The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1917-09-13

"Nor whisky; water. Tn going TO
give you a drink of water"
"What capers"
when you've drunk enough you'll
tel, me why you killed your employer
and where General L~ongorio has taken
his wife. Yes, and everything else /
want to know" Selling the amazed
Mexican, Dave flung him upon Mo
rales' hard board bench, and In spite Of
the fellows struggles deftly made him
fast. When he had fnished-and II
was no easy job-Jose lay spread
eagled' upon his back, his wrists and
ankles firmly bound to the corners and
foot posts, his body secured by a tight
loop over his waist. The rope cut
painfully and brought a curse from the
prisoner when he strained at Il. Law
surveyed him with a face of stone.
"I don't want to do this" he de-
you one more chance. Will you tell
me?"
Jose drew his lips back In a snarl of
rage and pain, and Dave realized that
further words were useless. He felt q
certain pity for his victim and no little
admiration for his courage, but such
feelings were of small consequence
as against his agonizing fears for
Alaire's safety. Had he in the least
doubted Jose's guilty knowledge Of
Longorio's intentions, Dave would have
hesitated before employing the bar
barous measures he had in mind, but
there was nothing else for it. He pulled
the canteen cork and damned the
mouthpiece firmly to JOse's lips. Clos
ing the fellows nostrils with his free
hand, he forced him to drink.
Jose clenched his teeth, he tried TO
roll his head, he held his breath until
his face grew purple and his eyes
bulged. He strained like a man upon
the rack. The bench creaked to his
muscular cOntortiOns; the rope tight
ened. 1t was terribly cruel, this crush
ing Of q strong win bent on resistance
to the uttermost; but never was an
executioner more pitiless, never did a
prisoners agony receive less conSid-
GRAFTON. The warm water spilled over
Jose's face, II drenched his neck and
chest; his joints creaked as he strove
for freedom and tried TO twist his head
ont of Laws iron grasp. The seconds
dragged, until finally nature asserted
herself. The imprisoned breath burst
forth; there sounded a loud gurgling
cry and a choking inhalation. Jose's
body writhed with the commissions of
drowning as the water and air were
sucked into his lungs. Law was kneel-
ing over his victim now, his weight and
strength so applied that Jose had no
liberty of action and could only drink,
coughing and fighting for air. Some
how he managed to revive himself
briefly and again shut his teeth; but
a moment more and he was again
retched with the furious battle for air,
more desperate now than before. After
a while Law freed his victims nostrils
and allowed him a partial breath, then
once more crushed the mouthpiece
against his lips. BY and by, to relieve
his torture, Jose began to drink in
great noisy gulps, striving to empty
the vessel.
But the stomach's capacity is linn
tied. In time Jose felt himself burst
ing; the liquid began to ~regurgitate.
This was not mere pain that he suf-
fered, but the ultimate nightmare hor-
ror of death more awful than anything
he had ever imagined. Jose would
have met a bullet, a knife, a lash, with
out finching; flames would not have
served to weaken his resolve; but this
slow drowning was infinitely worse
than the worst he had thought pos
sible; he was suffocating by long,
black, agonizing minutes. Every nerve
and muscle of his body, every cell In
his bursting lungs, fought against the
outrage in a purely physical frenzy
over which his will power had no con-
troll. Nor would insensibility come to
his relief-Law watched him too care
fully for that. He could not ever voice
his sufferings by shrieks ; he could only
writhe and reich and gurgle while the
AVpCo ull Ahto MS AcSn anu MS CdpIOT
knelt upon him like a monstrous stone
weight.
But Jose had made a better fight
than he knew. The canteen ran dry at
last, and Law was forced to release his
hold.
viii you speakT' he demanded.
Thinking that he had come safely
through the ordeal, Jose shook his
head; he rolled his bulging, bloodshot
eyes and yomlted, then managed to call
God to witness his innocence.
Dave went into the next room and
reflled the canteen. When he re-
appeared with the dripping vessel in
his hand, Jose tried to scream. But
his throat was torn and strained; the
sound Of his own voice frightened him.
Once more the torment began. The
tortured a was weaker now, and in
consequence he resisted more feebly';
but not until he was less than half con-
| scious did Law spare him to recover.
Jose lay sick, frightened. inert. Dave
watched him without pity. The fell
lows wrists were black and swollen,
his lips were bleeding; he was
stretched like o dumb animal upon the
viyisectionist's table, and no surgeon
with lance ard scalpel could have