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The devil takes a hand by ward, Stirling Tenant stopped outside the door of

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his wife's room and went over the
details of his plan for the last time.

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The thing was so absurdly simple,
he wondered why he had not thought

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of it months before. There was
not the least chance of a failure.

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He had only to plant the idea
in her diseased brain, and she,

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with cunning that all maniacs possess,
would do the rest. Every one knew

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her suicidal mania. It had been
brought out at the time of the hearing.

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No blame could possibly be attached to
him for her death, had not

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the nurse frustrated her in a half
a dozen attempts. Damn that fool nurse.

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Anyway, she had too exalted an
idea of the importance of her position.

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But after all, it was possibly
a good thing that she had been

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so vigilant. People couldn't say that
it was carelessness. Then, he smiled

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to himself as he recalled the kind
of things their friends had said when he

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refused to send his wife to an
asylum after the court had pronounced her insane.

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They imagined that it was his great
love that made him keep her with

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him. It was laughable how easily
people could be fooled. How were they

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to know that he had made a
careful investigation and found that too close a

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watch was kept on inmates of such
institutions. There was a better chance of

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her making a successful attempt right here
at home. Accidents are always liable to

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happen in private homes. In public
institutions, people are paid to guard against

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such things. Curse the fool law
that prohibited a man from getting a divorce

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from an insane wife. Such laws
made a criminal of a person. Otherwise

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he could have married Helen a year
ago. He must guard against him love

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for her being found out, It
might cause someone to cast suspicion his way.

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Of course, they would never be
able to confirm their conjectures. But

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his position in the community was too
high to have even a finger of scorn

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pointed in his direction. It would
never do for a deacon of the church

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and a prominent professional man to let
people know that he was guilty of evil,

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even in thought. No, he
must keep away from Helen until he

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had shown the proper amount of respect
for his deceased wife, For he had

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begun to think of her as already
dead. After a period of hypocritical mourning,

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they could be quietly married, and
he would still retain the love and

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respect of his fellow townsmen. Of
course, it met several months waiting.

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It would be hard, but they
would have the rest of their lives together.

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And both of them were young,
and there was a matter of Grace's

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inheritance to be considered too good thing. They had never had a child.

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It would be all his now,
that is, after the proper formalities had

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been gone through. Naturally, he
would erect an expensive headstone in her memory

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and give her an elaborate funeral.
Some people measured a man's love for his

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wife by the amount of money he
spent on her funeral. Yes, the

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scheme was simple, machiavellian in its
magnitude, and with the requisite amount of

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attention paid to the details, there
was not the least bit of danger.

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He turned the knob and entered the
room with a tender kiss for the woman

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with lustless eyes, who sat mumbling
to herself in a low wicker chair,

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nervously picking at the folds of her
dress. He turned to the middle aged

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woman in the nurse's garb, who
sat in the window near by. Take

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an hour's walk, miss Gorman,
he said, kindly, you look tagged

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out. I'll look after missus Tenant
until you return. The nurse rose wearily.

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It's awfully kind of you, mister
Tenant. I am tired. She's

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been bad to day, she ended
significantly. Tenant's face took on a worried

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look. She'll probably settle down after
an hour or so, he responded.

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I've a little work to do.
I can do it just as well in

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the other room and still keep an
eye on my poor little girl. There's

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nothing around that she can get hold
of, is there. He settled himself

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in the chair beside his wife and
patted her white hand affectionately, with a

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tear in her kindly irish eyes.
For the little, unobstantious display of love.

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Miss Gorman left the room, and
a minute later Tenant, from his

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place in the window, saw her
swinging down the street. The time was

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at hand you. Pressing his wife's
hand tightly between his own, Tenant addressed

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her in the tone one uses to
talk to a little child. I've often

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wondered, he said, quietly,
why you didn't commit suicide? Grace?

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Of course, I know that you've
tried it, but your methods have been

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all wrong. Do you understand what
I am getting at? I want to

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help you. He looked at the
woman keenly. He imagined that her dull

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eyes took on an added brightness that
she was not plucking at the hem of

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her dress. So nervously, he
hurried on, Now, I'm going to

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show you how to do it,
sweetheart. Then when the nurse is out

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of the room some day for a
few minutes, you can put one over

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on her. It'll be a good
joke on her, won't it. Come

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on, I'll show you how to
do it. Apathetically, she rose and

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followed him across the room to where
the big, old fashioned bed stood in

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the distant corner. Now watch me, dearie, and see how I do

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it, he continued. The nurse
thinks she's got you cheated by removing everything

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that you might use. But we'll
show her, won't we. He removed

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the light counterpane from the bed and
twisted it into a rope. See,

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girlie, how it's done. Just
the right size to hang one's self with,

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isn't it. Now? Then we
carry this chair across the room and

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put it under this chandelier. Get
the idea. The demented woman made no

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answer, but Tenant knew that her
suicidal mind was attracted by the scheme,

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that the seed planted in her brain
was already sprouting. She followed close behind

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him, her dull, impassive eyes
watching his every move. He stepped upon

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the chair and attached the improvised rope
to the chandelier. See how easy it

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is, dear, he went on. Now, next, we make a

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noose in the rope like this.
See is just as easy as rolling off

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a log. Then we put the
noose over our head and pull it up

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tightly about our neck. Understand Now, all that's left is to kick the

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chair out from underneath, and the
devil and all couldn't keep a person from

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choking to death, could he?
From his height the top of the chair,

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he looked down upon the woman.
She was gazing up at him,

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fascinated, her eyes burning brightly.
Now the idea pleases you, doesn't it,

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sweetheart? He smiled. She nodded
understandingly. Then suddenly she made a

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leap for the chair and tore it
from beneath his feet with a frightened yell.

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The man dropped to the end of
the rope, his toes almost but

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not quite touching the floor. The
maniac stepped back with a shrill, little

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cry of delight, and watched him
gyrate and whirl as the improvised rope twisted

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and untwisted itself. His mouth was
open, his eyes bulged from their sockets,

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his tongue stuck out oddly. His
breath came gurglingly, sobbingly, gaspingly.

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His face grew black and mottled.
His arms and legs danced about curiously,

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twitchingly. His peculiar antics filled her
with delight. She forgot her depression

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in her new found happiness. He
was teaching her some new game. She

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clapped her hands together and shouted for
more, And when he hung quietly,

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she seized him by the legs and
swung him to and fro yelling joyously.

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And thus the nurse found them the
living and the dead. An hour later,

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when she returned from her walk,
The end of the Devil takes a hand