Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-06-23

He bore the torture patiently. as soms
poor dumb beast suffering at the hand Of
man, and would not part hts lips Tor all
the captains curses. But this was only
the merciful beginning. With yells or
savage fury the Indians carried BRANDS TO
make a slow fire at his feet: and, lest that
should not be enough, a brace OF them
climbed TO the roof. tore off the splits Tor
kindling, and set the cabin wall alight ce-
hind him.
You may thank God, my dears, that you
are living In a kindlier age. Mayhap tho
savage. now a-narch toward the setting
sun. is still as p~itiless as he was; but not
in any corner OF the world, l think, would
Anglo-Saxon men, wearing the kings 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
wretched black spun slowly round and
round before the growing blaze, his cries
were something terrible TO hear. And
when the fire light played upon his face 1t
was o sight TO freeze the blood; the eyes
shut tight against the shriveling ESat, the
cracking lips drawn back, the black SKIN
changing to a dry n sickly brown. And
ever and anon between the shrteks the
pnrched lips shaped a plea: % Massa!
Massa Cap'm! shoot po' nigga and let UNI
diet'
This plea for cruel kindness cut me TO
the marrow of my bones; and lacking
means to save his life, / thought l might
at least make shift 10 try to put him our
of misery.
The enemy's dispositions favored me.
The savages. drunk with lust or biood,
leapcd and danced around their victim.
Faiconnet sat MS horse apart beneath
the naples. and with his ~bodyguard OF
troopers, was We'll within the bUrderIand
of lurid shadow where the ire light MN
gled with the night.
L crept away and made a swift detour
70 the right to come behind the rearmost
korseman of the troop. AS his Ill luck
would nave it, his horse, affrighted at the
irelit pandemonium. was in the act or
wheeling to run away. Being numbered
with 4 musket, the man made clumsy
work OF handling his mouat, and when the
beast CAM down in a snoring tremble 10
rear afresh at sight of me, the man flung
away the .ausket and drew his sword.
In cooler blood / might have given him
his soldiers chance, but here again 1t was
another's life or mine. Even SO, l might
have fought him fair, had he but held his
tongue and fought in silence. But this ne
would not, so i had to quiet him or have
the others about my ears upon his shout
ings.
@ hAANI NoAAN a y AA0 NfN~N
had cost the man his life, and, staying not
to see what should befall, ran back to COW
er. In the interval OF weapon-getting the
fire against he cabin wall had gnawed It's
way from log to los and now was tapping
with its yellow tongues beneath the caves.
But lest the victim should not suffer long
enough, the Indians were at work in yell
ing frenzy, hogging the blaze with green
ranches broken from The trees so that
tho fra itEnlf ehOuld not ha r11arCifYn .
l waited till the slowly spinning figure
of the black should turn and make a
mark 1 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.
The finger on the musket's trigger held a
life in pawn, and | might pick and choose
and say what life I'd take.
l glanced aside at Falconnet. He was a
fairer mark than my poor Tomas, and by
the laws of God and man had earned his
death. The tortured slave had little time
to suffer at the worst, and with the bullet
that would give him surcease / could well
avenge him. More han this; that bullet
planted in my enemy's heart would save
my lady Margery harmless. leaving me
free TO go to my own place and SO to right
the wrong that j had done.
All in the pivoting instant of the pause
the muSket swung Slowly tOunu as or It's
own ~yolition, and through it's sights /
saw the ~slashings, gold on red. across the
breasting of his captains riding coat. One
little crooking Of the trigger-flnger and
the lead had gone upon it's errand. But at
the balancing instant that piteous cry was
lifted once again: 20 Massa! Massa
Cap'm! God "a m~ussy-shoot po' nigga
and let 'um die"
/ did as any other man would do, as you
have guessed. The great kings musket
swept another arc, and roared and belched
and spat it's messenger of death: and my
poor Tomas had the boon he prayed for.
And then, as If the musket fash and roar
had been a lodestone and these fierce Cher
okees so many bits of steel to cluster thick
upon 1t, l was surrounded in the wink
ling OF an eye, and whizzing hatchets and
rifle bullets whining sibilant were but an
earnest oe the fate | had invited.
Continued Next Week.)