The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1883-05-01
HE sEDALIA WEEKLY BAZOO, TUESDAY, MAY l, 1888.

should lave faced il right away
from the first as ANY man would have
done, had it not been for the remark
able infiuercn '"- face and lock had
upon III, . ccsuntable feeling
that she - 20 stranger to me, it
was. thst unneryed and even appalled,
me.
No sooner had she uttered the
words, $50 lave / =" than Jsck sprang
TO the cord communicating with the
gnard's van. for he felt their truth,
and saw In them key to the whole
mystery. But ere his hand had reach
ed tie cord she had seized him round
the waist with one arm as with the
grip of wise, and at the same instant
he fell one of those terrible hands at
his throat.
Every effort to release himself was
| fruiiless her strength seemed super
human. and as far beyond him as was
her stature. Her face glowered close
down upon his now. stiIl with the
same fell expression.
The only thing | could have done,
went on Jack, in describing the scene
TO me-and just here he shall speak
for himself-'tbe only means by
which | might perhaps have made her
relax her hold would have been by
aiming one or two tremendous blows
with my right fist (Which was at lib
erty) at her face, Had it been
mans. there would have been no hest
tation had il been indeed that Of an
ordinary woman at such pass, l
should not have hesitated to strike her,
to stun her, if could by any means.
but the face, that | seemed to know
SO we'll. vet so mysteriOuslv, l could
net raise my hand against it, and, as
nv arm swung up with the first i'm
pulse to deal her blow, it fell help
less BY my side. Vain were my Efforts
to get her hand away from my throat;
there was a terrible swaying to and
fro for a minute or two, l felt the
grip of the long fingers Tightening, and
myself choking. Suddenly We fell.
the whole carriage seemed to be fall
ing-there was a fearful jerk or two, a
strange upheaving Of the floor, n ire
mendous rattle and crash-I appeared
to be thrown head.Ong to some great
dista nee. and-all was darkness"
Toe termination of that deadly
struggle Was 5roug III about in man.
ner as marvelou. and as unlocked for
as could we'll have been imagined.
Some fifty souls, say. were travelling
in that train-all. save one, in appar
ent security. Jacks life alone was in
danger, when, To- by one Of those
marvellous condolences which do hap
pen at times In the supreme moments
of existence, the rescue came. but at the
cost of many life, which but just be-
fore would have seemed worth treble
price of Jacks.
AT the very instant that his might
have depended upon aDother tight, n
ing grip or two from the hand of
maniac. frighiful catastrophe occur
red OH the train. The tire of an en-
CINE wheel broke and half dozen car
riages were hurled down steep en-
bankment. The scene that succeeded
is, unhappily. of too common occur
renee TO need more than a word OF
reference here. Seven passengers
were killed outright and double that
number slightly or badlv hurt, the re-
mainder escaping, as by miracle.
With nothing else than severe shak-
ing.
NV friend was among the shakers.
He had been thrown clear of the de-
bris OIL to a soft, grassy spot, half
bank, halt hedge; emphatically bis
life was saved
But what followed it was that
which caused the sufering-that
wrought the terrible change in Jack.
In the darkness of that soft autumn
night he strove, foremost among those
who mad been spared. to render such
help as was possible to the less FORUM
ate. When official assistance came,
and fires were set blazing to give light.
almost the first care was to try and
seek out his dangerous fellow traveller.
In the confusion nobody was prepar-
ed, of course, to listen to Jack's ac-
count of her, even had he been pre-
pared then to give it. She was not,
evidently, moving about among the
crowd; he assured himself of that
but suppossng her, like himself, to
have escaped injury (and ne conclud-
ed that this was likely might she not,
with the stealth and cunning incident
to her malady, be hiding. and be thus
further eluding detection. become,
with her homicidal mania. as danger
Gus to the community at large as some
Toroa u;ld animal wnt,in he The |