The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1879-09-02

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A DOCTORS. PERIL. e.
When M. d was attached to my name,
bowed at two sbrines, my profession
and-my Angelina Her name was not
Angelina, but my wife beinga modest
little lady, desires she shall not be drag Z
ged before an inquisitive public. Let,
then, the abstract Angelina represent the
real woman. / conceal my own name
for similar reasons. or course / had a
rival. Name, Richard Somers; aged,
twentv-six; general appearance, striking
and handsome; character, very bad.
Neither my affection for this gentles
man nor his affection for me would have
caused conf4eration on any river
which know We disliked each, other
heartilS, Rslng 4 much handsouer, man
than myself. be might have been dan
gerous rival. However, he saved me all
the trouble. He committed forgery
that was discovered sooner. than he ca
pecledzl He was arrested for the, offense,
tried and convicted. ] was one Of the
principal witnesses against him. When
the sentence was passed upon him be re-.
quested' moments conversation with
me-. / shall never forget the look OF
hatred upon his face as be missed out
"You have ruined my love and my
life. Remember that and fear mi! ~
We had been married little over two
years. During that time had heard
nothing of Somers. His sentence shad
been a comparatively light one, one year
and six Fmonths.u After his discharge
from prison, however, / neither saw nor
heard of him. For so Young . man,
had been. very successful as physician.
Perhaps my success was principally due
to my strict attention 10 hbdsiness. No
matter how late, or dark and stormy
might be thesnight,a L very promptly at
tended summonses to the bedside Of the
suffering,ia Isi..ss.2 .,4., -,
4, One night, d little before the hour foar
retiring, the door bell rang, and shortly
afterwafd q man entered the room where
we we're sitting. He was not, preposses-
sing His hair was short and thick, and
1.-THE general cast of his features villain
ous. A gentleman, be said, Had broken
his leg. I thought it pity that ifehe
was anythingllke hisimessengersi be had
not broken his neck / did not tell my
wife, where /. was going; it was In, . dis
tant part of the town, and in anything
bht respectable neighborhood ] did
not wish to make the woman nervous.
l. p MY guide tled me1up two flights Of
livery dirty and rickety stairs, that creak-
ed objections, to our weight upon them
In the third story We stopped before .
door, which, to my surprise, my COM
panion opened with key which he took
from his pocket. Was he afraid the man
would escape Psi was still more surpris-
ed wheE, on entering the room, found
lit empty! He motioned me to q chair,
and, remarking' that he would soon, re-
turn, left the room. For the first time /
was somewhat nervous and suspicious.
The empty room--the last action OF my
guideA-hi carelessness on our way as to
the health Of the supposed injured man
the lonely house and neighborhood,
all com bined to make me suspect foul
| play l stepped to the door, only to
find it locked from the outside-to the
window, only to End escape impossible
there,l 1t was many feetfrom the ground.
My suspicious we're now scertainties. /
was trapped. None Of my friends, not
even my wife, knew where I was. !" I
might be murdered in this den, and my
death remain % mysteryaa ae4a hss7ge
suppose waited about an hour be-
fore I heard the KEY turn in, the door
And then, to my dismay, half dozen
men came in. When Nature made the
|jail-bird that led me into this trap, she
did not break her monldso These gentle
men were of the same pattern All Of
them wore the same hang-dog look
One OF them raised the light IN the room
which had been burning low With
barely glance at me, they took seats
upon the floor and began to- play cards.
aa Soon the door opened, and another
man entered. ] had no, hope as I look
ed at him, for ! saw TIE exulting face Of
my enemy, Dick Somers. q luifas@
ia Az q glance he saw that ] knew him,
With malicious ujeer, be stepped
forward, and, quoting his, own, words Of
two years before, said: =
"You have ruined my love and nv
life. Remember that and fear me" ..
~ saw in his face at once showing his
revenge aud desperation that nothing
could turn him. aside from, his purpose.
u "Somers!" I said--for my life / could
no. have called him Mr.. Somers--"I
know that you have trapped me here for
the purpose OF revenging yourself upon
me; but remember, sir, that | have
friends!. Remember law and justice"
al fear nothing" be answered. II
defy man and God! Revenge on you is
dearer to me than life; and, though for
me the bottomless pit we're yawning, /
would havelitHpIik ~ syias - - ~
sawit was useless to appeal to this
man, aandlI sullenly waited for what
seemed fate. At his command the ruff
ans searched me. One of them, who
appeared TO be q kind of treasurer for
the gang, secured my watch; and my
pocket, book Then. they tied me With
ropes TO a chair. Somers did not ad-
dress me again, but sat upon the floor
and gambled with the rest. Presently
he arose, and, saying he would return by
daybreak, left the room. He evidently
felt that / was In his power, and seemed
in no hurry to complete his revenge.
After Somers had gone the card play
ing was kept up couple Of bours.-
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 ap-
parent hopelessness of the trial, / set
about devising some plan of escape
The Hrst thing to do was to free myself
I have large wrists and small hands. In
tying me they did not take this into con.
sideration. Without much difficulty /
liberated nv hands; then, OF course, it