The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1872-04-09

oellefe tiitt from tnat moment my flrS
gray hairs began to appear With des
perate tenacity, in state of almost per
feet nudity, hung on to the door ant
window. Good gracious scurryins
OF steps outside! Who is coming int
my carriage? An old lady, who viii
scream and give me into custody?
young lady. who will faint? A father O
a family, who will kick me down tn,
platform? A ticket-collector, who viii
J-oh! ah h-h there is hand on the
outside, moving the handle of the door
oh, the agony of those seconds!
would rather be hanged. would rather
be torn by the wild horses. l would
trather live for six times my natural term
of existence with scolding, fault finding
wives, than 60 through the agony ol
those moments again! Pen cannot de-
scribe what l suffered Beads of per.
spiration raced down my poor, cold
shivering features-my hair stood on
end, my teeth chartered but to the door
and window my hands clung with a
strength of grasp that Policeman A plus
Policeman B could hardly have over.
come without tearing my fingers from
their sockets.
A bell, guards whistle, and an en-.
gine shrek! Hurrah! we start again
| am saved-saved-saved! l feel DIES.
perately faint, but in time I recover
Sared, indeed! Poor wretch! lit
tie knew what was in store for me. Slow
ly and deliberately 1 dressed myself in
my friends clothes. Unaccustomed to
be decked in gorgeous array, I began
with half collected senses, to think what
figure looked.
"Hallo! what's that? What is the
train stopping again for so soon?"
was well acquainted with the line
and knew that the express ought not to
stop at the next station. Some accident,
thought.
"Tickets, tickets all ready here"
What on earth is the meaning of all
this. drew out my friends ticket
His was Only to F.. am going to
London. Never mind, it is OF no conse-
quence, can pay the difference. All
but then ! have no purse. N'importe,I /
can draw a cheque at Paddington, and
wait till it is cashed
The door was opened, and | beheld
the guard, station master and two po-
| licemen.
"All right" said one of the latter to
the station master, 'this Is cur man, di-
rectly he is out of the carriage the train
may CO."
"AIl wrong" said I. You have made
mistake-I have no intention of get
ting out here. I am going on to town"
l never saw policeman on duty
laugh before; but over the stern, hirsute
face of w. (Which stands for Willis
Constabulary-No. 1172, there passed
something like grim smile, as he re-
piled:
at is of no use, my man-you must
come out at once; you are fairly caught.
If you obey us and come with us quiet
ly, we will give YOU no unnecessary
pain but if you hesitate or resist for
one moment, we shall at once put on
these"
AS he spoke, he got on the step Of the
carriage, and held up before my bewil-
dered gaze a pair of handouts, which
ratified most ominously. Good gracious |!
what would be the joke in all this Me-
chanically 1 did what suppose others
would have done. got out Of the car
riage The train moved on. I assumed
stern Indignation, though i'll at ease.
Now, then," said 1, "what the dick
ems do you mean by all this ?"
"Come, come, my man, your swagger
won't do with us. You must come
along" was the answer of my guardi-
ans.
"But what am charged with9 What
do you want me for p
"Wsll that is good joke, and you
are cool hand" replied W. c. 1172.-
"But now. business is business, my man.
We are bound to take you up, and you
are bound to come with US, quietly if
you will, if not" Here he again held
up the handouts. "You are charged
with forging a check for f97O on the
Sandstone Bank; and with half,killing if
not actually murdering P. c. Smith, of
the Somersetshire force. We are going
to take you TO the lookup: and to-mor
row you will have to appear before the
magistrates l am obliged to caution
you that you need not say anything !;
and that if you do say anything to COM
nit yourself, it will be brought up as ev-
idence against you"
Good Heavens! And so 1 was a
forger and murderer 4!
"Well-but," said 1, "these are not
my own clothes. A gentleman in the
carriage changed clothes with me; or,
rather, he left me alone-ahem-naked; ;
and put on his clothes, and then you
came, and-and-confound it, you don't
think l am he2
"Oh no." said W. c. 1l72, "you amt
bim-not q bit of it, you are yourself
Well, you must think us green, to try
and palm that off on u.s."
And immediately there arose a sub
dued official chuckle.
Ere long it came to pass that l was
obliged quietly to accompany my cap
tors to the police station. Mr.. Inspec-
tor booked the cha.ge, whereby it SEEM
ed that really was Il forger and all hut
murderer. 1t was quite in vain that |
protested and vowed that / was not the
forging murderer in question, but Ed
ward Fitzgerald, of sunny Villa, near
Sandstone. l was cut short in my pro-
testations with
You must prove that before the mag
istrates tomorrow, il you can"
And so l was consigned to a cell.
there to await to morrow. But first |
was searched, and on me.to my disgust,
were found ticket to F-,not to Lon
don, where had said | was going, and
clasp knife stained with blood.
mo use denying it, my man. We
have got you, and shall not let you es-
cape"
felt distracted by the position l was
placed in.
"Please, Mr.. Inspector, may l tele.