Mrs. Chalmers was put into my bedroom. There was nothing particular of mine lying about, but I would rather they had put her somewhere else. Margaret had the best guest-room, Pybus the second best, and I was put into an apartment which had not been occupied for years. It was done in the confusion, I suppose. Looking back, I am surprised they did not overlook me altogether. I wish they had. And all through the night the issue was hanging in the balance. Hamlet's question was waiting for an answer. "To be, or not to be?" What their sufferings were--Margaret's, her aunt's, and Pybus's--I can imagine when I let memory hark back to my own. But none of them succumbed. And in the morning I, for one, was able to leave my room; in fact, I insisted on doing so. Had I remained any longer in that dreadful chamber I should certainly have died. Pale and ghastly, with my dressing-gown wrapped round my trembling limbs, I descended to my snuggery. I felt that I was but the wreck of what once I was. Hughes was there--the sight of me seemed to give him pain--well it might!--and Dr. Dunn, and Dr. Goldsmith, and a Dr. Casey. He was a tall, thin man, with a serious manner. I always think of Dr. Casey when I think of Mr. Stiggins. Dunn seemed in quite a cheerful frame of mind. "Well, that's over. With a little care, Mr. Lucas, you'll forget all about it in a week." Never! But I did not tell him so. And he went on: "And this all comes of what I venture to call a trifling indiscretion. You think it's jalap, and it's laudanum." "Laudanum is not a thing to trifle with," said Dr. Casey. "It certainly isn't a thing to drink in pailfuls." As he said this, Dr. Goldsmith rattled his keys and coppers. "Nor is it to be recommended as a liqueur with dessert--eh, Mr. Lucas?" Dunn rubbed his hands, and grinned at me. "The poor lady," said Dr. Casey, "whom I treated found it a very serious matter." This was Mrs. Chalmers. "The sweet young thing," said Goldsmith, "for whom I did my best, did not seem to think that the occasion was altogether a festive one," and this was how he spoke of her. "I dare say, Mr. Lucas," sniggered Dunn, "that you have spent far more agreeable nights." Dunn was the fiend who had pushed his zeal too far. And now he laughed at me! "Dr. Lambert," observed Dr. Casey, "who treated the other gentleman, assured me that his patient asked him to put him out of his misery rather than push his treatment further." That was Pybus. I could easily believe it. Death was preferable to Dunn's emetics. "Now, where is the bottle which contained the cause of all the mischief?" The fatal bottle had been brought into my snuggery for safety. It was handed to Dunn. He sniffed at it. "Hum!" He sniffed again. "Hum!" He seemed surprised. "Rather--rather an odd smell for laudanum. Smell that!" He handed it to Goldsmith. "Very"--sniff!--"odd"--sniff!--"indeed"--sniff. "You are sure it is the bottle?"