New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-08-25


on the stairs and whom | supposed to be her
husband and another man whom did not KNOW
a young man with an annallllle, unintelngchIv
| face, and black coarse hair growing down heYary
10 the eyebrows. | shuddered my eyes 1ell on
him. he looked so strong, so coarsely, pfu'"iS
strong .,a .s c,yed
at him; with or without We've had no luoA
| for long time, and it's an easy job" lib
He interminged his speech with words w ,rnra
were strange TO me; oaths no doubt they Were,
but do not know the English oathS OF the common
people; neither can ] describe his manner 81
speaking which made it difficult for me 10 unu i
stand what he said STILL his words terrlnea me;
With or without" With or without what anu
what was the easy job -.
"All right" said the other man, u" I'm g'nie,
And then they both looked ut the woman ana
she nodded her head. For moment they were
all silent, and then the woman sad, When chat
Again there moments pause, ana IN LIN, t'Iarv
moment my fate was decided, for.I 40 hoo h hS
how it happened-my umbrella nell from my hn ,.a
with crash upon the floor, and knew thaC WIS
lost. Hitherto there had been chance OF escarcii
q possibility of creeping downstairs unhehru, oii
getting out Of the house: but now 1t WAS 700 Ic.
The noise OF my falling umbrella was uIs.inoUS o
heard, and at once the three inmates OF my rooii
turned toward the door: and, as they uIu 30 /"
most extraordinary thing happened 70 me. Mhe',
my long hard work, my continued lh,healIg ,t nd
mental Suflerings and my present rear hau d" ~
the balance of my mind: whether the ut,er iiupI
! lessness of escape reused some dormant ani ~
instinct in which impotent fury made shlI 10 Wv w
the work of strength whether the extreme ~
terror produces frenzcd courage TO wrestle WIN
DESPAIR. do not know: only KNOW thitu my H. a..
vain impulse 10 flee was Immediately 1oIOWcu ~
strange nexpicable feeling which t nnn al 'i in
to describe II was horror, hatred, fear, an III
one with insane longing to terriy ana s'air -
it was delirium, impulse OF madness i hIgnhr
mare, in which defiance commended WIN tu ii
and it urged me TO rush toward my iate, nsi ~
of away from it, With loud yell, Durst lh'2
the room, and then, with inarticulate cries. eS,oI
rushed upon my enemies gloried in the dlsnay
| created a fierce delight possessed me az tne
creatures l dreaded shrank back star.ieu "ia,
afraid superhuman strength anlInatFu M IL as
| ran in my frenzy from one TO another. IL VIE
| a wonderful sensation, horrible and yet WelrulS
attractive, and, while it lasted, supremacy pow
full. But it did not last long. After minnie
or two Of brcathless surprise, the people who
frightened me So and whom in my despalrlhg
madness had in my turn frightened recU ,'or5
Themselves The first TO 10 so was the young
man who was a stranger TO me-the most aniInai,
the least impreS sOnabe Of the three. ne advanced
toward me with clenched fist, and with DARK DARK
threatening look on sn6 6ls neai IN 0v moment
lust as it had sprung into being,
my frantic excitement died out oil me, me-
| and | was once again the tmid, sh1nKn9 hth,,
German qovernesS defenceless, friendleSs, ana
alone I sank into a chair, trembling, nerveIess'
exhausted unable to take my eyes oil taI c9 49,
| brutal face covering before the expected dow
| But the blow did not cOme-then; my lahuIduS
put her hand on the mans arm. Noo now
! JIM" she said. ,,,u 81
wild beast But he turned away from me- Ihen
the other man came forward and whispered 70
him. could not hear what ne sid, D4t o csGgS
they all the woman and the men, left the ROOM
and | alone. ,.. %
Alone. alive uniniured: but oh the horror OF
that loneliness! the awful dread of approaching
death i'm that consciousness Of life the qualllng
| of the vet unframed flesh before the fear OF
| violence to comet ] do not know how long
sat. stupefed by my great terror; but at las,
| my power Of reflection came back 10 me- anu l
set myself deliberately to plan way OF escape.
! Rut what way? The staircase was between
! and ]
| would be watched. The window? Ay, that was
my only hope. I could not get ont of tit was
| too high TO Jump from. hut could make MyseI
| heard from it: could call to the people III the
| street below: ] could implOrc dellvcrance OF that
! public unknown and vast. that huge lndelefnl-
| nate body of humanity which would stand b,tW'en
/ mo and three known. dreaded clearly delinrd
individuals | rose from my chair, fortified by
my purpose, sustained by gImmffrine mop Tp,
| animated resolutr, strong: and. a. | mace my
| first step toward the window. nv landiady eh'erru
the room The chance Of escape gave me courage;
was able TO speak, TO strive with an my inlg%
| TO get one five minutes Ipore to myself
What do you want >" | said Leave my
room You have no right to enter IT.
have come to shut up for the night was
She went over 10 the window, closed the shutters,
barred and bolted them ana H'eh prroc39eIGeu
| TO draw the curtains. Never tlll now hiu sile
| performed for single act OF service, never
till now when she cut of my one means OF escape;
Leave the window cried as soon as
found voice TO speak never haze ,he shutters
1
| them | will not have them'
There is good deal Of noise in the street
! the woman answered and You are excited;
Won will be better fol being quiet.
could make no reply: stood still and silent
as she crossed the room and passed oqtnot through
| tle door EV which she Ind entered but through
thr folding-doors into the next room; there TO
| wait as felt and knew to wait and watch
Noise street" had caught the words in
i tl.r hurried whisper Of the one man to the other
and | had wondered what they meant. Now ]
heard them again; and quick intuition revealed
| TO me their meaning Not to keep the noise IN
the street from being heard in my room had the
| window been blocked and curtaned. but 10 pre-
vent any noise in the room being audible IN the
street. / knew II. ] understood 1t all this one
! service OF nv landladyS was the beginning OF the
| end The certainty robbed me OF all my courage
and strength. stunned me- paralyzcd me. | stood
motioncss by the hearth, my eyes fixed on the
feeble fame in the CRATE, my mind but half CON
scious Of the extremity OF my SITUATION Then,
| hardly knowing why at first l began to cry, not
| nassionatrlv or loudly but gently, because it
seemed 50 sad TO die like this, away from the
few friends | had, without another sight of
/ Katchen without chance OF letting her know
that had striven Tor her ana loved her 10 me
end and, as | cried, thought Of the good Gcd
| in Heaven. and fell on my knees and said Our
! Father in my dear German tongue. For a
! long time had said my prayers in English. We
! Germans have great desire TO learn foreign
! languages and sometimes il carries ms too Tar.
had resolved to learn as much English as
J. had tnGd even 70 make myS sd5
I by DraVinr in English. But now, IN the
| hour of death the agony OF my heart found vent
i'm the words of my native tongue, and the German
prayer did me more good than the English had
! ever done: for oh. my friends believe me, rhe
/ dear God hears us best in the language we best
| understand.
l said = Our Father through twice; could
/ not think of any other way Of praying,
and the familiar words soothed me. Then,
as / still knelt on the hearhrug heard footsteps
On the stairs: and sid in my heart; 1t is here.
| \ moment after the door opened and the two men
came in; and al the same lime the foldns-d9orS
parted. and behind them stood the woman. III l
had not already guessed my fate | should have
J known it then: there was murder in the face OF
those men there was death in the womans eyes.
! had not long to wait: the agony was short.
] thank God that it short for it was very