CAPTURING LUNATIC.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 20, Issue 67, 24 August 1909, Page 6

CAPTURING LUNATIC.

Alf Dixon, Tom. Giffard, and I had gont ip the river camping out; we bad done our second day's work. It was early morning m the third day; glorious weather. I was : n the boat getting the steering-lines in order ; Giffard and Dixon were on the bank, talking to Dr. Rawle. As I understood it, lie was at the head of a private asylum for lunatics. He was Giffard’s friend, not mine. He had been taking a constitutional, when lie happened to fall in with us just as we' were sitting down to our open-air breakfast. The chance'meeting led to Giffard inviting urn to share our.g.pay's meal. He did. lie was a pleasant fellow, not too old and ;it too young 1 liked him exceedingly. '.'e taltced of tilings in general and of lunaurs in particular, Something led to his icntioning—l think it was speaking of the mining of a certain class of lunatics, and .nr difficulty of keeping them within four vails—the fact that one of his inmates escaped a day or two previously, and had not vet' been retaken. Tin’s was the more singular as it was tolerably certain he had not , gone far, and search had been made for him n every direction. As Giffard and Dixon were saying goodnye preparatory to getting into the boat, the doctor laughing said: " Should you happen to come across him I shall consider you bound to bring him back safe and sound. He’s a man of fortyfour.or five, tall and bony, iron-grey hair, and has a curious habit of showing teeth and winking his left eye. Don’t look out for a.raving lunatic, for on most points he as sensible as you and, I. He’s wrong in two’ things. Whatever you do don't let him lose his temper, for whenever- he does, though so slightly, he invariably goes for murder; ever he’s all but done two keepers already And don’ talk to him of England or Englishmen, for, ifheshould get upon his native land, he’ll favour you with some observations which will make you open your eyes.’’ We laughed. Alf and Tom shook hands with him and got. into the boat. We promised, if we should happen to meet him, we would certainly see him returned to safe, custody. Alf stood tip.and shoved us from" shore: we sang out a last good-bye, and left the doctor standing on the bank. It was a beautiful morning. The river was. delicious, clear as crystal. We could see the bottom and every stone and pebble on it; just a gentle breeze, fanning the surface of the waters into a ripple. We lit our pipes and took it easily, lam a good bit of a traveller and know many nooks and crannies in foreign lands. I havelived abroad as much as at home, but I will match the higher reaches of our own Father Thames for beauty and for charm against any scenery in Europe; and on an early summer morning, after a spell of glorious weather, it is all in its prime; the water so cool, so clear; the banks so green, so. charming: and stately trees on either side; the mansions seen over meadows, or peeping out among the trees. You may choose your Rhine, Garda, or your Maggiore, or your golden Bay of Naples, but leave pookbam and old Father Thames ro me. Presumably, we had come for river beauties and the camping out. Presumably, but, as a matter of fact, a young lady lived not so far ahead, a mutual friend, Lilian Travers. Separately arid jointly we had a high opinion of Miss Travers—not only of her beauty, but of other things as well; and, having come so far, we hoped we should not have to return until at least we had a peep at her. Unfortunately, though we knew Miss Travers, we had no acquaintance with Mister—there was no Missis. We had met the young lady at several dances, and such like ; but on each occasion she was under the chaperonage of old Mrs. Mackensie. Apparently Mr. Travers was not a party man. But Lilian had promised to introduce us to him whenever she got a chance, and we were not unhopeful she would get that chance now. So, you see, that little excursion river wards had more in it than met the eyes. We went lazily on, just dipping the oars in and out, smoking, watching the smoke circling through the clear air. All thoughts of the doctor and his parting words had gone from our mind. We talked of our meeting. We had gone some two or three hundred yards ; we were close to the shore; Alf could almost reach it by stretching out his oar. We were dreaming and lazing when suddenly some one stepped out from among the trees. He was close to us—not a dozen feet away. He was a tall man, rather over than under six feet. He was dressed in a dark brown suit of Oxford mixture: he had a stick in his hand, wore a billycock hat and his coat was buttoned right up to his threat He had light whiskers, a heavy, drooping moustache, hair unusually long, iron grey in colour. He might be a soldier retired from his profession, or an artist out painting; he certainly looked a gentleman; We were passing on. when he raised his stick and shouted out " Stop!” It was a regular shout, as though we wore naif a mile from him. We stopped, although it was an unusual method of calling attention.

“ Gentlemen," he said, still at the top of his voice, " I should be obliged if you could give me a seat, I have a long road to go, and I am tired.’’ We looked at him and at each other. It was a free-and-easy style; of asking a favour; but he seemed a gentleman, and an elderly one, too. Common politeness dictated civility. "I am afraid," said Alf," we have hardly room : she's only built for three." •' Oh, that doesn’t matter," he said; " you can put me anywhere, or I'll take an oar for one of you." I was on the point of advising a pointblank refusal, not appreciating his ’offhand manner; but Alf thought differently. •• All right," he said; "We don’t mind if you do. Steer her in, Jack." I steered her in. No sooner were we near {he shore than —unexpectedly—he stepped almost on my toes, rocking the boat from side to side.

"Hang it!" I said. "Take care, or you’ll have us over." "What if I do?" he returned. "It')l only be a swim. And who minds a swim in weaker like this ?" We stared at him. The coolness—not to say impertinence— of the remark was amazing. Begging a seat in our boat, knowing it was full, and then telling us he didn't care it he spilt us into the river! He seated himself by me, setting the boat see-sawing again, crushing me into a corner; and, without asking with your leave or by your leave, took the steering lines from my hand and slipped them over his shoulders. " Excuse me," I said, making a snatch at them ; " but if you will allow me," "Not at all," he said. “I always like something to do, and J expect you've had enough of it.” His coolness was amusing: he was imperturbable. I know I for one regretted we were auoh mules as to have had anything to -jo with him. We waited in silence a miuLi;c or lW«. ■' Come,” he said, " When are you going to ‘fart ?" " jt'criv-ips,*’ laid A-H, a hit nettled* “as

you’re in our bout', a self-invited guest, yOul ) let us choose our own ttme." , The stranger said nothing; he sat 'stolid and silent. Tom and Alf set off rowing, the stranger steered right across the water. v Where are you going ?’’ said All “Keep us in.” "I at^going into the shade.. The sun’i too strong.’,’ ~ He had the lihesr-we coijld hardly insis,’ “ on his keeping one side if be preferred the other. He took us right to the opposite bank, under the shadow df the willow trees. „ For some minutes neither of ,ns s^oke. ; With his cramming me on my seat,'and ramming his elbows into-my side, my position was not pleasant. At last I let him ' know it: , ’ ■ “ I don't know if you are. aware you are occupying all my seat.*’ He turned on me short and sharp. All at once I noticed his left eye going up and down, like a blinking owl ; his mouth wide open, disclosing as ugly seLol teeth as 1. should care to see. Like a flash, Or. Rawie's words crossed my mind—strong, about forty-five, iron-grey, hair, a habit of showing his teeth, and winking ms left eye.' Grac-. ions powers! Was it possible we had 'a lunatic with us, unawares?: I know the pels- ’ sibility,nay,;the probability, :of such athing' made me feel more than queer., If there is anything in the world I instinctively fear.it is mad persons. T* know little of them; have never been in their company. Possi- • bly my ignorance explains my dread; but the idea of sitting in the same boat and on the same seat with a man who— : • Dr. Rawie’s warning,Don’t let him lose, his temper,! or m’urder will ensue, ’ ’ made me* l bound from my’ seat life' jackfip-tbe-hox. ■ The boat tipped right out. of the water!, but . I didn’t carp. : The.man was glaring at me ’ with cruel eyes ; .my : muscles; were strung, my fists clenched. Every moment I ex- , pected him at triy throat. !, ~ , . ' " What the dickens are you up to ?" said All “ What’s the matter with you ?” " Oh, excitable temperament, hot-blooded ' youth!" said th e stranger.; : ; I could have said! something had I chosen but I preferred discretion ; I did not like hi . eyes.' ' J " N-o-thing," I said. " I think I’ll sit in the bow.’’ I didn’t wait to learn if any one had' an objection, but, swinging round, I scrambled past A)| and tripped.lull length on to Tom’s knees. The boat went up and down like a swing; it was. a' miracle We weren’t over. "Is the fellow mad ? " roared All At the word "madV the stranger’rose up straight as a post. V Mad!" he said:" do you know sir—— 1 " He checked himself and sat down. " Pooh I he’s only a boy.’’ In passing Tom, I whispered in his ear. " The lunatic,’’l said. “What!” said tom,right out aloud. ■■ " Hold your roWi you confounded donkey It’s the man from Dr. Rawie’s!’’ He was going to say something naughty —I know he was—but he stopped short and stared at him with all hte eyes. Either Alf ovwrfieard me, or else the same idea occurred to him at the same moment, for he stopped dead in the middle of a stroke and inspected the man on the steering seat. Tom , and Alf went on staring at him a minute more. I kept my head turned the other way to avoid bis eyes. All at once I turned ; there was the stranger learning half out of his seat, looking at Alf in a way I sfaouldn’t have cared to have him look at me. “ What’s the meaning of this insolence?" he said. ‘ The question was not unwarranted. It could not have been pleasant to have been stared at as Alf and Tom were staring at him. " I beg your pardon,” said Alf, cool as a cucumber. "To what insolence do you ! refer ?” Tom actually chuckled. I couldn’t have chuckled for a good deal. It seemed to me. not only impudence, but risky. I couldn’t forget Dr. Rawie’s words about his homicidal tendencies. He turned red as a lobster . 1 I never saw such an expression come over a map’s face before—perfectly demoniacal To my surprise, he sat down and spoke as carmly and deliberately as possible. “Thank you, "he said. "I shall not forget this.” There was a sound in his " I shall not forget this" I did not relish. Alf said nothing. Tom and he set off ro wing as cooly as though nothing had happened. I extemporised a seat in the bow, and tried to make things as comfortable as possible. I noticed though Alf and'Tom were so . cool, they hardly took their eyes off him for more than a second at a time. His behavior oefore their fugitive glances was peculiar. He saw he was being watched. He couldn’t sit still. He first looked at one bank then at the other. His eyes travelled everywhere, resting nowhere. His hands fidgeted and trembled; he seemed all of a quiver. I expected him to break into a paroxysm every second. If I hadn’t called out he would have run us right into the shore. When I called he clutched the other string violently, jerking the boat almost round. I heartily wished him at Jericho before he had come near us. No one spoke. We went slowly along, watching each other. At last he said something. « i_i will get out,” he said, in an odd, nprvous way. “With pleasure,” said Alf, "in a few minutes." " Why not now ? Why not now, sir ?" he said, seeming to shake from bead to foot. •* Where are you going to get—into the. river?” 1 admired Alt’s coolness ; I envied him. i I only hoped he would not let it carry him too far. < The man glowered at him; for a moment I he looked him full in the face. I never saw a look infexoan’s eyes like that in his. All returned MS* took for look. ( Slightly,, almost imperceptibly , he quickened his stroke. A little lower down was a little hamlet with a well-known inn and a capital landing stage. When we came alongside the stranger said; " This will do ; I’ll get out here." He turned the boat ashore. No sooner were we near enough than he rose I in his seat and sprang on to the shore. There were several people about—watermen and others. Alf was after him in an instant. He rose almost simultaneously and leaped on shore. He touched him on the shoulder. " Now, come," he said, " don t be toolish; we know all about it." , , The other turned on him like a flash ot lightning. ” What do you mean ?" But Tom was too quick for him: he was on the other side, and took his arm. " Come," he said, " don’t let us have a r °The stranger raised himself to his full height and shook Tom off with ease. He then hit out right, and left in splendid style. Tom and Alf went down like ninepins. But ! my blood was up. I scrambled on shore and ran into him, dodged his blows, and closed. lam pretty strong. He was old enough to be my father; but I found I had met my match and more. I was like a baby in his arms. He lifted me clean off my feet and threw me straight into the river. It was a splendid exhibition of strength. Tom and Alf, finding their feet, made for him together, and, scrambling out as best I could, I followed suit. You never saw such a set-out. We clung to him like leaches. The language he used was awful; bis. strength magnificent; though we were three