The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1867-11-09

which his heavy breathing serveu as
guide. henri stiAed curse, and could
feel that he angrily clutched al this strange
instrument Of nttnck not only with his lefi
hand, but with the right on which l had
my hold.
My eyes wero becoming accustomed to
the dark-as | knew his long had-and !
could sec plainly enough to take instant nd.
vantage Of the position. When no clutched
with his right at the pillow, suddenly
withdrew my left hand from tho pillow,
and concentrating both hands on his which
held the knife, wrenched away the weapon
ere he could we'll understand my intention.
had seen that was dealing with strong
man, and knew the knife was not the OH
" weapon about such villain also fan.
cied that another assalant, moro furious in
her strength than this man, would soon be
upon me though l could neither sec nor
hear her.
"Hang yem mu,,ered the man, "tako the
knife, but III"
He interrupted his own speech to thrust
his hand into his breast, having hurled the
treacherous pillow far into tho darkness
Another friendly fash lii up the scene, and
saw the butt OF pistol, as he was pluck.
ing il forth from his breast. At the same
moment I caught the rapid glimpse Of a
tall figure creeping up from the lower
end Of the chamber beyond tho foot OF my
bed.
saw that what was done by me must be
done quickly. The pistol was half released
irurn lis place Of concealment, when leap
ed upon the innkeepcr. ! threw myself
boldly against the hand which held the pis-
tol, and with my left hand grasped at his
throat, while with my right ] struck with
all my force at his breast. My blow took
effect. but not as intended. He had thrown
up his arm when lesped at him. and 1t
was through this arm that the kniio went,
passing through the flesh, and wringing
IRON him cry Of pain.
"Rslph" broke In voice. close to us.
"Ye snifile like coward. Give way to
surer hand!"
This was uttered in voice s,lb,lue,l Int
charged with fury; and for an instant ! ex-
perienced the feeling Of despair which
seizes one when all hope Of delivemnce
from immediate death has fled. This was
only for moment, however, for In the I'M
tensity Of my emotions, seconds seemed as
minutes, and could act us rapidly In pro.
portion. The man essayed to return an an.
swer, and had already uttered the wonls
"l'm awake !" when Withdrew my knife
from his arm, and wrenching the limb aside,
drove the steel into his breast. tie sank
hack with groan, and turned In iims to
confront the hug, whose peculiar eyes slione
in the darkness like those Of IN enraged
panther.
The appearance Of those eyes was mp.
palling; and had not been nerved hy my
success Ia the struggle with the nnkeepcr.
! think they would have struck me with
fear. They were bright with magnetic
light, and could sec that the yellow ring
was the brightest OF all. For nm instant
was motionlcss, fascinated rs was by this
remarkable gaze, and in that instant third
flash Of lightning lit up her savage counie
nance. As she stood where she halted
when I turned upon her, the lightning
flushed through the window full into her
face. II was horrible.
Suddenly, rs tho light leapcd back, as il
were, through the window, she rose to her
full hight and dnrted upon mo. The light.
ming had not entirely gone out, before ]
saw that ehe carried in her hand, not q
coarse knife, but long, slender dagger,
which threw back the brightness from a
surface of the highest polish. In The dark
ness that followed saw this weapon geam
over her head, and her eyes rivale,l in their
brilliancy tho flash that had shown Us to
each other.
To my astonishment, just rs ] was pre-
pairing for the attack (for 1t was impossible
for me to be the attacking party in this
case, } she dropped her arm, and subduing
her voice to savage persuasiveness. ex
claimed, "Strangcr, ye be a bold man !!
Live here, and we'll get rid Of the old
ono ~
As I look back OF the strange scene,
am convinced that her singular action was
. the result Of one OF those sudden changes
which como over women Of her stamp, as
they do over the snvnge race, the having
seen as much OF mo in that brief illumina-
ton as many would in n lifetime. Her
companion in crime was nothing moro to
her, aud in the reaction Of her feelings the
man who slew him was to her Of greater
power. There was no love between them,
and was the one leA, whose action, if not
appearance, was satisfactory to her ftarless
nature.
say that am convinced that such was
her feeling when she paused and spoke
those words to me, though leave my read
es to form their own opinion on the Inat'
ter.
Whatever may have been her thoughts
and feelings, il Is certain that ] looked upon
this change Of movement as biz Of strate-
~ and acted accordingly.
II accomplished one object agreeable to
me: il saved me from attempting the lifa
of woman, which, under those circum.
stances even, was not an agreeable act Of
necessity.
My answer was prompt, and It's prompt
ness was what probably took her off her
guard. sprang forward. and hurting her
against the wall, | rushed by, and ere she
could recover from her surprise, was out of
the door-which they had opened by some
process best known to themselves-anti
down the stairs. lost no time In prepar.
ing my horse for continuance Of my jour
new in tho still raging storm.
pushed my way along ill morning, and
then at the first settlement related my nd.
venture. ! could not spare time to 90 back
with the party who started for the inn nei.
ther did believe their erand would amount
to anything. aherwar,l learned that they
found the inn IN ashes, with The charrr,l
remains of the landlord among them. Ii.
tl,er the woman or the lightning had done
the work. As the woman has never been
discovered, the whole affair is still ell
shrouded in mystery.