Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-11-10
IN COLD BLOOD.
How Hard an Old Soldier Found IL to Kill
Young Guard.

I've killed many man, said an
army colonel, "but always in battle. l
never was SO placed as to feel obliged
to kill a man in cold blood but once. |
never want to be placed i'll such po-
sition again" GLOW was it, | asked.
"Well," said the Colonel, signing, with
unwillingness to go back to that dlsa-
yreeable day, "you see | was one oi
the 100 Federal prisoners brought down
from Savannah to Charleston to stop
the shells and balls from Gen. Rufus
SaXton's batteries. You remember we
were stockaded there on Il space In
front of Charleston as Il sort OF target
for the Federal guns. Well, on the
way down from Savannah to Charleston
we were to escape. We planned it in
Savannah. The train, rambling,
stumbling affair, drawn by a wheezy
old locomotive capable of something like
ten miles an hour on dead level, was
to be guarded by old men and young
boys unfit for field duty. They were
armed of, course but we outnumbered
them ten to one. Every man in the
secret had his part to playa signal to
give, guard to watch, gun to seize.
Each of us carried an improvised
weapon of some sort. | remember |
picked up the bolt of an old car coup
ling and hid it under my shirt, and |
suppose all the others had arms of a
similarly terrible description. My duty
was to kill guard who stood right in
front of me at the end of the car when
the signal should be given. 1t was an
old passenger car. | sat in the last
seat facing the wood box, and the guard
stood by the stove. Presently he came
over and stood by the wood box. And
such guard A white-haired farmers
boy of some IL years, SO sleepy with
long duty that he could scarcely keep
his eyes open. He had a good face,
with very innocent expression, that
refined the appearance of his coarse
clothes and dirty shoes. He had an
with big percussion cap. And this
was my victiml / looked him all over
and measured him carefully. One blow
of my hard bolt on that soft head would
end him.
TRYING NOT TO KILL HIM.
81 have no idea of the scenery of
that route. saw but one thing all the
way-that boy. l watched him as the
hawk watches the little chicken. And
as l watched pitied him more and
more. He was so young, so fair, so in
nocent. l steeled myself with the
thought that he must die if we would be
free. AT the time, though, was look
ing for some way in which could do
my duty and yet save the boy. l tell
you it's terrible thing to sit for hours
opposite a tow-headed boy measuring
him for a coffin. don't know what fear
is, but 1 confess without hesitation to a
tremor every time l thought of his dy-
ing gasp. AS 1 watched him (and
everybody else in the car was watching
me) l wondered whether l could not
disable his gun and then content my
self with stunning him when the mo-
ment came. With such care as you
can scarcely conceive l reached forward
through those short legs for the nipple
of his musket. After several trials /
touched the gun, oh, so carefully, and
in a moment more had the cap in my
hand. l threw it out of the window.
Then the whole car breathed freer.
know / did. The guard still slept.
wondered whether couldn't get that
musket away. could try. l did, with
inconceivable patience and care.
slowly disengaged the dangling legs;
carefully lifted the clasped fingers; l
put the hands in his lap; l took the
musket slowly from between his legs,
and quietly pushed it under the seat on
which I sat. AS l did so, he shook
himself, turned over with his head
against the wall, and went ON with his
nap. Now l was myself again. He
was in my power, and no blood would
be shed. But just at that moment word
was passed to me that the plan had
failed. The coward who was to give the
signal was afraid to give it; the point
was passed; it was all over; the loco
motive was whistling for the next town
Oh, how mad l was! l could have
killed that coward without CULVER
But there was no help for it. / slowly
and carefully pulled out the gun OF the
sleeping guard, put it between his legs
again, and quietly clasped his fingers
around the barrel. And then we rolled
into town; and he awoke and shook
himself, and yawned and looked sharp
ly at me, better for his sleep. But he
never missed that p."-[ Philadelphia
Record.