, 1897-04-17

dcn:; Luckily. the box had a sliding
lid, and the junior subaltern was able
to arrange it so that. by attaching a
piece OF string. any one standing out
side the door would be able to slide back
the lid and SO release the presumed oc-
cupant Of the box.
During all these arrangements the five
conspirators had felt very serious. They
began to realize that it Yas rather a
grim joke they were having, and it is
probable that the two men who weren't
behind the scenes, who each doubted
whether he might be alive in the morn
ing, were less nervous. But then they
were still very angry, and hadn't had
time yet to think all the details.
At last all the arrangements had been
settled with due .exactness. The Junior
subaltern had been an u~nconscionable
time at work. 1t is probable that he was
getting very sick Of his hoax, and would
have been glad enough to show it up if
any one had given him the lead. After
all. he knew that there was an ugly
side to the farce, and as his first boy
ish enthusiasm died away he wanted to
throw the thing up. But no one helped
him on OF it, and for very shame he
could scarcely give himself away. Be-
sides, the two principals wouldn't have
thanked him.
| Nnthjnp mora r1mninnl tn no lnna
There was a solemn enough leave-tak-
ing on all sides as the five youngsters
filed u of the room and locked the
door, leaving the two men in their cor
ners n the box in the centre OF the
room. For a moment or two the five
stood in silence out in the passage, the
junior subaltern holding the end of the
string and shaking like an aspen leaf
with suppressed excitement. Then he
gave it a sharp tug, and they could hear
the box-lid sliding back until it dropped
to the floor with a slight smack.
1t was a hushed and rather conscience
stricken band that dispersed to the vari-
GUS rooms in quarters, and the hours of
that night hung heavily. 1t is a fact
that the five youngsters did not average
an hour of sleep between them. This
was proved by the alacrity with which
they all turned out at the first break of
dawn, and assembled, %shivering and
drawn-looking and haggard, ready to
go and release their voluntary prison
ers.
They were, in fact, so disturbed that
they took no notice of the senior cap
tain, who, for some reason best known
to himself, had turned out, too, and
followed them as they trod softly along
to the door OF the disused room. He
was still unnoticed as they reached it,
and there made a marked halt; and his
curiosity to see their little game pre-
vented him from announcing himself.
They stood for a moment in breathless
silence, showing a strange, sudden dis
inclination to stir.
Then. as was the case the night be-
fore, the Junior subaltern took the lead.
There was a faint murmur as he turned
the key in the lock and stepped boldly
into the room, the rest following in n
crowd. The senior captain stood for a
moment outside, wondering and trying
to make out what it all meant. But a
sudden, stiHed cry caused him to step
quickly after them.
He was a man who had been in sew
eral actions. He had seen men killed
under all sorts Of CHASTITY circumstances
He had commanded burial parties 9 n
out after the Afghan women had been
at their devilish work, and had cen
sights that, hardened, as he was, had
made him feel sick and full OF horror.
But those scenes were in no way COM
parable with what mel his eyes a he
entered the room behind his juniors.
The two men were no longer propped
up in the position in which they had
been left. Their swollen, distorted
bodies were huddled on the tioor in at
titudes that showed the awful manner
in which they had met their doom. But
the figures, almost grOtesque in the con-
tortions which had attended the last
death agony, were as nothing. In each
case the face was upturned, livid, with
distended cheeks and cracked skin, with
hecks of blood oozing from mouth and
nose, and with eyes widely open and a
fear and horror in them past all de-
scription. 1t was mo- so much the ply
steal agony as the expression OF terror
in the fixed faces that rendered these
corpses SO dreadful to contemplate. Yet
the two men, while alive, were as brave,
with all their faults, as any men should
be.
As he looked in, the captain was glu-
ed to the ground by the nameless hor-
ror of that death-stare. He seemed for
getful of his companions, Of where he
was, all his faculties concentrated on
the two huddled masses on the floor.
A CHASTITY incident aroused him. The
Junior subaltern burst into a laugh.
faint at first. and then swelling into
peal after peal Of uproarious mirth. The
others stood and watched him.
'Ha! ha!" he shouted, reeling from
foot to foot, and holding his shaking
sides. Look at them! Don't they sham
we'll? Aren't they irst-rate actors?"
The senior captain stepped up to him
and laid a hand roughly on his shout
der.