The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-11-11
VII,
One Man Killed.

CHAPTER VII.
One Man Killed.
Internally I was quaking, and think.
ing very fast. The first shock of their
establishment was dissipating, and
two Of the three faces were ciouding
into a glowering scrutiny which Or
gued darkly for my escape. The gaze
Of the third held a grave perp;exity,
touched with awe, and in the interval
of ov~ercharged silence the other eyes
dwelt on his.
It was clearly from him that they
awaited the word of final authority.
I knew from their %spellbound eyes
that I vas the first white man they
had I was an apparition mea-
sured by their pygmy standards; I
was a gigantic being of a new type
and order. Possibly I was an immor-
tai. ;
It was, seemingly, this possibility
which gave them pause, and which
their chief vas debating. Also it
was my u for conduct.
As a man they had no fear of me.
The revolver which I had slipped
from its holster and cooked had not
impressed them. They knew nothing
Of its death dealing quality. That
was a point in my favor. It would
afford, If need be, six miracles of NOR
tally; but the jungle that had dis
gorged them could disgorge hundreds
Of others like them-perhaps thou
sands.
Gods must carry themselves when
they walk among men, with a godlike
scorn of terrestrial dangers.
I turned to the one man who was
above the others, exposing my back
to the two spears as though safe in
my consciousness of immunity. I ex-
tended n arm with a gesture in
tended to epitomize great. majesty. It
was a pose borrowed from some old
sculptor's conception of the Olympian
Zeus-albeit shamefully exaggerated.
It was al anxious moment. Should
he, to whom I made my commanding
plea, lift his finger in signal. the
spears from behind, poisoned spears,
perhaps, would strike me down. But
az I strobe forward, with one hand
still pointing ~heavenward, I COM
manded him in a mighty voice to
stand aside.
He, on his part, eyed me obviously,
never shifting his attitude or raising
his club from the earth; but he per-
mitted me to pass from the amphi-
theater unmolested. I went, deliber-
ately, holding my gaze rightly to the
front and using every ounce of SELF
control to curb the impulse of my feet
to run, and the impulse of my neck to
crane.
A vestige of misgiving, a note of hui
man anxiety would have destroyed
me.
My peril was superlative, and YET,
as l look back on the occasion, l can
e that it overdid comedy and be-
came pure farce. My assumption Of
a gods dignity expressed itself in q
strut as ludicrously overfreightcd
with pompousness Is q cake-walk.
Consumed with a longing to stand
not upon the order of my running, but
run at once, I measured my steps with
the portentous hauteur Of a third-rate
tragedian in a funeral scene. / was
defending my life with burlesque. My
audience would not be impressed by
finesse and impressing it was not q
matter of life and death, consequently
the art Of my acting was not concern
ing me.
In the words Of the East Side bruis-
or, I was maxim it strong"
When I had reached the upper rim
of the basin-and then ONLY turned
and, with both hands above my head,
I shouted down upon them. What I
said I do not know. It did not matter.
I could reach them only by tone and
Evolutionary effect, and so I declaim-
ed. Perhaps they. heard from my lips
Mark Anthony's Grafton. Possibly ]
told them how Horatius held the
bridge. -
At all events. my Offering found SUI.
fcient favor to cover my retreat, and
I went down to the sea unfoliowed. I
had. none the less, seen enough to
set me thinking, and thought brought
little solace.
Were I accepted on the basis of my
own divine assumption, and regarded
as a being from a new world who had
revealed himself in their sacred place
and COMPOUNDED their priests, the
story would travel fast among the vii
lagos. It's wonder would be proclaim
ed and promulgated until men would
burn with curiosity to behold me.
Among those who came as pilgrims
would be some who were skeptics, de-
handing proofs and miracles. l was
now committed to a permanent policy
Of bluff.
/ had always been regarded as q
facetious individual. Now my life de-
pended on attaining q supreme flip
pancy Of attitude on pain OF sacrifice
to rites for which I had nc reverence.
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