The vomiting with which he was at first troubled, soon ceased under the influence of the restoratives, and the medical men have been unremitting in their attention. There are some officers in the Sheffield force who were very doubtful as to the injuries he had sustained, and believe that he has been up to his old cunning and shamming a bit.
These constables stated that when he was lifted up, and the bottle placed to his lips, he ground his teeth and clenched his fists, and appeared to be struggling in a fit.
He was laid on the bench, and force was about to be used to make him take the stimulant, when one who knew him well said very sternly, “Now, Charley, it’s no use. Let’s have none of your hankey pankey tricks here. You’ll have to take it.”
Charley recognised the voice, opened his eyes, and replied, “All right; give me a minute.” A knowing wink passed among the officers, and presently he sat up and took the brandy. Indeed, he seemed rather to like it, for he drank two gills in a comparatively short time.
He is now resting quietly, the only request he makes being that he may be well covered, as he feels the cold, which is in Sheffield exceptionally severe. When the Great Northern express train reached Retford the carriages for Sheffield and Manchester were detached and “made up” for the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway.
The compartment occupied by Peace and his warders was a third-class one in a composite carriage, immediately in front of the guard’s van.
In the next—a first-class compartment—were Mr. Benjamin F. Cocker, who resides at Retford, and another gentleman.
Mr. Cocker says: We had got about half a mile past Shireoaks Station when I heard a loud shout from the compartment where I knew Peace was. The gentleman with me said, ‘Peace has got out,’ and tried to open the window on the near side, but it was frozen fast. I tried the other window, and, opening it, leaned half my body out and tried to pull the communication cord. I saw the warder, who was doing the same thing. The warder said, ‘I have got hold of this cord, but cannot make it ring.’ After trying this all we could, at Branchcliffe siding we signalled to the signalman; again and again we tried the cord, and the train slackened speed. As it did so, I exclaimed to the warder, ‘You are a nice sort of fellow to let the man get out of your grip.’ The warder answered, ‘He jumped right through the window in a second. I held on him by the leg, but his boot came off, and of course he dropped then.’ The warder’s hands were covered with blood, for Peace had kicked him very severely while struggling at the window.”
For the present, at least, Peace will remain in Sheffield.
At half-past ten p.m., Chief-constable Cosgrove and his colleagues reported that Peace was slumbering in apparent comfort; but as the warder—who looked very wearied, and who evidently regards his charge as something entirely out of the ordinary run—remarked, “With one eye open.”