Year: 1877

tsce


II fear nothing" he answered. II
dcfy man AMI God Revenge on you
is dearer to me than life and though
for me the bottomless pi. were ya~n-
Ing. would have II.


l saw i was useless 10 appeal Il ,hi.
man, and l sullenly waited for wha.
seemed fate.


NJ his command the rufiabs searched
he. One OF them who appeare I 10 be
a kind Of treasurer for the gang. Sc
cured my watch and pocket book. Then
they tied lie with stout ropes to
chair.


Somers die not address ne again, but
sa. upon the floor and gsmbled with
the rest. Presently he rose, and saying
be would return by dsybreak, left the
room. He evidently felt l WAS in bis
power. and seemed in no hurry to CON-
plete his revenge


When he was gone, the card playing
was kept up for . couple of hours
Then they all stretched themselves
upon the floor and slept. The door
opened inward, and across i. was the
burly form of the treasurer. In spite
Of the apparent hopelessness Of the
trial, sat about devising some plan of
escape


The first thing to do was TO free my
self have large wrists and small
hands. In tying me they had not taken
this into consideration. Without much
difficulty l liberated my hands; then. Of
course. it was the work Of but few
seconds to entirely free myself from my
bonds


Taking the prccaution to place the
ropes in scch . position that. should
any Of the gang awaken, l would still
appear to be bound, thought upon my
chances of escape They certainly ap-
peared very few and small. The fact
of the men upon the floor being asleep.
seemed little in my favor. l could
not move the ruffian who was sleeping
at the door without waking him. As
have before stated, escape by the win
dow was impossible Every plan that
suggested itself had insurmountable
objections to It, had almost given up
scheming in despair. and concluded To
sdopt some hopelessly desperate inea-
sure. when thought Of the contents Of
bottle had in my pocket.


In searching me, the rutfisns had not
disturbed it, thinking it of no import
ance- II contained chloroform. /, also,
had sponge in my p 'cket. IN mo-
ment had resolved what to do. Draw
ing the bottle from my pocket. soaked
the sponge thoroughly with its con-
tents


Slowly. painfully II could hear my
heart beat. with all the caution ,ha.
man uses when his life may depend
on the slightest noise, stepped to the
side of the nearest rufiian.


placed the saturated sponge to his
nose. | saw him quickly yield to the
influence of the yapor. From man to
man | stepped. One by one they were
made senseless. helpless.


The man at the door was the last
drew him away. first securing my watch
and pocket-book | also found in his
possession l'ackjack which took the
liberty Of appropriatiug Then, open
ing the door. stepped out into the
hall


still moved cautiously, feeling that
there nigh, be watcher there. but. 70
my relief. saw no one, descended
the first flight of stairs, and reached the
second story in safety.


had gone about halfway down the
second flight Ny heart stood sill. for
l heard sonc one enter below. then, in
the muttercd oath. recognized Som
ers' voice. crouchcd down upon the
s'airlnext the wall. hoping he might
pass me. But as he came up, his hand
brushed my face.


Ia III. ment he had me by the threat.
! knew him to he by FAR the more pow
erful mau, aud it WAS not time for
seruples. Quickly, it being so dark he
could not see the action. raised the
black jsck--I had held 1t since left the
room-and brought it down heavily
upon his skull


HIS hand left my throat. and. life.
less mass. he rolled down the stairs. |
found him at the foot, quite still /
made good my escape. no, stopping to
sec if had killed him do not know
to this day whether he is living or
dead ! never saw nor heard of him
again.


When l arrived home, found very
frightened little woman. but did not
tell her till long sfterward the history
OF that night have never since been
in such a tix. and If discretion and
reasonable supply Of cowardice can pre-
vent il, never will in the future.