The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-10-15

they were at my mercy. I did
act, however, with undue precipi-
tation. My plans were already formed.
There is no satisfaction in vengeance
unless the offender has time to realize
who it is that strikes him, and why
retribution a. come upon / m / had
my plans arranged by which l should
nave the opportunity of making the
who had wronged me understand
that his old sin had found him out. 1t
CHANGED thai some days before a gen
tleman who had been engaged in look
ing over some houses in the Brixton
road had dropped the key Of one OF
them in my carriage. 1t was claimed
that same evening and returned; but
in the interval l a taken a molding
of 1t, and had a duplicate constructed.
By means of this 1 had access to at
least one spot in this great city where
I could rely upon being free from in
%terruption. How to get Drebber to
that house was the difficult problem
which 1 had now to solve.
He walked down the road and went
into one or two liquor shops, staying
for nearly a an hour In the last of
them. When he came out be staggered
in his walk, n was evidently pretty
We'll VII. tti6 was q iioiAoOii JAct Al
front of me, and he hailed 1t. I fol-
lowed 1t so close that the nose of my
horse was within a yard Of his driver
the whole way. We ratified across
Waterloo bridge n through miles OF
streets, until, to my establishment, we
found ourselves back in the terrace In
which he had boarded. I could not
imagine what his intention was In re-
turning there; but I went OF and pulled
up my cab a hundred yards or SO from
the house. He entered 1t n his han
som drove away. Give me a glass of
water, If you please. My mouth gets
dry with the talking"
I handed him the glass, and he drank
it down.
"That's better" he said. "well, I
waited for a quarter Of an hour or
more, when suddenly there came a
noise like people struggling inside h
house. Next moment the door was
flung open and WE men appeared. one
of whom was Drebber, and the other
was a young chap whom I had never
seen before. This fellow had Drebber
by the collar, and when they came to
the head of the steps he gave him a
shove and a kick which sent him half
| across the road. You hound!' he cried,
shaking his stick at him, I'll teach you
to insult an honest girl!' He was SO
hot that I think he would have thrashed
Drebber with his cudgel, only that the
cur staggered away Town the road as
fast as his legs would carry him. He
ran as far as the corner, and then,
seeing my cab, he hailed me and
jumped in. Drive me to Halliday's
Private Hotel said he.
when I had him fairly inside my
cab my heart jumped so with Joy that
l feared lest at this last moment my
aneurism might go wrong. I drove
along slowly, weighing In my mind
what it was best to do. 1 might take
him right out into the country, and
there in some deserted lane have my
last interview with him. l had almost
decided upon this, when he solved the
problem for me. The craze for drink
had seized him again, n he ordered
me to pull up outside a gin palace. He
went in, leaving word that / should
wait for him. There he remained until
closing time, and when he came out
he was so far one that l knew the
game was In my W hands. n
Don't imagine that l intended to
kill him in cold blood. 1t would only
have been rigid justice if I had done so,
but I could not bring myself to do 1t.
l had long determined that he should
have a show for his life If he chose to
take advantage of it. Among the many
billets which l have filled in America
during my wandering life, l was once
a janitor and sweeper out of the labora-
tory at York College. One day the
professor was lecturing on poisons, ana
he showed his students some alkaloid,
as he called 1t, which he had extracted
from some South American arrow pol
son, and which was so powerful that
the least grain meant instant death.
spotted the bottle in which this
preparation was kept, and when they
were all gone I helped myself to a little
of it.. | was a fairly good dispenser,
so worked this alkaloid into small,
soluble pills, and each pill l put In a
box with a similar pill made without
poison. | determined at the time that,
when | had my chance, my gentlemen
should each have q draw out of n or
these boxes, while l eat the pill that
remained. 1t would be quite as deadly,
and q good deal less noisy tina firing
across a handkerchief. From that day
had always my pill boxes about with
J me. and the time a now come Wnen
/ was to use them.
at was nearer one than twelve, and
a wild. bleak night, blowing hard and
raining in torrents. Dismal as 1t was
outside, 1 was glad within-so glad
that 1 could have shouted u from
pure exultation. If any of you gentle
men have ever pinned for a thing and
longed for 1t during twenty long years,
and then suddenly found it within your
reach, you would understand my feel
ings. l lighted a cigar and pulled at
it to steady my nerves, but my hands
We're trembling. and my temples throb-
bling with excitement. AS 1 drove, l
could see old John Terrier and sweet
Lucy looking at me out of the darkness
and smiling at me, just as plain as |
see you all in this room. All the way
they We're ahead of me, one on each
side of the horse, until | pulled up at
the house in the Brixton road.
"There was no a soul to be seen. nor
a sound to be heard, except the drip
ping of the rain. When | looked In at
the window, l found Drebber all hud-
died together in a drunken sleep. |
shook him by the arm, It's time to -
out, 1 said.
"'All right, cabby.' said he.
81 suppose he thought we had come
to the hotel hat he had mentioned,