Argosy, Vol. 123, No. 2 — page 35: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE LITTLE BLUE BOX. and go out, leaving something of the mag- netic strength of his presence in the room. Indeed, this appeared to be a tonic to the girl, for Rhoda thought that she grew vis- ibly a trifle stronger after each of these visits. Amy had the will to live, and at the end of the week, during which time Rhoda had remained undecided and had given her nothing more from the little blue box, it was certain that she would get well much faster than had seemed possible in the be- ginning. It was, however, the visits of Martin Hewes that brought sentence of death upon Amy Barker. : Rhoda could not more endure those daily visits to the sick room than she could en- dure the prospect of a re-creation of the situation as it had been, with Amy going about in buoyant strength and Martin Hewes dividing his attentions between them. Instinctively she felt that in the end the strength of the weak would overcome her. Rhoda decided to use the arsenic. Of course she did not admit to herself . that she had made up her mind to kill the sick girl there in her bed, nor that she had chosen the arsenic because it would cause suffering. But she knew that she would take the blue box out of her apron pocket when she was alone in the house with Amy, that she would give a much larger dose than usual with the assurance to herself that it was only to keep the little devil where she belonged, and that before Dr. Matthewson could be brought from the vil- lage Amy Barker would be beyond the power of medicine. Circumstances worked together to give her immediate opportunity of the most fa- vorable kind. The spring’s work pressed to be done because the frost had been late getting out of the ground, and on the Mon- day following that of Amy’s attack Hewes was up long before daylight and in the fields as soon as he could see to work. Rhoda had got his breakfast by lamplight. Soon after sunrise her kitchen duties were finished. She prepared the toast and milk for Amy. They were not only alone to- gether in the house, but Martin was plant- ing corn in a remote field—without having 169 made his morning visit. There was no rea- son to expect the presence of a third per- son there until he came in for dinner at noon. Rhoda’s mind leaped ahead, refusing to recognize the true nature of the act which she was about to commit within the next ten minutes. If the little dose of arsenic that she intended to give Amy should make the girl: worse, very much worse, then it would be necessary to get help, as the doc- tor had said. She, Rhoda, would run to the field for Martin. Of course she could not be expected to know that Amy was about to die. So Martin would bring the horses into the barn, take off their work harness, and put a driving harness on one of them. Then he would go to the village, and he might find Dr. Matthewson out-on ° his round of calls. He probably would find him out in the morning. Amy did not have much chance. She was much better when Rhoda in- spected her closely in the clear morning light. She could as yet barely lift her head from the pillow, but the faint tint of health was returning to her skin. And she smiled at her stepmother. ‘“-You’ve been good to me,” she said. That remark roused such fury in Rhoda Barker that she shut both hands hard upon the tray and hurried to the little table that she was in the habit of moving up to the bedside. Was the girl a liar or a fool? Could nothing make her hate? She had got angry that day in the kitchen, but it had been only a flash. And she had been steadily losing Martin to her rival! What was the matter with her? Rhoda Barker was filled with but one desire—to crush Amy, suffering, out of existence. She stood with her back to the bed, in front of the table, making a pretense of arranging the tray. The little blue box came stealthily out of her pocket. Her hand did not tremble now, so obsessed was she by her single emotion. With a spoon she took up three, or four. or maybe half a dozen times as much arsenic as she had ever given before. It disappeared in the milk. It was just then that Rhoda became con- scious of another presence in the room. MICLOOOKS ©