ffect. Now she had overheard enough to put her in
possession of the conflict of interests; and she had at the same time
witnessed the application to the body of the invalid, of a preparation
that was expressly ordered to be kept from the knowledge of the
physician. Taking all these things together, and jumping at a conclusion
with a rash haste which such people will sometimes exhibit--away down in
the depths of her mind she whispered the word "_poison_!" She might
never have thought of the existence of an outward poison dangerous to
human life, but she had read Mrs. Ann S. Stephens' touching story of
"The Pillow of Roses," and remembered how the life of the first lover of
Mary Stuart had been sacrificed by the introduction of a deadly bane
into the silken pillow--the very gift of love on which he so confidingly
laid his head. Might not this be something of the same kind--a murderous
practice unknown to the great body of people, and yet in the knowledge
of some peculiarly instructed? What more likely than that a lawyer whose
line of business led him into the company of criminals and made him
acquainted with their secret confessions, should have arrived at a
knowledge so dangerous and resolved to apply it for his own benefit and
the removal of a rival?

Such were the reflections of Josephine Harris, when her blood had a
little cooled down from the terrible fever of fright and anxiety into
which she had been thrown at the first discovery; and how nearly right
she was in the most important particular--the fact of an attempted
poisoning by outward application--all will recognize who remember the
interview between the lawyer and the Obi woman of Thomas Street, with
the _dark paste_ which he brought away with him as the result of that
visit.

At all events, the young girl felt that she had seen enough to remove
any doubt of the propriety of making farther researches, and to do away
with any shame that she had originally felt in playing the part of a spy
and listener. Ardent natures like hers may possibly be blamed for
adopting so readily the maxim that "the end justifies the means," and
for plunging so determinedly into what cannot be considered their own
business; but let those blame them who will, the good they accomplish
may well be made a set-off for any evil they unwittingly cause; and the
parable of the man who "fell among thieves," and the heartless wretches
who "passed by on the other side," should make us a little sl