National Republican., 1880-08-20
MISCELLANEOUS.
A WIFEs Courage.
Presence of Mind and Cool Strategy Worthy
of "a GeuaraI

of "A General
In indianapolis on Tuesday night last u
desperate burglar was killed in the house Of
DIR. I. @, Walker. The testimony of the doc.
tor, given below. records tho GOODNESS and
courage Of woman seldom equaled in the
annals OF her sex:
About 3 o'clock this morning." said tho doc
| tor, 81 was awakened by my wife telling mo
that the gas was unaccouutably low. We keep
u jet lighted in the hall during tho night in
case of a cali or other emergency. / got out
ofbod and olovat cd IL TO the usual height, thiuk.
ing that the pressure was unusually light, and
saying to Mrs. Walker that that was doubtless
the cause Of its burning so low, and returned
TO bed. That did not satisfy her, however. She
| imagined that the turning down of the light
meant something, and wOman-liko looked
| under tho bed. She saw the feet of aman stick
ing out toward the west wall near the head Of
| the bed, and here comes tho most remarkable
part of tho story. She knew / was awake,
aud considered that If sho told me there was
a man underline bed ] would grapplo 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,
aud for them TO get up quickly and watch
while she went down stairs for u revolver.
When she camo back she gave 1t to John, re-
| membering, even in that hour OF supreme
| peril, that Frank had just recovered from a
| long spell of sickness. aud was consequently
weak aud nervous. She then went along the
hail to tho room Of the colored man, whom
| she knew had revolver also. She then re-
| turned aud went into Franks room, whore tho
| two boys were.
''In the meantime began wondering what
sho was about, aud just after she had passed
| the door the second time thought | heard
| slight rustling under the bed. | turned over
| toward the side she vacated and met tho gazo
lf l.....l -. Il
| the bgdrail near the foot, watching me. The
state of affairs flashed across my mind in an
| instant. Mrs. Walker had seen tho man, and
| had aroused tho boys and colored man to as
sist, If necessary. The burglar was doubtless
aware of her movements, aud was pondoring
on what was to bo done. Ofcourso imagined
| that that was to shoot me, and to prevent him
l lunged at him with my right hand, striking
him in the right eye, aud knocking him back
on the floor. AS | struck ! threw myself
upon him aud bore him to tho floor. The
| space where we fell was barrow and circum-
scribed aud although had tho fellow by the
throat he succeeded in grasping my wrist
with such grip as to temporarily paralyze 1t.
/ never before felt and did not think it possi-
ble 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. / thought a young
cannon had gone off.
"Tho explosion somewhat startled me, and
let up on my grip, which enabled my antag-
onist to break away from me and rush into
the hall. Just as ho got outside of the door,
apparently, two shots followed and then all
was still and dark. The shooting had extin-
guished the gas, and tho agony of tho mo-
ments that followed was almost unbearablc
1t seemed to me, of course, that the two shots
had killed the boys for did not know that
there was a revolver in the house, much less
that Mrs Walker had provided the boys with
it. l ran out into the hall expecting to en-
counter the burglar and found the door into
Franks room partly closed. l tried to open
it, but could not, and then it occurred 10 me
that by chance the boys might not be hurt,
and l called out, Is that you. John p and the
answer was like the sweetest music to my ears,
for recognized his voice.
"The firing OF the pistols in tho hall had ex.
tingushed the gas light. As soon as possible
the gas was relighted but no burglar could be
seen either in tho hall or on tho stairway.
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 threshold OF the porch, dead. He
had his revolver in one hand and knife in the
other as he lay"
The Doctors son John, who did the shoot
ing, adds that he was standing near the head
burglar rushed out of the room he fired twice,
the first shot blowing out the gas. 'rhe fel.
low was running very fast" said the young
doctor, "and had his head bent.over between
his arms, which were outstretched in front OF
him, ono containing revolver the other a
knife. He doubtless expected TO meet the
household and have to fight his way through
/ supposed that the shot in the bedroom had
killed father, and was determined TO kin his
murderer If L could. As l shot, the colored
man came running out of his room at the end
Of the hall, so that think We would have got
him anyhow"
The body was taken to the undertaker's and
at once recognized as that OF tho notorious
Bill Rodiler. The ball from the pistol had
penetrated the heart and scarcely drop of
blood had exuded from the wound. ROdifor
had been pardoned about year ago by Gov
ernor Williams. He had served six years of II
ten.year sentence for burglary. Mrs. Walkers
cool, brave conduct is highly commended.
Had she done otherwise than sho did Rodifer
must have escaped, but not, perhaps, until he
had dealt DR.. Walker death.telling blow.
She is not strong lady physically, but she
possesses a nerve that never fails her.