The Van Buren press., 1904-08-13


men. who still stood against the wall,
brothers, in great cause, like ours,
we cannot be too careful This little
scene was devised to discover what
traitors we had amongst US. 1t has sue
ceeded. You, who have proved faith
iul. are quite safe
The men looked at him as though
they could scarcely credit their senses;
then one or two began to sob, and one
| man laughed
Ir' And this spy?" he questioned.
A fierce murmur ran around the room;
the men, with one accord, started to-
ward the corner, where the man lay
bound.
XIII him-kill him!" they shouted.
The president raised his hand.
Stop" cried he, "the man is mine.
mine to punish as see fit Leave him
to me. You will accompany our brother
Vassoloff," indicating the pseudo off,
GER, ITO a place of refuge. From our
friends admission, we are no longer safe
here"
But"
az have spoken" said the president.
sternly.
The conspiratOrs turned and silently
went out. As the man who had laughed
passed the spy he kicked him in the
face and laughed again
Then the president was alone with
the spy. He stood looking at him for
moment, a cruel smile on his white
bearded face. Presently he took from
his pocket long fuse, placed one end
in the powder keg, and wound the other
about one OF the tallow candles. an inch
from the burning wick. Then he placed
the candle In front OF the spy's face.
where he could almost touch it, and,
turning, went TO the door At the
threshold he paused.
Your fate VIII be lesson to your
fellow spies" he said-and was gone.
The spy heard his steps as he went down
the passage; he counted them till they
died away in the awful silence OF the
night. Then he looked at the candle.
Eow long would il take an inch OF tai
low to burn? The police would not
come till nine Would it last till then?
He looked at the clock. Twenty min
utes past eight Would that inch Of
tallOw last 40 minutes? II it should not,
would being blown up be so painful?
He looked as the candle again; It
seemed to malt away before his eager
gaze He tried to shrek, but could not
. the Bruise on his face, where the
man had Kicked him, hurt fearfully
he became unconscious
He dreamed Of his mother, dead years
before. , He thought that he was
a child again and that she had taken
him on her lap, and was telling him the
old stories that he loved 1t was sum
mer, and he could hear the reapers
singing &. He laughed with happi-
ness.
He opened his eyes The darkness OF
the room frightened him, and he tried to
call his mother The gag was still in
his mouth, and like a fash the whole
dreadful sickening truth came back to
him. The hands OF the clock pointed
to 90 minutes before nine, and the can
die was more than half burned. He
shook like a leaf; dreadful nausea
siCkened him.
Again he lookeg at the clock, Ten
minutes Of nine The candle seemed to
burn slower. Was there still hope?
Would the police come on time-would
they come on time? He strained his
ears to hear their cG.Aing, but there was
no sound. Good God, would they be
late?
It was five minutes OF nine, He tried
to pray He was lost. No! At last he
could hear the soldiers approaching;
but the clock was striking nine, A
knock on the door, and the fame had
touched the fuse He watched the spark
as It crept like snake, across the floor,
nearer, nearer nearer to the keg, He
tried to scream. The sound or
door being broken open. Tho
footsteps Of men on the passage, outside
the door but the spark had reached the
key. A flash