The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1893-05-12

scientific knowledge Of boxing. hut, for
all that, felt myself greatly out
matched in that hand 10 hand fight.
No sooner had grapplcd with the vii
lain on his first striking me than he
gave me blow right in the face savage
enough TO have broken my nose and
knocked out goodness knows how many
teeth had he delivered it with as much
judgment as he did violence. But ! had
taken him by the throat with both
hands, with the idea Of throttling him
into passivcncss. and | continued
clutching his windpipc with the tcnac-
ity of bull terrier. We twisted, and
wrigglcd, and bumped from side to side
Of the confined space, and all the
while felt him dragging me in the di-
rection Of the open door At last l
twned my foot about his leg. and
threw him; he fell heavily, striking his
head against the cushioned seat, and
down came with him. still clinging To
his iron hard, muscular throat. upon
which my grip seemed 10 make scarcely
any impression. We rolled about for
awhile. each endeavoring to keep up
pcrmost. and when with his superior
strength he got above me, and lSnelt
upon my chest ! thought he would bru-
tally murder me as lay in that almost
helpless posture. But instead he gasped
out: "Will you change clothes now?"
and whilst he waited for my answer
got my fist free and struck him upwards
under the chin. knocking his teeth to-
gether with click like the snap of a
rifle trigger and nearly dislocating his
neck; and then gave IA heave up which
threw him Oft me, and moment later
we were upon our feet again and pound
ing away as before.
But was beginning to feel that
could not continue the struggle much
longer, and that, exhausted as ! was,
he would be able to drag me to the door
and pitch me through it on 10 the line.
My opponent brcathcd hard and fast,
but showed no signs of giving in. On a
sudden the train gave "A violent jolt,
that flung ms both against the bulshcad
Of the compartment: the flame of the
lamp leaped up, then flickercd moment
and went out. We continued fighting
in darkness as deep as that Of the
grave. Now that we were both COM
plctely in the dark ! felt myself more
on an equality with my antagonist. My
sole dread was that ! should find myself
tuinbling backwards through the open
door. He had Kissed ont, amid horrid
blasphcmies. his intention of leaving me
IN, 1,nf f,,v Ix-
might lie undiscovered for weeks. Dead
men, he said. told no tales. and he
wasn't going to lose the liberty he had
that night regaincd. But all AT once
felt him relax his grip of my body. and
he called to me to let go. Glad of a
moments respite released my hold Of
the fellow. though standing on my
guard meanwhile. wary of some desper-
ate trick upon his part. After "A little.
tack. spoke and asked him what he
was doing. at the same time cropping
about TO try and feel him. | received
no answer. neither did my hands come
in contact with his body. At that
moment the train emerged from the
tunnel, and the impenetrable gloom in
which the train had been plunged by
the extinction Of the lamp gave place to
a kind of faintncss sitting in through
the windows. sufficient to have revealed
the figure Of a man had he still been in
the compartment. had box of
matches in my pocket. and with trcm-
bling hand pulled it out and struck
light The place was empty. With a
long sigh of relief and thankfulncss.