The second injection proved of as little avail as the first, and from the great man’s grave expression I began to fear the worst. No sign of life asserted itself. To all appearance my adored had passed away.
Suddenly he rose, and, turning to her ladyship, said in broken English—
“Now, madam, you will tell me, please, how this occurred.”
“I do not know. Doctor Colkirk has told you all I know about it.”
“But, just as Doctor Hoefer entered, you were telling me about something mysterious that had happened here. What was that?”
She pursed her lips for a moment, and glanced quickly at the old German.
“It is a most serious thing. I cannot make it out. There is some mystery in the morning-room.”
“Ach!” exclaimed Hoefer, with a grunt—“a mystery! The symptoms of the lady are in themselves mysterious. Please explain the mystery of the room.”
“Well,” she answered, “when I entered, after the departure of the visitor, and discovered my cousin lying on the floor unconscious, I was quite well; but when I left I experienced a most curious sensation, just as though all my limbs were benumbed. I, too, almost lost consciousness while in the cab in search of Doctor Colkirk. But the most curious part of the affair is that my maid and the housemaid, who rushed in when I raised the alarm, experienced the very same sensation. It was as though we were struck by an icy hand—the Hand of Death.”
“There is something very uncanny about that,” I observed, puzzled.