pse. Adverse fortune, in my
case, subjected me to this last and worst trial of endurance. Two months
passed--months of pain aggravated by anxiety--before I was able to help
Eunice and Miss Jillgall personally with my sympathy and advice.

During this interval, I heard regularly from the friendly and faithful
Selina.

Terror and suspense, courageously endured day after day, seem to have
broken down her resistance, poor soul, when Eunice's good name and
Eunice's tranquillity were threatened by the most infamous of false
accusations. From that time, Miss Jillgall's method of expressing
herself betrayed a gradual deterioration. I shall avoid presenting at a
disadvantage a correspondent who has claims on my gratitude, if I give
the substance only of what she wrote--assisted by the newspaper which
she sent to me, while the legal proceedings were in progress.

Honest indignation does sometimes counsel us wisely. When the doctor
left Miss Jillgall, in anger and in haste, he had determined on taking
the course from which, as a humane man and a faithful friend, he had
hitherto recoiled. It was no time, now, to shrink from the prospect of
an exposure. The one hope of successfully encountering the vindictive
wickedness of Helena lay in the resolution to be beforehand with her, in
the appeal to the magistrates with which she had threatened Eunice and
Miss Jillgall. The doctor's sworn information stated the whole terrible
case of the poisoning, ranging from his first suspicions and their
confirmation, to Helena's atrocious attempt to accuse her innocent
sister of her own guilt. So firmly were the magistrates convinced of the
serious nature of the case thus stated, that they did not hesitate
to issue their warrant. Among the witnesses whose attendance was
immediately secured, by the legal adviser to whom the doctor applied,
were the farmer and his wife.

Helena was arrested while she was dressing to go out. Her composure was
not for a moment disturbed. "I was on my way," she said coolly, "to make
a statement before the justices. The sooner they hear what I have to say
the better."

The attempt of this shameless wretch to "turn the tables" on poor
Eunice--suggested, as I afterward discovered, by the record of family
history which she had quoted in her journal--was defeated with ease. The
farmer and his wife proved the date at which Eunice had left her place
of residence under their roof. The doctor's evidence followed. He
prove