The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1896-03-12

not to lose you. and took the trouble
to get out ut every station to assure
myself thai you had not left the car
riage, for although prefer doing these
little things in private, yet, rather than
miss the chance altogether, ! would
have stopped to the vulgarity OF cut.
ting your throat on the public plat
form in the presence of lot of course
minded porters. You will see that I
am only carrying out. the doctrine SO
admirably .enunciated by my esteemed
friend, the late Mr.. De Quincy, with
whose lucid essay on 'Mlrdaa: Consid-
cred as One of the Fine Arts' you are
doubtless familiar. There shall be no
Indecent haste. There gre yet five
and-twenty minutes before our train
will reach town. will allow you, say.
quarter of an hour; ten minutes will
be more than ample time for me to do
all that require, and we will, with
your permission, devote the interval
to a calm discussion on any subject
you may. suggest. Now, can ! speak
fairer?' ..
All this was aid in the calmest and
most natural manner. /. mentally
thanked heaven for this unlooked-for
retrieve. Short as it was, 1 felt there
was yet a chance for my life. Much
| might happen in q quarter of IN hour.
The train might be stopped by some ac'
cident, or might even be able to make
my escape by another door. STILL
felt how hopeless it was to speculate
On this, for single look at the door
convinced me of the folly of the at
tempt. since, in order to reach it,
should haze to pass my terrible COM
panion. He looked ut his watch, ana
said quietly:
"Ten minutes gomez"
Only a short five minutes between
life and death!
The ghastly glitter Of the polished
steel seemed to grow red in the pale
lamp-light, and the dark, cleaning eyes
were bent on me with the fierce, eager
look had noticed before.
A sudden thought struck me. re-
mcmbered having heard that almost all
lunatics labored under some special
mono:nania, and that by humoring
them On this one point, and sustaining
from contradicting them, they would
often become so interested in the sub
;ect as to lose all consciousness of
everything that was passing around
them. This, then, was my last chance,
and resolved to try it. l at once di-
vined my companions weak place, and
looking him steadily in the face. said.
as calmly as I could: :.
"My dear sir. as have still to detain
YOU some five minutes longer, am sure
YOU will pardon me for asking single
question: .Nan have just now referred
to an ingenious essay BY the late Mt.
De Quincy. need scarcely say that I
fully agree with the views therein ex-
messed, and thatSif You are really "a
homicidal connoisseur-a difettante in
| murdef-and follow the art from q
genuine love Of it, then. Of course, my
throat is most heartily ut your serH-
ice. ,But,if, an the other hand, as Linn
agine from your looks, you are only
a beginner, then 1 beseech you, for
Ey5sourr own sake. that you reflect serious
" before y on commit yourself to a pro
fession for which you may find out too
Hate, that you have npanat urlal genius"
h For 4 mo1dentsI houg ht I n Sc gained
nv object, Us he ASSUMED half-medi- .
tative air. But after a brief pause,
he suddenly said, with the air of a man
who had perfectly made up his mind:
'No, 1ny5friend, it wont do; am de-
termnine,l tos act up to my principle,
so pray. say no more on the subject.
You have just minute and 80 seconds
to live. In" the meantime am sure
you will excuse me for attending to
this little instrument"
And suiting the action to the wort':
he turned up the sole of his boot and
commenced sharpening his knife in the
most. business-likc manner.
It was 4 situation full Of horrible
suspense. The precious seconds were
flying fast. l fancied heard mock
ing shrieil amid the roar of the hurry
ing wheels. The Kissing as of thou
sand snakes rang in my ears. A low,
crunching, wailing sound, slight jar
ring of. the timbers of the carriage.
Was it.? A wild, maddening hope
leaped up in my heart.
"One minute MORE" muttered my
tormentor.
Again the sound was repeated, but
this time more distinct and prolonged.
could not be mistaken; it was tbs
sound of the brake, the train was stop
ping.
It might be only a temporary diminu"
ton of speed; no, we were perceptibly
slackening our pace, the train was
about to stop, and in another minute
assistance would be at hand. The ques-
ton was: Would he perceive it? I
looked up. Too late! Too late!
With a yell, the mere memory OF
which makes my blood run cold. he
sprang upon me; and as we rolled to-
cether, at the bottom of the carriage, 1
saw the cleaning knife brandished
above me. 1t was q struggle for dear
life. Despair gave me strength to
make q last effort to avert the blow.
The form above me swayed for IN in
.A~~x thu h1o1n c1porvofl in IFS descent.