nal suffering. The doctor touched Jack on the shoulder,
made a sign for him to moderate his steps, and the two moved to where
his patient lay.

Garry was on the bed, outside the covering, when they entered. He was
lying on his back, his head and neck flat on a pillow, one foot resting
on the floor. He was in his trousers and shirt; his coat and waistcoat
lay where he had thrown them.

"Garry," began Jack in a low voice--"I just ran in to say that--"

The sick man did not move.

Jack stopped, and turned his head to the doctor.

"Asleep?" he whispered.

"No;--drugged. That's why I wanted you to see him before I called his
wife. Is he accustomed to this sort of thing?" and he picked up a bottle
from the table.

Jack took the phial in his hand; it was quite small, and had a glass
stopper.

"What is it, doctor?"

"I don't know. Some preparation of chloral, I should think; smells and
looks like it. I'll take it home and find out. If he's been taking this
right along he may know how much he can stand, but if he's experimenting
with it, he'll wake up some fine morning in the next world. What do you
know about it?"

"Only what I have heard Mrs. Minott say," Jack whispered behind his
hand. "He can't sleep without it, she told me. He's been under a
terrible business strain lately and couldn't stand the pressure, I
expect."

"Well, that's a little better," returned the doctor, moving the
apparently lifeless arm aside and placing his ear close to the patient's
breast. For a moment he listened intently, then he drew up a chair and
sat down beside him, his fingers on Garry's pulse.

"You don't think he's in danger, do you, doctor?" asked Jack in an
anxious tone.

"No--he'll pull through. His breathing is bad, but his heart is doing
fairly well. But he's got to stop this sort of thing." Here the old
doctor's voice rose as his indignation increased (nothing would wake
Garry). "It's criminal--it's damnable! Every time one of you New York
people get worried, or short of money or stocks, or what not, off you
go to a two-cent drug shop and buy enough poison to kill a family. It's
damnable, Breen--and you must tell Minott so when he wakes up."

Jack made no protest against being included in the denunciation. He was
too completely absorbed in the fate of the man who lay in a stupor.

"Is there anything can be done for him?" he asked.

"I can't tell yet. He may only have taken a small dose. I will watch him
for a while. B