The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1897-03-04
DEVAL'S ESCAPE.

DEVAL'S ESCAPE.
1t was a red-letter day in my life
when l was first put in charge Of a
passenger" I'd worked my way up
by successive stages from the post of
cleaner in the sheds, and, being al
ways steady-going young fellow, had
reached the topmost rung Of the lad
der sooner than most. There was, per-
haps, an extra incentive in my case, as
l was courting little girl who was,
she had told me, only waiting till 1
earned enough to make me the happi-
est of men.
To be sure, had a rival, Ernest De-
val by name, who was something in
the city" and possessed the snowy at
tractiveness and the art Of insidious
| fattery which sometimes lure tickle.
minded women to forsake the true met
al for the glittering dross. I must
own he occasioned me some slight
cause for jealousy, still, secure in the
knowledge Of our mutual love and
knowing Alice to be sensible little
girl, was on the whole as happy as
most chaps who see their sweethearts
but once or twice a week.
She had told me on more than one
occasion that she wanted nothing to do
with him, but in spite of her obvious
dislike he persisted in prosecuting her
with his attentions, and only the day
before the incidents happened which 1
am about to relate had found it nec-
essary myself to display the finger Of
Alice to him with my ring upon it, to
his ill-concealed chagrin and evident
modification.
On the next night I was, as usual,
ordered to take out the sleeping saloon
express to the north. My mate had
secured the couplings, the old engine
was painting and snorting like a thing
Of life, as If eager for the coming jour-
ney, and the hustle on the platform
had subsidized. The signals were right
and I had my hand on the throttle
only waiting for the fright awayw
when, just as the green light was dis
played, cab ratified into the station,
from which an excited man hastily
Jumped. Flinging some money to the
driver, he rushed along the platform
and sprang into the first compartment
Of the train, the next one to the en-
gine, just as 1 pressed the lever and
my fireman had loosened the brake.
We had hardly begun to move when
another man, who had been waiting
on the station, in the shadow of pill
lar, and 1 knew as Detective Jobson,
of Scotland Yard, sprang to the car
riage and calculating, Thought 1
should nab you here, my beautyw en-
deavored to enter. l was busy getting
under way, but my mate told me that
the man IN the carriage struck the de-
tective in the face and forced him off
the footboard. His hat flew off in the
struggle and fell between the platform
and the moving train, but the officer,
determined not to lose his quarry, was
up again In an instant, and though the
carriages were flying past him, he
sprang upon the fOOtboard Of the last
coach, needing not the cries of the ex-
cited porters and terrified onlookers:
and just as the train cleared the plat
form he saw the guard lean forward
from the open door, and grasping the
man by the arms, assist him into the
van.
The fugitive in the first coach saw
the detectives disappearance also, and
his bloodless face blanched a shade
paler.
"Great snakesw exclaimed the fire.
man, drawing in his breath with
sharp hiss, 'that was narrow shave.
Jobson means to have that chap some
how, and have him he will. l wonder
what he's wanted for. He'll never reach
the landing stage this journey, that's
a dead cert!'
NO." said I; "they'll have him at
Crewe right enough. Poor beggar! He
made desperate fight for it, anyhow
The sleeper" as we called it, was
timed straight through to Crewe with
out stop, doing the 15S miles in three
hours and five minutes. There we left
it to another engine which would be
in waiting to take it sup" express la
ter in the morning. l knew that as
soon as we reached Crewe there would
be a crowd Of policemen waiting to
search the train from end to end. job
son was up to his work, and the tele-
graph would be clicking its warning
message a moment or two after we had
passed through the first station.
1t was not the only capture, by any
means, had witnessed this astute Of
dcer make, and the despairing faces of
the men, robbed of the last hope of es-
cape, the shadow of the criminals cell
already upon them, came into my mind
as we rushed past Willesden, and look
full light saw the fateful piece of pa
per flutter from the detectives hand.
The officials would understand the
significance of that scribbled message,
and unless Providence miraculously in
terposed the man was doomed. To
leave the train as it flew through the
night at the rate of fifty miles an hour
was impossible. One man had done so
once, but his body was found mangled
beyond recognition on the track in the
morning. There was no escape, and
with such passing thoughts dismissed
the matter and concentrated my atteu-
don on the work in hand.