The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-04-03

alone. Atthe selfsame instant the sharp
report Of a pistol sounded-I could see
the Jagged stream of fire above the pill
low straight through the very spot
where ten minutes, since my head laid
With an instantaneous realization of
nay danger L swung myself over the
edge :, OF the window, Jumping SOME
eight'or ten feet into tangled bushes Be-
low, and as crouehed there recovering
my breath heard the; tramp of foot
steps into ray room.
''ls he dead?" cried voice up the
lladder--;the smooth, deceitful voice of
the woman with the half-closed eyes.
"Of course Ihe is, 'growled a. voice
back; "that charge would have killed
ten men. A light there, quick; and tell
Tom to beiready.ni sdT -
A cold, agonizing shudder ran through
me. What den of midnight murder
ers had l fallen into! And how fearful
ly narrow had been my escape!
With the speed that only mortal terror
can give, brushed through the wood,
now Illuminated by faint, glimmer of
starlight. I knew not what. impulse
guided my footsteps Tsnever shall
know. how. many times crossed my own
track, or how close stood to the brink
of the deadly ravine; but nereiful
Providence eneoinpassed me- with q
guiding and protecting care, for when
the morning dawned, with faint. red
bars OF Orient light against the stormy
eastern sky, l was close TO the high road,
some seven miles from r.. ---
Once at the town, / told my story to
the police, and detachment was sent
with me to the spot. .kiHuoe sz4IfusI
After much searching and many false
alarms, we succeeded in finding the
ruinous old house; but it was empty
our birds had flown; nor did I recover
my valise and watch and chain, which
latter l had left under my pillow.
Its, Drew's gang,''' said the leader
OF the police, "and they've troubled us
these two years. Ldon't think, though,
they'll come back here, just at present;
Nor did they.
But the strangest part of my story is
yet to come. Some three weeks subse-
quently l received a letter from my sis
ter, who was with Alice in her English
home-a letter whose intelligence filled
me with surprise.
81 must tell you something very
strange wrote my sister, ."stthat hap
pened on the night of the 18th of Octo-
ber. Alice had not been well for some
time; in fact, she. had been confined to
her bed for nearly q week, ana was
sitting beside her reading.i 1t was late
the clock had just struck t1--when all
at once she seemed to faint away, grow
ing white and rigid asa corpse. II
hastened to call assistance; but all our
efforts to restore animation were in vain.
was just about sending for the doctor,
when her senses .retul ned as suddenly 4
as they had left her, and she sat up in
bed, pushing up her hair and looking
wildly around her. ,.-, 81. IL ya} eflI
"'Alice,' l exclaimed, how you have !
terrified us all! Are you illP' fsiZ9ii |
"'Not ILL., she answered, { but l feel
so strange. Oracle, I have been with !
my husbl nd!' 9i,.a dqETg9!4i - LEi @
"And all of our reasoning failed to |
convince her Of the impossibility of her
assertions. She persists to this moment
hat, she saw. you and was with you on
5he morning OF the 18th OF October. |
Where and how she can not tell ,9but we
5hink it must have been a dream. She,
s better now, and l wish you could see
now fast she is improving" >fiooI
This is my plain, unvarnisLed tale.L
10 not pretend to explain Or account for
is mysteries; 1 simply relate facts. lLet I
psychologists unravel the labyrinthiealtt i
'kein.' l am not superstitious, neither |
10 l believe in ghosts, wraiths or r5apar-
litions; but this thing doknow-that,
'lthough my wife was in England in
'ody on the morning of the 18th of 0c-'
n New York in the moment of the /
leadly peril that menaced me. 'Itinay T
'e that to the subtle instinct-and
trength of Wife's holy love all things
re possible, but Alice surely saved my
ife. - .f....e e. 80, i