The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-05-08

An EXCITING
that mans mind at such moments reviews
in fash long periods of VaSt time with an
almost supernatural vividness Of pereep-
ton; but didn't feel anything OF this. |
only felt that / might be dead in another
Seeond, and then. with a determination to
die game which was rather an animal
sensation than an articulate thought, 1 set
my teeth and opened ny eyes TO meet those
OF my enemy. The pistol was still directed
at my head, and the grim Indian still kept
his finger on the trigger. / laced him de-
family. and, as though unwilling to change
a dramatic situation which interested him,
| he still kept the same menaciHg posture,
| while l longed for the fash and the end be-
/ fore my nerve should fail.
''At last he spoke. he spoke a dialect
which ! only impeTfectly followed. but
I understood him TO say that If l tried to
escape | should be shot on the spot. ! felt
no confidence that ! was not being reserved
! for a more horrible death, but the instinct
| Of self-preseryatien kept NE passive. When
at last the pistol was lowered, and no
| longer stOod in momentary expectation of
/ death. l looked around me and perceived
| that | was in the middle or a group of some
/ halt-doZsn Indians and as many horses.
/ On one Of these latter l was lifted and Sc
cured in the saddle by leather thongs, nv
/ captors not choosing to give me the chance
/ Of escape by leaving me the management of
my horse.
latter about an hours hard riding, dur
/ ing which the rapid motion and the blowing
\ Of the cool night air on my face and hands
acted as a sedatiVe on my racked nerves
| we reached the encampment of the hostile
| tribe against which the expedition had been
! sent out. And now came the strangest part
| Of my adyen lures the part which bears on
| my eccentric play tonight"
Here Colonel Bradshaw paused to stir the
| smoldering log in the crate 10 a bright blaze
| and then, staring into the fire and keeping
| the poker in his hands as be leaned forward
| in his chair, went on with his story, more
slowly at first, but with growing amin nation
Of voice, which gradually rose 10 the elo-
| quence of excitement as he seemed TO forget
! his immediate surroundings and to live once
! again through the distant scene he was de-
! scrbing.
THE human BRAIN" he resumed ais In
capable, | Imagine, Of continuing to expe-
rience any intense sensation for very long.
| 1t reaches the maximum tension. and then
| one set Of perceptiye faculties becomes de-
ciined. The previous incidents of the night
| had exhausted my capacity Tor fear, and, as
| | was led before the chief of the tribe to
| hear his decree concerning ME, | awaited
| the decision with indifference was keenly
alive to every detail Of my surroundings,
| and noted the expression of every face aad
| yet | seemed somehow to have lost my own
| individuality; to be watching myself as an
| actor In q scene with which | had no per-
sonal concern, but only looked at from some
| outside point of view. The moon was now
hidden behind a hill, but some 20 torches
lit up the spot with their lurd flames. The
! party that had caught me had obviously been
sent out to reconnoiter the movements of
| the English force. and the chief had been
| beGuiling the time of their absence with
| nothing less than game Of chess.
II was the less surprised at the nature Of
his pastime as / knew that the game was
widely spread in India, and had played 1t
with natives myself, and knew in what
points their game differed from our Euro
pean rules. The chiefs antagonist was a
man whom l Imagined, though can't say
exactly what suggested the idea, to be the
priest of the tribe. He was shorter than
the others, but his face suggested an extra
] ordinarily active mind, and this combined
with his regularity Of feature. would have
made him strikingly handsome type If it
| had not been for the fearful malgnity of
his expression. / wish l could give you
some faint idea Of that mans face, for IL
was the most terribly sinister face l have
ever seen. His back had been turned
toward me at first, but from the moment
when l met the scrutiny of his black,
deep-set eye, which glared on me
! with look Of moeking. triumphant
deviltry that must have been borrowed
| from the iend below, was fascinated, and
could see nothing but that one diabolical
| face. III there Is any truth In the Eastern
belief in possession by evil spirits, demon
looked through that mans eyes. A SILVER
| ran through my frame as ] met his gaze.
and / felt that he was exercising some
subtle influence over me, against which
every fiber OF my body, every atom of my
| being, stiffened In revolt. i felt that unless
! / exercised the whole Of my will force in
resistance to the dread spell no was casting
over me | should lose myself in his Identity
/ and become the creature Of his wicked will.
1t was not physical fear that / felt ] had
passed through that stage, and / believe
| thct / should have met death with frmness,
but felt that my whole personality was at
The death grapple with that fearful being
a mysterious deadly struggle fought in
| neither act nor word with the powers Of
darkness impersonated.
While all this was going on in me the
| chief must have been listening TO an ac-
count Of my capture, though / was uncOn-
| scious CT any words being spoken near me
till the priest turned from me to him, and
| pointing to the chessboaTd which stood on a
| sort Oh low table, made suggestion which
al trst did not fully grasp. It's meaning
was soon made clear TO me- however. had
some knowledge OF their dialect, and most
expressive pantomime conveyed the rest
was TO play game Of chess with the chief !:
the stakes, my life against safe conduct to
! the English lines. Never before had / en-
| cOuntered SO terrible an opponent and
never in the history of the royal game had
| so fatefnl an issue bren fought out on the
battlefield of the GA squares. | took nv
seat opposite the chief, aud the torch