El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-15

chooses, so long as he remains W1tnln
this room and holds converse with no
one whatever. When the last sands of
this hourglass are run, Lieutenant Sen
tore will stand at the other end of this
room and meet the death merited by
traitors, laggards or towards. Do you
understand your duty, sergeantT
eyes, general
General Trelawny abruptly lett the
room, and we heard his heavy steps
echoing throughout the silent house
and later more family on the cobble-
stones of the street. When they had
died away, a deep stiffness set in, 1
standing alone at one end of the room,
my eyes fixed on the hourglass, and the
sergeant, with his four men like stat
ues at the other, also gazing at the
same sinister object. The sergeant
was the first to break the silence.
Lieutenant he said, do you wish
to write anythingr
''He stopped short being an unready
man, rarely venturing far beyond yes
and no.
"T should like to communicate with
one in this household / said, but the
general has forbidden it, SO all 1 ask is
that you shall have my body conveyed
from this room as speedily as possible
after the execution
Livery good, lieutenant answered
the sergeant.
after that for a long time no word
vas spoken. 1 watched my life run
redly through the wasp waist of the
transparent glass; then suddenly the
sand ceased to flow, half in the upper
bulb, half in the lower.
1T has stopped said the sergeant.
Il must shake the glass;
"'Stand where you are l command
ed sharply. Your orders do not run to
that
1.-The habit of obedience rooted the
sergeant to the spot.
"'Send one of your men to General
Trelawny,' 1 said as if 1 had still the
right to be obeyed. Tell him what has
happened and ask for instructions.
Let your man tread lightly as he leaves
the ROOM
1.-The sergeant did not hesitate mo-
ment, but gave the order 1 required of
him. The soldier nearest the door tip
toed out of the house. Probably more
than half an hour had passed, during
which no man moved, the sergeant and
his three remaining soldiers seemed
afraid to breathe; then we heard the
step of the general himself on the
stair. 1 feared that this would give the
needed impetus to the sand in the
glass, but when Trelawny entered the
status quo remained. The general
stood looking at the suspended sand
without speaking.
iS wis ~ nnpnad before
eral and that is why 1 was not at my
place. 1 have committed the crime Of
neglect and have thus deservedly earn
ed my death. but 1 shall die the hap
pier if my general believes 1 am neither
q traitor nor n coward
THE general. still without a word, ad-
vanced to the table, slightly shook the
hourglass. and the sand began to pour
again. Then he picked it up in his
hand. examining it infinitely, as If 1t
were some kind of strange toy, turn
ing it over and over. He glanced I'D
at me and said. quite in his usual tone.
as if nothing in particular had come
between us:
Remarkable thing that, Sentore,
isn't it?'
Very I answered grimly.
HE put the glass down.
Sergeant, take your men to quar-
tiers. Lieutenant Sentore. 1 return to
you your sword; you can perhaps make
better use of it alive than dead. l am
not n man to be disobeyed. reason or
no reason. Remember that, and now
60 to bed
HE left me without further word.
and. buckling on my sword, l proceed
ed straightway to disobey again
81 had n great liking for General Ire
lawny. knowing how he fumed and
ragged at being thus held helpless by an
apparently impregnable fortress in the
unimportant town Of Elsengore, ! had
myself studied the citadel from all
points, and had come to the conclusion
that 1t might be successfully attempt
ed. not by the great gates that opened
on the square Of the town, nor by the
inferior west gates, but by scaling the
seemingly unclimbable cliffs at the
north side. The wall at the top Of this
precipice was low, and owing to the
height Of the beetling cliff was inedi-
GENTLY watched by one lone sentinel.
who paced the battlements from corner
tower to corner tower. ! had made my
plans. intending to ask the generals
permission to risk this venture. but
now I resolved to try 1t without his
knowledge or consent. and thus re-
trieve. If I could. my failure of the
foregoing part of the night Taking
with me a long, thin rope which had
in my room. anticipating such a trial
for it. reused five of my picked men
and silently we made our way to the
foot of the northern cliff. Here. with
the rope around my waist. l worked
my way diagonally up along a cleft in