rder to avert worse consequences, and yet
he dared not--the words died away upon his lips.

"Don't stand like that, Bruce," said Brogten indignantly, "the least you
can do is to make yourself useful. Go and get the key of De Vayne's
rooms from the porter's lodge. Stop, though! it will probably be in his
pocket. Yes, here it is. Run and unlock his door, while we carry him
to bed."

Bruce took the key with trembling hand, and shook so violently with
nervous agitation that he could hardly make his way across the court.
The others carried De Vayne to his bedroom as quickly as they could, and
anxiously awaited the doctor's arrival. The livid face, with the dry
foam upon the lips, filled them with alarm, but they had not any
conception what to do, and fancied that De Vayne was in a fit.

It took Dr Masham a very short time to see that his patient was
suffering from the influence of some poison, and when he discovered
this, he cleared the room, and at once applied the proper remedies. But
time had been lost already, and he was the less able to set to work at
first from his complete ignorance of what had happened. He sat up all
night with his patient, but was more than doubtful whether it was not
too late to save his life.

The news that De Vayne had been seized with a fit at Kennedy's rooms
soon changed into a darker rumour. Men had not forgotten the affair of
Hazlet, and they suspected that some foul play had been practised on one
whom all who knew him loved, and whom all, though personally
unacquainted with him, heartily respected. That this was really the
fact soon ceased to be a secret; but who was guilty, and what had been
the manner or motives of the crime remained unknown, and this
uncertainty left room for the wildest surmises.

The dons were not slow to hear of what had happened, and they regarded
the matter in so serious a light, that they summoned a Seniority for its
immediate investigation. Kennedy was obviously the first person of whom
to make inquiries, and he told them exactly what had occurred, viz, that
De Vayne after drinking a single glass of wine, fell back in his chair
in the condition wherein he still continued. "Was anything the matter
with the wine, Mr Kennedy?" asked Mr Norton, who, as one of the
tutors, had a seat on the board.

"Nothing, sir; it was the same which we were all drinking."

"And without any bad effects?"

"Yes, sir."

"But, Mr Kennedy, there seems strong reason to