Round the Red Lamp

liant member, and the scientific bodies which numbered him among their most illustrious confreres. There was naturally, therefore, a very widespr

seated on one side of his bed, smiling pleasantly upon the universe, with both legs jammed into one side of his breeches and his great brain about as valuable as a cap fu

lines of life. He could have cut his way to fame as a soldier, struggled to it as an explorer, bullied for it in the courts, or built it out of stone and iron as an engineer. He was born to be great, for he could plan what another man dare not do, and he could do what another man dare not plan. In surgery none could follow him. His nerve, his ju

touch, the palate-all were his masters. The bouquet of old vintages, the scent of rare exotics, the curves and tints of the daintiest potteries of Europe-it was to these that the quick-running stream of gold was transformed. And then there came his sudden mad passion for Lady Sannox, when a single interview with two challenging glances and a whispered

in London, and on its boards had first seen Miss Marion Dawson, to whom he had offered his hand, his title, and the third of a county. Since his marriage this early hobby had become distasteful to him. Even in

point to be discussed over the teacups in snug little drawing-rooms, or with the aid of a cigar in the bow windows of clubs. Bitter and plain were the comments among men upon his conduct. There was but

ce. The scandal became notorious. A learned body intimated that his name had been struck from the list of its vice-presidents. Two friends implored him to consider his professional credit. He cursed them all three, and spent forty guineas on a ba

bow. As he raised it to his lips, he held it up against the lamplight, and watched with the eye of a connoisseur the tiny scales of beeswing which floated in its rich ruby depths. The fire, as it spurted up, threw fitful lights upon his bold, clear-cut face, with its widely-opened grey eyes, its thick and yet firm lips, and the deep, square jaw, which had something Roman in its strength and its animali

hand was outstretched to the bell to order the carriage when he heard the dull thud of the knock

sir, in the consultin

t him

ink he wants y

ied Douglas Stone pe

his car

salver which had been given to his m

' Hum! The fellow is

he came from abroad, sir.

I must go somewhere else. But I'l

the forward push of the face and blink of the eyes which goes with extreme short sight. His face was swarthy, and his hair and be

, when the butler had closed the d

a Minor, but I speak Eng

e to go out,

very much that you

have an engagement which prevents

string which closed the mouth of the chamois leath

e, "and I promise you that it will not take

x. He had been there later. And the fee was an extraordinarily high one. He had been press

the case?

one! You have not, perhaps, hear

ev

a curiosity dealer, you understand, and that is why I have come to England from Smyrna, but next week I go back once mo

sir," said the surgeon, with some irritation. "

wn in a faint in the room in which I keep my wares, and sh

one, rising. "And you wi

t is worse

t th

ggers are

iso

on or what the cure. But all that is known I know, for my father was in th

e the sy

and death in

re. Why then should you pay

cure, but t

d h

absorption. It remains

hen, might

ake-bite. It is too s

of the wou

off. So said my father always. But think of where t

an's sympathy. To Douglas Stone this was already an interesting case, a

g," said he brusquely. "It is be

, it is kismet, and must be faced. I have the c

aced it with a roll of bandage and a compress of lint in his po

vercoat. "Will you take a glass of wine

away, with a protes

of the Prophet," said he. "But tell me what is the bott

chlor

to us. It is a spirit, and w

wife to go through an operat

e on, which is the first working of the poison. And then I have given

le caryatid, went out with a fluff. Pim, the butler, pushed the heavy door to, straining hard with his shoulder against the wind, while the tw

" asked Dou

ry little quiet place

'clock. Through the fogged windows he saw the blurred gas-lamps dancing past, with occasionally the broader glare of a shop front. The rain was pelting and rattling upon the leathern top of the carriage and the wheels swashed as they rolled through puddle and mud. Opposite to hi

. In an instant Douglas Stone was out, and th

t," said he

he lamplight, and a double rush of water in the gutters which swirled and gurgled towards the sewer gratings. The door which faced them was blotched and discoloured, and a faint light in the fan pane above it served to show the dust and the grime which covered it. Above, in one of the bedroom windo

l?" gasped

you left

s not s

is in a d

id so. There was no oilcloth, no mat, no hat-rack. Deep grey dust and heavy festoons of cobwebs met his eyes everywhere. Fo

sh cabinets, inlaid tables, coats of chain mail, strange pipes, and grotesque weapons. A single small lamp stood upon a bracket on the wall. Douglas Stone took it down, and picking his way among the lumber, walked over to

" said the Turk. "You know our

ak. This was no longer a woman to him. It was a

said he. "We might delay the opera

his hands in incon

t is deadly. I know, and I give you my assurance that an ope

lined to wait," s

nnot stand here and see my wife allowed to sink. It only remains for me to give you

t of course if he left the case he must return the money. And if the Turk were ri

al experience of thi

hav

me that an opera

y all that I

rement will

the mouth will not be

time for wrangling. Douglas Stone drew a bistoury from his case, opened it and felt the keen straight edge with his forefinger. Then he held the la

her a very heavy

has had a

own. They were dull and lustreless, but, even as he gazed, a

olutely unconsc

to use the knife while

t he knew. She kept on putting her hand up to the gap and screaming. Douglas Stone sat down at the foot of the couch with his knife and his forceps. The room was whirling round, and he had felt something go like a ripping seam behind his ear. A bystander would have said that his face was the more ghastly of the two. As in a dream, or as if he had been looking at so

n, this operation," said he, "not physi

fringe of the coverlet. His knife tinkled down upon the

Wednesday miscarried, and I have it here in my pocket-book. I took some pains in carrying

the small revolver which he held in his coat pocket.

your appointment after

nox did not laugh now. Something like fear sharpened and hardened his features. He

ress when she awakes

The cab was at the door, and the

ome first. He will want leading downstairs, I think.

good

n take Lady

bout yours

t see that the letters are sent on. And tell Stevens to exhibit all the pu