The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-09-06

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 II 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:
"The human BRAIN he 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 q hill,
but some 90 torches lit up the spot with
their lurid flames. The party that had
caught mt 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 known in India and had played it
with natives myself. The chiefs antag-
onist was u man whom | imagined, though
| can't say exactly what suggested the idea,
tn Ina thp nripSt nt tho tpihp He NNng short
er than the others, but his face suggested
an extraordinarily active mind, and this,
combined with his regularity of feature,
would lay made him a strikingly hand
some type if it had not been for the fearful
malignity of his expression.
~ wish | could give you some faint idea
of that mans face, for it was the most ter
ribly sinister face | nave 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 a look of hooking, triumphant
deviltry hat must nave 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
us RdZt, anu L leu ludU ne was tAeIclSllG
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 &C
count of my capture, though was uncon-
scious of any words being spoken near me
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 a safe conduct to the English lines.
Never before had / encountered so ter
rible an oppoieht, and never in the history
of the royal game had so Hateful an issue
been fought out on the battlefield of the "a
squares. | took my seat opposite the chief,
IN the torch bearers formed a wide ring
round the table, looking, as the dancing
torch flames shone on their lark faces and
limbs, like so many stalwart statues of
bronze. Within the circle, and a little be-
hind the king, stood the evil priest, mo-
t%ionless, 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 Oh 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
p~itted-that the former was scarcely more
than an automaton under the thraldom of
the priests marvellous will and the game
itself only a sort of emblem or shadow of
bur inward contest of mind and personality.
Il played appropriately enough with the
white pieces. We proceeded very slowly
Ind 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 express
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 Oh the point of gaining u decisive
advantage some unforeseen move ALWAYS
deferred my victory.
"One piece in particular repeatedly
thwarted my combinations. Again and
again it constituted the weak point in a
series of moves which should nave brought
me victory. Again and again, when after
Btraining every faculty of my brain | made
my move and raised my eyes to watch in
the priests face the effect of a stroke to
which | saw nc reply, a faint mocking smile
would curl for a moment his cruel lipps,
and the black knight would be moved once
more, threatening dangers which | had
overlooked and dashing my premature
hopes to the ground.
1T was AS though some secret link exist
ed between that particular bit of bone and
the grim, ghoulish spectator of our game.
Piece after piece was taken from the board
and dropped on the sand at our feet. The
ranks of pawns grew thinner and thinner,
but still that one black knight, now the
only piece left to my antagonist, sprang
over the board, evading my deep laid plans