Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-06-16
CHAPTER xll.-continued.

III you refuse ridTkeD JOnn Ire
ton; IL you had a hundred lives Il
thrust between me and tbs thing
crave, I'd take them ALL" So much h;
said calmly; then a sudden
gust of passion seized him
and for once, I think, he spoke the
simple truth. God! I'd sink my sou
In Calyin's hell 10 have herr"
1 could rot wholly mask the smile oil
triumph that his words evoked. This
fox OF maiden vineyards was e~ntrapped
at last. l saw the hre Of such q pas
sion as such a man may know burning
I'm his eyes; and then | knew why he
was come upon this errand.
"So?" said /. Then Mistress Mar
gerry sent you here To save me2" Twas
but a guess, but made sure II hit the
truth.
He swo-e a sneer1ng oath. so the
priest carried tales. did he? Well, make
the most OF IT.; she would not have her
fathers guest taken from his bed and
hanged like a dog"
/ smiled again. TWAS more than
that. she would even go so far as 10
peg her husbands life a boon from that
same husbands mortal enemy"
BAH" he scoffed. That lie OF yours
imposed upon the colonel, but ] had
better information
"a lie. you say? True, twas a lie
when 1t was uttered. But afterward,
some hour or SO past midnight, by the
good help OF Fathe. Matthew. n with
your Lieutenant Tybee for one witness
and the lawyer for another. we made a
sober truth of IT,"
I hope, for your WI peace OF mind,
my dears. that you nay never see a fell
low human turn devil in a breath as /
1lJ thnp IIt1 yroanta faaa fall WA "
from him like a vanishing mask. and
in the place OF II a hideous demon,
malignant and murderous, glared upon
me. Twice his hand sought the sword
hilt, and once the blade was half un-
sheathed. Then he thrust his devil
face In mine and Kissed his parting
word at me so like a snake 1t made me
shudder with adherence.
you've signed your own death var
rant. you witless fool! You'd play the
spoil-sport here as you did once be-
fore, would you? Curse you'll l wish
you had a hundred lives that / might
take them one by one!" Then he
wheeled sharp upon his heel and gave
the order to the ensign. BELT him to
the tree, Farquharson. and make an
end of him. I've kept you waiting over
long"
They strapped me to a tree with 9TH
e. belts, and when all was ready the
ensign stepped aside to give the word.
Just here there came a little pause pro-
longed beyond the moment of COM
pleted preparation. | knew not why
they waited, having other things to
think of. / saw the firing line drawn
up with muskets leveled. | marked the
row of weather beaten faces pillowed
on the gun-stocks with eyes asquint
TO sight the pieces. / remember ount-
ing up the pointing muzzles; remember
wondering which would be the first to
belch its fire at me, and If, at that short
range, a man might live to see the flash
and hear the roar before the bullets
killed the senses.
But while l screwed my courage to
the sticking place and sought TO hold
II there. the pause became a keen
edged agony. A glance aside-a glance
that cost a mlghtier effort than 1t takes
to break a nightmare-showed me the
ensign standing ear a-cock, as one who
listens.
Wit he heard I know not, for all
the earth seemed hushed to silence
waiting on his word. But on the in
slant the early morning stiffness of the
forest crashed alive, and p-andemonium
was come. A savage yell to set the
very leaves a-tremble; a cracking vol
icy IIOln the unQeIMOOu tildl leIl a htdp
Of writhing, dying men where but now
the firing squad had stood; then a
headlong charge of ~rough-clad horse
men--all this befell in less than any
time the written words can measure.
/ sensed 1t all but vaguely at the
first. but when a passing horseman
slashed me free l came alive, and life
and all IL meant TO me was centered In
a single fierce desire. Falconnet had
escaped the fusilade; was making
swiftly for his horse, safe as yet from
any touch OF lead or steel. So / might
reach and pull him down, I cared no
groat what followed after.
II was not SO to be. In the swift
dash across the glade I went too near
tie shambles In the midst. The cor
P5Tsi OK the firing squad a bearded
Saxon giant. whose face, .hideously dis
torted. will haunt me while / live, lay
fairly In the way. his heels drumming
in the agony OF death. and his great
hands clutching at the empty air.
+ leaped to clear him. In the act the
clutching hands laid hold OF me and I
was tripped and thrown upon the heap
OF dead and dying men. and could not
free myself in time TO stop the bar
onet.
I saw him gain his horse and mount:
saw the flash OF his sword and the skill
ful parry that In a single parade ward
ed death on either hand: saw him drive
home the spurs and vanish among the
trees, with his horse-holding trooper
at his heels.
And then my rescuers, or else my
newer captors, picked me up hastily,
and I was hoisted behind the saddle OF
the nearest, and so borne away I'm all
the hue and cry Of a most unsoldierly