he Doctor. "Now out with it."

"Well," said Joe, "I know that you hate chemistry, but in spite of that
you _must_ give me a little chemical judgment. I want you to tell me,"
and she took out the surreptitiously-obtained roll of linen, unrolled it
and laid it upon the table, under the full light of the burner--"I want
you to tell me what is that dark substance which looks like black paste,
whether it is animal, vegetable, or mineral, and what you think its
properties."

"And after I _do_ tell you, if I can," said the Doctor, eyeing the
suspicious-looking mass, "I suppose that I am to be told why you wish to
know?"

"Not one word," said Joe. "At least, not at present. All your reward is
to be the honor of conversing with _me_ on the subject."

"Bravo, Empress; I rather like _that_!" said the Doctor, who _did_ like
it, nevertheless, to judge by the jolly expression of his face. "You are
a refreshing young woman, and some day I expect to see you stretch out
your arm with imperial dignity and clear off all the pigmies from the
face of the earth with a 'Go away, small people! I have had enough of
you! You may leave!'"

"Very likely," said Joe. "But meanwhile I have not quite done with
_you_. Please examine that stuff, for I am in a hurry."

"As usual!" commented the Doctor, going on to smell, inspect, and even
taste the dark compound on the cloth.

"Take care!" cried the young girl, in alarm, when she saw him apply his
tongue to the substance.

"Pshaw!" said the Doctor. "Don't be alarmed. I am so full of dangerous
ingredients myself, that the most virulent of poisons could not produce
any effect on me."

"I should not like to see you trust it too far--that is, not if I cared
for you!" said the lady, as if _she_ had been the chemist and he the
neophyte.

"Well," said the Doctor, after a moment's pause and a still closer
inspection, "you will give me no particulars, and so I shall give _you_
none. I suppose the main fact is what you want to know. The substance is
a little dried, and consequently it has lost some of its aroma. But my
impression is that it is a very powerful vegetable poison, compounded
from certain simples that grow along running streams in the tropics, and
especially in some of the West Indies."

"I thought so!" said Joe, almost involuntarily, and an unmistakeable
gleam of pleasure lighting up her face. "But would that poison produce
any effect if applied outwardly?"

"I should think so," replie