Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-03-08

with the revolver in his hand, that /
thought my last moment had come.
Again | essayed in desperation to
speak:
"What has my hair to do with it,
and whom do you speak of as her?"
"Of my sister, Of course-my dar-
ling, lovely Lucyl You are like her,
your eyes like hers; and your hair, that
glorious hair, exactly the color Of
hers"
l knew that the next station we
stopped at would be Stafford, and we
were many, many miles from there; my
only hope lay in gaining time, although
that was scarcely a hope; l felt that |
must diei However, 1 managed to
conceal my terror and to speak.
Cannot you tell me about your sis
ter? What was her fate?" Then, as
I saw the ferocity of his glance, I felt
that had n ade mistake, and has
tened to say something anything.
"What was she like? Was she very
beautiful ?"
Beautiful She was lovely-love-
ly as an angsl, with large blue eyes,
and hair Of that glorious chestnut
just like your ownr' he added, again
fixing his eyes upon my face.
This was becoming unpleasantly per-
sonal and I hasteled to break the 81
lence.
"Have you any photograph of her?"
Photograph? no; no likeness Of
her at all. I would give anything for
ope3 though 1 do not believe that any
artist could ever reprodrc such beauty
as hers"
While he was speaking thought
struck me-it surely must have been
an inspiration; to it owe my life-I
am quite certain. L addressed my ter
IlU1O COulpd4AlOu dSdlu
al think if you describe your sister
to me / could draw her likeness for
you. 1 have often sketched heads be-
fore, and L have my materials here"
How thankful felt that 1 had for
gotten to pack them up! He turned
toward me with quick look of sus-
picion, which slowly changed into
doubt. My voice trembled so that the
words were scarcely audible; and as I
fumbled at the strings of my case,
trying to undo them, I doubted
whether my shaking fingers would
guide the pencils. The mailman evi
IDENTIFY suspected my design, and looked
doubtfully two or three times from
me to the deadly little weapon and
back again. At last he said:
"Well, it's very kind of you to try,
though l don't believe you will be able
to do it; but there will be plenty of
time before we get to the station, :"
with a peculiar glance at the revolver
which curdled the blood in my veins.
I succeeded at last in getting out a
sketching-block and some pencils, and
then, with one brief, earnest prayer
for aid, commenced my work. The
man told me his sisters face was an
oval shape, and he described it an her
features as clearly and distinctly as
any one in perfect possession of their
senses could have done.
AT first tried to lengthen my task,
for l knew Stafford was a two hours
journey from Rugby, and l dared not
look at my watch to see how much Of
that time had already elapsed, but l
knew that would not do. The maniac,
seeing no likeness to his sister as yet
in my drawing, evidently began to
doubt my powers; so 1 contrived to
proceed more quickly, and presently,
two or three lucky strokes altering the
whole expression of the face, he de-
clared that the likeness was really
coming. No need, then, to complain
of his inattention wandering he
eagerly watched every stroke, offering
each moment suggestion for an al
teration here, a curve there, and so on,
quite intelligently.
Seeing how engrossed he was, 1 be
gan to think how could turn to some
advantage in order to escape. At first
the wild thought crossed my brain tc
open the carriage door next me and
jump out; but moments reflection
showed me that, considering the rate
at which we were then travelling, such
a course would mean certain death
The last time we had stopped, the
other side of the train TO that where
1 was sitting had been next the plat
form; but l knew it was not always
the same, and the only plan could
think Of at all rested chiefly on The
hope that at Stafford it would be my
side.
l knew that the door was moi
locked, because when 1 first took my
seat the fastening was not quite Sc
cure, and we had call, the attention
of the guard to it, who, 1 was sure
had not locked it. | determined ther
to unfasten this door, if 1 could con
trive to do SO unperceived, the mo
ment the train slackened speed, ant
Jump out as soon as could do so will
any safety. If the platform were tha