The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-03-27
A NARROW ESCAPE.
Lnin NV. in Boston Gloee.l l

uAu A very tHrliiihk tNPcEtSttVc tue other evening had just filled an en-
 gaSement in a strange city and retired ! to my COSY room at the hotel
 The thunders of applause had died
 away and the opera-house had been
 locked up to await the arrival of an
 Uncle Toms Cabin company The
 last loiterer had returned to his home
 and the lights in the palace of the
 pork packer were extinguished
 No sound was heard save the low.
 tremulous swash of the sleet outside, or
 the death rattle in the throat of the
 bath tub Then all was still as tho
 bosom of a fried chicken when the spirit has departed
 The swallow-tail coat hung limp and
 weary in the wardrobe, and the gross rc- l ceipts of the evening were under my pillow needed sleep for was worn out with travel and anxiety, but the fear ] of being robbed kept me from repoSe 1 know how desperate man becomes ] when he yearnS for anothers gold. l know how cupidity drives a wicked man i to manSle his victim, that he u,sy win ] precarious prosperity, and how lac will often take short cut to wealth by means ot murder. when. if he would en- 1 ter politics he nigh accomplish his pur- i pose as surely and much more safely,
 Anon. however tired nature sue cumbed know had succumbeI. for ] the he!lboy aftcrward testified that he ! heard me do SO
 The gentle warmth of the steam heated room and the comforting asSur- ancc of duty well done and the approv. al of friends, at last lullcd me into gentle repose.
 l Any one who might have looked upon me as lay there in that innocent slum- l Der with the wiusome mouth slightly ] aiar and the playful limbs east wildly ] about. whiic merry s.mi!e now and ] then fitted across the regular features i would have said that no heart could be ] so hard as to harbor ill for one so guile i less and se simple
 l do not know what it was that caused me to wake Some slight sound or other no doubt broke my slumber and opened my eyes wildly The room was ! in sem-darknesS.
 ] lIark
 \ slight movement in the corner and the low, regular breathing of a human l being was now wide awake 1 Possibly l could have opened my eyes wider but not without spillng them out i of their sockets
 Regularly came that soft. low hrrnth i ing Each time II seemed like a sigh of relief but it did not relieve me Evi- i dcntly 1t was not done for that purpose.
 It sounded like Il sigh of blessed relief such ts a woman might heavc after she has returned from church and trans ferred herself from the embrace of her new Russia iron. black silk dress into i friendly wrapper
 Regularly like the rise and fall of n wave on the summer sea it rose and fell. while my pale lambrcquin of hair rose and fell titfully wlth it
 know that people who read this will 1 laugh at it. but there was nothing to laugh at At first feared that the sound might be that of woman who i had entered the room through tran som in order to see mc, iLs lay wrapt in slumber, and then carrying the picture away to gladden. her whole life But no. That was hardly possible
 It was cupidity that had driven some cruel villain to enter my apartments and to crouch in the gloom till the pro i per moment should come in which to spring upon me, throttle mo, crowd hotel pillow into each lung. and, while 1 l did the Desdcmona act, rob me of my l hard-carned wealth
 Regularly still rose the soft breathing as though the robbcr might be trying to suppress it. l reached gently under the pillow and securing the money. put 1t i gently in the pocket of my roLr dc nuH ! 1 a copy of Smith & Wcssons great work on
 q How to Ventilate the Human Form
 said to myself that would sell my life as dearly as possible, that whoever 1 bought it would alwavs regret the trade 1 Then opened the volume at the first chapter and addressed thirty-eight 1 calibre remark in the direction os ,ne
 breath in the corner
 1 When the echoes had died away ! sigh of relief wllcd up from the dark l corner, Also another sigh of relief later : on
 1 then decided to light the gas and ! fight 1t out You have no doubt seen i man scratch n match on the leg of his | pantaloons Perhaps you have also | seen an abS"nt-mind,-d man undertake i to do SO forgetting tha; his pantalo"n7 
 were hanging on chair at the other l end of the room
 However lit the gas with my left
 hand and kept my revolver pointed to- l ward the dark corner whcr" the breath l was stili rising ami failing
 People who had heard my lectur" came rushing in hoping to find that l had shielded. but they found that instead ! of humoring the public in that way 1 had shot the yalv" oh the -t"am radia | tor
 It is humnatng ,o write the forcgo- l ing myself but would rather do .o
 than have the affair garbled by carele-s , hands
 Consumption Cured. ! An old physician retired from prac-