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

with old Colonel bradshaw, whose acQualnt-
anee l had lately made at the local chess
club. and was due at half-paSt o'clock, so
pulled my coat collar up to my ears and
started off through the muddy streets. Sey-
.eral times in the course Of my exceedingly
unpleasant walk the foulneSs of the weather
had given rise to wish on my part that
had invented some excuse for staying by
: my own comfortable Preside. Once arrived,
however, the CHEEKY welcome OF the Old
soldier quickly dispersed all regrets Tor my
own hearth, and restored me to the good
humor necessary for the proper appreciation
of a good dinner
Colonel Bradshaw had served in India
during the time OF the mutiny, had received
a severe wound in the left leg, which still
caused him to limp and had led to his COM
paratiyely early retirement from the serv-
ice. He had returned to England on MS re-
tirement and had lately leased snug little
house in our town. which he apparently IN
tended TO occupy for the rest OF his days IN
the quiet enjoyment Of peaceful obscurity.
had made his acquaintance, as l have said,
At the chess club, where, l believe. he used
TO spend most of his evenings, and where
he bad earned the reputation Of decidedly
strong player l had not as yet encountered
him over the board.
In his note OF invitation the colonel had
asked me to bring my men with me, as he
had left his own at the clubreOmS. on the
occasion of a match for which he had been
called into rPquistiOn, and ii was accord
ingly my set Of cbesSmen which we now ar
ranged in the customary order or battle. 10
my annoyance, however, found that one OF
my black knights was missing, and | cast
my eyes round the room IN search OF some
article on which we might for tho occasion
confer the spurs of knigbthood. On the
fN,1~ o1f Frr~fff inn fnhl q
weight I saw the very object we were ia
search ola black knight Not Of the
orthodox StauntOn pattern, 1t Is true, nor
indeed were Its grotesquely protTudlng eyes
and maliciously grinning mouth character
istic Of any pattern with which / was fRml-
liar. but still il was undeniabiy black
. chess knight and would serve our turn ad-
mirably Ny host hesitated, and even
seemed the least bit annoyed when l sug-
pested The exDediency OF pressing it into
the service. The beast certainly looked in
eongru0us among my StauHt0nS, but some
thing in his human eyes and iifeliks express
siOn OF. malicious humoT caught my fancy,
and / asked to be allowed to play with the
black men. The Colonel acquiesced, but
% declined the privilege of first move which
usually goes with the white. We accord
fngly drew for the move and L won It,
Led partly by my fancy for the black
knight, and partly Ito take my opponent
ont of the books" / began the game by
As did So / fanci6d my host gave a little
start ard as he certainly appeared to be
ANNOYED at my Irregular moving was sorry
that l had begun by a move which l sup
posed he objected to on the ground that it
generally leads to a close game. lie said
nothing, however and the game was con-
tinued for some time by very ordinary moves
on both sides, and presently / began to be
absorbed in the study Of the position and IN
the endeaYOr to gauge the strength OF my
ha- Cd IN MA
decidedly good game, and in spite Of contin-
uouS concentration OF nay part 10 maintain
some superiority OF position. Presently,
however, he embarked on a series Of
moves which appeared to give ME
decisive advantage and TO have no
more rational object than the capture of
my swarthy champion at a ruinous sacr-
fee Of his own pieces. I, is eccentric pro-
ceedng puzzled me, aud, added to bis pre-
vious hesitation about using the substitute,
excited my curiosity. So, relinquishing the
obiect Of winning the game in the ordinary
way, devoted all my skill to the defense
Of my kings knight. as though it were
piece cOife with which | was pledged to
give checkmRte. Rocks were sacrificed for
bishops and bishops exchanged for inof-
fensiye pawns, while the kings stood disre-
garded on their knights squares, and the
night ragged holly round the black knight,
who seemed to Gear charmed lie and
spTang nimbly about the board, always
at his capture. st last in desperation. he
offered the bribe Of the white queen. but |
Obstinately refused at any price 10 part
with my dusky cavalier, and a few moves
later brought the game to a successful end
with o smOthered mate, the very bone Of
contention inflictng the death blow.
The colonel leaned back in his armchair
ard for some minutes continued silently 20
blow out thick clouds OF smoke. After
pause, during which his brow was COM
-, Fr--r Fsrrb htrr faf
temptation of some beWideTing enigma TO
which he could not ind the claw, he broke
silence by remarkiDg that There were
more things in heaven and earth and
then again relapsed into silence in apparent
fOrgetfulness OF ny presence. As lie made
no further remark for some time. / rose
from my seat, and, muttering something
about its being late, prepared TO take my
leave. 'Wait a moment; lock here, p" said
the colonel, rising to stop me with the air
of a man who had formed a sudden de-
termination. aud pointing TO the board: 81
dare say you wonder what on earth l was
driving at in that game|
''Well, you appeared to me 10 be driving
mainly at that outlsndish black knight in
stead Of at NY king" [ replied.
Exactly; and perhaps l ought 70 apollo
gized for having spoiled the game by giving
way to an absurd fancy; but II you Will sit
down again and refill your pipe | will tell
you curious experience whice had many
haps admit as an excuse for my eccentric
Nothing 1 should like better" replied.
for l confess you have considerably aroused
my curiosity"
well. then, think I can partly satisfy
IT." and my host threw q fresh leg onto The
fire, stretched himself in the chair and
began.
Il don't know whether you take an in
terest in such subjects as hypnotism,
~rNrN 1Fn.sw 4
you may perhaps be able to form some
scientific theory to explain nay story. Per-
sOnallv / used to be very unbelieving in
such matters, but my skeptieism was con-
sidersbly modified by the adventure l am
going to tell you Of. Very well, then. On
one occasion in India, many years ego. !
had got leave from my regiment for few
weeks In order 10 join a shooting expedition
which had been got up by one Of my great
est friends, man many years older than L
was then, and OF much higher rank in the
service. When, however. l arrived at our
appointed meeting place, found my
friend. the General, preparing for a
more warlike excursion against q ma
raudng tribe who had lately been
extending their cattle raids across our from
tier. The shooting expedition having fallen
through l readily accepted the generals
suggestion that ! should accompany his
force as volunteer, and see some sport of
a more exciting kind. A common risk, even
NAoh comparatively luSiB ulacdnts AncllDe5
men to reader eordiality toward the CON-
pani0ns they may shortly be going 10 lose,
and / was soon on excellent terms with the
other officers, who were as pleasant set OF
fellows as l have ever met. Nothing OF any
interest happened till We were across the
enemy's frontier and the force was en-
camped one night under brilliant moon on
hill overlooking a thickly wooded valley.
Il was strolling round the camp with a
cigar, when ! was joined by one Of the
younger officers, who, not being on duty,
was refreshing himself after the days march
in the same way, and we continued our
walk together. We stopped to admire the
view al point where we could look down
on the valley. and presently we fell into an
argument as to whether bright surface