"He looked simple amazement, as he would have done, had it been a rock or flower; he did not offer to take it,—still I held it out.
"'Will you examine the contents,' I asked, 'and report to me the result?'
"'Certainly I will, Miss Axtell,' he said; and with it he walked to the office.
"I watched him through the window. I saw him coolly apply various tests.
The third one seemed satisfactory.
"He came to the door. I was very near, and went in
"'This is nothing Miss Mary had,—it is poison,' he said.
"He was innocent; I knew it in the very depth of my soul. How could I tell him the deed his hand had done? But I must, and I did. I told him how Chloe had brought the cup to me. When I had done, he said,—
"'You believe this of me?'
"I answered,—
"'The cup is now in your hand; judge you of its work'; and I told him how I had seen him come out the night before,—that I was in the shrubbery when he went to the office.