tea myself to the head constable and tell him that no one must on any account be permitted to see
Ned, and that rest and quiet are absolutely necessary for him. I will put a strong dose of opium into the tea.'
Ten minutes later Dr. Green called upon the chief constable and told him that he feared from what he had heard from Mr. Porson that Ned was in a very critical state, and that unless he got rest and sleep he would probably have an attack of brain-fever, even if his mind did not give way altogether,
' I was intending to have him removed at once,' the officer said, 'to a comfortable room at my own house. He was only placed where he is temporarily. I exchanged a few words with him after the examination and was struck myself with the strangeness of his tone. Won't you see him?'
' I think that any talk is bad for him,' the doctor said. ' I have put a strong dose of opium in this tea, and I hope it will send him off to sleep. When he recovers I will see him.'
' I think, doctor,' the constable said significantly, ' it would be a good thing if you were to see him at once. You see, if things go against him, and between ourselves the case is a very ugly one, if you could get in the box and say that you saw him here, and that, in your opinion, his mind was shaken, and that as likely as not he had not been responsible for his actions from the time he left his mother's house, it might save his life.'
' That is a capital idea,' Dr. Green said, ' and Porsons evidence would back mine. Yes, I will go in and see him even if my visit does do him harm.'
' I will move him into his new quarters first,' the officer said; ' then if he drinks the tea he may, if he feels sleepy, throw himself on the bed and go off. He will be quiet and undisturbed there.'
Two or three minutes later the doctor was shown into a comfortable room. A fire was burning brightly, and the tea was placed on a little tray with a new roll and a pat of butter.
Ned's mood had somewhat changed. He received the doctor with a boisterous laugh.
' How are you, doctor ? Here I am, you see, monarch of all I survey. This is the first time you have visited me in a room which I could consider entirely my own. Not a bad place either.'
' I hope you will not be here long, Ned,' Dr. Green said, humouring him. ' We shall all do our best to get you out as soon as we can.'
' I don't think your trying will be of much use, doctor; but what's the odds as long as you are happy!'
' That's right, my boy, nothing like looking at matters cheerfully. You know, lad, how warmly all your old friends are with you. Would you like me to bring Charlie next time I come?'
' No, no, doctor,' Ned said almost with a cry. ' No. I have thought it over, and Charlie must not see me. It will do him harm and I shall break down. I shall have to see him at the trial—of course he must be there—that will be bad enough.'
'Very well,' the doctor said quietly, 'just as you like,
Ned. I shall be seeing you every day, and will give him news of you. I am going to see him now.'
' Tell him I am well and comfortable and jolly,' Ned said recklessly.
' I will tell him you are comfortable, Ned, and I should like to tell him that you had eaten your breakfast.'
'Oh, yes! Tell him that. Say I ate it voraciously.' And he swallowed down the cup of tea and took a bite at the roll.
' I will tell him,' Dr. Green said. ' I will come in again this evening, and will perhaps bring in with me a little medicine. You will be all the better for a soothing draught.'
'I want no draughts,' Ned said. 'Why should I? I am as right as ninepence.'
'' Very well. We will see,' the doctor said. ' Now I must be going my rounds.'
As soon as he had gone Ned began pacing up and down the room, as he had done the whole of the past night without intermission. Gradually, however, the powerful narcotic began to take effect. His walk became slower, his head began to droop, and at last he stumbled towards the bed in the corner of the room, threw himself heavily down, and was almost instantly sound asleep. Five minutes later the door opened quietly and Dr Green entered.
He had been listening outside the door, had noticed the change in the character of Ned's walk, and having heard the fall upon the bed, and had no fear of his rousing him-
self at his entrance. The boy was lying across the bed, and the doctor, who was a powerful man, lifted him gently and laid him with his head upon the pillow. He felt his pulse, and lifted his eyelid.
' It was a strong dose,' he said to himself, ' far stronger than I should have dared give him at any other time, but nothing less would have acted, with his brain in such an excited state. I must keep in the town to-day and look in from time to time and see how he is going on. It may be that I shall have to take steps to rouse him.'
At the next visit Dr. Green looked somewhat anxious as he listened to the boy's breathing and saw how strongly he was under the influence of the narcotic. ' Under any other circumstances,' he said to the chief constable, who had entered the room with him, ' I should take strong measures to arouse him at once, but as it is I will risk it. I know it is a risk both for him and me, for a nice scrape I should get in if he slipped through my fingers; but unless he gets sleep I believe his brain will go, and anything is better than that.'
' Yes, poor lad,' the officer said. ' When I look at his face I confess my sympathies are all with him rather than with the man he killed.'
' I don't think he killed him,' the doctor said quietly. ' I am almost sure he didn't.'
'You don't say so!' the chief constable said, surprised. ' I had not the least doubt about it.'
' No. Nobody seems to have the least doubt about it,' the doctor said bitterly. ' I am almost sure that he had
nothing to do with it; but if he did it it was when he was in a state of such passion that he was practically irresponsible for his actions. At any rate, I am prepared to swear that his mind is unhinged at present. I will go back now and fetch two or three books and will then sit by him. He needs watching.'
For several hours the doctor sat reading by Ned's bedside. From time to time he leant over the lad, listened to his breathing, felt his pulse, and occasionally lifted his eyelid. After one of these examinations, late in the afternoon, he rose with a sigh of relief, pulled down the blind, gently drew the curtains, and then, taking his books, went down and noiselessly closed the door after him.
'Thank God! he will do now,' he said to the chief constable; 'but it has been a very near squeak, and I thought several times I should have to take immediate steps to wake him. However, the effects are passing off, and he will soon be in a natural sleep. Pray let the house be kept as quiet as possible, and let no one go near him. The chances are he will sleep quietly till morning.'
The doctor called again the last thing that evening, but was told that no stir had been heard in Ned's room, and the same report met him when he came again next morning.
' That is capital,' he said. ' Let him sleep on. He has a long arrears to make up. I shall not be going out today; please send in directly he wakes.'
' Very well,' the officer replied. ' I will put a man outside his door, and the moment a move is heard I will let you know.'
CHAPTER XIV.
COMMITTED FOR TRIAL.
T was not until after mid-day that the message arrived, and Dr. Green at once went in. Ned was sitting on the side of the bed, a constable having come off with the message as soon as he heard him make the first move.
'Well, Ned, how are you now?' Dr. Green asked cheerfully as he went to the window and drew back the curtains. ' Had a good sleep, my boy, and feel all the better for it, I hope.'
' Yes, I think I have been asleep,' Ned said in a far more natural voice than that of the previous day. ' How did the curtains get drawn?'
' I drew them, Ned. I looked in in the afternoon, and found you fast asleep, so I darkened the room.' 'Why, what time is it now?' Ned asked. :< Half-past twelve, Ned.' 'Half-past twelve! Why, how can that be?' ' Why, my boy, you have had twenty-two hours' sleep.'
Ned gave an exclamation of astonishment.
'You had two nights' arrears to make up for, and Nature is not to be outraged in that way with impunity. I am very thankful that you had a good night, for I was really anxious about you yesterday.'
' I feel rather heavy and stupid now,' Ned said, ' but I am all the better for my sleep. Let me think,' he began,
