The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-05-12
PART 1.

Meth-en wrigglcd himself into .
corner or the hut rested his shoulder
against the adobe wall and made HIM
self as comfortable as the rawhide
thongs with which he was tied up
would permit well, Calvert" said
lie. II hope you quite realize what an
extremely ugly hole were in?"
'Garcia will hang the pair OF us be-
fore sunset" i yeplied, "and that's
certainty. My only wonder is we
haven't been strung up before this"
'You think rope and trees a ccr-
tainty, do you? ] wish could comfort
myself with that idea. l wouldn't
mind simple gentlemanly dose of
hanging. But there are more things in
Heaven and earth. Calvert" he
broke off and whistled drearily.
/ moistencd my dry, cracked lips, and
asked him huslily what he meant.
Torture, old man. That's what
we're being saved for, Tn very much
afraid. A Peruvian guerilla is never a
gentle-minded animal at the best OF
times, and Garcia is noted as being the
most yindictive fellow TO be found be-
tween the Andes and The Pacific. Then.
if you'll kindly remember how you and
have harried him, and shot his men
and cut off his supplies, and made his
life q torment and thing of tremors
for the past four weeks, you'll see he
had got big bill against us. III he'd
hated us less, he'd have had us shot in
sight when we were caught; as 1t is,
I'm afraid he felt that couple of bull
let's IN hot blood wouldn't pay off the
score"
'If he thinks the matter. over calmly,
he'll not very well avoid seeing that il
lie wipes us out there'll be reprisals to
be looked for"
''And n great lot" replied Methuen.
grimly, "he'il care for the chance of
those. III we are put out of the way, he
knows quite well that there are no two
other men in the Chilian service who
can keep him on the trot as we have
done. No, sir. We can't scare Garcia
with that yarn. You think that be-
cause we're still alive. there's hope.
Well, I've sufficient faith in my own
theory for this: If anyone offered me q
shot through the head now, I'd accept
Il and risk the chance"
"You take the gloomy view. Now
the mans face is not altogether cruel.
There's humor in it,"
"Then probably he'll show his funni-
ness when takes il out of US"
Methuen rctorted. Remember that
punishment in the Mikado? That had
Something humorous in it. Boiling
oil. if don't forget"
Involuntarily i shuddered, and the
Taw-hide ropes cut deeper into my
wrists and limbs. had nc great
dread OF being killed in the ordinary
way, or should not have entered the
Chilian army in the middle of hot
wnr, and was prepared to risk the
ordinary woundings of nction in return
for the excitement of the fight. But to
be caught, and held helpless prisoner,
and be deliberately tortured 10 death
by every cruelty this malignant devil
Garcia could devise, was a possibility
had not counted on before. In fact, as
the Peruvians had repeatedly given out
that they would offer no quarter TO us
English in the Chilian service. we had
all of MS naturally resolved to die fight
ing rather than be taken. And in
deed this desperate feeling paid very
wei, since on two separate occasions
when Mcthuen and myself had been
cornercd with small bodies of men, and
would have surrendered il we could
have been guaranteed our lives, as il
was we went at them each time SO
furiously that on each occasion we
broke through and escaped. But one
thinks nothing of the chances OF death
and manning at those times. There is
glow within ones ribs which scares
away all trace of fear.
IL suppose there's no chance of res
cue:v i said.
''None whatever" said Methuen, with
little sigh. Think it over, Calvert.
We start out from the hacienda with an
escort Of five men, sing out our adios,