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106 I find the finest needle in the house, And press the point down on the slimy hide. The blunt edge crushes, does not pierce the shape, And brings the straggle that I gloat to see. The legs stretch out, and work to get away; A barbed tongue and twin fangs drool from the mouth. The eyes protrude, and glare with deadly hate, Until they fix at last in stony calm.

I ponder long on what this shape can be. There is no doubt Gianni placed it here; If so, where has he caught and caged a thing The naked eye has not the power to see? Its uses must be deadly. In revenge, He hopes to take the life of her I love. While poisons of another character Might be detected, this remains unknown. The Thing I have discovered—this vile Shape, Must be an atom of some foul disease! And now I have the secret. For some daysGianni waits upon a stricken man, Who dies, a victim of the cholera. In some strange manner he has found this germ, And placed it in the orange, hoping thus To bring the dread disease to Grace Bernard.

I seem to be with him I hate, once more, And now accuse him of the fiendish deed