Elsie gave another shriek, sprang off the sofa, threw herself at her sister's feet, clutching her dress with both hands, and cried out:
"Do something—anything! I shall go crazy—my brain is burning! I won't live—I tell you I won't live if you don't stop this."
Elizabeth shook off her grasp, not angrily, not impatiently even, but with a sudden change of expression, as if Elsie's despair had brought back some half-forgotten resolution, and given her wild strength once more.
"You will not suffer," she said, drearily. "You are safe."
"But you—what will become of you?" groaned the girl.
"Let go my dress—get up, Elsie! See, I am calm. I tell you, no harm will come to you—get up."
Elsie staggered to her feet, and sat down on the sofa with a burst of tears.
"I'd rather kill myself than see you tormented so!" she cried. "I have the poison yet—I've always kept it. If they don't stop, Elizabeth, they shall find us dead and cold——"
"Stop!" said Elizabeth. "I won't hear such wicked words! The danger is mine, the ruin and disgrace are mine—all mine; but I do not talk of killing myself."
"You are so brave," moaned Elsie, "and I am such a poor, weak thing. Oh, oh! This will kill me either way, I know it will!"