An Unfinished Race

Suatu hari, James Worson mengatakan kepada teman - temannya bahwa
dengan kemampuannya, ia mampu berlari hingga puluhan kilometer nonstop.
Ia mengatakan jika ia mempunyai khusus yang tidak dimiliki oleh orang
lain. Karena dinilai warga sebagai pembual, mereka lalu menantang James
untuk berlari nonstop sampai ke Coventry yang jaraknya mencapai 14
kilometer lebih ( ada yang mengatakan 20 mil ). Dalam keadaan mabuk
berat, James pun akhirnya menerima tantangan tersebut. Lalu, pada
tanggal 3 September 1873, ia mulai berlari untuk membuktikan ucapannya tersebut.

Selama perjalanan yang melelahkan itu, James ditemani oleh dua orang temannya, yaitu Barham Wise dan seorang fotografer, Hammerson  Burns.
Dua orang tersebut mengikuti James dari belakang dengan menggunakan
kereta kuda untuk memastikan James tidak berbuat curang. Selama
perjalanan, James tidak lepas dari pengawasan kedua temannya itu,
bahkan mereka bertiga sempat berbincang - bincang sebelum akhirnya
James kembali berlari di depan mereka.

Tidak lama kemudian, Wise
dan Burns tiba - tiba melihat James tersandung dan jatuh. Ia masih
malihat dengan jelas meskipun jarak diantara mereka cukup jauh. Ketika
James tersandung, Wise dan Burns mendengar suara jeritan yang
mengerikan, kemudian terdengar suara tangisan. Wise mengatakan jika itu
adalah suara yang paling mengerikan yang pernah ia dengar. Beberapa
saat setelah mereka mendengar suara teriakan James yang mengerikan itu,
mereka sampai di lokasi dimana James tersandung dan jatuh, namun mereka
menemukan kejanggalan di tempat itu.

James sama sekali tidak ada
disana, bahkan di tanah tempat jatuhnya James tidak ditemukan jejak
tubuh James. Hal ini membuat mereka berdua heran dan ketakutan, karena
James tiba - tiba menghilang sebelum ia sempat mendarat di tanah. Wise
dan Burns kemudian mengambil gamabr gambar jejak kaki James yang
terakhir sebelum ia menghilang, sekaligus sebagai bukti jika mereka
ingin memberitahu warga yang lain.

Tidak lama kemudian, bantuan
pun datang dan pencarian segera dilakukan untuk mencari James yang
menghilang entah kemana, bahkan warga juga mengerahkan anjing untuk
membantu pencarian tersebut, namun James tetap tidak ditemukan dan
James dinyatakan hilang secara misterius.

AN UNFINISHED RACE



James Burne Worson was a shoemaker who lived in Leamington,
Warwickshire, England.  He had a little shop in one of the by-ways
leading off the road to Warwick.  In his humble sphere he was
esteemed an honest man, although like many of his class in English
towns he was somewhat addicted to drink.  When in liquor he would
make foolish wagers.  On one of these too frequent occasions he was
boasting of his prowess as a pedestrian and athlete, and the outcome
was a match against nature.  For a stake of one sovereign he
undertook to run all the way to Coventry and back, a distance of
something more than forty miles.  This was on the 3d day of
September in 1873.  He set out at once, the man with whom he had
made the bet--whose name is not remembered--accompanied by Barham
Wise, a linen draper, and Hamerson Burns, a photographer, I think,
following in a light cart or wagon.

For several miles Worson went on very well, at an easy gait, without
apparent fatigue, for he had really great powers of endurance and
was not sufficiently intoxicated to enfeeble them.  The three men in
the wagon kept a short distance in the rear, giving him occasional
friendly "chaff" or encouragement, as the spirit moved them.
Suddenly--in the very middle of the roadway, not a dozen yards from
them, and with their eyes full upon him--the man seemed to stumble,
pitched headlong forward, uttered a terrible cry and vanished!  He
did not fall to the earth--he vanished before touching it.  No trace
of him was ever discovered.

After remaining at and about the spot for some time, with aimless
irresolution, the three men returned to Leamington, told their
astonishing story and were afterward taken into custody.  But they
were of good standing, had always been considered truthful, were
sober at the time of the occurrence, and nothing ever transpired to
discredit their sworn account of their extraordinary adventure,
concerning the truth of which, nevertheless, public opinion was
divided, throughout the United Kingdom.  If they had something to
conceal, their choice of means is certainly one of the most amazing
ever made by sane human beings.