The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-04-09
his intention, when with 4 Wild, screaming 4
whistle we were hurled into fka xinhA oe q 4

whistle, we were hurled into the night of
long. tunnel. The rapid disappearance
OF daylight made the oil lamp suspended
in the carriage emit but the dullest light for ,
some minutes. l laid the newspaper down
with all my old fears revived in me. bad
scarcely done so when saw the outline OF
man rise in the carriage. He leaped over 70
knife in the air. Mad with passion ana sur
prise, grasped the descending arm. A iurl-
Gus determination to save my life inspired me
with the strength of a giant. The feroclty
with which / seized his wrist forced the hand
| omen. The knife fell; and then commenced
silent, furious struggle He seized me Dy
the collar and clung with the tenacity of .
tiger. | heard his SWAPPING teeth as if he
| were endeavoring to bite. We swayed from
/ one end of the carriage to the other. 1elt
how weak i'll health had left me, and prayed
| to pass out into the light, that might peter
| see how to encounter the ruman. suddenly
l felt myself swung round with tremendous
energy. / bounced against door which
| honn9ed open and we both fell out on to the
lines in the very centre of the tunnel. The
fall seemed to have stunned him, for he fell
under me and remained for a time notion
less. For myself, received an indescribable
shock, such as is experienced in a collision:
but l retained my senses. I heard the roar
OF the train dying away in the distance;
saw the red CLEAN fading away like dying
demon.
still clutched him by the throat. nor did
dare relinquish it. My situation was fright
lul. suspected that down train would
soon be passing, and in the intense blackness
OF the tunnel l could not see on which line
we had fallen. 1 would have stretched forth
my hand to grope for the rails; might have
found place of safety by judging the dis
lance between them; but felt the form of
my assailant commencing to writhe beneath
| me. His struggles grew fercer. He endea-
vored to rise, but with the fury of despair
kept him pressed down, one hand on his
| throat, the other on his breast. What I de-
| sired was to render him insensible, would
then leave him in the darkness, and grope
| my way as best colud.
| 1t never occurred to me at that time that
there was no need to make him insensible in
order to elude him. The darkness would
have rendered my presence invisible to him.
But my mind was heIplessly confused. Twas
baeathing sulphurous air, made thick and
difficult by Darkness. My only thought was
to keep the rufian down. was only capable,
indeed, of this thought.
A few minuets had elapsed when 1 heard a
distant rumbling, like approaching thunder.
| 1t increased. l seemed to feel the wind blow
| ing against my face 1 tasted, too continual
| draft OF smoke and steam. I knew that
| train was approaching and my hair lifted on
| my head. What rails were we on? The sus-
pense was frightiul. My assaiIant increased
his struggles. He became furious. He was
evidently fighting to throw me down and over
| in the direction of that side of the tunnel
| along which came the roar of the train. I
| saw his object and madly pressed upon him.
His body frantically writhed. Hetwisted un-
der me as ii he revolved OH pivot. He en-
deavored to shrek some words to me- but nv
throttling grasp made his voice no more than
horrible hoarseress.
saw the red and lights of the engine ap-
preaching. They grew in size and luster with
a hideous rapidly. There was a roar. a
like blow from strong mans fist; then fol-
lowed the dying rattle, ending in dull and
| sulen moan. l rose to my feet. crossed
over to the wall, and feeling along it, took to
walking with all the speed my sinking frame
would suffer me to put forth. How long I
walked know not. My passage seemed in
terminable. The damp of the wall, against
which my left hand constantly pressed, froze
my blood. Now and tnen tumbled over
| piles of rubbish lying grouped against the
| side, and sometimes my cropping was bewilder-
ed by coming across recesses into which nv
hands guided me.
At length l saw star, tremulous, glorious.
in the distance. 1t was dayght-the aper-
ture of the tunnel-and pushed forward
L
| for this star seemed to maintain an inexOra-
distance, and would not enlarge. How shall
l describe my joy as gained the twilight of
its refection-as advanced and felt the pure
air Of heaven upon my dry cheeks and burn
| ing lips-as l saw the blue sky and the dim
vista of river, fringed with pale green ba 1ks!
As got into the light cry escaped my lips.
My trowsers were splashed with blood. There
was one ensanguined line, as if a fountain of
/ nI006 mo II fnl
| to recover my strength, I could see that
| presented dismal and terrible spectacle
| My coat was torn, my hands were black-so,
too, judged, was my face-my collar had
been torn from me, and the skin at the ends
OF my fingers was lacerated. After resting
myself climbed the bank, and perceived at
about the distance of mile small station
l made toward it and gained it. A railway
| omclal, WhU was standing looking at two
children playing in back garden, uttered a
loud cry OF alarm as he spied me. narrated
my story to him as coherently as could, and
then sank upon the ground in a fainting con-
ditlon.
Ofwhat happened after this have no re-
membrance. When I came to my senses
discovered that Ihad been taken to the house
OF the station master, and carefully tended by
his wife. From him learned the conclusion
OF this singular incident in my life. 1t seems
that after my story had been told, two men
| we're dispatched into the tunnel in search of
my assailant. They discovered him living
dead, with both his legs cut clean off little
above the knees They bore the corpse to
an adjacent dead house, and an inquiry into
bis death brought out the particulars, which
are very easily anticipated. The man who so
| very closely resembled me at v, had Sc
dueed the betrothed of laborer, one Theo-
dore Verot. This Theodore, reckless now of
life, and resolutely bent on vengeance, swore
to kill the seducer. Mistaking me for his en-
envy, he attempted to shoot me. This failing
he hung about the hotel, armed with stiltttO
determining to stab me whenever-I appeared
in the street. Hearing, however, that was
about leaving for Paris, he perceived better
| and safer means for prosecuting his design, by
stabbing me IN the tunnel, through which he
knew we would pass, and then escaping in
darkness. Reflection had obviously taught
him that revenge would be none the less
sweet because it did not entail his destruction
by the law.
Such is the simple but tragical story. My
prototype, who had been the means of twice
imperiling my life, 1 have never seen since.
l confess TO no wish to see him. 1t is bad
enough to have to bear the brunt of ones
own follies; it is altogether miserable 10 suffer
| for the fOllies of others. Ever since the oc-
currence of this small episode, have always
thought there was much wiser providence
manifested in the dissimilarity between man
and man than our philosophy suffers us to
dream Of