The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1901-05-22

BILE. whose obstinacy and recklessness
had brought about the disaster. pro-
3ceeded to make 1t redhot for every
body. Any set Of men except British
soldiers would have mutinied and
taken his life. Raging over his de
feat and feeling his helplessness. he or
dered out detachments and command
ed them to bring in every native they
could overhaul. It was a well populat-
ed country. with hundreds Of loyal ma
tives to be picked up, but the colonel
proceeded to look upon each and every
one as guilty of having had q hand
in the attack on the train. More than
a score were Shot or hung ofhand.
while others were whipped at the post
sor ordered out Of the district, It was
a reign of terror for three weeks, and
the end was fitting one.
Ny own detachment one day brought
ia mere boy whom we had found
covering ia a thicket i do not believe
he had the slightest knowledge Of the
ambush or took any part ia it. He was
timid lad. whose father had been one
Of the first ones hung. and he was SO
frightened that but little could be got
our Of him The colonel bulldozed and
browbeat him and finally ordered his
execution on the ground that he was a
spy. 1t was only when he knew that
he must die that the young fellow
braced up and showed his courage, and
| as he was being led away TO execution
he said to the colonel:
.sSahib Colonel. am innocent. and
,rou will be punished for my death,
= on may shoot me and bury my body,
but my spirit will follow you to the
grave. ;1s.2
Half an hour later he was dead. but
! he was the last one to be executed.
That evening q s the colonel entered the.
officers mess tent for supper all Of us
noticed that he had a queer. troubled
look on his face and that he cast fur.
tive glances behind him. After a bit
| he tried to be jocular. but the effort
was failure. He said something
about not feeling we'll but nobody OAR
| ed question him. Al midnight that
night we got an explanation. The
colonel called the sentinel into his
tent. and with white face and trem-
bling voice and the perspiration stand
ing out on his forehead he said:
Man. do yon see that boy sitting on
/ the chest
| Z see nobody. sir z replied the senti-
mel
He is there, / tell you! He fol-
lowed me to mess and back. and he
has been here IN plain sight all the
evening Take him away! s.
Bit there's nobody here. sir
/ And there wash t. The sentinel call
1 ed ii two officers, who looked and
searched ii vain and assured Colonel
4 kemble that no boy was present He
/ tried to turn it off with q laugh. but in
i less than q hours every man IN camp
1 knew that the colonel was haunted by
i q specter. He made a brave effort to
i bluff It out. but it was useless The
! specter followed at his heels by day
and sat by his bedside at night, and
i Ia a week the strong, aggressive man
! was becoming a mental wreck. He
turned to us for pity and sympathy.
but we had little to give. He had been
brutal in his vengeance.
The surgeon looked upon the case
at first as some disorder Of the brain.
but later on acknowledged that It was
something beyond his medicine. No
one else could see the specter. The
colonel would say that il sat beside
4 him or stood ia the door, but there was
1 nothing for other eyes to rest upon
He would draw his sword and cut and
slash and thrust at the specter. but he
could not harm il BY the surgeons
i advice the colonel returned to Goruck-
poor. was reported as case Of
breaking down over mental anxiety,
1 but hundreds of people came to know
better The specter followed him back,
Il followed him to the house Of q friend,
sat with him through every night and
logged at his heels through every hour
Of the day. He could no more shake
1t of than he could change the color
Iof his eyes He made the earnest sort
OF d ght knowing that his future career
i was at stake, and at length an men
came to pity him pity him and avoid
him as one accursed, He was medically
treated. given brief furloughs and
every effort mad to bull ID him up, but
at the end Of eight - ont 1s, every day
and every nigh Of which had been q