The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1905-06-22

Ha bore the torture patiently, as some
poor dumb beast suffering at the nand o!
man, and would not part ms lips LOT al
the captains curses. But this was oniy
the merciful beginning. win yels u
savage fury the Indians carried rands TO
make a slow fire at his feet; and, lest that
! should not be enough, a brace or them
climbed to the roof, tore off the splits tor
kindling. and set the cabin wall allght De-
hind him-
You may thank God, my dears, that you
are living in a kindlier age. Mayhap the
savage, now a-march toward the settlns
sun, is still as pitiiess as he was; but not
IN any corner Of the world. I think, would
Anglo-Saxon men. wearing the king or
any other uniform, be witnesses unmoved
of such a devils carnival OF torment as
this that made me nauseate with horror.
AS with the stretching of the cord the
yretched black spun slowly round and
| round before the growing blaze, MS cries
were something terrible to hear. AND
when the fire light played upon his race II
was a sight to freeze the blood; the eyes
shut tight against the shriveling heat, the
| cracking lips drawn back, the black SKIN
changing to a dry and sickly brown. And
ever and amor between the shrieks the
parched lips shaped a plea: % Massa!
Massa Cap'm! shoot po' nigga and let UNI
die!"
This plea for cruel kindness cut me to
the marrow of my bones; and lacking
means to save his life, l thought l might
at least make shift to try to put him out
Of misery.
The enemy's dispositions favored me.
The savages, drunk with lust of blood,
leaped and danced around their victim.
Falconnet sat mis- horse apart beneath
the naples, and with his ~bodyguard OF
troopers, was well within the borderland
OF lur1d shadow where the fire light min
gled with the night,
l crept away and made a swift detour
to the right to come behind the rearmost
horseman OF the troop. AS his Ill luck
would nave 1t, his horse, atfrighted at the
firelit pandemonium, was in the act OF
wheeling to run away. Being numbered
with a musket. the man made clumsy
work of handling his mount, and when the
beast came down in a snorting tremble to
rear afresh at sight OF me, the man flung
away the musket and drew his sword.
In cooler blood 7 might " given him
his soldiers chance, but here again it was
another's life or mine. Even so. l might
have fought him fair, had he but held his
tongue n fought in silence. But this he
would not, so I had to quiet him or have
the others about my ears upon his shout.
ings. Nv,
That done, I snatched the musket that
had cost the man his life, and, staying not
to see what's should befall, ran back to o "
er. In the interval OF weapon-getting the
1re against the cabin wall had gnawed Its
way from log to log and now was tapping
with Its yellow tongues beneath the caves.
But lest the victim shout not suffer long
enough, the Indians were at work in yell
frenzy, flogglng the blaze with green
branches broken from the trees so that
the fire itself should not be merciful.
I waited till the slowly spinning figure
OF the black should turn and make q
mark I could not miss. The pause gave
space for some swift steadying of the
nerves, but with the colder thought 1t also
brought a fierce and terrible temptation.
finger on the musket's trigger held a
Ire IN pawn, and I might pick and choose
and say what life I'd take.
! glanced aside at Falconnet. He was a
fairer mark than my poor Tomas, and by
The laws of God and man had earned his
The tortured slave had little time
20 suffer at the worst, and with the bullet
nat would give him surcease I could we'll
avenge him. More than this; that bullet
planted In my enemy's heart would save
ny lady Margery harmless, leaving me
rec to go to my own place and so to right
ne wrong that I had done.
All in the pivoting instant Of the pause
he musket swung slowly round as of its
'Wn volition, and through its sights I
the slashings, gold on red, across the
of his captains riding coat. One
title crooking of the trigger-hnger and
lead had gone upon its errand. But at
he balancing instant that piteous cry was
flied once again: 20 Massa! Massa
aD'm God-'e' nenssy- sheet Pc nigga
nd let 'um die!"
l did as any other man would do, as YOU
guessed. The great kings musket
Wept another arc, and roared and belched
spat Its messenger Of death; and nv
oor Tomas had the boon he prayed for.
And then, as If the musket flash and roar
ad been a lodestone and these fierce Cher
KEGS 80 many bits Of steel to cluster thick
pom 1t, I was surrounded In the twink
Of an eye, and whizzing hatchets and
bullets whining sibilant were but an
arrest Of the fate I had invited.
Continued Next Weekly
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