The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-07-05

were two lines of insulated wire about six or
seven yards long, ending in shallow cups con-
tanning dampened felt
'Pacing us side by side, midway between
the corners, the cups were fastened to our
bodies, one being placed on the neck at the
base of the brain and the other at the ex-
tremity Of the spinal column. Thus attached
to our respective discs, we were told that he
who first reached his opponents corner could,
by merely placing his head on the elevated
spot send the annihiating current on it's
deadly way.
''The old scientist, after few hurried di-
rections, given in voice agtated with strong
emotion, retired to q corner, where / could
see him standing in an attitude of rapt at
tention, his head bent forward, his eyes pro-
truding and glowering with a fiXity of ex-
preston almost maniacal in its intensity.
1.-THE room was filled with a solemn quiet,
unbroken save by the low murmur of heavy
respiration or the regular tick of a clock,
whose monotonous rhythm sounded like the
beat OF q drum to my overstrained nerves.
Thus we lay for nearly half minute, each
waiting for the other to make the move.
ga short reflection has shown me that
victory would come to him who showed the
greatest cunning, as the manner in which we
We're tied precluded the display CT butte force,
and the slippery floor offered no fulcrum
wherewith to propel ones self along.
'sSlyly | turned my head and saw, close by,
the livid face of my antagonist, his deep-set
eyes watchful and alert.
'As feint turned slowly over. He did
the same. Then with sadden effort swung
around go that my feet struck him sharp
blow in the face. 1t aroused all the devil in
his nature, and he quickly retaliated by max
ing desperate lunge at my head; his heels
flew past within an inch, and the force of the
movement placed him almost between me and
my corner. He was quick to see the advan-
tage, and started to roll with increasing force
in that direction. Then ensued a terrific race
for the disc.
cover the CLASSY floor, slipping and sliding,
with head advanced in futile endeavor to gain
greater momentum, we writhed and squirm-
ed, vainly grasping at the polished surface
1.-The room revolved in dizzy whirl, and
soon my eyes were blinded by aching tears,
called forth by raging terror at the heart--a
fear that he might gain the victory and live.
With one last almost superhuman effort l
threw myself across the widening gap between
us and stopped his progress. There we lay,
painting for breath, on the very edge of the
metal plate, but was nearest.
CATER what seemed an eternity of time the
strange combat recommended. was posted
in the angle, my feet pressed firmly against
one wall and my head against the other. 1t
was living barrier of resistless strength.
''Suddenly felt his form against mine
creeping cunningly closer. With hasty jerk
diew my body in and, with shoulders press
ed firmly against the plastered sides, gave one
powerful kick and sent him sliding to the CEN
tire of the room. Before he had stopped was
rolling in the direction of his corner.
"With elbow and heel, invoking the aid of
every nerve and muscle, l rapidly covered
the intervening space, and then found my
passage barred and the goal snatched from
my eager grasp on the Threshold of victory.
Wild with baffled rage / threw myself upon
him, and with hellish fury tried to tear his
throat with my teeth
'As we struggled the room resounded with
an Internal din of gasping moans andsoaths
strangled in their utterance. For time
lost sense of direction and was only intent in
crushing out his viperous life.
"We had neared the middle when, by what
crafty trick | know not, he broke away, and
with miraculous speed, now leaping half erect
and now writhing like a serpent, he again APP
preached the disc. | watched him with fasci-
mated eye as he drew nearer and nearer. My
tongue Glove to the roof of my mouth, every
drop of blood turned to ice, and | felt the
bony hand of death clutching that heart
which in a second would shrivel at the light
ning's touch.
she reached it; up went his head, higher
and higher. My God why does he prolong
this living death A thud as it touched the
iron plate; q horrible gurgling noise cut off in
its infancy; one long, conYulsiVe shudder of
the body, and he lay dead before me, killed by
his own wire. He had mistaken the plate.
"Hours afterwards he was carried from the
house, my reason almost gone and the dread
terror of the scene still before me. How his
body was disposed of do not know. Prob
badly it was buried under false name. His
death was not at my hands, but the horror of
1t rests upon me, and it is more than can
bear"