Morning journal and courier., 1880-08-23
woman's Presence of Mind.

Dr. J. c. Walker, of Indianapolis Ind, | gives the following account of the encounter with a burglar in his house last Tuesday ''At about three o'clock this morning I was awak- ened by my wife telling me that the gas was | unaccountably low. We keep jet lighted in \ the hall during the night in case of call or other emergency. I got out of bed and ele- l vated it to it's usual height, thinking that the I pressure was unusually light, and saying to Mrs. Walker that that was doubtless the req ! son of it's burning so low, and returned to bed. That did not satisfy her, however. She l imagined that the turning down of the light 1 meant something, and woman-ike, looked ! under the bed. She saw the feet of a man sticking out toward the west wall, near the head of the bed, and here comes the most re- l markable part of the story. She knew was awake and considered that if she told me there was a man under the bed would grap- pie him, and he, undoubtedly, being armed would kill me. So she arose and went into the boys rooms and awakened them carefully, telling them there was man underneath our bed ,and for them to get up quickly and watch while she went down stairs for revolver When she came back she gave it to John re- membering, even in that moment of supreme peril, that Frank had just recovered from @ long spell of sickness, and was consequently weak and nervous. She then went along the hall to the room of the colored man, whom ! she knew had revolver also. She then re- turned and went into Franks room, where the two boys were.
 ''In the meantime began wondering what | she was about, and just after she passed the door the second time thought heard slight rustling under the bed. I turned over to- wards the side she vacated, and met the gaze of a man whose head alone was raised over 1 the bed-ra1 near the foot, watching me- The state of affairs rushed across my mind in an 1 instant. Mrs. Walker had seen the man, ! and had aroused the boys and the colored 4oo ct N1,oL doubtless aware of her movements, and was pondering on what to be done. Of course I imagined he was to shoot me, and to prevent him lunged at him with my right
 hand, striking him in the right eye and knocking him back on the floor As and bore him to the floor. The space where we fell was narrow and circum- scribed, and, although had the fellow by the throat, he succeeded in grasping my wrist with such a grip to temporarily paralyze
 it. I never before felt, and did not think it possible for a man to exert, such pressure. In our struggle he managed to get his right arm from under his body, and with it he fired his revolver, the ball grazing my left
 side and penetrating the ceiling. I thought
 a young cannon had gone of.
 'tThe explosion somewhat startled me, and
 let up on my grip, which enabled my antago-
 hist to break away from me and rush into the
 hall. Just as he got outside of the door, ap-
 parently two shots followed and then all was
 still and dark. The shooting had extin-
 guished the gas, and the agony of the mo-
 ments that followed seemed almost unbear-
 able. It seemed to me, of course that the
 two shots had killed the boys, for I did not
 know that there was revolver in the house,
 much less that Mrs. Walker had provided the
 boys with it. ran out into the hall expect
 ing to encounter the burglar, and found the
 door into Franks room partly closed. I
 tried to open it but could not, and then it
 occurred to me that by a chance the boys
 might not be hurt, and I called out, Is that you, John ? and the answer was like the sweetest music to my ears, for I recognized his voice.
 Are you hurt ?
 No, father, am not, and Frank and mother are here with me- all right
 Who did that shooting?'
 I did, and I know hit him.
 ''As soon as possible the gas was relighted, but no burglar could be seen, either in the hall or on the stairway. Organizing an in- vestigation party we went down stairs The fellow, after being shot through the heart, had run down stairs, through the dining room and kitchen, and fell prone on the threshhold of the porch-dead. He had his revolver in one hand and knife in the other, as he lay"