The Evening standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1910-1913, 1910-12-10

light the fuse for him. Between them
at the signal to FIRE. on account of the
oycrcharge III tho blundcrbuss, they
pulled the gun from my forehead as 1t
exploded and il flew out OF the Pom
bo's hand Kill himl Kill him. the
mob cried as | laughed at the accident
He shows no fear Kill himP The
Pombo, always superstitious, blamed
the jumping OF the matchbox from his
hand to some supernatural force and
not 10 the oycrchargc Of powder He
seemed reluctant to proceed with the
execution. This was my opportunity.
! cried, If you kill me to-day you will
all die tomorrow For 4 while they
were silent, but again the mob COM
menccd TO cry for my life. The Pombo
now worked himself IN an ever greater
frenzy and frolh hcckcd firm his
mouth. A Lama handed him a heavy
two-handcd sword and tucked up his
sleeves 10 give his arms free play. He
ordered MERIDA to bend down my head
to receive the blow. but | resisted
with all my feeble strength Ii I was
to die | would die with my head up.
would never bend 10 the brutes be-
fore me.
The Ponbo advanced toward me,
swinging the shiny blade from side TO
side. He measured the blow required
to behead me by drawing the blade
across the back of my neck And
then he made mighty stroke and the
blade swep, past me. 1t was hard to
realize that my head was not off.
think | ceased to breathe. The Pombo
went to the opposite side and again
drew the keen blade across my neck
and then with his trembling hand and
with all his might, made a blow at me
Again he missed the blade passing
over my hair. The crowd howled for
my blood but the Pombo respecting
my apparent indifference. refused 70
proceed with his ghastly work
later learned that this apparent miss
ing of the mark in an execution was
merely ono way OF prolonging the
agony and torturing the victim.
The Tortures Continued.
"Mansing was now brought toward
me and VIC were informed that both
OF US were to be behcaded on the
morrow The execution was being de-
layed &c were informed, with the OBJ
Jcct OF getting longer performance
out OF it. We were getting weak from
hunger. | felt my strength giving out.
! asked for food. saying, If you do not
give us some nourishmcnt We shall die
OF starvation and defeat the execu-
ton. This was reason, and the Lamas
brought US food and stuffed it with
their fingers down our throatS. Again
our tortures were continued My legs
1were torn wider open and fastened to
| logs Mansing's were treated in the
same manner My hands, as we'll as
Mansings, were fastened behind and
then pulled up by rope passed
through hole i'll i post. We were
| stretched as far as possible without
tearing our bodies apart and the ropes
were fastened The joints of my arms
were twisted in their sockets. and the
agony was beyond description. Man
sings neck was tied TO mine with the
object OF keeping the strain on our
arms
Il made many attempts to escape,
but my weakness was so great that
they were ineffective We were logged
when 1t suited any passing soldier
And each succeeding hour brought
with IT more torture. All night the
rain fell and | could not help thinking
that we would not survive the treat
ment even il We were not beheaded
the next day.
In the morning my baggage. that
had not been searched. was opened.
and it is due to the ignorance and
superstition OF the Thibetans that tho
world ever heard of my torture, The
series OF accidents, that were easily
accounted for by myself, were looked
upon by the Thibctans as supernatural
doinGs, and | encouraged the belief.
For instance, when the Pombo opened
my undcvcioped Photographic plates
and exposed them TO the light they
turned black Why is this? he cried
| That is 4 sign that you will suffer for
what you have done to me- He
squirmed. and ordered the plates to
be buried out OF his sight.
"Under the plates there was a huge
bath sponge. which by the weight OF
the plates had become aattencd down
to the thickness OF about 4 quarter of
an ipch. The Pombo held it before
me, bit 1T, and tore 1t Sponges were
abSolutely unknown in Thibct. and he
was puzzled. What is it? he de-
manded, as he threw il in rain pool
beside INC. / saw it commence to
swell This was another opportunity
to scare them | held an animated
talk with the rapidly expanding
sponge. which grew larger and larger
every moment. The Thibetans
watched me IN fear. cried. IF you
harm me any more this will grow and
grow till it foods your nation and de-
stroys you all | could see their ter
ror, and when the sponge had reached
its normal size | asked it in Thibetan
to cease growing till further command.
4 great show OF relief came over my
captors. The next accident that helped
me was the bursting of my rife. One
Of the Lamas who had been very cruel
took the weapon. which had been
jammed into the mud and chokcd, and
asked how it was used I told him.
and. putting in a cartridge, he fred
at 4 wax few yards away. With a
terrific report the rifle burst and
smashed the face OF the Lama. My
sunernatural powers we're now estab-
he"~d at least, in that locality.
Not long after this my bonds
we're removed from my deadened
limbs. Cinoing to the ropes wero
piecrs of flesh and skin. rolled over
On the ground hclDlcss and dead, with
the exception of nv brain. Thus
ended the worst twcnty-four hours Of
NV life Tatcr ] was freed and con-
Quoted hack to fhe frontier with my
brave Chandcn Sing and Mansinc but
that IS another story of the forbidden
II nd F."