The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-05-13
PART III.

To put on Mttuucll OutNdIu ohoN VI
careless brazen courage. But when l
watched the guerillas tighten on the
rope anS sway him up till his stretched7
out feet swung a couple of hand-spans
above the ground, then my coolness re,
turned TO me, and my nerves set like
icicles in their sockets. He was sixty
yarIs away, and at that distance the
wen-rope dwindled 10 the bigness OF U
shocmaker's thread. Moreover the up
per two-thirds of it was invisible be-
cause il hung before a background OF
shadows. But the eighteen inches
above my poor friends head stood out
olear and distinct against the white
walls of the chapel beyond, and as it
swayed to the pulsing of the body be
meath, il burned itself upon my eye
sight till all rest of the world was
blotted out in a red haze. neyeE
knew before how thoroughly a man
could concentrate himself.
They handed me the rifle, loaded and
cooked. 1t was single-shot Winches-
ter, and / found out afterwards, though
/ did not know it then, that either
through fiendish wish TO further hams
per my aim, or through pure forgetful-
ness, they had left the sights cockedup
at three hundred yards. But that did
not matter; the elevation was detail
of minor import; and besides / was
handling the weapon as a game-shot
fires, with head up, and eyes glued on
the mark, and rife barrel following the
eyes by instinct alone. You remem-
ber that had no stationary target to
aim at. My poor comrade was writh-
Ing and swaying at the end of his
tether, and the well-rope swang hither
and thither like some contorted pendu-
lum.
Once / fired, twice / fired, six times,
ten times, and still the rope remained
uncut. and the bullets ratified harm
lessly against the white walls of the
chapel beyond. With the eleventh shot
came a tinlSle of broken glass, and the
bell, after couple of hurried nervous
clangs, ceased tolling altogether.
With the thirteenth shot shout went
up from the watching crowd. had
stranded the rope, and the body which
dangled beneath the magnolia tree
began slowly to gyrate.
Then came halt in the firing.
had handed the Winchester back to tho
fellow who was reloading, but some-
how or other the exploded cartridge
had iammed in the breech. danced
and rnged before him in my passion of
hurry, and the cruel brutes yelled in
ecstasies of merriment. Only Garcia
did not laugh. He re-rolled fresh
cigarette with his thin yellow fingers
and leisurely rocked himself in the
,split-cane chair. The man could not
have been more unmoved If he had been
overlooking performance of Shakes
pearc-
At last I tore the Winchester from
the hands of the fellow wko was fum-
bling with it. and clawed at the jammed
cartridge myself, breaking my nails
and smearing the breechlock with
blood. If it had been welded into ono
solid piece, it could scarcely have been
6rmer. But the thrill of the moment
gave my hands the strength of pin,
lcers. The brass case moved from side
ito side; it began to crumblc, and !
drew it forth and hurled from me
mere ball of shapeless twisted metal.
Then one of the laughing brutes gave
me another cartridge, and once moro
u shouldered the loaded weapon.
The mark was easier now. Tho
struggles Of my poor friend had al
bnost ceased, and though the well-rope
still swayed, its movements were com,
lparatively yrhythmical and to be counted
upon. snapped down the sights, put
the butt-plate to my shoulder and cud-
died the stock with my cheek. Here
for the first time was chance of some-
thing steadier than snap shot.
pressed home the trigger as the
hvell-rope reached one extremity Of it's
swing. Again few loose ends sprang
from the rope. and again the body be-
gan slowly to gyrate. But was it
Aethuen was firing to save or was /
merely wasting shot to cut down a
mass Of cold dead clay?
I think that more agony was COM
pressed for me into few minutes then
Khan most men meet with in lifetime.
Even the overlooking guerillas were so
stirred that for the first time their glib
ing ceased, and two of them OF their
own accord handed me cartridges.
slipped one home and closed the breech-
block. The perspiration was running
In stream from my chin. Again /
fired. Again the well-rope was shipped,
and ] could see the loosened strands
ripple out as snake unwraps itself
from branch.
One more shot. God in Heaven! /
missed! why was I made to be n muir.
derer like this2 Garcia's voice came to
me coldly. "Your last chance, senior.
4 can be kept waiting here no longer.
And i think you are wasting time.
Your friend seems TO have quilted us
ALREADY"
Another cartridge. i sank 10 one
Knee and rested my right elbow on the
other. The plaza was hung in breath
Jess silence. Every eye was strained
to see the outcome OF the shot. The
men might be inhuman i'm their cruelty.
but they were human enough in their