The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-03-16

NAYUu 6SGIl u hA4LS bONh
striking resemblance TO me"
"No,n5was tho answer. IL. j,
"TCll, my, friend, have. The moment
saw him I felt uncomfortable, ] had Q
presentimcnt Of evil. You will oblige me
by letting me have your bill. shall 60
to Paris tonight. II l stop here another
day, my life, which l left England TO for
TIT, will be snufel out like candle"
Tho hotel keeper, seeing matters come
10 point that effected his interests, en-
deav0red TO laugh down by doubts. lie
argued that the ball ] had received IN my
Int might have been destined for y blrd,
that It was the shot Of some wretChed
markSman, who might have mistaken my
hat for q crow. ~. -. r
"That may I'LL be very well, :" ! answer.
cd; "but, suffer me to tell you that your
excuse only makes me more resOlute to
leave the place; for Of what value Is q
mans life IN district Astounding with
sportsmen who can mistake o hat for o
crown s,a... .. ...r.,a- /.
4 Train len for Paris at 2:S5. 1t was
an express, and found 1t 10 be due at 8
o'clock. I dispatched my pOrtmanteau
by porter TO the station, and having
twenty minutes before me, sat down TO u
light rcpast Of cold fowl and Utn OTdinatF0,
The position of my table enabled mo to
get q view Of the street. As the porter
strodo away with my luggage, ! observed
man cross tho road and accost him. In re.
ply TO what was obviously q question, tho
porter, with tho gcstiCulatiOn Ola French
man, pointed with his thumb to the hotel,
and vigorously nodded his head. The
man crossed oyer again 10 the pavement,
came on until he was opposite the hotel,
caught sight Of nc through the window,
and abruptly turning on his heel, walked
of In the direction taken by the porter.
thought nothing Of this. The man, l
couicctured, probably wanted the job /
hnd given 10 tho porter. He was a COM
mon Hooking fellow, dressed in leather
CATERS, a blouse, u SLOUGH cap and q belt
There was nothing singular In his tNcc.
Hc was dark, with u black beard and
moIlstaclle. Hc was Il familiar type Of
tue middle-aged peasant Of southern
France, I. l.., ,,-.g :.
Having discharged my bill I walked to
the railway station. On one platform
there was much tumult, atrain from Paris
having Just arrived. But upon the plat
form against which stood tho train which
was to bear me TO tho north, | counted
only five people, exclusive of portcrs.
But I had little time for observation.
Tho train would leave in three minutes. !
saw nv portmanteau stored away In the
lurrare van. procured myself a flrSt.elass'
ticket, and took my sent.
The shrill whistle Of the guard sounded.
The engine gave q snort, and the line OF
carriages clarikcd TO their chains as they
frightened to the trNin. Suddenly several
voices cried, "Stop! stop! Now, then,
quick Which class-first? Lets zee your
ticket. Right. Here You are-jump in"
The door Of my carriage was opened, q
form bounded In, tho door was slammed,
there was another sllrill whistle, and OFT
went the train.
| Hooked atmy companion. lilo was the
man whom ! had noticed speak to thepor'
ter aud stare into the window Of my hotel.
4 thrill passed over me. Ny recent es'
cape had greatly shaken my nervous sys:
TEN, and tho apparition Of Wman whom !
felt ought tOSlIspect sent q chill through
nv blood. As a peasant, which he wast-
not expressed only in his dress, but In his
hands, which were dirty, rough and horny,
-what'tlil hc do in a first-class carriageS
l would have given something to have
changed carriages. But there was no
communication with tho guard. More.
over tho train, as havG told yOn, was IN
express, and did not stop until q run Of
sixty.six miles had been accomplished.
We were now bowling along with great
rapldity. -
The nun sat, screwed into the corner
away from me, immOvable. He appeared
to be looking through the window at the
country us ii whrlcd by; hut there WINS an
abstraction in Ills gaze which indicated
that he saw nothing. His arms were
folded upon his breast. Though he must
hive been conscious Of my scrutiny, he
never turned his eyes upon me. His lips,
saw, were tightly compressed and he
'brcathcd slowly but deeply through his
nose, the noStrils Of which dilatea 10 the
steady respiration. @
Ibcgan afler a, time to regain my com.
posture. T struggled to laugh down my
fears. What, / thought, had ! 10 four
from n man had never seen-whO Ind
never seen inc! The thing was prepos-
ferrous. / extracted q paper from my
rocket and commenced to read. ! might
have spoken to him, only | imagined that
n nan in his situation might have been
embarrassed by my French, which l did
not'spedk with n good accant. Besides,
there was something that repealed all ar-
proach in his immObtlity.
half in hour passed away All at
once, over the edge Of my newspaper, l
saw him put his hand ont Of the window
Ms IL TO oDen the door. Ind not time to
conjecture his intention when, with avid,
screaming whistle, VIC were hurled into the
night Of along tunnel.
Tho rapid disappearance of tue dayll light
made the, lamp suspended In the carriage
emit hut the dullest light for some min
utcs.
/ laid the newspaper down, with oil my
old fears revived in mo, had scarcely
done so when I saw the outline Of man
raise in tho carriage. He leapcd over to
where was seated. l saw tho CLEAN Of
a knife III the air,
Mad with passion and surprise, grasp.
ed the descending arm. A furious deter.
mination to save my life inspired mo with
The strength Of giant. Tho iCrocity with
which seized the wrist forced the hand
omen. The knife foil; and then COM
mcnccd a silent, furious struggle.
He seized me by tho collar and chung
with the tenaclty Of tiger. heard his
swapping teeth, rs il he wero endeavoring
to bic. We swaycd from one end Of the
carriage to the other. l felt how weak
ill.liCaIth had LEFT me, and prayed to pass
out into the light, that might the better
sec how to encounter tho rlifian,
Suddenly / felt myself swung round
with tremendous energy. bounded