Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-12-16

brain, lakes and pools of fire and
birthstone, wailing and gnashing of
teeth. The black abyss Of eternity
down which he was to plunge was all
alght; he seemed to see the long, red
flames coiling i'll it's depths. He
thought Of the witch they had burned
at Dusseihaus, and how she had cried
out and Writhed in the midst OF the
fire: must he suffer like that through
whole eternity? He felt indignant
against the saints; truly, they ough
to save him; he was fighting their
battles. Perhaps they were angry %
cause of the silver candlestick5 from
the church at Rosendorf, "a small
thing to let man be damned for!
They had brought him but 2ltry 100
gulden, which he had lent to Won Lob
kowitz, and now Rupert had deserted
him. He began counting the squares
on the floor again, but the pain and
fear of death and the bitterness at his
friends desertion would not be driven
from his mind He felt it almost
relief when he looked up and saw the
officer of the guard standing beside
him.
Ferguson rose quickly, cast one last
glance about him at the great, dim
room, the patch of sunlight on the
floor, and Dietrichstein's dark, mo-
tionless figure; then he followed the
officer. cit will be over soon," he re-
peated to himself, and drove all other
thoughts from his mind. In the next
room was door through which came
the sunshine and the subdued buzz Of
the many-voiced crowd. Ferguson
hesitated moment; then he threw
back his head and stepped firmly out
upon the scaffold. The peaked roofs
of the tall houses of the Crosse Ring
we're outlined sharply against the blue
sky; the throng surged about the
scaffold, the halberdiers at it's foot
kept order with difficulty. Ferguson
saw all this at a glance then every
thing else was blotted out at the sight
of the low, dark block. He walked up
to it and eyed it long, twisting his
mustache the while. He had meant
to kneel and end it at once, but Give
blows" rang in his ears, and his knees
refused to do his bidding. For a NOM
ent he wished himself back in the
Council House: then he cursed him
self as a weaker coward than Diet
richstein He turned to the officer
and said, forcing his voice TO sound
steady and calm, ~ may speak a word
to the people?''
The officer nodded. Ferguson walk
ed slowly to the edge of the scaffold.
The great crowd was silent and ex
pectant He stood a moment, biting
his mustache, and then, Of sudden,
swung himself down from the scaffold
to the ground. He heard cries of as
constituent, saw the crowd rock and
iostle; then a hal5erdier came at him
with leveled partisan. Ferguson's
blood tingled with joy; it was to be
no helpless submission to slaughter,
but a good grim fight to the death. He
wrenched the partisan from the sol
81
scaffold and struck furiously about
him; he saw blood streaming from his
arm and shoulder, he felt it trickling
down his face, yet he suffered no pain.
Then his strength seemed to leave
him all at once. He dropped the par
tisan and fell to the ground, instinc-
lively flying out one arm to save him
self. He saw above him fierce angry
facee, the dark shadow of the scaffold,
and above it all bit of the quiet blue
sky and a f1eck of white cloud gliding
across it. The sky grew dark, TOO,
and he heard, faint and far off, fam
iliar voice crying, "Hold! in the name
of the Duke of Friedland! | bring a
pardon for Captain Patrick Fergu
son."
"Rupert remembered me, them"
was his last thought.