"Uncle James!"
"'Is ludship! Oh, Gawd!"
The policemen and the nurse eyed us curiously, but the surgeon by the bed kept his attention concentrated on the wan cheeks of the inert figure, fingers pressing lightly on the pulse of a hand that lay outside the sheets. Swiftly he stooped, with a low ejaculation to the nurse. She swabbed the figure's arm with a dab of cotton, and the needle was driven home.
"Caught him up in time," remarked the surgeon impartially. "Best leave him while it acts."
He turned to us.
"I take it you recognize him, gentlemen."
"He is my uncle," answered Hugh dully.
"Ah! I fancy you will be able to secure a few words with him after the strychnia has taken hold, but he is slipping fast."
One of the policemen stepped forward.
"I am from the Detective Bureau," he said. "Do you know how this happened?"