Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1879-11-27

thrOD. 1 turned; there was the Strang
er leaning half out of his seat, looking
at ALT in a way / shouldn't have cared
to have had him look at me.
whats the meaning of this inso
lenceP" he said.
The question was not unwarranted
it could not have been pleasant to have
been stared at as ALI and Tom were
staring at him.
Il beg your pardon" said ALI, COO
as cucumber. "To what insolence dc
you referP"
Tom actually chuckled; / couldn't
have chuckled for a great deal; il
seemed to me not only impudent, but
risky; / couldn't forget DR.. Rawle's
words about his homicidal tendencies.
He turned red as a lobster; / never saw
such an expression come over a mans
face before-perfectly demoniacal. To
my surprise he sat down and spoke as
calmly and deliberately as possible.
"Thank you," he said, 81 shall moi
forget this
There was a sound about his 81 shall
not forget this'' / did not relish. All
said nothing. Tom and he set off row.
ing as cOOlly as though nothing had
happened. i extemporized a seat in
the bow and tried to make things as
comfortable as possible.
l noticed, although ALI and Tom
were so cool, they hardly took their
eyes off him for more than q second at
a time. His behavior before their fur
tive glances was peculiar; he saw he
was being watched; he couldn't sit still;
he looked first at one bank, then at the
other; his eyes travelled everywhere,
resting nowhere; his hands fidgeted and
trembled; he seemed all of a quiver. ]
expected him to break into a paroxysm
every second. III hadn't called out he
would have run us right into the shorei
when l called, he clutched the other
string violently, jerking the boat almost
round. / heartily wished him at Jer-
icho before he had come near us.
No one spoke. We went slowly
along, watching each other. At last he
said something.
"I-I will get out" he said in an
odd, nervous way.
"With pleasure" said ALI, in a
few minutes"
"Why not nowP Why notnow sirP"
he said, seeming to shake from head to
foot.
"Where are you going to getP into
the river?"
I admired Alf's coolness; 1 envied
him. only hoped he wouldn't let it
carry him too far.
The man glowered at him; for a mo-
ment he looked him full in the face. l
never saw a look in a mans eyes like
that in his. ALI returned him look for
look. Slightly, almost imperceptibly,
he quickened his stroke. A little lower
down was a little hamlet with a we'll
known inn and capital landing stage.
When we came alongside the stranger
said:
"This will do; I'll get out here"
He turned the boat inshore. No
sooner were we near enough than he
rose in his seat and sprang onto the
beach. There were several people
about, watermen and others. Alf was
after him in an instant; he rose almost
simultaneously and leaped on shore; he
touched him on the shoulder.
"Now come" he said, "don't be
foolish; we know all about it,"
The other turned on him like q
flash of lightning. "What do you
meanP"
But Tom was too quick for him; he
was on the other side and took his arm.
" Come" he said, "don't let's have a
row."
The stranger raised himself to his
full height and shook off Tom with ease.
He then hit out right and left in splen-
did style. Tom and ALT went down like
But my blood was up. lam
pretty strong. He was old enough to
be my father; but found my match,
and more. was like a baby in his
arms; he lifted me clean of my feet
and threw me into the river. 1t was
splendid exhibition of strength.
Tom and ALT, finding their feet, made
for him together, and scrambling out
as best l could, followed suit. You
never saw such set-Out. We clung
to him like leeches. The language he
used was awful; his strength was mag
and though we were three to
one, he was a match for all Of us. Of
course the bystanders seeing q row,
came up; they interfered and pulled us
off.
"Here's a pretty CO." said one.
F." What is all thisP"
"Stop him! lay hold of himP' said
ALI. "He's lunatic."
4" A whatP" said the man.
"He's q lunatic escaped from DR..
Rawle's asylum"
Instead Of lending a hand, the man
went off into a roar of laughter, and the
others Joined. The stranger looked
frantic with rage. A gentle
man stepped out from the crowd.
"There is some mistake" he said.
"This gentleman is Mr.. Travers, of
Iollhurst Hall.
You could have knocked us all three
down with feather, l do believe.
Could it be possibleP Could we have
been such consummate idiots as to have
sane man for lunaticP and
that man was Lillian Travers' father! |
could have shrunk into my boots, l
could have run away and hid myself in
bed. To think that l should have
dooced and watched. and insulted, and