Waterbury Democrat., 1903-02-12
TWO RESCUES
By EVAN MACPHERSON.
'sHUSH! Hold on there, partner"
 Jack Norton, with hands buried d

in the pockets of heavy winter over- coat, came striding over the hardened snow, down the slope of & dark and deserted side street that Led to the East river. He had just caught sight of another man passing through the yellow patch of light that marked a squalid rumshopi in a basement, and some instinct prompted him to hail as partner" this man whom he then saw for the first time.
 The strange man checked an impulse to look back, but only went on all the more doggedly. Norton also quick ened his pace. After a few more strides he could see, in the faint light which the snow reflected from the last lonesome gas lamp on the block, that there was no need of swif ftness to catch up with this man; the street ended right there in a sort of platform with an iron railing at it's edge, and imme- diately below this railing was the East river. where cakes of ice swirled out of the darkness into stray beams of light, and on into darkness again. The stran- ger--a strongly built man in a thick peajacket-stood there, grasping the head of an iron rail in either hand, staring out beyond.
 'sIt's no good, old man." said Nor ton, crunching over the fresh snow on the platform to reach the stranger, ''no good. I thought of doing it my self If you'll hold on a minute I'll tell you why"
 The man in the peajacket turned and glared at this intruder with the tall hat and the air of another class. s'Who in thunder are you2" And then, as if a new thought had suddenly oc- cured to him, he leaned forward and peered into Norton's face.
 That's all right said Norton, standing up to the scrutiny as if he had quite expected it. s.I'm not off my head not altogether. I only want to keep you from mistake nearly made myself. A few minutes ago I started to come down hare and-well, disappear in that darkness out there. See those chunks of ice racing each other? If you and I jumped this rail- ing now, we'd be racing like that next moment, and with no more idea of where we were racing to. It's all like that, the other world is. Chap named Hamlet settled it all long ago."
 '.Well, say, if you ain't crazy you've got more gall than anybody's got a right to and keep their senses. What you got to do with my affairs?"
 Norton laughed aloud. Your af- fairs! Don't you see we're in the same boat, you and I? You just listen to me-"
 ssNo, I won't just listen to you,'' the other man growled. And if you know what's good for you, you'll get away out of here.''
 This threat to man who had all but resolved on suicide struck Norton so suddenly and sharply as comical that he broke. into roar of laughter, awak- ening the echoes of the winter night. His mirth instantly reused the resent ment of the man in the peajacket, who, ], backing away from the railing, struck violently at him right and left.
 By instinct and long habit Norton put up his hands. He was the taller man of the two, active and more skill full in self-defense than the other; but long winter yovercoat is an awkward garment for boxing in, and the gloves proper for 8 gentleman's afternoon calls are not at all the prize-ring type.
 The two clinched. and stamped up and down in the dry snow, their steps so mufaed as to be soundless, even in the stiffness of that deserted hook. They fell, grappling fercely, and the street lamp blinked down at them, like solitary and impartial witness for both sides, while river steamer went puffing and grooming past, as if intent only upon it's own struggle with the. tide and the floating ice. Over and over they rolled together, the man in the peajacket fiercely struggling to .wreak his exasperation on. Norton's face whenever chance offered. Itwas bizarre struggle, what with its com ica1 aspects, and what with the threat of tragedy that increased every mo- ment, as Norton realized his oppo- nent's terrible earnestness. At last it seemed that the greater suppleness and length of limb had triumphed; Norton was on top, the other mans arms securely held down in the snow. But then arose the difficult question how to dispose of this man safely and yet humanely. If positions had been reversed, Norton would have been in perilous case; devil was glaring out of the two eyes that met his, reckless demon of hate against the whole world. Norton, on the contrary, bad no general grievance; in particular he had no quarrel against the stranger whom he held pinioned in the snow. Only one person had been in his thoughts as he came down that lonely side street, and her he. would not have harmed for all that life could afford. It had seemed, though, that death would be for him happy escape fr0n the agony of his meeting with her that afternoon, finding her so affectionate- ly intimate with that supercilious miti- dle-aged Prof. What's-His-Name, aud his just resentment met with what sounded to him like heartless sheer, and all this after years of absence in constant love and hope. By all logic Norton ought to have been glad to let the man in the peajacket get up and kill him, but somehow his impulses had all been changed by this chance