The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1921-02-14
tCOntiuued, From Last lssuel

tCOntlnueat From Last lssue) 4
she need not have worried. It re-
quires a strong man to- be dictator of
roman candle republic for Is years,
and whatever his sins of omission or
commission, Saros did not lack AMI
NAL courage. Alone and unattended he
limped away among the graves to the
wall on the other side of the ceme-
terry and placed his back against it,
negligently, in the attitude Of a devil
may-care fellow without worry in
life. The sergeant waited respectfully
until sSarros had finished his cigarette
when he tossed it away and straight
ened to attention, the sergeant knew
he WIS ready to die. At his command
there was sudden rattle of bolts as
4thef cartridges Slid from the magazines
intosthe breeches; there followed a, mo-
1nent9ry halt, another, command ! the
squad was aiming when Ricardo Ruey
I called, sharply" +, III sS%
+ Sergeant, do not give the order TO
fret i, ss:sS 3g9 .=5S5 & s S2 III Ia
INC rifles were lowered and the men
gazedi wonderinglv at Ricardo. .tHe's
too ffss$brave,""3 Ricardo, complained
ID - him. ] can't liIu him as 4 would
maa dog. SI've2ag got to give him a
chance" ~ S@F'. E',3 :-. y.
+ The sergeant raised his brows ex-
pressively All, the ley fuga, that pop
ular form Of execution where the pris-
oner is given a running chance, and the
firing squad practices wing shooting.
If the prisoner manages, miraculously,
to escape. he is not pursued
A doubt, however, crossed the SER
geant's mind. "But my general" he
expostulated, "Senor Sarros cannot ac-
cept the ley fuga. He is very lame.
That is not giving him the chance your
Excellency desires he should have."rg
81 wasn't thinking Of that. Ricardo
replied. II was thinking I'm killing
him without a fair trial for the rea-
son that he's so Internally ripe for
the gallows that a trial would have
been n joke. Nevertheless, l am real
ly killing him because he killed my
father-and that is scarcely fair. My
father was a gentleman. Sergeant, Is
your pistol loaded?" ~ ~. .;.,..
Eyes, General" t~t-3.s
T"Give it to Senior Srros." g..
AS the sergeant started forward to
c,Inply Ricardo drew his own service
revolver AMI then motionel Mother
jerks and the firing squad to stand
aside while he crossed to the center Of
the cemetery. "Sarros,"'' he called, ~
am going to let God decide which one
Of us shall live. When the sergeant
gives tile command to fire, I, shall open
fire on you, and you are free to do the
same to me. Sergeant, if he Kills me
and escapes unhurt, my orders are to
escort him to the bay in my carriage
and put him safely aboard the steam
err" ~" ...sr..-. (, :. IS
Mother jerks sat down on tomb
stone. ! "Gord's TRUTH" she sgasped,
but there's rare plucked 'un." Aloud
she crooked: Don't be bally ass,
SIR" >..sa.:@. e. = r.
"Silence !" he commanded. -.
The sergeant handed Sarros the re-
volver. "You heard what I said?" RI
cardo called. X. =. -.
Sarros bowed gravcly. ..ia...s
i 'You understand your orders, Ser
geant?' =, d."
b yes, General" ir=ebjAs& ! T.
i "yery well. Proceed. II this pris-
oner fires before you give the word,
have your squad riddle him. ''s"~"- t~~., =,
rs The sergeant backed away and gazed
owlishly from the prisoner 10 his cap
tor. Ready" he called. Both revolt
vers came up. "Tire!" he shouted,
and the two shots We're discharged ST.
multaneously. Ricardo's cap few Oft
his head. but he remained standing,
while Sarros staggered back against
the wall and there recovering himself
gamely, fired again. He scored clean
miss. and Ricardo's gun barked three
times; Sarros sprawled on his face,
rose to his knees, raised his pistol
halfway, fired into the sky and slid
forward on his face. Ricardo stood be-
side the body until the sergeant al,-
preached and stood to attention., his
attitude saying: ~.
ut is over. What next, General?"
"Take the squad back to the arsenal,
Sergeant" Ricardo ordered him coolly,
and walked back to recover his uni
form cap. He was smiling as he. ran
his finger through gaping hole in the
upper half of the crown. - sri
"Well, Mrs. Jenks," he announced
when he uioined the old lady, "that
4 was better than executing him with a
firing squad. gave him square deal.
Now his friends can never say that
murdered him." a. ~ - =
He extended his hand to help Moth
err jerks TO- her feet. NJ, She stood erect
and felt again that queer swelling Of
, the heart, the old feeling of sufroca-
ton. p, T. ErG
"Steady. lass!" she mumbled. "''Old
! on to me. sir. It's my bally haneurism.
Gor'-Tm--c hokin'----'' ~
He caught her IN his arms as she
furched toward him. Her face vas
purple, and in her eyes there was
|. queer fierce light that went out sud.
denly, leaving them dull and glazed.
yyhop che cnm ~, a, on,S -, Cd re- =, LIS.