Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-07-25

Its smooth surface gave me a GER
tain sense of support. To my sur
prise. the rail suddenly ended and
my hand slipped off into space.
Not expecting the rail to end. and
with one foot in the air, lost my
balance. l tried to regain the rail
without making a sound. But in
vain. l clutched at it. missed. lost
my balance and fell with a crash.
In the position I had been in, l not
only fell, but fell off the landing,
coming down with a crash on the
first step. Then tumbling and roll
ing down the eight or nine steps.
landed at the bottom with a crash
that / thought must have shaken
the house.
Dimly, as I gathered myself to-
gether, l thanked my lucky stars
that / had not broken my neck.
Yet after all my position was not
a very enviable one. There was no
need to keep silent any longer.
The crash I made as I came tum-
| bling down the stairs was enough to
give testimony that ! was present.
Still, as | rose to my feet. had the
idea that the person in the room
was more anxious, perhaps, than l
not to be seen.
I had risen to my feet. feeling a
bit sore, for 1t seemed that every
part Of me had hit some section OF
the stairs as I fell. l stood listening
but heard nothing. Hardly knowing
what to do, l decided to find the
stairs and go up again. The fall,
however. must have confused me,
for though | CROPPED several steps
in tho direction where l judged the
stairway must be, l did not find 1t.
In moment / knew that l was lost
In the room. Just as much lost as
1 would have been IL | were thrown
into the heart of China.
The more steps l took the more
bewildered l became. l could not
even tell in what direction the
windows were, and. as for the way
l was headed ! did not know.
stopped several times, trying to get
the sense of direction, yet failing
each time. l stood silent the last
time for several moments. listening
for q sound. Not hearing any,
turned completely around and slow
ly started off again. Then. sud
denly, ! ran into something.
Mere instinct caused me to throw
out my arm for protection. 1t
brushed against a mans coat. 1 felt
behind 1t the heavy. thick set body
and heard the startled breathing.
The next moment a hand grasped
my arm. which l managed to throw
aside. But In second more l was
clasped by the arms of the man, and
the fight was on.
1t must have been a queer battle.
Neither of us could see the other.
nor. for that matter. make out even
a form. Rather vainly we struggled
for a few seconds there In the dark.
and my idea was that each of us
was trying far more to get away
than to injure the other. The per-
son l was struggling with. could
tell, was much heavier than my
self and OF greater strength. One
OF his arms was about my body; the
other held my arm. Slowly but
surely he was pushing me back
though struggled and tried TO
grasp his throat. Once my hand
erept over his collar to the flesh of
his neck, only to be thrown aside.
managed to break away from his
grip and then hit out with my fist,
My hand struck somewhere around
his chest. AS 1t brushed his coat,
something seemed to ring with a
little clinking sound, and in pulling
away my hand tore the pocket of his
coat.
Suddenly I sensed that he was
drawing a gun from his pocket. I
had little chance against his
strength-against a gun l had none
at all. had sense enough to give
loud cry. which. I thought, might
bring BARLEY from the floor above.
Next l quickly sprung aside and
softly dropped to the floor. On my
hands and knees / started to crawl
as far away from where l had been
as / could.
Before had gone several feet there
came the sharp bark of the gun and
a spit OF fame broke the darkness.
1t had been aimed at the place
where / had stood q second before
Another shot rang out. as /, throw
Ing aside all desire for silence, crept
across the floor as fast as / could
/ bumped into a great divan and
crawled around. placing 1t between
me and the gun. :,
could hear the man walking
across the floor and it seemed he
was going away from me. Just as I
realised he was working toward the
windows, I heard slight sound on
the stairs above and knew that
A$AAsASS was SOAAtu&s XNO uOuOI ne
had heard the report of the gun and
was coming as silently as he could.
The next second there came the
sound OF breaking glass and Of a
window being, raised. Then as If
throwing aside all desire for
secrecy. heard BARLEY running
down the steps. In q second the
. shaft OF his light was piercing the
darkness and playing over the
room.
In an anxious tone. he called.
"Pelt, where are your"
rose to my feet and answered.
Evidently he knew where the button
Of the lights was. for the next Sec
ond the room was flooded with light.
Coming after the dense darkness, 1t
caused me to blink for q while. :
When became accustomed to
the brightness. found BARLEY gazing
At me with a rather bewiidered ex-
preston on his face. What under