Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1878-11-23

break the mould. These gentlemen
wess of the same pattern. All wore the
same hang-dog. murderous look. One
Of them raised the light in the room.
which hal been burning LOO. With
hardly glance ct me. they1 took seats
upon the floor and began 10 play cards.
Soon the door again opened. and an
other man entered. I hardly had q
hope as looked at him. for l sax the
exulting face nv enemy-Dick Somers.
At a glance he saw recognized him.
With q malicious leer he stepped for
ward, and quoting his own words OF two
years before, lac said:
"You have ruined nv love and my
I life. Remember that, and fear me-
..Somers." said-for my life /
couldn't have called him Mr.. Somers-
Il know that you have trapped me
here for the Purpo-ing Of revenglng
yourself upon me. hut remember. SIR.
that have friends Remember Law and
JUSTICE
Il fear nothing" he answered. Re
venee on Won Is deArer 10 me than lite.
aud though for me the bottomless pit
vere yasning. l would have 1t.
l saw II Was useless 10 appeal TO this
man. and l sullenly waited for what
seemed fate.
At his command the ruffians searched
me. One of them. who appeared to he
q kind Of treasurer for the gang. Sc
cured my watch and pocket-book.
Then they tied me with stout ropes to a
chair.
Soners did not address me again, but
sat upon the floor and gambling with
the rest
Presently he rose, and saying he
would return by daybreak. left the
room. He evidently felt l was in his
power. and seemed in no hurry to COM
plete his revenge.
When he had gone, the card playing
was kept up for a couple OF hours.
Then they all stretched themselves upon
the floor and slept The door opened
inward, and across it was the burly
form of the treasurer. In spite of the
apparent hopelessness Of trial. I set
about devising some plan of escape.
The first thing was to free myself. 1
have large wrists and small hands. In
tying me they had not taken this into
consideration. Without much diff
Guilty liberated my hands; then, of
course it was the work of but few Sec
onds to entirely free myself from my
bonds.
Taking the precaution to place the
ropes in such q position that should
any of the gang waken, I would still
appear to be bound. I thought upon
my chances of escape. They certainly
appeared very few and small. The fact
Of the men upon the floor being asleep,
seemed little in my favor. I could not
move the ruffiian who was sleeping at
the door without waking him. As I
have before stated. escape by the win
dow was impossible. Every plan that
suggested itself had insurmountable
objections to it. I had almost given up
scheming in despair, and concluded to
adopt some hopelessly desperate meas
ure, when thought Of the contents of
q bottle I had in my pocket.
In searching me, the ruffians had not
disturbed it, thinking it of no import
ance. It contained chloroform. Ialso
had q sponge in my pocket. In mo-
ment I had resolved what to do. Draw
ing the bottle from my pocket, I soaked
the sponge thoroughly with its con-
tents.
Slowly, painfully II could hear my
heart beat, with all the caution that q
man uses when his life may depend on
the slightest noise, I stepped to the side
nearest of the rufian.
fplaced the saturated sponge to his
nose. saw him quickly yield to the
influence OF the vapor. From man to
man I stepped. One by one they were
made senseless and helpless.
The man at the door was the last. I
drew him away, first securing my watch
and pocket-book. I also found in his
possession a blackjack, which took
the liberty of appropriating. Then,
opening the door, I stepped into the
hall
I still moved about cautiously. feel
ing that all danger was not past. I
thought there might be watcher there,
but, to my relief, I saw no one. I de-
scended the first fight of stairs, and
reached the second story in safety. I
had gone about halfway down the Sec
ond fight. My heart stood still, for I
heard some one enter below; then, in
the muttered oath, recognized Som
ers' voice. crouched down upon the
stair next the wall, hoping he might
pass me. But as he came up, his hand
brushed my face.
In moment he had me by the throat.
I knew him to be by far the most pow
erful man, and it was not time for
scruples. Luckily, it being SO dark he
could not see the action, I raised the
blackjack had held it since left the
room-and brought it down heavily
upon his skull.
His hand left my throat, and life
less mass. rolled down the stairs. I
found him at the foot quite still. I
made good my escape, not stopping to
see if had killed him. lido not know
to this day whether he is living or dead.
never saw nor heard of him again.
When arrived home found Q very
frightened little woman, but did not
tell her till long afterward the hist ry
OF that night. I have never since been
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