The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1905-06-16
CHAPTER xu.-continued.

ton, II you had a hundred lives t
thrust between me n the thing
crave. I'd take them ALL" So much h
said calmly; then a sudde,
gust of passion seized him
and for once. l think, he spoke tn,
simple truth. God! I'd sink my sou
in Calvin's hell to have herr"
I could not wholly mask the smile o
triumph that his words evoked. Thi:
fox of maiden vineyards was entrappee
at last. l saw the t1re of such a pas
sion as such a man may II burning
in his eyes; and then l knew why he
was come upon his errand.
SOP" said L. Then Mistress Mar.
gerry sent o here to save me?" Twas
but a guess, but l made sure it hit The
truth.
He swo.e a sneer,ng oath. $50 the
priest carried tales, did he? Well. make
the most of it: She would not rave hel
fathers guest taken from his bed and
hanged like a dog"
1 smiled again. "TwaS more thai
that; she would even so so far as to
beg her husbands life a boon from tina,
same husbands mortal enemy"
BAIL" he scoffed. That lie OF yours
imposed upon the colonel, but l had
better information."
"A lie. o say? True, twas a lie
when 1t was uttered. But afterward,
some hour or so past midnight, by the
good help OF Father Matthew, and with
your Lieutenant Tybee for one witness
and the lawyer for another, we made a
sober truth of It,"
l hope. for your w peace of mind.
MY dears. that o may never see a fell
low human turn devil in a breath as I
did then. His mans face fell away
from him like a vanishing mask. and
in the place OF it a hideous demon.
L ~, n nv n ~ nrl -H--.l --~-
me. Twice his hand sought the sword
hilt. and once the blade was half I'M
sheathed. Then he thrust his devil
face in mine n Kissed his parting
word at me so like a snake 1t made me
shudder with adherence.
you've signed your own death war
rant. you witless fool! You'd play the
sp%oil-sport here as you did once be-
fore, would you? Curse you! I wish
you had a hundred lives that I might
take them n by one!" Then he
wheeled sharp upon his heel and gave
the order to the ensign. BELT him to
the tree, F~arquharson. and make an
end of him. I've kept you waiting over
long"
They strapped me to a tree with 9TH
er 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. l knew not why
they waited, having other things to
think of. I saw the firing line drawn
up with muskets leveled. l marked the
row of weather-beaten faces pillowed
on the gun-stocks with eyes asquint
to sight the pieces. 1 remember count
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 lash
n hear he roar before the. bullets
killed the senses.
But while I screwed my courage to
the sticking place n sought to hold
1t there. the pause became a keen
edged agony. A glance aside-a glance
that cost a mightier effort thai it takes
to break a nightmare-showed me the
ensign standing ear a-cock, as one who
listens.
Wit he. heard 1 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 pandemonium
was come. A savage yell to set the
very leaves a-tremble; a cracking vol
ley from the underwood that left a heap
Of w%rithing, 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
! 1 llS L NOIdS SGl lllcGSOIc.
1 sensed it all u vaguely at the
first, but when a passing horseman
slashed me free 1 came alive. and life
and all it meant to me was conferred III
a single fierce desire. Falconnet had
escaped Ii fusilade; was making
swiftly for his horse. safe as yet from
any touch OF LEAD or steel. So l might
reach and pull him down, 1 cared no
groat what followed after.
1t was not so to be. In the swift
dash across the glade 1 went too near
tie shambles in the midst. The cor
poral of the firing squad, a bearded
Saxon giant, whose face. hideously dis
fairly in the way, his heels drumming
In the agony of death, and his great
hands clutching at the empty air.
1 leaped to clear him.. In the act the
clutching hands laid hold If me and I
was tripped and thrown upon the heap
of lead 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
full 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 or else my
newer captors. picked me up hastily,
and I vas hoisted behind the saddle Of
the nearest, and so borne away in all
the hue and cry of u most unsoldierly
retreat.
XIII.
IN WHICH A PILGRIMAGE BEGINS
AS you have guessed before you
turned this page the men who charged
30 OPPORTUNITY to cut me out of peril
were my captors only in the saving
sense
Their overnight bivouac was not
above a mile beyond the glade OF ann
bushment. 1t IA In a little dell, cum
ningly had; and the embers Of the
campfires We're still alive when we of
the horse came first to this agreed-on
rallying point.
Here at his rendezvous in the for
est's heart I had my first sight Of any
fighting fragment of that undisciplined
and yet unconquerable patriot home
guard that even in defeat proved too
tough a morsel for British jaws to
masticate.
They promised little to the eye OF a
trained soldier, these border levies. in
fancy I could see my old 1eld-marshal,
he was the father OK all the marti-
nets,-turn up his nose and dismiss
them with a contemptuous ZACH! mien