s is murder," he says, weak-like. And he tries to get up again, but
this time he falls to the floor in a dead faint.

"It's a dern short fifteen minutes," I thinks to myself. "That perfessor
must of put more science into Henry's pill than he thought he did fur it
to of knocked him out this quick. It ain't skeercly three minutes."

When Henry falls the woman staggers and tries to throw herself on top
of him. The corners of her mouth was all drawed down, and her eyes was
turned up. But she don't yell none. She can't. She tries, but she jest
gurgles in her throat. The perfessor won't let her fall acrost Henry.
He ketches her. "Sit up, Jane," he says, with that Estelle look onto his
face, "and let us have a talk."

She looks at him with no more sense in her face than a piece of putty
has got. But she can't look away from him.

And I'm kind o' paralyzed, too. If that feller laying on the floor
had only jest kicked oncet, or grunted, or done something, I could of
loosened up and yelled, and I would of. I jest NEEDED to fetch a yell.
But Henry ain't more'n dropped down there till I'm feeling jest like
he'd ALWAYS been there, and I'd ALWAYS been staring into that room, and
the last word any one spoke was said hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

"You're a murderer," says Jane in a whisper, looking at the perfessor in
that stare-eyed way. "You're a MURDERER," she says, saying it like she
was trying to make herself feel sure he really was one.

"Murder!" says the perfessor. "Did you think I was going to run any
chances for a pup like him? He's scared, that's all. He's just fainted
through fright. He's a coward. Those pills were both just bread and
sugar. He'll be all right in a minute or two. I've just been showing
you that the fellow hasn't got nerve enough nor brains enough for a fine
woman like you, Jane," he says.

Then Jane begins to sob and laugh, both to oncet, kind o' wild like, her
voice clucking like a hen does, and she says:

"It's worse then, it's worse! It's worse for me than if it were a
murder! Some farces can be more tragic than any tragedy ever was," she
says. Or they was words to that effect.

And if Henry had of been really dead she couldn't of took it no harder
than she begun to take it now when she saw he was alive, but jest wasn't
no good. But I seen she was taking on fur herself now more'n fur Henry.
Doctor Kirby always use to say women is made unlike most other animals
in many ways. When they is f