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Page 101
"Where did you meet Miss Langmore?" demanded Raymond sharply.
"Up at the old cottage on the hill. I--I didn't take her there. It
was--" She stopped short. "I can't tell you. Mat would kill me,"
she whined.
"See here, tell all you know," came sternly from Adam Adams. "I know
you. You once ran a baby farm, and a baby died, and I know how."
The old woman gave a shriek and fell on her knees, rocking to and fro.
"I knew it! I knew it would come! It can't be hid any longer! Yes, I
did it!"
"Where is Miss Langmore?" demanded Raymond impatiently.
"At the cottage on the hill. Mat took her there. He's in love with
her. Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" she began to rock to and fro again. "I
knew it would come! Murder will out, they say!"
"Take us to that cottage and be quick about it," said Raymond. "Will
you go along?" he asked of Adam Adams and Tom Ostrello.
They said they would, and set off without delay. It was rather a long
walk and the old woman was out of breath when they reached the building
near the top of the hill.
"Watch her," said the detective to Tom Ostrello, and he and Raymond
entered the cottage. As they did so, they stumbled over a person lying
on the floor.
"Margaret!" burst out the young man and caught his sweetheart in his
arms. Then he gave a gasp, and staggered with his burden to the bed.
"She is dead!"
"Dead!" ejaculated Adam Adams. "You are certain?" He placed his ear
to her heart. "No, she still lives."
"But what does this mean? Margaret! Margaret! Speak to me! What has
happened to you?"
The girl offered no reply, nor did she open her eyes. 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.
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