The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1870-05-19
~~s''-' - @rRAvENNA O. THURsRAYoA6AN 10, 1870

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fessioa i'm his gaze which indieatead
8llatshe saw nothing. His arms were
folded upon his breast. Though he
must have been conscious of my scru-
tiny, he never turned upon me. His
lips, L saw were tightly compressed,
and he breathed slowly but deeply
through his nose, the nost'ils ofiwbich
dilated to the steady respiration. /
= F'began after a time to regain my
composure. l struggled to laugh
down my fears. What, 1 thought, had
1 to fear from man I'had never-sceni
who had never seen me? The thing
was preposterous. extracted u pa
per from my pocket and commenced
toread. I might have spoken to him,
only l imagined that man in his Sit
iation might have been embarrassed
by my French, which 1 did not speak
with a good accent, Besides, there
was something that repelled all ap-
proach in his immobility.
Half an hour passed away. All at
once over the edge of my newspaper,
I'saw him put his hand out of the
window as ifto open the door.
had not time to conjecture his inten-
ton when" with wild, screaming
whistle, we were hurled into the night
of along tunnel. 7's 2. a''-
The rapid disappeara1ce of the day
light made the Oil lamp suspended in
the carriage emit but the dullest light
for some minutes. 'aa Hfi- - j''..5
I laid the newspaper down, with all
my old fears revived in me. I had
scarcely done so when l saw the outa
1.-The of a man, rise in the carriage
He 1eaped over to where 1 sat. 1 saw
the CLEAN of q knife in the air. 'i
Mad with passion and surprise, 1
grasped the descending arm. A furi-
Gus determination to save my life in
spircd me with the strength of gi-
ant. The ferocity with which seized
his wrist forced the hand to OPEN
The knife fell: and then commenced
a silent, furious struggle. ~ Is
He seized me by the collar and clung
with the tenacity of a tiger. I heard
his swapping teeth, as if he were en-
deaYoring to bite. We swayed from
one end of the carriage to the, other.
| felt how weak ill-health had left me-.
and prayed to pass out into the light,
that might the better see how to en-
counter the ruffian. ,, ,.l su-.a
Ii Suddenly I found myself swung
found with tremendous energy.
bounded against a door which opened,
aud we both fell out on to the line in
the very centre of the tunnel. 7fo
1.-The. fall seemed to have stunned
him, forhe fell under me and remain
for a long time motlonless. For
myself .Iareceiyed an indescribable
shock, such as is experienced in a5col-
/ isions; bull. retained amy senses.1
heard the roar of,lthe train diving
away in the distance i saw the red
bgleam fading like the eye of dying
demon. still clutched him by the
throat, nor did: L dare relinquish it
My situation was frightful. Isuspect-
ed "a down train would 1soon be pass
ing and in the intense blackness of
the tunnel, IcouldFnot see on. which
line We had fallen. / would have
stretched forth my hand to. .grope for
the rails; I!might have found a place
of safety by judgingilof the distance
between them; but felt the form of
my assailant commence to writhe be-
meath me. His struggles grew fiercer.
He eiideaVored TO rise, but with the
fury of despair / kept him pressed
down, one hand ON his throat, the
other on his breast. What l desired
was to render. him insensible. 1
would then leave him in the darkness,
and grope my way as l could. .sfain
1t never OCCURRED to me at the time
that there was no need to make him
insensible in order to elude him. The
darkness would have rendered my
presence invisible, But my mind
was hopelessly confused. l was
breathing sulphurous air, made thick
and difficult by its blackness. My
only thought was to keep the ruffian
down. / was only capable indeed, OF
| this thought. A few minutes had
elapsed when Iheard distant ru1n-
bling like approaching thunder. 1t
increased. l seemed to feel a wind
blowing against my face tasted too,
a continual ,draught of smoke and
steam. / knew that a train was ap-
preaching, and lifted my hair on my
head. What rails were we on? The
], suspense was frightful. a 7.'' 7<''' . >. E
" My assailant increased his struggles
lie became furious. He was evident
lily. fighting to throw me down, and
over in the direction of that side Of
the tunnel along which came the roal
of the train. I saw his object, and
madly press upon him. His body
writhed frantically. He twisted undtl
me as if he reyQlyed On q pivot, liz
endeavored to shrek some words tc
me. but my throttling grasp made his
voice no more than horrible hoarse
ness, ~
! saw the red and green lights O.
the engine approaching, They grew
in size and lustre with hideous IA
pidity. There was o ROAR, c shower
of dust, wind that struck me dowI
like blow from dead mans fist
Then followed the dying rattle, end
Ing in q dull and solemn moan,
I rose TO my feet. 1 crossed owe