The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-08-18

III Il nave met many men WHO nave at SOME
time or other looked death pretty closely
in the face, and you must often have heard
it said that mans mind at such moments
reviews in flash long periods of past time
with an almost supernatural vividness Of
perception, but l didn't feel anything Of
this. only felt that 1 might be dead In
another second and then, with determine
ton to die game which was rather an
animal sensation than an articulats
thought, set my teeth and opened my
eyes to meet those of my enemy. The pis-
toll was still directed at my head, and the
grim Indian still kept his finger on the
trigger. faced him deflantly.
"At last he spoke. He spoke dialect
which [ only imperfectly followed, but l
understood him to say that if l tried to es-
cape l shonld be shot on the spot. felt no
confidence that l was not being reserved
for a more horrible death. but the instinct
of self preservation kept me passive. When
at last the pistol was lowered, and / no
longer stood in momentary expectation of
death, l looked round me and perceived
that was in the middle of group of some
half dozen Indians and as many horses.
Onto one of these latter / was lifted and
secured in the saddle by leathern thongs,
my captors not choosing to give me the
chance of escape by leaving me the manage
ment of my horse
after about an hours hard riding. dur
ing which the rapid motion and the blow
ing 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 adventures.
Here Colonel Bradshaw paused to stir
the smoldering log in the CRATE to bright
blaze, and then staring into the fire and
keeping the poker in his hands as leaned
forward in his chair went on with his story:
1.-THE human BRAIN" be resumed, ''is in
capable, imagine, of continuing to expert
ence any intense sensation for very long.
1t reaches the maximum tension, and then
one set of perceptive faculties becomes
deadened. The previous incidents of the
night had exhausted my capacity for fear,
and as / was led before the chief of the
tribe to hear his decree concerning me
awaited his decision with Indifference.
The moon was now hidden behind hill,
but some 20 torches lit up the spot with
their lurid 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.
81 was the less surprised at the nature of
his pastime as / knew that the game was
widely known in India and had played it
with natives myself The chiefs antag
onist was q man whom imagined, though
II klns
to be the priest of the tribe. He was short
er than the others, but his face suggested
an extraordinarily active mind, and this,
combined with his regularity of feature,
would have made him strikingly hand
some type if it had not been for the fearful
malignihy of hiV expression.
Il wish could give you some faint idea
hat mans face, for it was the most ter
ly sinister face | have ever seen. His
back had been turned toward me at first,
but from the moment when met the scru-
tiny of his black, deep set eyes, which glared
on me with look of hooking, triumphant
deviltry that must have been borrowed
from the fiend below, was fascinated and
could see nothing but that one diabolical
face. If there is any truth in the eastern
belief in possession by evil spirits, a demon
looked through that mans eyes
"A shiver 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. / felt
that unless | exerted the whole of my will
force in resistance to the dread spell he was
casting over me should lose myself in his
identity and become the creature of his
wicked will
"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 of any words being spoken near mo
till the priest turned from me to him, and
pointing to the chessboard which stood on
a sort of a low table made a suggestion
which at first did not fully grasp. It's
meaning was soon made clear to me, how
ever had some knowledge of their dia-
lect, and most expressive pantomime con-
veyed the rest | was to play a game Of
chess with the chief; the stakes, my life
against safe conduct to the English lines.
'Never before had / encountered so ter
rible an opponent, and never in the history
of the royal game had so fateful an issue
been fought out on the battlefield of the Ga
squares. / took my seat opposite the chief,
and the torch bearers formed a wide ring
round the table, looking, as the dancing
torch flames shone on their dark faces and
limbs, like so many stalwart statues of
bronze Within the circle, and little be
hind the king, stood the evil priest, mo
tionless, with folded arms, including me
and the board in his keen, hateful gaze.
81 knew exactly where he stood before
looked at him, and again / felt the same
dread fascination working on me that had
felt when first set eyes on him. The chief
moved the pieces indeed, but was CON
scious in some subtle way that it was
against his attendants mind that / was
pitted-that the former was scarcely more
than an automaton under the thraldom of
the priests marvellous will and the game
itself only sort of emblem or shadow of
our inward contest of mind and personality.
II played appropriately enough with the
white pieces. We proceeded very slowly
and in absolute silence. No word was
spoken nor sign made when either king
was checked. Hour after hour the priest
kept the same motionless posture behind
his chief, who played with the same mo-
notonously mechanical movement of the
hand, the same vacant mesmerized expires
sion on his face Hour passed after hour,
unmeasured by any clock, unmarked by
any change except in the position of the
pieces on the board. The chief, or rather
the priest, played well, and though often
seemed on the point of gaining decisive
advantage some unforeseen move always