The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-11-11

laugh that actually Hlaoe AHS
run cold
yes. I loathe crime. But. nevertne>
less, tell me how you got back
| When they took me before Geherai
! Mcpherson, in the camp near Flchs-
burg, he INDUCED in what L suppose
to be the usual cant and hypocrlsa
about my 'wickedness until L inter-
rupted him by asking him whether ne
drew any extra pay for lecturihs
prisoners. He offered me advantages
! in one way and another If L woulc
| take the oath of allegiance 10 lhe
| gridiron flag, with a purpose 10 Keep
it. join the Yankees. and scout ios
him along the Yazoo. On my reiusSi
| he ordered me to be executed at sur.
up. They put me under close sualN
| in a tent One Yankee stood OUTSIDE
| with his gun, and big, fat Dutchmah
| STAYED in the tent with me- Wnen ne
got sleepy he made me lie down De-
J side him and put one bracelet OF
pair of handouts on his own left wrist
! and the other on my right one He
! then took a big butcher knife ana
| stuck the point of it in the ground be-
| side him. the handle sticking up. He
assured me that the knife was for my
J special DenSHI, dllu lii1t IL AA4o'
hand or foot during the night he would
I rip me all to pieces with the knl1e.
He made -fritters of the Kings Eng,
! lish in this talk and repeated TINS
threats over and over again until L
! thought the brute would never go 10
/ sleep. He went to sleep. however, az
! last, and as soon as he snored fully
and regularly I laid my thumb down
! no Of hand drew
nv fingers close up together that
way" said Tucker. stretching out his
long slender hand In the position de-
scribed by him. land slipped my hand
/ through the iron ring without the
slightest difficulty. I then lightly ana
| quickly put one hand over the Dutch
mans mouth and glued my fingers to
/ IL at the same instant that l seized
! his butcher knife with the other hand,
and with one strong, quick blow plung-
! ed the full length of the blade into his
stupid carcass, right above the collar
bone and then jerked the handle back
and forward a time or two to cut
through the windpipe and main art
! cries I cut slit in the side of the
tent with the Dutchman's knife and
| slipped through. I crept along until
got to the edge of the brush and then
lit out for Canton, and tonight 1 am
here"
He gave this grim recital In a
strange quiet, matter-of-fact way that
rendered it atrociously realistic. 1 had
not the slightest doubt that he told 1t
precisely as the thing had occurred
And what do you propose to do
! here?"
THAT is just the question. Do you
think Jackson will surrender me to the
Yankees again."
Yes. Or hang you himself"
"And you, L suppose, would approve
of that disposition of me?"
"If any objection could be reasonably
made to such a course, I suppose 1t
would be based upon the fact that you
are regarded by some person as a mo-
nomaniac. and, therefore, irresponsible
for your crimes"
Tires ponsible for my crimes?" he
echoed, musingly. II am sure don t
know. l can shut my eyes any time
and see again the burning Of my quiet
home in Missouri, fired by the Yam
KEGS I can see a frenzied old mother
bending over the murdered body of a
gray-haired father. 1 can see devil
in the shape of man seize a bayonet
and with one f1endish stroke plunge 1t
through the breasts of a Well-loVed
daughter. I can see him tear off her
night dress and twist the girl, stripped
stark naked. around with the bayonet
until the glare of the burning home
stead falls upon her burning face ano
ouivering form 1 can see a fond
brother catch the brute by the throat
only to be stretched senseless by a
n hot
had been your home, you would have
dropped upon your knees in the snow.
under the midnight skies, as L did, and
you would have registered burning
vow with God never to forgive. never
to spare, always to follow. and always
to murder-if you will call it so-thoss
devilish miscreants while you lived;
and you would have believed it to be
. religion to keep your oath, as I have
|, done
saw at once that it would be folly
to try to reason with such fervid, inn
r passioned, conscientious hatred.
But the question now is" said the
! scout, what am 1 going to do?'
, II think that you had better start
for Tennessee tonight, join Wheeler's
, cavalry. go into the service regularly
do your whole duty to your country
like a brave, capable man as you are
and try to get over this insane hatred
. which makes you a devil, not a man
The scout pondered this scheme fol
some time Then, with dreary
, broken-hearted sigh. he answered: Per
haps you may be right. have horst
, at a farm two miles out in the country
will go and sleep until after mid
night and then start for Tennessee.
Continued on Page Eight)