The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-05-19


necE and presently ny wIthcrs. The
| turned and would he uakiHs frAutt,
- feepis passes NTH the sNorl At ri
q man 0poW his hack
J, II MAS my plotting apta4N Who md
y NE thus TO earth and when | thrust y
\ laughed Il Swore. au3 turned IN
u blade aside With his bare hand. Thai
I pressing closer he struck me with hi
< list thereupon the night and an ii
h~appeuings went blank rs il the bio,
had been 4 canno shot to crush m.
E skall.
IN WHICH ! TASTE THE QUALITY
OF MERCY.
Two ways there be TO fetch +
stunned man to his senses. as they vii
tell o Who have seen the rack ap-
Piled one is 10 slack the tension OF
the cracking joints and minister cor
dials 10 the victim. the other 10 give
the straining winch a crueller twist. II
Was not he gentler way my captors
took. as You would guess, and when |
came TO know and see and feel again
a pair of them We're kicking me alive.
and was sore and aching from their
bu~ffetings.
How long a time came in between
my futile dash for liberty and this
harsh preface to their dragging of me
back 10 the manor house, | could not
ecli. \ must nave Deen an hOur or
more. for now a sibbous moon hung
pale above the tree-tops, and all around
were bivouac 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 He's
sian g~renadier by the size and
shake of him: and when the two
trooper bailiffs thrust me in, and | had
winked and blinked my eyes accustom-
ed to the candle light. [ saw the table
had been swept of its bottles and
council. We're some half score officers
OF the British light horse with their
colonel at the head.
AS it CHANGED, this was my first sight
near at hand of that British command
ef whose name in after years the pa
trlot 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, and yet with an old cam
paiSners head we'll set upon aggres-
slVe shoulders. His eyes were black
and ferrety; and his face. we'll seasoned
by the Carolina SUM-, was swart as any
Arabs. y 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
seif-same breath.
This was that Colonel Banastre Tar
Teton who ave no quarter 10 surrend-
cred men; and when l looked into the
a waiting gibbet.
Sol" he raped out, when 1 was
haled before him. You're the spying
rebel captain, Ell? Are you alive enough
TO hango"
His lack of courtesy rasped so sorely
that must needs give place to wrath
and answer sharply that there was
small of it, since L could stand
and curse him.
He scowled at that and cursed me
back again as heartily as any fish
wife. Then suddenly he changed his
They tell me you We're in the ser
wee once and left it honorably. / am
oath to hang a man who has worn the
,o!ors. Would it please you best to die
| soldiers death, CAPTAIN lreton?"
said it would. most surely.
He said | should have the boon if
would tell him what an officer on the
3aron de kalb's staff should know; the
strength of the Continentals, the gem
rails designs and dispositions. and
Know not what besides. L think it was
ny laugh that made him stop and
me %roundly in the midst.
BY God. III make you laugh an
'ther tune" he swore. You rebels
IRE all of q piece. and clemency is
wasted on you."
Your mercy comes too dear; you set
90 nigh a price upon it, Colonel Tar
eton. If, for the mere swapping of a
'ope for a bullet, / could be the poor
aitfff your offer implies. hanging would
De too good for me-
If that is your last word But stay;
III give YOU ar hcu to think it over"
1t needs not an hour nor a minute"
replied. IF | knew aught about the
ee YOU hanged in your own stirrup-
before I'd tell YOU. Colonel
Moreover, l marvel great
AT what?' he cut in rudely.
AT your informant's lack of inven-
ion. He might have brought me
traight from General Washington's
leadquarters while he was about it.
Twould be no greater lie than that he
old you"
He heard me through, then fell to
ursing me afresh. and would be send
ng an aide-de-camp hotfoot for Fail
onnet.
While the messenger was going and
oming there was d chance for me to
ook around like a poor raped ami
lal in a pitfall, loath to die with out
struggle. yet seeing not how any
ess inglorious end should offer. The /,
ye-search went for little of our
lent; there was no chance either to
ght or fly. But apart from this. the
robing of the shadows revealed a
hing that set me suddenly in a fever,
rst of rage, n then of apprehension.
AS l have said, this gathering-room
f our old house was in size like an an
lent banquet hall. 1t had a gable to
self in breadth and height. and at the
end there was a flight of some
ew steps to reach the older portion
t the house beyond. The upper end
this low stair pierced the thick wall
+ the older house. and in the shadows s
t the niche thus Formed | saw my
adv Margerv.
She was standing as one who looks {
listens: and my rage-tit blazed out
pom the deserving of a shadowy figure
+ q man behind her; a man l guessed /:
j Jealous wrath to be the baronet-a I
sonless suspicion, since the volunteer
aptaln would certainly have made his
resence known when his colonel had f;
illed for him. But While my heart was 5
afre my lady moved aside as if to J
ave a better sight of us below; and
len l saw it was the priest behind ,
err. 1
~ . T s