The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-05-13
AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE.
BY m

n wrists bound with a cord. a ROPE
loosely encircled his neck. 1t was at
tached to a stout cross-timber above his
head, and the slack fell to the level o!
his knees. Some loose boards laid upon
the sleeper supporting the metals of the
railway supplied a footing for him. ant
his eXecutioners-two private soldiers
OF the federal army, directed by a ser
geant, who in civil life may have beer
e deputy sheriff. At a short remove
upon the same temporary platform was
ali officer in the uniform of his rank
armed. He was a captain. A %sentinel
a. each end of the bridge stood with his
rifle in the position known as support
that is to say, vertical in front of the
left shoulder, the hammer resting on
the forearm thrown straight across the
chest-a formal and unnatural position
enforcing an erect carriage of the body
1t did not appear to be the duty of these
two men to know what was occurring
at the center of the bridge; they merely
blockaded the two ends of the foo.
plank which traversed it.
JSN OHu UHt Ol tllt stIlliHtlS iOboiS
was in sight; the railroad ran straight
away into the forest for 100 yards,
then, curying, was lost to view. Doubt
less there was an outpost further along.
The other bank Of the stream was open
%ground-a gentle activity crowned
with a stockade of vertical tree trunks,
%loopholed for rifles, with a single em-
brasure, through which protruded the
muzzle of a brass cannon commanding
the bridge. Midway of the slope be-
tween bridge and fort were the spec
tators-a single company of infantry III
line, at parade rest" the butts of the
rifles on the ground, the barrels inclin-
ing slightly backward against the right
shoulder, the hands crossed upon the
stock. A lieutenant stood at the right
of the line, the point of his sword upon
the ground, his left hand resting upon
his right. Excepting the group of -four
at the center of the bridge not a man
moved.
The man who was engaged in being
hanged was apparently about thirty
hNN SNalS VI hSSs liz was q "a ~
enc might judge from his dress, which
was that of a planter. His features
were good-a straight nose, firm mouth,
broad forehead, from which his long,
dark hair was combed straight back,
falling behind his ears to the collar of
his well-fitting frock coat. He wore a
mustache and pointed beard, but no
whiskers; his eyes were large and dark
gray, and had a kindly expression,
which one would hardly have expected
in one whose neck was in the hemp.
Evidently this was no vulgar assassin,
The liberal military code makes pro-
vision for hanging many kinds of PEG
pie. and gentlemen are not excluded.
The preparations being complete. the
two private soldiers stepped aside and
each drew away the plank upon which
he had been standing. The sergeant
turned TO the captain, saluted. and
placed himself Immediately behind that
officer, who in turn moved apart one
pace. These movements left the con-
demned man and the sergeant standing
on the two ends of the same plank,
which spanned three of the cross-ties
Of the bridge. The end upon which the
civilian stood almost, but not quite.
reached a fourth. This plank had been
held in place by the weight of the cap
tain; it was now held by that of the
sergeant. At a signal from the former,
the latter would step aside, the plank
sr,o,,1l %sIt nrl %hn p~- $3.50.
would 60 down between two ties. Thu
arrangement commended itself to his
Judgment as simple and effective. His
face had not been covered nor his eyes
bandaged. He looked a moment at his
"unsteadfast footing" Then let his gaze
wander to the swirling water of the
stream racing madly beneath his feet.
A piece of dancing driftwood caught
his attention. and his eyes followed it
down the current. How slowly it APP
peared to move! What a sluggish
streaml
He closed his eyes in order to fix his
last thoughts upon his wife and chill
dren. The water, touched to gold
by the early sun, the brooding mists
under the banks Mt some distance down
the stream, the fort, the soldiers, the
piece of drift-all had distracted him.
And now he became conscious of a new
disturbance. b.
He Enclosed his eyes and saw again
the water below him. "If | could free
my hands," he thought. II might throw
off the pnosa and curipr into +ha c.-
By diving l could evade the bullets. and.
swimming vigorously. reach the bank.
take to the woods and get away home.
My home. thank God, is as yet outside
their lines; my wife and little ones are
still beyond the invaders farthest adj
vance,"
As these thoughts. which have here
to be set down in words. were flashed
into the doomed mans brain rather
than evolved from it. the captain nodded
to the sergeant. The sergeant stepped
aside.
Peyton Farquhar was a well-to-do
planter, Of an old and highly-respected
Alabama family. Being a slave owner.
and, like other slave owners, a poll
tician, he was naturally an original Sc.
cessionist and ardently devoted to the
southern cause. Circumstances of an
imperious nature, which it is unneces-
sary to relate here, had prevented him
from taking service with the gallant:
army which had fought the disastrous