Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-05-19

~ fif1l AABDA lAA3 RfA1R
IL was my plotting captain who rode
me thus TO earth, and when thrust he
laughed and swore, and turned the
blade aside with his bare hand. Then,
pressing closer, he struck me with his
fist, and t%hereupon the night n all It's
happenings went blank as IL the blow
had been a cannon shot TO crush my
skull.
VIII.
In WHICH TASTE THE QUALITY
OF MERCY.
Two ways there be TO fetch a
4 stunned man To his senses, as they viii
tell you who have seen the rack APP
piled; one Is to slack the tension on
the cracking joints and minister cor
diaIs 20 the victim; the other TO give
the strainins winch a crueller twist. IL
was not the gentler way my captors
took, as you would guess: and when l
came 20 know and see and feel again
a pair of them were kicking me alive,
and / was sore and aching from their
buffetings.
How long a time came In between
my futile dash for liberty inc his
harsh preface 10 their dragging of me
back TO the manor house, l could not
tell. 1t must have been an hour or
more, for now a gibbous moon hung
pale above the tree-tops, n all around
were biyouac fires and horses tethered
to show that In the interval a troop had
come and camped.
The scene within the great fore
room of the house had been shift
ed, too. A sentry was pacing back
and forth before the door-a Hes
sian g%renadier by the size n
shake OF him: and when the w
trooper bailiffs thrust me In, and | had
winked and bllnked my eyes accustom-
ed to the candle light, ! saw the table
had been swept OF It's bottles and
glasses, and around IL. sitting as in
council. were some half score officers
of the British light horse with their
colonel at the read.
AS II CHANGED. this vas my first sight
near at hand OF hat British command
er whose name in after years the pa
triot mothers spoke TO fright their chill
den. He did not look a monster. AS
recall him now he was a short, square
bodied man. younger by some years
than myself. n yet with an old cam
~paigner's head well set upon aggres-
sive shoulders. His eyes were black
and ferrety. and his face, well seasoned
by the Carolina sun, was swart as any
Arabs. A man, / thought, who could
be gentle harsh or harsh-revengeful, as
the mood should prompt; who could
make well-turned courtier compliments
TO a lady and damn a trooper in the
self-same breath
This was that Colonel Banastre Tar
Teton who gave no quarter TO surrend-
cred men: and when | looked into the
sloe-blaek eyes saw in them for me
a waiting gibbet.
Sol he raped out, when / was
hailed before him. You're the spying
rebel captain, Ell? Are you alive enough
10 hang?"
His lack OF courtesy rasped so sorely
that | must needs give place to wrath
and nswer sharply that there was
small doubt Of 1t, since ] could stand
and curse him.
He scowled at that and cursed me
back again as heartily as m fish
wife. Then suddenly he changed his
tune.
They tell me you were in the ser
vice once and left 1t honorably. / am
loath to hang a man who has worn the
colors. Would Ii please you best to die
a soldiers death, CAPTAIN Ireton?'
said II would, most surely.
He said | should ave the boon IL l
would tell him what an officer on the
Baron de Kaib's stan should know; the
strength OF the Continentals, the gen
erals designs and dispositions, and /
know not what besides. think IL was
my laugh that made him stop and
damn me roundly in the midst.
by God, I'll make you laugh an
other tune.H he swore. You rebels
are all OF e piece, and clemency Is.
wasted on you
Your mercy comes too dear; you set
too high a price Upon II, Colonel Tar
teton. II, for the mere swapping of a
rope for a bullet, ! could be the poor
|caitiff you offer implies, hanging would
be too good for me-"
ssTf that is your last word Bat stay:
I'll give o ar hcur 10 think Ii over
1T needs not an hour nor a minute"
] replied. IF I knew aught about the
Continental army-which I do not-Td
see YOU hanged in Your own stirrln-
leather before I'D tell you. Colonel
Tarleton. Moreover, / marvel great
ly-'
AT what?n he cut In rudeiy.
"At your informant's lack of inven-
ton. He might have brought me
straight from General Washington's
headquarters while he was about It,.
Twould be no greater lie than that he
told you"
He heard me through, then fell to
Ecursing me afresh. and would be send
ing an aide-de-camp hotfoot for Fall
comet.
While the messenger was going and
coming there was a chance for me to
look around like a poor trapped ami
NAL In a pitfall. loath to die with out
a struggle, yet seeing not how any
less inglorious end should offer. The
eye-search went for little of encourage
ment. there was no chance either TO
fight or NY But apart from this, the
probing OF the shadows revealed a
thing that set me suddenly IN a fever.
first Of rage and then OF apprehension.
As l have said, this gathering-roon
of our old mousse was in size like an an
cient banquet hall. liz had a gable to
itself In breadth and height. and at the
farther end there was a flight OF some
| few steps TO reach the older portion
or the house beyond. The upper end
OF this low stair pierced the thick wall
or The older house. and In h shadows
OF the niche thus formed ! saw my
lady Margery.
She was standing as a who looks
ana listens mi my rage-ht blazed out
upon the deserving of a shadowy figure
OF a man behind her: a man | guessed
in Jealous wrath to be the baronet-a
~lreasonless suspicion. since the volunteer
Ecaptain would certainly have made his
presence known when his colonel had
called for him. Blu while my heart was
yet afire my lady moved aside as u g
have a better sight OF us below; anc
then l saw Ii was the priest benine
her.
While i was watching her. and w
camps return. there was q stir wsthou'
and when IL reached the door the sen.
try challenged. Some confab followed
land I overheard enough 10 tell me thai
Il scouting party had come In. bringinl
q prisoner. The colonel babe me stant