The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-04-05

back into the fire light with yells Of saw
age triumph
They flung him down upon his knees be-
side the Captains horse. and. though l
caught but here and there a word above
the frsazied yipping Of the Indians. it was
plain the Baronet was asking him of me-
I could not hear the black boys gibberiug
answer. but that he would not tell .hem
what they wished to know-could not. in
deed. since I had left no word behind 10
track me by-was quickly evident \ cord
was found. and while / crouched behind the
holly screen, aghast and helpless as one
against two-score or more. they looped him
by the thumbs and swung him up to dansle
from q maple bough a musket's length or
such a matter before the cabin door.
He bore the torture patiently. as some
poor dunb beast suffering at the hand OF
man. and would not part his lips for all the
Captains curses. But this was only the
mercIfil beginning. With yeiIs OF savage
fury the Indians carried brands to make a
slow fire at his feet; and. lest that should
rot be enough. a brace of them climbed to
the roof. tore on the splits for kindling. and
set the cabin wall align behind him
You may thank God. my dears. that you
are living in a kindIier age. Mayhap the
savage. now a-march toward the setting
sun. Is still as pitiIess as he was: but not
in any corner OF the world. / think. would
Anglo-Saxon men. wearing the Kings or
dlN OlucT uLAAApLH4. Dt ~
such a DEVILS carnival Of torment as this
that made NE nauseate with horror
As with the stretching OF the cord the
wretched black spun Low round anu
round before the glowing blaze. his cries
were something terrible TO hear. And when
the freight played upon his face IL was
a sight to freeze the blood; the eyes shut
tight against the shriveiing heat the crack
ing lips drawn back, the black skin chang
Ing to a dry and s'ckly brown And ever
and anon between the shrieks the parched
lips shaped a plea: oh. Nasal Massa
Cap'm! shoot po' nigga. an let UNI de-
This plea for cruel kindness cut me to
the marrow OF my bones: and. lacking
means TO save his life. I thought I might
at leas- make shift to try to put him out OF
misery.
The enemy's disposition favored me. The
wage drunk with lust of blood. leaped
and danced around their victim Falconnet
sat his horse apart beneath the NAPLES. and
with his bodyguard OF troopers. was well
within the borderland Of lurid shadow
where the freight mingled with the night.
I crept away and made a swift dctour to
the right 10 come behind the rearmost
horsenan or the troop. As III luck would
have q, the horse. affrishted at the frelit
pa~ndenomiun. was in the act OF wheeling
to run away. Being numbered with a mus
ket. the man made clumsy work CT hand
ling his mount. and when the beast came
down In 4 sncrting tremble to rear afresh
at sight OF me. the man funz away the
musket and drew his sword.
In cooler blood / might have given him
his sol1ier's chance. but here again It was
anothers life or mine. Even 50. I might
have fought him fair. had he but held hisr
tongue and fought In silence. But this he-
would not. so I had to quiet him or hava-
the others about my ears upon his shout
ings.
That done I snatched the musket thai
had cost the man his life. and. staying notS
TO see what should befall. ran hack to COW
err In the interval OF w~eapon-getting thu
fire against the cabin wan had gnawed=
its way from log to log. and now was lap
ping with its yellow tongues beneath the
caves. But lest the victim should not SUIT
Ter long enough. the Indians were at work
In yelling frenzy. hogging the blaze with
green branches broker from the trees so
that the fire itself should not be mercifil
I waited till the slowly spinning figure
or the black should turn and make a mark
/ could not miss. The pause gave space for
some swift steadying OF the nerves. butt
with the colder thought II also brought a
fierce and terrible temptation The finger
on the musket's trigger held a life In pawn.
and I might pick and choose and say what
life I'd take.
I glanced aside at FaIconnet. He was a
fairer mark than my poor Tomas. and By"
the laws Of God and man had earned DEATH
Inc tortured save mad little time to uner1
at the worst. and with the bullet that
would give him surcease 1 could well
ayengs him. More than this: that builetss
planted in my enemy's heart would save
my Iady Margery harmless. leaving me free
10 90 TO my own place and so to right the
wrong that ] had done. "a
All In the pivoting instant of the pause
the mosket swung slowly round as OF its
OWN volition. and through its sights I saw
the ~slashings. gold and red. across the
oreastias OF his Captains riding coat. One
little crooking Of the trigger-hnger and the
lead had gone upon its errand. But at the
balancing instant that piteous cry was
lifted once again: 20 Massa. Massa cap'mi
God "a musy-shoot po' nigga and let uni
der
1 did as any other man would do, as you
have guessed. The great Kings musket !.
swept another arc, and roared and belchca =
and Spat its messenger OF death; and my |,
poor Tomas had the boon he prayed for.
And then, as II the musket fash and
roar had been a lodestone and these fierce
Cherokees so many bits OF steel to cluster !.
thick upon IT,. / was surrounded in the
twinkling of an eye, and whizzing hatchets
and rife bullets whining sIbilant were but
an earnest OF the fate 1 had invited. :