Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1910-03-19

me"
pushed her gently into my arm
char, and spoke to her as soothingiy
as II she We're just a frightened child.
When had Gained her a little. T
said as gently as l could, Now tell me
what has happened. why are you so
afraid
Manuel she gasped. looking to-
wards the door, which sill stood ajar.
"he-l an afraid-I-can't 90 il. /
did not know-tiIl tonight. I aid mt
know-but now | know. He shant
make me do it any more. Help me to
fight him
Her voice died down, the fixed look
| had learned to dread began to come
into her eyes; the dazed expression OF
the sIeep-I aiker crept across her face.
Taking her hands into mine in a firm.
strong clasp, / looked deep into her
eyes, and spoke very slowly-Yery
distinctly.
You are not to do what he wants
to make you do. You understand?
You are not to do it-not to do 1t.
Your will is quite as strong as his;
quite as strong-remember that"
For a m longer I held her
glance with mine, and then a great re-
lief swept across her face; she passed
her hand over her eyes, and sighed
a sigh of contentment.
"You-make me-strong." she said,
and a lovely smile ~overspread her
features. "I-don't feel frightened
when you are here to help me-"
| was beginning to ask her a ques-
ton about the whole strange affair,
when a sudden sound from the room
above made her start and tremble
violently.
Scarcely thinking what ! was doing.
I snatched my hat from its peg and
put it on, and opening a drawer in my
bureau, took from it a pistol, which.
for some reason | had never attempted
to explain myself, | had kept there,
loaded, for the last few weeks. Leav-
ing Rosina in my room, | sped upstairs
two steps at a time, until, having
reached Manuel's door | paused, pistol,
in hand, listening ~intently.
Behind that closed door | could hear
sounds of hurried movements-low
mutterings; and every now and then a
loud oath. 1t was evident that Manuel
was dragging boxes about, just as he
had been doing earlier in the evening;
but there seemed to be a sort of fran
tic hurry in his movements now,
which struck me as abnormal and
wild. Could he really be mad?
Then, suddenly, l heard the man in
side utter a louder i~mpreeation, and
hurry towards the door, which he
wrenched open, talking loudly and in
coherently the whole time, until he
caught sight of me. When his eyes
fell on my silent, waiting form, a con-
vulsion of rage swept over his face,
and he literally flung himself towards
me. Take care" | said coolly, keep
your distance, or l shall fire. This
thing is loaded"
That had a SOLDERING effect upon him
ment, and l should have been hard
put to hold my own against the mad
man (for mailman he undoubtedly
was), had not help come TO me from
below. in the shape of Mrs. Dances
husband, and a stalwart policeman,
Rosina, dear little soul, had plucked
up courage as Don as | left the room,
and had gone down to the landlady to
tell her what had happened. 1t was
no easy task for three of us TO secure
the unfortunate man, but we got the
better OF him at last, and when morn
ing anne he was removed to an asy-
lum, where he died, driven mad by his
own plottings.
1t then developed that he belonged
to a group of anarchists who were en-
gagged in Matching plots and making
bombs; that Manuel was one of those
deputed 10 receive the bombs and dis
! patch them 70 their destination. He
had conceived the fiendish idea of us
ing his innocent little sister as his
tool; and-being possessed of extraor-
binary hypnotic powers-he had mes
merized her into going to and fro
from the boarding house 10 the place
where the bombs were manufactured,
and fetched the deadly things for him
to pack and take or send away. In
the same fashion he had made her his
messenger TO other anarchists; and
she had carried messages. papers. etc,
TO and fro whilst in The hypnotic
state into which her brother had
thrown her.
Only on that night, the night of the
final disaster, had the poor child dis
covered what was happening to her,
and the truth about her brothers ne
~farious dealings when his W weak
ened brain had led him to blurt out
the truth to her. Then in her terror
she fed to me for succor, and, thank
God. l was able to save her. And
Manuel's sister is now my wife.
School Enumeration.
The annual school enumeration Of