sailor,
and having a wild and haggard look, took his seat about three minutes
before the train started. He was accompanied to the carriage by a woman,
whom he afterwards referred to as his wife, and by a man, apparently a
cab-driver, of both of whom he took leave when the train was about to
start. It had scarcely done so, when, on putting his hand to his pocket,
he called out that he had been robbed of his purse, containing 17 pounds,
and at once began to shout and gesticulate in a manner which greatly
alarmed his fellow-travellers, four in number, in the same compartment.
He continued to roar and swear with increasing violence for some time,
and then made an attempt to throw himself out of the window. He threw
his arms and part of his body out of the window, and had just succeeded
in placing one of his legs out, when the other occupants of the carriage,
who had been endeavouring to keep him back, succeeded in dragging him
from the window. Being foiled in this attempt, he turned round upon
those who had been instrumental in keeping him back. After a long and
severe struggle, which--notwithstanding the speed the train was running
at--was heard in the adjoining compartments, the sailor was overcome by
the united exertions of the party, and was held down in a prostrate
position by two of their number. Though thus secured, he still continued
to struggle and shout vehemently, and it was not till some time
afterwards, when they managed to bind his hands and strap him to the
seat, that the passengers in the compartment felt themselves secure.
This train, it may be explained, makes the journey from London to
Peterborough, a distance little short of eighty miles, without a single
stoppage; and as the scene we have been describing began immediately
after the train left London, the expectation of having to pass the time
usually occupied between the two stations (one hour and fifty minutes)
with such a companion must have been far from agreeable. While the
struggle was going on, and even for some time afterwards, almost frantic
attempts were made to get the train stopped. The attention of those in
the adjoining compartment was readily gained by waving handkerchiefs out
of the window, and by-and-by a full explanation of the circumstances was
communicated through the aperture in which the lamp that lights both
compartments is placed. A request to communicate with the guard was made
from one carriage to another for a short dist