxicologist. But there

were no experts in this country, no doctors at all, in fact, this side

of Boonville, twenty miles away.

He marveled at his coolness as he flung the cork into the stream and

raised the bottle to his lips. His pulse was even, his mind was

untroubled. He drank the contents, filled the bottle and let it sink;

then rose to his feet, and, bearing his weight upon the gunwale of his

canoe, swamped it.

Burdened as he was with shells and hunting-gear he sank, but the cold

water sent him fighting and gasping to the surface again. The blind

instinct of self-preservation mastered him and, being a powerful

swimmer, he struck out. He had planned too well, however. His boots

filled, his clothing became wet and he went down for a second time. Then

commenced a senseless, terrible struggle, the more terrible because the

man fought against his own determination. He rose slowly to the surface,

but the shore was far away, the canoe, bottom up, was out of reach. He

gasped wildly for breath as his face emerged, but instead of air he

inhaled water into his lungs. He choked, horrible convulsions seized

him, his limbs threshed, his ears roared, his chest was bursting. He

rose and sank, rose and sank, enduring the agony of suffocation, all the

time fighting with a strong man's desperation. After a time he seemed to

hear shouting; something tugged and hauled at him; he discovered he

could breathe again. His senses wavered, left him, returned; he saw

faces bending above him. A moment later he heard his name spoken, then

found himself awash in the bottom of a gamekeeper's batteau.

As in a dream he heard his rescuers explain that they had been out in

search of poachers and had rounded the bend below in time to behold him

struggling for his life. They were hurrying him back to the club-house

now as fast as arms and oars could propel them, and after he had gained

sufficient strength he sat up.

He strove to answer their excited questions, but could not speak. A

strange paralysis numbed his vocal cords; he could not swallow; his

tongue was thick and unmanageable. This silence alarmed the wardens, but

Murray knew it to be nothing more than a local anæsthesia due to the

contact of the cocaine. He became conscious of feeling very wretched.

They helped him up to the club-house, and on the way he caught glimpses

of horrified black faces. He saw the superintendent preparing to send to

Boonville for a doctor, but, knowing that the launch had already left,

calculated the time it would take for a canoe to make the trip, and was

vaguely amused to realize that all this excitement was useless. He

experienced a feeling of triumph at the knowledge that he had succeeded

in spite of all.

A short time later he was in bed, packed in warm blankets and hot-water

bags, but through it all he maintained that distressing dumbness.

Despite the artificial heat his hands and feet tingled, as if asleep,

then became entirely numb, and he reasoned that the cocaine had begun to

affect his circulation. He noted how the chill crept upward slowly,

showing that the drug was working. On the mantel opposite he saw Muriel

smiling at him from the morocco case and realized that she was very

beautiful. After a time her outlines became less distinct, which told

him that his optic nerve was becoming affected. Next the contents of the

room grew hazy. That was quite as it should be.

He was much interested to note his heart action, which by now had become

very erratic. Every pulsation that ran through him sounded as plainly in

his ears as a drum-beat. He noticed that they were regular for a time,

then gradually increased in speed until his heart raced like a runaway

motor, then ceased suddenly, began again slowly, faintly, grew slower

and fainter, until with every flutter he thought, "This is the end!"

When this phenomenon had been repeated time after time the sick man

endeavored to assist the poison's effect. At each feeble recovery of his

heart he held his breath and strained with all his might, striving by

every force of will to stop the systolic action.

As he had often heard that men live again their evil deeds in the hour

of dissolution, and while he had perhaps more than the average number of

sins upon his soul, he determined to die thinking only of pleasant

things, if possible. He recalled his wedding-day, and pictured Muriel as

she had appeared that morning. How sweet and gentle she had been, what a

wonderful time it had proved for him. They had sailed for the

Mediterranean on the following morning, landing at Naples, where they

had spent a week. From there they had gone to Rome for three dreamlike

months and then to Nice and to Cairo, all the time in a lovers'

paradise. From Egypt they had turned back to Morocco. Yes, Morocco, and

how she had loved it there. Thence they had journeyed--where? To Spain,

of course. Murray realized that his mind was working more slowly, which

meant that the circulation to his brain was becoming 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 downward upon his bed and sounded a quick

alarm. All that night Stormfield sat beside him, his eyes grave, his

brow furrowed anxiously. At intervals a woman came to the door, then at

a sign from the watcher disappeared noiselessly. Thereafter Murray was

never left alone.

A day or two later he complained of this over-attention, saying that the

nurse's constant presence annoyed him, but Stormfield paid no attention.

After a time the physician startled him by inquiring, abruptly:

"See here, Murray, what did you take?"

"I don't understand."

"Yes, you do."

"Why--What makes you think I took anything?"

"Come, come! I'm a specialist; I have some intelligence."

There was a pause, then the sick man finally admitted, "I took

twenty-five grains of cocaine."

"_Twenty-five grains!_ God! It's incredible! Eight grains is the largest

dose on record. You're dreaming, or else the drug was stale."

"I was particular to see that it was fresh."

Stormfield paced the room, shaking his head and muttering. "I wouldn't

dare report such a thing; I'd be called a faker, and yet--there are no

hard-and-fast laws of medicine." He stopped and stared at his patient.

"What the devil prompted you to do it--with such a wife?"

"That's just it," the latter cried, miserably. "Oh, you've done for her

a great injury by saving me, Doctor. But I won't allow it. I--won't!"

"I see!" The doctor went to the door, where he motioned some one to

enter.

A woman rose from her chair in the hall and came swiftly to the bedside.

Her face showed the signs of a long and sleepless vigil, but her eyes

were aflame with a hunger that held Butler Murray spellbound and amazed.

"_You!_" he said, weakly. "When did you come?"

"I have been here for days," she answered. "Did you think I could stay

away?"

"My--Muriel." He held up his shaking arms, whereupon she knelt and took

his tired head to her breast.

"I thought I was doing right," he confided, after he had told her

everything, "but I see now that I was all wrong."

"God will name the day," she declared, simply, "and until He does no man

can say 'I will.'"

"Are you quite sure you have acted wisely in showing me my folly?

Remember we are poor. Even yet I might make you rich again, for there is

time, and--I'm not worth this great sacrifice."

"Sacrifice? This is the day of our triumph, dear. When we had all those

other riches we never knew contentment, love, or happiness. Now we can

start again, with nothing but ourselves and our children. We won't have

time to be unhappy. Are you willing to try with me?"

He stroked her soft hair lovingly and smiled up into her eyes. "DeVoe

was right, there _is_ a Power. I shall pray God every day to spare me,

sweetheart, for now I want to live."