The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1922-04-07

sergeant; 10 not give TIE Oruer 10
fire."
The rifles were lowered and the men
gazed wOnderingly at Ricardo. Hes
too brave" Ricardo complained.
% him. 1 can't kill him as I would
mad dog. I've got to give him a
chance"
The sergeant raised his brOws ex-
pressvely. All, the ley fuga, that pop
ular form of execution where the pris-
oner is given 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
Excelency desires he should have"
81 wasn't thinking of that" Ricardo
replied. 81 was thinking I'm killing
him without q fair trial for the rea-
son that he's so Internally ripe for
the gallows that trial would have
been a joke. Nevertheless, l am real
ly killing him because he killed my
father-and that is scarcely fair. My
father was gentleman. Sergeant, is
your pistol loaded"
"Yes, General"
"Give it to Senior SarrOs"
AS the sergeant started forward to
c;xnply Ricardo drew his own service
revolver and then mOtiOned 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 the command to fire, 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"
Mother jerks sat down on tomb
stone. Cords truth" she gasped,
"but there's a rare plucked 'un." Aloud
she croaked: Don't be bally ass,
SIR"
"Silencer ~ he commanded.
The sergeant handed SarrOs the re-
volver. "You heard what 1 said?" Ri
cardO called.
Sarros bowed gravely.
"You understand your orders, Ser
geant"
"Yes, General"
"Very well. Proceed. If this pris-
oner fires before you give the word,
have your squad riddle him"
The sergeant backed away and gazed
owlishly from the prisoner to his cap
tor. Ready" he called Both revolt
vers came up. "Fire" he shouted,
and the two shots were discharged ST.
multaneOusly. RicardO's cap flew off
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 Rlcardo'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 ap-
preached and stood to attention, his
attitude saying:
at 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 a gaping hole in the
upper half of the crown.
swell, Mrs. jerks" he announced
when he reioined the old lady. "that
was better than executing him with
firing squad. gave him square deal.
Now his friends can never say that I
murdered him"
He extended his hand to help Moth
er jerks to her feet. She stood erect
and felt again that queer swelling of
the heart, the old feeling of suffoca-
ton.
STEADY, lass" she mumbled "'Old
on to me. sir. It's my hally haneurism.
-chOkin'--"
He caught her in his arms as she
lurched toward him. Her face was
purple. and in her eyes there was a
queer fierce light that went out sud
denly, leaving them dull and glazed.
When she commenced to sag in his
arms, he eased her gently to the ground
and laid her on her back in the grass.
"The nipper's safe, Emery" he heard
her murmur. '''ve raised 'er a lydy,
s'elp me-she's back where-yOu found
'er-'Enery-"
She quvered, and the light came
creeping back into her eyes before it
faded forever. Comm. 'Enery-dar-
lin" she whispered; and then the soul
of Mother jerks, who had a code and
lived up to 1t (Which is more than the
majority of us dol, had departed upon
the ultimate journey. Ricardo gazed
down on the hard old mouth, sOftened
now by a little half-smile of mingled
yearning and gladness: "What a Won
derful soul you had" he murmured
and kissed her.
In the end she slept in the niche in
the wall of the Cathedral de la Vera
Cruz. beside her sainted Emery.