HE COULDN'T TRUST HIM.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 1274, 18 March 1881, Page 2

HE COULDN'T TRUST HIM.

We're always hearing about careless druggists. We never hear of the careful druggist. Let us tell of him. The other day Mr. Gallagher went into Dr. Slop's drug store ami asked for arsenic. He said he wanted it to poison a dog. The doctor noticed the look of gloom and savage determination upon Gdlagher's countenance ; but he was a wise man and said nothing. He gave Gallagher a package and the latter went home. Arriving there, he put a dose of the powder given him into a lot of meat, and then inveigled his neighbour's dog into his barn, and fed the meat to the animal. It was greedily devoured, and then the dog trotted . home, and Gallagher went into the house satisfied that he had settled £hp animal. Next morning the dog was -_ out in Gallagher's yard, upsetting the swill barrel, chasing the hens, and making trouble as usual. Gallagher concluded he hadn't given the brute enough arsenic, and so the canine got another big dose. He was round again in the afternoon, apparently pretty healthy, and Gallagher concluded that it took a heap of poison to kill that dog. Three times more he tried the poison, each time increasing the dose and using fresh meat, and it got so that he couldn't go out without finding the dog waiting round to be poisoned some more Gallagher got very mad, and, concluding that the poison in the meat wouldn't werk, he resolved to fix tha brute or bust, so calling the dog to him he dumped the paper of poison down its throat. The dry powder choked the dog, but that was all the effect it had. Wild with rage, Gallagher rushed to the doctor's. "Arsenic is a poison, isn't it?" he asked. "It is," replied the doctor. " Well, the stuff you sold me won't kill anything ! Why's that ?" The doctor then explained : " Gallagher, I think I did my duty. You said you wanted the poison for a dog, but you wanted it for yourself. I know it. I saw it in your eye. To save your life I sold you powdered chalk. " ' ' And I've been feeding that cursed dog for a week on good meat and powdered chalk. But I'll fix you for this." An officer came at last and took Gallagher to the station, and friends bound up the doctor's wounds and swept up the broken glass and furniture. They represented to the doctor that Gallagher would have to pay for the damages done, but the doctor was uuconsolable, and swore the next time a man called for poison he'd get it, even if it was plain he wanted to poison a whole town with it.