Pale and trembling with excitement, Violet knelt at the side of the body, her eyes fastened with burning intensity upon the white, still face. Had she deceived herself, or did she really see the linen upon her mother’s breast move slightly? Who has not imagined similar improbabilities when gazing upon the corpse of a loved one? The closed eyes seem striving to open, the chest appears to rise and fall; even one may fancy that the breath flutters feebly from between the parted lips. But what Violet Arleigh saw as she knelt at the side of the couch was this: A shiver seemed to run over the still, rigid form, and one hand, lying upon the breast, moved slightly. With a stifled cry, the girl started to her feet, and rushing to the door of the room where the physician sat, threw it open.
“Doctor Danton!”—her voice low and awe-stricken—“for the love of Heaven, come to my mother; she is——”
The physician raised the fore-finger of his right hand and laid it lightly upon her lips with a gesture of silence.
“Hush!” he whispered, cautiously; “do not let any one hear you, Violet. Listen to me. You have known me all your life; you know that Rosamond Arleigh was very dear to me; you will believe me when I say that I have good reason to believe that a terrible crime has been attempted.”
“Doctor Danton!”
Her voice rang out in wild alarm.
“It is true, my dear. It is so apparently true, and I am so fully convinced of foul play, that I have taken certain steps in the matter. Wait a moment, my child; I will explain all when I have looked at your mother.”
He stepped swiftly, noiselessly to the side of the couch, and gazed long and earnestly into the still, white face. The doctor nodded gravely. He was a fine-looking man of middle age, with a face that any woman would trust, with its deep, gray eyes, and dark hair just touched with silver.
“It is as I thought,” he said.
He drew from his pocket a small leathern case, and opening it, selected a vial from the half dozen that it contained. He proceeded to pour a few drops between the teeth of the supposed dead woman.