I told him of the mirror-test, of the artificial respiration which I had tried, and he listened to me in silence. With his finger he opened the left eye and looked long and earnestly into the pupil. Then after a long suspense he suddenly spoke. "Ach! we have been meestake; she is not dead." "Not dead?" I cried joyfully. "Thank God for that! Do your best to restore her to us. Doctor--for my sake! How can I assist you?" "By remaining quiet," he growled reprovingly. And again he recommenced the examination of the inside of the elbows after having ordered other lights to be brought. Then, without saying where he was going, he left us, promising to return in a few minutes. He was a queer old fellow, very eccentric, and with a method that was as curious as the particular branch of the profession in which he was a specialist. Not more than ten minutes passed before he returned grunting, puffing, and carrying a small packet in his hand. He had evidently been to the nearest chemist's. "Some water!" he commanded--"warm water." This was at once brought, and, arranging several little packets on the glass-topped table, he seated himself leisurely, and commenced to open and examine the contents of each very slowly. "You have a hypodermic syringe?" he inquired. I took it from my pocket case and handed it to him. He grunted and made a disparaging remark about the make--German needles were so much better, he declared. Then, having cleaned the syringe, he mixed a solution with the utmost care, and then administered a subcutaneous injection in Beryl's arm. He took a chair and sat beside the cold, inanimate form, eagerly watching the effects of the drug he had administered. Her ladyship stood near, her dark eyes, framed by the white agitated countenance, fixed immovably upon us. Hoefer glanced at his cheap metal watch, and, grunting, crossed to the table and mixed a second injection, grumbling all the time at the inferior quality of my hypodermic syringe. So rough, unpolished in manner, and unsparing in criticism was he, that her ladyship drew back from him in fear. The second injection proved of as little avail as the first, and from the great man's grave expression I began to fear the worst. No sign of life asserted itself. To all appearance my adored had passed away. Suddenly he rose, and, turning to her ladyship, said in broken English-- "Now, madam, you will tell me, please, how this occurred." "I do not know. Doctor Colkirk has told you all I know about it." "But, just as Doctor Hoefer entered, you were telling me about something mysterious that had happened here. What was that?" She pursed her lips for a moment, and glanced quickly at the old German. "It is a most serious thing. I cannot make it out. There is some mystery in the morning-room." "Ach!" exclaimed Hoefer, with a grunt--"a mystery! The symptoms of the lady are in themselves mysterious. Please explain the mystery of the room."