of a fragile spider's web.

"An' what kind of flowers did all this?"

"Cape Jessamine," replied the lady; "and we were never able to discover
who sent them.

"His physicians claimed that his disorder was paralleled by similar
disturbances instanced in pathological records, but that the
contributing causes were different and that my husband's particular
debility was not induced by his devotion to flowers but aggravated by
it.

"To further complicate matters, the physician assured me that to deprive
the invalid of his floral diversions would be to remove his remaining
impulse to continued existence.

"He went on to say that he had reached the limit of his skill, and that
nothing further was to be done than to surround the sufferer with placid
considerations and neutral odors, and intimated that he disliked to
contemplate the possible result of a second contact with Cape Jessamine.

"In a short time it became evident that I possessed merely the essence
of a husband, and one day, as he wafted--that's the word, for his step
seemed to be almost devoid of specific gravity--so I repeat, one day, as
he wafted to the room in which he usually experimented with his floral
attenuations, I happened to be engaged in the dwelling adjoining the
conservatory and into which it opened.

"Presently, my duties concluded, I proceeded in the direction taken by
my husband.

"As I advanced I grew momently conscious of a ravishing fragrance which
seemed to pervade and invite the consciousness to all varieties of
agreeable surrender.

"Ah!--in a moment I recognized this pungent delight: Cape Jessamine!

"Aware of the consequences to him should he inhale anything so
transporting, I hastened forward.

"The fragrance grew stronger as I hurried on. It seemed to envelop every
delicate, fainting scent in the conservatory, and as I placed my hand
upon the door-latch leading to the section where I was positive my
husband would be found, I knew that I had traced the occasion to its
source.

"In another second I had opened the door, and there, a few feet away,
lay my unfortunate husband.

"I hurried to his side.

"His countenance, which exhibited that singular placidity which
sometimes comes with death, was as serene as a lily, and gave no
evidence of the convulsion that must have ensued.

"He was dead.

"All about him, distributed with devilish malignity and criminal intent,
were various clusters of the flowers that had transported hi