Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1890-10-17

the whites, came out two squares. l
followed with one of my Hindoo soldiers.
After three or four moves there was an
exchange of pawns. The two soldiers
were carried out, and in sight of every
one they were executed. This blood
thirsty act unsettled my nerves so that |
could hardly collect my thoughts; but
when was informed that the Hindoo
soldiers were traitors condemned to
death, and that the English soldiers had
likewise been sentenced to, execution, I
partly recovered my composure.
"Thc game then proceeded. The
white queen of the Rajah soon began to
make great havoc with my black men,
and it seemed necessary to take her if l
intended to WIN. Then the terrible
thought that if took her she would be
executed the same as the rest Of the liv-
ing chess-men made the cold sweat stand
out on my forehead. could not SEN
tence Jacks wife to the executioner's
sword, not even if l lost the game and
nv life with it. The Rajah seemed to
understand this, and he moved his queen
around recklessly among my men, taking
pawn after pawn. The game became
doubly difficult, for 1 felt that 1 could
not take the Rajah's strongest piece.
"I bent my whole mind to the game,
and tried to lay some trap for the Rajah's
men. After little maneuvering sue
ceeded in taking two of his bishops, one
castle, and both of his knights; but the
reckless queen was still hedging me in
on every side, putting herself in positions
where could easily have taken her il
il had not been a question of life
or death with her. Evelyn's face was
pale and anxious as she watched me play,
and tried to give her reassuring smile
now and then. But she saw how difficult
it was for me to avoid taking her of the
chess-board and having her executed Sc
that I could win the game and thus save
my own life.
"The Rajah, seeing my difficulty, soor
became reckless in his playing with his
other pieces. l studied to take advan
tage of his folly. 1 suddenly saw an adj
vantage that his reckless playing had
given me, and worked it up carefully
I made move: he fell into the trap with
the very next move. Two or three swif
moves followed ,and the Rajah's king wa
checkmated.
"It so astonishcd the native Prince
that he jumped to his feet and made
circle or two around his head with
heavy sword. But he was a man of hi
word; and after looking at the chess
board minute or two to convince him
self there was no cheating, he turned to
me and told me that had played well.
In reward of my good playing l was tc
have my liberty, along with the remain
ing white chess-men on the board. Thes
consisted of the queen, jacks wife, an(
three English soldiers.
"The Rajah was true to his word, an'
that afternoon we were conducted out o
the Raiah's territory, and started safel,
on our way to Calcutta. The rebellion
had been quelled there, and the Englisl
were again in power. When we reached
the city we had no difficulty in finding
Jack, who was nearly desperate over tn
loss of his wife.
"You can easily imagine the meetin
that took place between them; and 1t
needless to say that I was their idea
hero ever afterwards. They heaped al
sorts of kindness upon me, and made m
really ashamed of myself. Every Christ
mas am now reminded of that gam
with living chessmen and of Jack and hi
wife, by receiving some elaborate presen
from India. The present, though, tina
I value the most highly, is a small ivor.
chessboard with pieces in exact imitation
of those living chessmen who played Il
that memorable game. Whenever pla
with it think Of that critical time il
my life when there was only stra'
between me and death. ."-Dem0rsst
Magazine.