St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-06-18

your lap. and creeping mp to the win
dow there"
''Oh. understand you. now. said 1
instantly suspccting that the man wa,
deranged. and resolving what u do.
DO you suppose I am going to si
quietly here and let you put q? se crca
lures on me?''
by no MEANS" said I. "T4ey hav.
been bothering me all the forenoon
Here. give me your knife ARD let me
slaughter the vermin."
Thus seeming to fall in with / is ideas
and recognizing the presence Of the
devils and reptiles all about Us, 1 re ched
out my hand and almost snatched hi,
knife from him. and pretended to cut
and slash in frightful manner
Then passed some minutes In seem.
ing to throw the carcasscs -p,H Of the
window, taking good care to send the
knife after them.
well, that's = comfort" laid thu
stranger. calming down considerably
"You did that very well. StSp! there
is one with awful. glxring eycc in tina,
corner. See! see. sec:" and Se trcm
bled oil over rs he pointed to the cor
ncr OF the coach.
Don't he afraid" said I; ':just lei
me get at him." and went Though an
imaginary tussle with an animal. and
with not = little apparent exeiaion pre-
tended to throw h,m also OUT of the
window.
"where is the lsnife2' said he. Sud.
denly.
IL dropped It out with those. devils. u
That's bad said the man; but
they're all gone for the present"
'All." said /; mot one left"
He drew . long breath, rs. though
quite relieved, and ! longed. for the
time when the train should stop. sothat
] could free myself from the ;;compau.
ionship Of lunatic. ! had thrown
away his knife, and thought that per
haps I could handle him If hi had no
weapon; but never for = NOR ent took
my eyes of his face. and wbeni I could
fairly catch his eyes, gazed sack full
and determinedly into them with all the
power of nv will. Thi, Affected him
singularly. and he began to Svoid my
direct look and fidget in his seat-a
res'lessness which I knew to: be bad
symptom.
In the meantime I tried in q degree
to analyze the mans case. He was evi.
IDENTIFY suffering from dclirium tremens,
and in the most virulent form, Natur-
ally large and strong man. HIS physi-
cal power was of course greatly excited
and increased temporarily by the de-
rangement of the brain. knew that .
maa in his situation was entirely un-
amenable to reason. and that the
easiest and perhaps the only way to
control him Mt all, was to tdopt his
own ideas, however unreasonSble and
by Anessc to manage him without ap-
pearing 70 do SO.
NY eyes were OF him for . moment.
and as quick as thought he sp,ang with
both hands at my throat, which he
grasped as though in . wise. In doing
this he rose to his feet. For orc instant
l could hardly breathe. but II struck
both his feet from under him by blow
at once of my hands behind the knees.
and he came down ut once upon the
floor. Throwing my weight against
his body. fell upon his chest, with
his body under me. while succeeded
in freeing my throat from his grasp.
Il can't drive these snakes end devils
of unless you keep quiet and don't get
in my way" said !. Get Up and 60
into that corner. while throw them out
of the window" continued. in . stern
voice, land be quick about it,.
lie obeyed instantly, and did not seem
to comprehend that he had juss attacked
me SO violently.
''Oh, said he. in . moment after; 1.-The
devil looked over your shoulder. and I
thought it was you."
Keep quiet, and don't get il my way
again." I said, Is I once more went
through the pantomime Of throwing
imaginary devils and reptiles out Of the
window. not daring to put my own
head out, lest he should get M at dis
advantage and dash me out also.
Would the train never STOP? Here /
had been shut up with this madjnan for 1t
least an hour, and had not Sufficiently
comprehended the case to take his knife
away from him At the outset, doubtless
he would have murdered me before this
time. He was as strong rs , lion. I
might not be SO lucky in . secynd strug-
gle as had just been in throwing him
of. With all the cratic itnpulse of
madness he was liable to b{ upon me
any moment.
There's q boa constructor, = screamed
the man, seizing my arm and pointing
to the end of the car. HE will break
every bone in my body. Kill him! kill
him.
well, WELL" said I. soothingly. '.let
go my arm and will fix hi,s. There!
sit in your corner and give iAe ROOM"
and l thrust him back into The opposite
seat.
once more went through the panto-
mime Of an imaginary struggle to eject
some monster from the window.
lila! He's getting the better Of yeu,"
the maniac. ''He wal be after
me next" and he made = spRing 1t the
other door, but it was securely locked
z!1945}l .