Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1883-02-16


his caIelessness on our way as to the
health Of the supposed injured man,
tie lonely house aud neig hborhoot. all
combined 10 make me suspect foul
play.
stepped to the door, only to find it
, locked from the outside 10 the win
f dow, only to find escape impossible
! there. 1t Was m-ny feet from the
ground.
Ms su-picious were now certAintjes.
was trapped. None OF my friends,
not even my wife. knew here | was.
Eht te murdered IN this den, and
my death remain a mystery.
/ | suppose | waited about an hour
before / heard the key IN the door
/ Then, to my dlsmay, halfa dozen men
seu;,rtd.
( Wleu Nature made the Jail bird
who had led me into this trap. she did
Ia t break the mold. hese gentlemen
wcTe Of the same pattern. All wore
the auIs hang dog murderous look
IOue .! them raised the light IN the
toom Which had besu burning low.
! With hardly glance At me, they took
seats upon the floor, aud gan to
lpsy cards.
Soon the d or again opeued-an.
1otheF mau entered. hardly had "a
Shopc as locked at him. for | saw the
s~xaIlIug face ot my euem,-D.ck
lSomers'
/ At gl.rce he saw | recognized
shlm. Nrh ullacious leer be step
Eped forward. aud quoting his own
EsCTd. Of tao years before, said
You have ruined my love and my
lie. Remember shat, and fear me. :
/ Saw In bis face, Ut ucs showing
his reyeogs aud desperation, thai,
1aotLiuE could turu hgnl aside from his
IgUrposc.
">ou,rs.' said-for my life
Teouidu't have called hlm Mr.. Somers
II know that ,ou have trapped me
here For The purro.c ot revengIng your
.iclf npen ue, but remember, sir, !
kve i,iends. Remember law aud
jas,sce.'
i Il f,ay nothing" be answered. Il
Iefy man aud God Rev uge on you
Is d,arer to u.s than life and though
tog me- the boitouIess PIT vas ya~n-
would have it.
/ saS It Was uscl,s. to appeal to THE
a.an. and | sulruly waited for wha,
4 . -Gasl fate.
\. Lts commsud the rrfiiaus search.
led NE. oae of them, sso appeared
= b. kiuJ OF treasurer ior the ,aug.
{ G red my atcu au4 IocketboOk.-
+ Then iHcy tied me With stout rcprs 10
= cIalf Sumsrs asd uot address IN,
agau. Int -; upon the tloor aud gam
I bIr,i With It's rest. Presently he rose
and saying lie would return by day.
br. ak, lei, the room He eridsn'l,
frII Sas ID his power, aud see med Ia
no hurry 10 complete has reyeuse.
f When lie bad gone. the cardpIasing
sas kept up for couple of hours
IThyn al. stretched themselves upon
tie floor aud Slept The door opened
inward. and aercss 1t @as III. bury
orm If the treasurer. Ia spite of the
apparently hevclrssuess OF the tfial, /
al about dvyIsing some plan of es-
cape.
I Tie first thing TO DO MAS to free
myself. | have large wrists aud small
hands In tying me thry had not
taken thl. int consideration. With.
cut mucI difficulty liberated my
hands; then, r. course. it was the work
Icf but a few seconds 10 entirely liber-
ate myself from my bonds.
/ Taxing I 1e p'rcauiion 10 place the
rpes iu su. h "a position that, should
any o' the gang awaken, | would still
appear to be bound, thought apon
any chances of escape. They certainly
appeared !e" aud small. Tie fact OF
lie men upon tie floor being asleep
s.emrd little in nv favor. cGuld
tot move tst rutiian at the door with
. out awakening hlm. AS have before
stated, escape by the window was i'm
Possillr. Every pan that had sng.
sested itself had Irsurmoumtahle OBJ
J jecti us 10 it had almost given up
.fmy scheming III despair, and conclu.
Eded 10 adopt some hopelessly desperate
measure, when thought OF the con-
tents, OF bottle had IN my pocket
la searching me the rutlians had not
disturbed IT, thinking it Of no import
lancc. II cantained chloroform. also
ha a spol ge III my pocket. In II
moment | lad received What to do
Drawing the bottle from my pocket, |
soaked the sponge thoroughly with its
con'ents.
i SlcwIy, painfully, Il could hear my
heart beat), with all the caution that
a man uses when his life may depend
on the slightest noise. | stepped to the
side of the nearest rutlian. | placed
the saturated sponge to his nose. |
saw him quickly yield to the influence
OF the vapor. From man to man |
stepped. One by one they were made
seuseless, helpless.
The man at the door was the last |
drew him away, first securing my watch
and rocketb. ok. also found in his
possession blackjack, which took
the liberty of appropriating. Then
J opening the door, stepped out in the
hall.
still moved cautiously, feeling that
all danger was not past. | thought
there might be watcher there, but
10 my rel ef saw no one. | descend
ed the first flight of stairs, aod reached
the second story in SAFETY.
{ had gone about half way down the
t second flight. My heart stood still,
l for | head some one enter below; then,
i in the muttered oath, recognized
Somerss voice, | crouched down upon
Y the stair next the wall, hoping he
5 might pass me. But as he came up
! his hand brushed my face.
In II moment he had me by the
| throat. | knew him to be by far the