The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings | Page 5

an hour or so."
"I hope we shall," he answered, "for it makes me feel squeamish, but I
daresay I shall be all right when I get on deck. Dr. Fietta has given me
something to stop the sickness, but it has not me had much effect."
"I do not know anything that really stops sea-sickness," I answered;
"but what has he done?"
"Oh: a curious thing, Mr. Head. He pricked my arm with a needle on a
syringe, and squirted something in. He says it is a certain cure for
sea-sickness. Look," said the child, baring his arm, "that is where he
did it."
I examined the mark closely. It had evidently been made with a
hypodermic injection needle.
"Did Dr. Fietta tell you what he put into your arm?" I asked.
"Yes, he said it was morphia."

"Where does he keep his needle?"
"In his trunk there under his bunk. I shall be dressed directly, and will
come on deck."
I left the cabin and went up the companion. The doctor was pacing to
and fro on the hurricane-deck. I approached him.
"Your charge has not been well," I said, "I have just seen him. He tells
me you have give him a hypodermic of morphia."
He turned round and gave me a quick glance of uneasy fear.
"Did Lord Kairn tell you so?"
"Yes."
"Well, Mr. Head, it is the very best cure for sea-sickness. I have found
it most efficacious."
"Do you think it wise to give a child morphia?" I asked.
"I do not discuss my treatment with an unqualified man," he replied
brusquely, turning away as he spoke. I looked after him, and as he
disappeared down the deck my fears became certainties. I determined,
come what would, to find out what he had given the boy. I knew only
too well the infinite possibilities of that dangerous little instrument, a
hypodermic syringe.
As the day wore on the sea moderated, and at five o'clock it was quite
calm again, a welcome change to the passengers, who, with the
permission of the captain, had arranged to give a dance that evening on
deck. The occasion was one when ordinary scruples must fade out of
sight. Honour in such a mission, as I had set myself must give place to
the watchful zeal of the detective. I was determined to take advantage
of the dance to explore Dr. Fietta's cabin. The doctor was fond of
dancing, and as soon as I saw that he and Lord Kairn were well
engaged, I descended the companion, and went to their cabin. I

switched on the electric light, and, dragging the trunk from beneath the
bunk, hastily opened it. It was unlocked and only secured by straps. I
ran my hand rapidly through the contents, which were chiefly clothes,
but tucked in one corner I found a case, and, pulling it out, opened it.
Inside lay the delicate little hypodermic syringe which I had come in
search of.
I hurried up to the light and examined it. Smeared round the inside of
the glass, and adhering to the bottom of the little plunger, was a whitish,
gelatinous-looking substance. This was no ordinary hypodermic
solution. It was half-liquefied gelatine such as I knew so well as the
medium for the cultivation of micro-organisms. For a moment I felt
half-stunned. What infernal culture might it not contain?
Time was flying, and at any moment I might be discovered. I hastily
slipped the syringe into my pocket, and closing the trunk, replaced it,
and, switching off the electric light, returned to the deck. My temples
were throbbing, and it was with difficulty I could keep my self-control.
I made up my mind quickly. Fietta would of course miss the syringe,
but the chances were that he would not do so that night. As yet there
was nothing apparently the matter with the boy, but might there not be
flowing through his veins some poisonous germs of disease, which
only required a period of incubation for their development?
At daybreak the boat would arrive at Malta. I would go on shore at
once, call upon some medical man, and lay the case before him in
confidence, in the hope of his having the things I should need in order
to examine the contents of the syringe. If I found any organisms, I
would take the law into my own hands, and carry the boy back to
England by the next boat.
No sleep visited me that night, and I lay tossing to and fro in my bunk
longing for daylight. At 6 a.m. I heard the engine-bell ring, and the
screw suddenly slow down to half-speed. I leapt up and went on deck. I
could see the outline of the rock-bound fortress and the