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A Christmas Adventure

A Christmas Adventure image
Parent Issue
Day
13
Month
December
Year
1878
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

BY JOHN A. CONWELL. " How are you, Bob? " " Hów'dy, doctor? Bad night this, I or sich as you an' me," was the response. It was a bad night for doctors and )clicemen ; but Bob, buttoned np to the chin and wearing an oil-skin cape, seemed very well barricaded against the weather in general, and the cold rain of that night in particular, as he leaned against a lamp-post on the corner. Bob vas a patrolman on the beat, asd part oi every night, rain or shine, he was to je found pacing up and down that part of Broadway, or leaning against that corner lamp-post. Bob had but one eye, and it was so near to his thin nose, and was so large, and his head was so vide through the temples, that he looked at first glance as if he had been I inally created with but one eye, and that it had been placed in the middle of j his face. How that solitary eye could ! glare ! Even in the dark it seemed to shine with a sort of unnatural, phosphorescent glow, and any one who had observed.it wonld seem to feel its influence long after its perambulating j owner was out of sight. Aside from ! that evil-looking "and misplaced eye 1 Bob was generalïy considered a model policeman. Ahvays polite and obliging and ready to accommodate, there was not a man on Broadway, from the Battery to Union Square, who could assist a lady across a crowded thoroughfare { with more ease and grace than he. This particular night, which Bob had correctly described as a bad night for him and me, it was sleeting fast, a cold wind swept up from the bay, and I hurried on to my lodgings instead of halting, as I frequently did, to piek a bit of news or gossip from Bob's well-filled repository. It was Christmas eve, 1850, not late, and the street was quite íull ol people Imrrying by under firmly-gripped umbrellas, or with coatcollars turned up and hat-brims turned down, with arms full of packages and faces full of delight. 1 had made arrangements to leave the city in tlie 5 o'clock stage in the morning for Westchester county, to eat a Christmas dinner with my sister, as had been my usual custom for years, and had my pockets filled with such purchases as I knew an expectant assemblage of young friends and relatives would look for. When I reached. my room I replenished the fire in the grate, threw off my overcoat, aud settled down in an easy oldbachelor's chair. I was tired, for during the afternoon 1' had assisted at Ét post-mortem exaniination of a body found in the East river. It was one of those cases of mysterious disappearance that occur occasionally now, but wero ranch more frequent twenty-five years ago. Then it was not an extraordinary occurrence for returnedCalifornians, with fortunes ir. gold dust, to be traced as far as the clipper docks, but no further. This was evidently a case of thnt kind. The dress and appearance were those of j a returned miner, and on the body was found a part of a bucksk... .aoney-belt, profusely ornamented with bead-work, such as were made by the Indians of the j Pacific coast. The design of the ornamentation on this belt was so unique that I desired to secure the missing portion, but it was nowhere to be found. I had been glancingover a report of the case in an evening paper, and had finally dropped to sleep, when I was startled from my slumbers by the loud ringing of my night-bell. I quickly aroused myself, and called down the speakingtube to know wliat was wanted. " Man hurt. Come down right off, n' bring your tools," wa the response. Putting on my overcoat and a heavy fur cap, I slipped a small case of medicines in my pocket, took a case of instrumenta, or " tools," under my arm and hurried down stairs. As Iunclosed the door and stepped out the clock in the City Hall tower struek 12. I was surprised that my nap had been so lOng'. The wind had risen to a perf eet gale ; the streets were slippery with ice, for the rain froze as it feil, and the mingled sleet and rain that were falling now strack the unprotected face like needleprickings. My door opened into a small vestibule, not more than eighteen inches decp and but little wider than the door. I had but fairly stepped out into this vestibule when i blanket or shawl was thrown over my head and a pair of powerfnl handö sfefzed each one of my arms. The act was so unexpected that I threw up my arms involuntarily and dropped the case of instruments, whiclrcjattered down the stone steps to the pavement. " Piek up that kit o' tools, Bill, an' Ing it along," said one of the men. I tried to throw the f ello iv away f rom my arms and cali for help, but the shawl muflled the sound of my voice, and the men held my arms as if in a vise. " Don't worrit yerself. Nobod y 's goin' to hurt ye, bilt yer not to know where yer goin' to," said a gruff voice from one of the men at my side. As I still inclined to be somewhat stinate, a stont fellow pnshed at my back, and the slippery condition of the sidewalks enabled him to sueceed, evidently to his satisfaction, to judge by his chuckling from time to time. "Stop tliat noise, Bill; d'yo want the oops down on us?" said the leader. I was hurried ragidly along until we reached the first street above my office. We turnea down tqward East river, and then I was rapidly spun around three or four times in the street and suddenly hurried along, for thepurpdse of conf nsing my ideas of locality and to prevent my retaining any reeollection of the route over which I was 'being taken. Then it was I longod for a few moments of my friend Bob's time, with his glaring eye and his locust club. Af ter proceeding a square or two further we halted, and I was placed in a sort of sedan cliair. This was quickly swulig upon the shoulders of either two or four men, I could not teil which, and rapidly carried along. "Helio! what yon got there?" Iheard some one cali. "Only a one-legged chap 'at's got too much Christmas to walk on crutches sich a slipp'ry night as this," was the astouishing answer. "We're takin' him homo to his ma," eontinued the case-carrier. Thinking that help was near, I made an eifort to hout, but the fellow who was behind put his hands over my faco, pressing the shawl into my mouth so as to effectually drown all sounds. This operation also closed up my nostrils, so that I was compelled to struggle for air, causing my captors to stop a. moment. The shawl was removed, and my fur cap was pulled down over my eyes, and a woolen comforter, that one of the fellows had probably been wearing for a month, was kiiotted and placed in my mouth and tied behind my head. For an instant, whilo they were removing the shawl, I got a glimpse of our locality. We were in a narro w alley or court, and we seemed to continue in such places most of the time. This I could determine from the echóos of the footfalls of the men against the high walls. These echoes varied in tono as we traversed narrow alley-ways and passages or shot hurriecily across a street. It seemed to me that we had been traveling for hours, but in reality only about forty-five minutes, when I discovered from the sound of the chair-bearers' feet on a wooden fioor that we had entered a building. The door must have been left standing open, as there was no halt for the purpose of tnrning any lock or knob. Shortly after entering the house, we began to ascend a stairway. The chair in which I was carried was suspended on pivots, in some way, as it did not vary from its horizontal position while making the ascent. We went up four flights of stairs, which brought us to a door in the fifth story. This was opened after a little delay, and a hurried inquiry and response between some person in the room and tliose whc had brought me there, and we entered the room. The chair in which I satwas placed on the floor, and the door through which we had come f asten ed with a wooden bar. The door and fastenings were the flrst things I observed after the cap was removed from my eyes. I was assisted out of the chair, for the cramped position and the cold, to say nothing of the fright, seemed to have stiffened me up. Upon looking around. I found that there were five men in the room, all wearing black cambric or silk i masks over their faces. There was also j a woman, with a sun-bonnet tightly tied under her chin. The room was not large - probably twelvc or fourteen feet square - with a low ceiling, and two ' small windows, heavily curtained with I old HRcks. There was no carpet on the floor, no fire in the room, and no chairs. I There was a low, wide trundle-bed, scantily supplied with clothing, in one corner of the room, and in the center ! stood a table, with benches along two j sides.of it. This seemed to be a kind of lonngiïtg and eating apartment. On j the other .side of the room, opposite the j windows, a door opened into another room. This latter room was about the same size a-s the other, and had but one door, the one just nientioned, and no windows. lts source of light was a : light in the roof, which seemed to be i but a few imches above the ceiling. j Tlipre was an old cooking stpve in the ! corner with A lively Jfïre in it, a half j dozen chairs, and a barrel of water that was replenished through a small tin upout that carne down from above, and probably led the water directly from the glitter on the roof. Near the stove, on a low bedstead similar to the one in the other room, lay the missing part of the j beaded buckskin belt I had sought for i at the Coroher's office. I began to nüilize now where I was and among whom7 -; ■ ï " There's the man, doe. Been shot in a row. Fetch ïm out all right 'thout askin' any questions an' it'll be a mighty good night's job fur ye," said the same gruff voice I had heard before. " An' if ye don't fetch 'ii.i through it'll be the worst night's job y'ever done," added anothor fellow. During all this time the men remained masked. The woman kept her face averted, and hid in the depths of her sun-bonnet, and busied herself about the stove. I stepped up to the side of the patiënt, who was groaning with pain. The men all followed and ranged theinselves around the bed. It was evident that they thought him seriously hurt, at least. The injured man was a ronghlooking customer, dark, bearded, large framed, with a scar on his forehead in i the shape of a letter V, as if a piece of skin abotit an mcli wide at the top had been stripped down from the roots of the hair to the nose and then replaced. i His eyes were olosed, excepfc a spasmoclio opening every few moincntu for an instant. He seemed to be sufl'ering intensely. After baring his bosom and shaving away the matted hair that i oealed it, I found a pistol or gun-shot wound in the chest on the right side, betwcen the fourth and fifth ribs. He was Meeding internally, and the wound was of sueh a nature that I saw, after a very brief examination, that there was no hope for Mm, and so informeel his fellows. " Don't want no shenanigan now, doe. If that chap's life kin be savctl, you're herc to s:ivc. it, an' dammo if it woñ t bo a sorry day fur yc, doe, if ye let itflicker out jest because ye don't think it's worth savin'," said a aurly voico at my side. I perceived that they were half inclined to fear that I might let their fcllow die as a good riddance of bad rubbish. I protested that no human" skill coulcl save the man's life ; that his death was but a question of time, and a short time at that, and desired them to take me out of the house fis I could be of no service. I started toward tlie door. "No, you don't go back now," said the leader, stepping between me and the door. "You kin ease 'im off a little, anyhow, can't ye, doe?" inquired one whose voice seemed a little ter.derer than those of the others. ïho inquiry carne from beneath the sun-bonnet. "Not much," I responded, forin those days chloroform and hypodermic injections were unknown. I gave the wounded man some morpliine, and took my seat on a stool that stood between the bed and the stove. The five men had withdrawn to the other room, but wero in full view through the open door. Theywere in earnest conversation in low tones. I was watching them closely, for I did not exactly fancy the way things were drifting, wlien the mask accidentally dropped from the face of one of the men. If the wounded man had sprang from his bed and danced a hornpipe on top of the stove, I should not have been more astounded than I was at that moment. The falling of the mask disclosed the features of Bob, the policeman. His one eye never glared more fiercely. I involuntarily started to my feet and took a step toward him, with the intention of claiming liis protection. "Stay where you are," was his grnff command, and he gave the door a vicious kick that partially closed it. I didn't like the idea of beingcommanded to remain in that little room - and by Bob, too. It was incomprehensible. The rain and sleet pattered and beat on the skylight overhead, the water noisily trickled down the little tin spout into the barrel, and a pot in which the woman was boiling something like soup bubbled over on the stove. I took my seat again on tho stool and watched the strom hiss from the boiling pot. Under the influence of the opiate the injured ruffian breathed easier. The lid on the pot had a small triangular piece broken out of the edge, niaking an opening about as large as a silver quarter. The steam spouted from this opening in fitful jets. It seems strange now that I should at such a time and place have noticed such trivial things. The door between the rooms swung slightly open, and stood slightly ajar without attracting the notice of the men who were talking earnestly but not loudly. "He seen me, knows who I am, an' damme if he shll git out o' here alive," were the flrst words I heard. They startled me. "What! go back onto my beat an' let that calomel cuss loóse to nave me sent up ? Not while there's water enough in East river to sink 'im in," he continued. "Dead men don't never teil no tales," reniarked another, with a clmckle. "One of us has got to git," continued the policeman, "an' it ain't me. I ain't goin' to lose my place for him," and he pointed over his shoulder with his you fellers to stand by me as I have stood by you our twenty year. This feller's got to be anchored 'twee-a now an' mornin' ! " I had seen dead bodies, with heavy weights fastened to them, fished from the river more than once, and I knew what "anchored" meant. I trembled from head to foot, and the perspiration started from every pore. I do not think that ordinarily I am a coward, but here I was with five desperate men in the next room - men who had undoubtedly committed a murder within the past forty-eight liours, and who thought as little of taking a human life as of snuffing out a candle - discussing my death, and somé of them urging it. There was no visible means of escape except the skylight, and that was beyond my reach. I had no arms ; even my case of surgical instruments, except a probé I had been using on the wounded man, was in the other room. But, even if armed, what could I do against such odds, shut up in two small rooms? Nothing, except solí my life a little more dearly. The pot boiled and bubbled, and I continued to stare at the escaping steam as it carne out in little pufls from the triangular hole in the lid. I inhaled the aroma from the stew. I remember there were onions in it. One of the uppermost thouglits in my mind was that I would not be able to eat my Christmas dinner in the country the next day. "All in favor of stoppin' his wind an' all trouble with it, say aye ! " Great heavens ! was it possiblo that my life was hanging upon the vote of these cut-throats, and I powerless to prevent it ? " "I vote aye ! " said the gruff-voiced I fellow. "Aye! " said anotlier. " If yer fellers wants yer snpper, betj ter eat it now. Things lias been bilin' h'yer long cnough," broke in the woman, who all tliis time liad busied lierself about the stove and seemed to I know littlo, and care less, about what wás transpiring in the other room. " Let's fill our innards an' finish the I vote afterward," was the response to ; this. ïhe woman now stepped into the other room to arrange the table around which the men sat. My pocket-case of medicines lay on the bod, and I meclmnically took it np. A thought, an intuition, an inspiration - cali it what j you will - flashed through my mind. It was executed as quickly as con ceived. Opening the case, I selected the vial I wanted, not a large-sized one, ' my hands trembling so violently that I could scarcely use them, pulled the ; cork with my teeth and emptied the vial througu the hole m tñe pot-Jid mto the boiling contents. I was placingthe ! case in my pocket when tlie woman reentered tlie room, leaving the door wide open behind lier. The íellows had their pistols lying on the table - largc, old-fashioned, single-barreled pistols, for tliere were no revolvers in those days. I arose from my seat. In an instant two of the pistols were leveled at me, with the exclamation : " Set down there. Don't move till yer told to, or I'll let daylight into vc" I resumed my seat, of course. The woman took the pot from the tove, ponred the contents into a large bowl and set it on tho tablo. She then brought ont some yellow earthonwaro dishes, and, setting one beforo each of the,jnen, filled it from the big bowl in i the center. They huddled over their I dishes and ato like so many hogs. The woman now for the firsfc time shoved her bonnet back from her face and leerod at me out of a pair of eyes tliat couldn't have had more devilin them if they had belonged to Satan himself . She seated herself on a box near the door with a dish of the soup in her lap, to which she gave her whole attention. Nothing was heard but the combined patter of the rain and sleet on the skylight overhead aud the spoons. I began to grow nervous. It seemed impossible for me to sit still. One aftcr another of tho men emptied his dish and filled his pipe. How the moments did drag ! "Now let's go on with the votin' an' - suthin mighty curions 'bont this tobacker; kind o'makes me sorto' sick," said one. "Bob, gimme a pull at yer wickcr; I've got an all-fired hot pain in" - his words were cut off by another breaking in with : " By jeeminy ! fetch in the doctor ; I'm bnrnin' up !" A few moments more and the five men were writhing on the floor, and the woman was swaying to and fro on the box, with her hands clasped over her stomach. I arose to my feet. They did not notice me now ; they were in othor business. I stcpped over the prostrate bodies of the men, unbarred the door that led into the hall, and started down stairs. I had gone down two flights, when I heard some one coming up. I ran to a window in the end of the hall and threw np the sash. I could not see the ground, and the cold rain beat in my face. A large tin spont ran down the wall close by the window. The footsteps on the stairway sotinded nearer and nearer. I would rather trust the spont than those who were coming. I stepped np into the window, clasped tho spout with my hands and knees, simt my eyes, held my breath, and trusted the rest to Providence. I reached the gronnd, ent and scratched and with torn clothes, but no bones broken. Where I was, excepting that I was on tho ground, I had no idea. The ground was slippery, and I groped along the wall until I carne to a narrow passageway or alley covered over, but leading to a street, as I could seo a street lamp in the distanee. I hurried along as rapidly as I could, arousing a colony of noisy dogs on the way, until I reached the street, and then I ran - yes, ran - to get as far away from the accursed place as I could, and as quickly as possible. Not a solitary policeman was to beseen. It seems as if they never are when wanted. I could not recognize any landmarks, and turned a half dozen corners and ran along as many streets before reaching one that I recognized. I fmally found myself on Broadway, at least two miles from home. Hurrying along, I reached my room as the clock struck 4. Bob wasn't on -watch this time. I notified the Pólice Captain at the station house, and left in the stage an hour later for the country. "When I returned to the city I learned that the pólice had discovered the locality from my description of the place, and found nothing but the corpse of the wounded man. What became of the others was never positively ascertained, though it was reported that they had recovered from the dose, and, after concealing themseives iorasliort time, nuum BStastt for Chili, and were lost off Cape Horn.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus