The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-12-10
A TERRIBLE RIDE.


foul courts and alleys of Whitcchapel? If
l may take it for granted that such is the
case you will perhaps remember noticing
during your progress Il man who apparent
ly did not know what to do with himself
downcast looking fellow, hanging around
the door of II public house or gin palace.
with his hands deep in the pockets of u
pair of greasy cor,luroys, and his chin hid
den iii gaudy Bechcr neckerchicf, while
he passed the time by pulling dense clouds
OF smoke from short, black pipe. He did
not trouble you much however You sim
ply said TO yourself, Some poor fellow out
of work" But you were wrong. lie was
Detective Trace
w neither you are Of the town or country
you have, presume, Travelled by railway,
and have sometimes found your vis-;l-vis
an iiiablc, loquacious old gentleman with
Spectacles, who rested his palms on the
handle of stout stick or umbrella, while
he quietly scrutiniZcd and banded an in
offensive joke with each passenger who ell
tered or left the carriage ut the different
stations, and who, in spite of II trouble
some asthmatical cough, so managed to
ingratiate himself with his fellow travel
ers hs to almost draw from them the his
tory of their travels for any past period
Perhaps it has always been your lot to
descend to IL sudden fit of seriousness as
he whispered into the ear of one of the oc-
cupants who was going to alight This
might have surprised you, but what fol-
lowed this strange movement gave YOU Il
clew to the mystery. You witnessed an
alteration, followed by the sharp click of
handouts, and you knew that he was De-
tectivc Trace.
Maybe ut times you have had difficulty
III Killing weary hour or so, and have
amused yourself by listening to the cases
ut the nearest police court If so, your eve
has wandered TO the witness box as tie Of
ficcr i'll charge of the lprit has entered it.
Whom did you see there? a man who
no longer hoistcd false colors, for there was
no further need of disguise; he had thrown
1t aside and stood revealed in his true char
acter, wearing the uniform of Il sergeant
III the police force as, having kissed the
sacred book, lie proceeded ut once to tell
the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the TRUTH" etc, and gave in his name
as Sergeant Trace. But, although he has
long been superannuated and the winter
OF time has somewhat thinned and silvered
his hair, his evidence while he reclines in
ms easy chair shall be us true. the fact
which he asserts shall be as irrefragible as
when years ago he kissed the sacred book
presides.
TO begin then, Sergeant Trace and are
one and the same person.
Many years ago i was instructed to dis
cover the whereabouts OF Il young lady who
was "wanted"-why, it is unnecessary for
me to tell, but it was in the execution of
| my duty that an incident occurred which.
nearly cost me my life.
l had tracked the fugitive to Brighton,
where / made the discovery that she was
Just upon the point of returning to Lon
don. This suited me admirably, as l could
delay the dsGgrecablc business of arrest
till we arrived ut the end of the journey
but i'll order to be upon the safe side of
course did not lose sight of her, and finally
seated myself in the same compartment Of
the train us she herself occupied.
1t was the morning express and our
con- partment contained but three passcn-
gcrs-a gentleman, II lady (the object of
my pursuiD and myself. The guard locked
the door, and then commenced the most
terrible journey | ever made in my life.
scanned the features of the gentleman OPP
posite to whom | sat and saw that his eyes
were intcntly fixed upon me
The discovery was anything but pleas
ant, for there was n dark, malicious look
III his face that did not relish, so quietly
drawing paper from my pocket became
apparently absorbed i'll its contents while
from under my lids / kept II sharp eye
upon the stranger. When again turned
to meet his eye WIS more than ever con
WINGED that he was bent upon mischief.
though he had not spoken, for his hand
was clutching nervouSy ut something in
the breast pocket of his coat and his caze
was rivetcd upon me.
Was it pistol he had in that pocket? I
wondered. Such II thing was not at all
unlikely; and, coupled with the fact that
the man himself had every appearance of
maniac, my position was anything but
agreeable, for we had fifty minutes run
before us without stoppage
However, to have let him know my sus-
picions would but have been to place my
self at disadvantage; so, settling myself
down for nap, so arranged my hat that
] could watch his hand without his know
ing it.
No sooner had apparently fallen asleep
than he jumped from his seat with the evil
dent intention of springng upon me, but
quick us lie was, was quicker, and in an
instant had him by the throat and hurled
him on to his back. Before l could thor
oughly master him he had turned the
tables and L was down upon the floor of
the carriage, with the mailman sitting
upon my chest.
All this had occurred in moment, and
the first sound that reached my ear was
piercing scream from the woman whom
was about to arrest; but she did not faint,
or might not have lived to tell my story.
With admirable presence of mind she stood
watching for an opportunity to render me
any aid she could
Brave little womanl ! wonder il she
had known that had a pair of bracelets"
in my pocket, intended as temporary orna-
ments for her wrists, she would have acted
as she did?