The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-12-30

he was compelled to abandon his one
hope of safety.
There was ia this desperate combat
against such opposing forces, against
the elements. against animals, against
men. something so courageous and so
hopeless that it oppressed the heart.
We were so close to the man that l
could see with extreme clearness the ex-
preston on his visage- 1t was mulat-
to'S face, more yellow than brown.
nearer neighbor of white blood than the
negros. His hair was not kinky, 1T
was even hardly curly. The nose. in
stead of being fiat. was aquiline What
family had beuueathed such an aristo-
cratic mask to this robber, this murder
err? From whom had this Henry Sey-
mour descended? For it was Seymour.
If any doubt had remained in my mind
after the description the hotel keeper
had given. me. the ColoneIs agitation
would have dissipated it, His rifle con-
tinued to remain at his shoulder, but
his finger did not press the trigger.
Even had it touched it 1T rs not prob
able that the ball would have struck
the mark, so great was the trembling
of the old mans arm. now that he was
aiming at his old servant. Finally the
rifle barrel was raised without his hav-
ing fired. and / heard Mr.. Scott say
aloud, just as though he had been alone:
mo, cannot shoot him So"
He then spurred up his horse. The
water was so deep now that the Colonel
was in it to above the knee. He could
go no further without swimming, but
he was upon the edge of the forest and
there were no trees before him. He
cried out and the swimmer turned.
saw the revolver that the fugitive con-
tinued to hold out of the water aimed
at the Colonel. and then begin to rise
just as the Colonels rifle had done.
had recognized Mr. Scott and
he did not fire. This hesitation to COM
NIT murder was completely unex-
pected in professional assassin and I'M
der such circumstances that even at
that moment and in the fever caused by
such an adventure / could not help
feeling some establishment The man
must have felt for his master a very
strange sentiment of veneration to re-
fuse to fire, he a man who had already
spilled so much blood Or could it be
that he had seen the Coloneps gesture
Of few moments ago, and. being GER
tain that he would not fire, did he
think It was useless to waste one of his
five shots? Or again, could it be that
this excellent marksman recognized the
impossibility of aiming accurately while
swimming as he was? / shall never
know the secret motive that prompted
this scene, which passed with such
tragic rapidity.
0IdHQinB up Ills StlTTupS, tHuS fHdk-
ing still more prominent target of his
huge frame. the Colonel cried with a
voice that dominated the furious bark
ings of the dogs. the tumult of the
water and the rustling of the forest:
Come, Henry. my boy, you see it's
no use. You'll have to give up. There
are seven other rifles after you, and
they'll be here in five minutes"
The man shook his head without re-
plying. Then, as though the presence of
his enemies had given him a new force,
he fired at one of the dogs with the
muzzle close to the animal, which
howled with pain, making the otEssrs
hang back. Then judging that Els
weapon could not serve him any longer,
he let it drop in the water in order to
dive and swim with both arms
Hes going to escape" said the
Colonel, whose clear eyes becarae fixed.
He again shouldered his rifle, and 1
felt that this time he would not hest
tate. This heroic effort of citizenship
was. howeyer. spared him. When Sey-
mour's head came up in the river he
was quite close to the bridge, sufficiently
close in fact, to seize the cable. In an
other moment we saw him dive and re-
|. appear on the other side of it, Perhaps
if he had once got upon the bridge and
had recommended diving while walking
he might have succeeded in escaping.
But the instinct to stretch his limbs
after such an effort made him stand
erect the instant he felt his feet posed
upon the planks. His chest appeared
above the water. and at the same mo-
ment two shots went off at our right.
fired by two of the hunters. One of the
balls struck the mulatto in the shout
der, and we saw his arm crop limp and
inert. The other crashed against the
iron cord of the cable. 1t glanced off
and struck the fugitive in the head. He
raj h c cd h.
head and then reeled. The few move
ments that he made to grasp anew the
iron cable formed simply a ,convulsive.
instructive effort. He felt himself faint
ing and disappeared under the water.
But the Colonel had already forced his
horse into the stream and had begun
swimming. He gained the side of the
wounded man. whom he raised with his
powerful arm and brought to shore
A quarter of an hour later the entire
troop. attracted by the shots, had as
sembled with us around the still faint
ing man. The dogs glided between the
legs of the horses, trying to smell and
lick the bloody cloths with which Mr..
Scott was wiping the two injuries which
were but slight, received by the un-
fortunate wretch. We learned later
that in the hope of putting off his exc
cution he had pretended to be i'll, and
had refused to eat for several DAYS.
Had he been more robust he would not
have been so much retarded He would
have crossed the bridge, just as his
comrades had done two hours before
our arrival. and once in the other part
of the forest he would have found as
they did. line of railroad, and like
them, without doubt. would have clam
bered on to a train in motion, like pro-
fessional tramps.
L s..ould add that the assassin being
recaptu ed no tone troubled about the
others. Every one felt quite certain
that they would not remain in the neigh
borhood, or even in Georgia. The State
had. in fact, got rid of them Good
bye, old chums." Is the phrase / could
imagine the good citizens OF Philippe
Vile calling out in cordial adieu had
they not been occupied at the moment
in caring for their prisoner, of whom
they intended to make an instructive
example for the benefit of all the colored
men of the district.
However. Henry Seymour began to re-