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Show 398 RICI1A lt0 ll Ul~DIS. ' Vc extricnt.ccl Grafton from a situation which l1ad been productive to l1itn of so much peril, and addressed oursch·cs to a pursuit of the surviving outlaws who were scattered and flying on all hands. In this pursuit, it fell to my lot to inflict death, without rccoo-nisin .... my victim at the time, upon the actual murderer of \vill ia~l Carrington. I saw a fellow sknlk behind a bush, and shot him through it. rrhat was I' ickctt. I only k new it when, in the afternoon of tl•c day, we cncountercd l•is wife, with countenance seemingly lmtno,·cJ, and wearing its general expression of rigid gravity, dircctit1g the burinl of l lCl' miscraLlc husband, whom a couple of negroes were vrcparing to deposito in a grave dug ncar the spot where he lwd fallen. But our toils were not ended. Sc"cn of the outlaws had been k illed outright, or so fatally wounded ns to die Yery soon after. T wo only were made prisoners; and we hacl started nt lc::tst eight or ten more. •rtJCsc had taken fl ight in as mnny diiYcrcnt directions, rendering it necessary tlwt we should dispcrRc ourselves in their pursuit. :My Lloocl had been heated Ly tltc affray to such a degree that I ceased to think. To go forw«rd, to act, to shout, ancl strike, seemed now a ll that I could do; nml these wC'.rc performances through which my hc::~rt appcarc(l to carry me with an ungovernable sensation of delight-n sen~ sation cooled only when I reflected t hnt the body of J obn Hurd is had 110t yet been found - tltat we were in 11ursuit of tho survivors, and that I had sworn Ly tho gra"e of tho ll o.ploss ]~mmoli ne \Vnlkor, to give no mercy to the munlerel>S of my friend. 1\Iy oath was there to impel me forward even should my henrt f:\il me, and forward I went in the Lloody chnsc; we urged, having a distant and imperfect v iew of two wreidtes, both mounted, anti. fleeing backward UIJOil the Big \\'mrior. '!'hey had gone through the "Blind," and for n. mile farther I kept tl1em both in sight. At length, one disappeared, but I gaiued upon the other. Every moment Lrought the outlines of his person more clearly to my eye, and, at longtlJ, l could no longer resist the conviction thnt tho fates had brougbt me to my victim. J olm Hunlis w:ts before me. \Vlwt would I not then have given to h n.ve found another enemy. How gladly would I then lta"e unsworn myself, and, could it be so, have given up the task of 1mnishment to other persons. CONCLUSlON, 399 1'here wns a. sound of 1 . . I almost resolved to t~~ISCJ~cn behmd me, and at one moment, solemn duty which now n aside and lem•.e to my comrades the upon mo. But there wass~emed s? cspeclfilly to deYolve itself · . ' ,\dread Ill my mind that such a. move~ me~lt nHght. be n~tsconstrued, nnd the feel in...,. be tnkon for fear w_lu~h wns Ill. stn~t truth the creature of co~science. 'rho con~ "JctJOJ~ grew, ~uentable that the bloody duty of the exccutionCl· Wll~ JlllllO •• l J~e horse or my brother stumbled j tlJe fi\tCs had dehver.cd Jum mt.o my hands-l1e by on the cmth before me. and, wtth n. burst1~1g l1e:Jrt, b1~t a resolved spirit, 1 le«ped dow!~ on the earth b01:nde hun. lie had weapons, but he had 110 power to usc them. I would have gh·cn worlds had he been aLlo to do so. Could he 1l::t.ve shown fight - I could have slain him without scruple; but when, at my 3Jlproacll, he raised his hands appealingly, and shrieked out a ~)rayer or mercy, 1 felt aslmmcd of the duty 1 had undertaken. I felt the brutal bloo!l·thirstiness of ta.king life under such circmnstancr.s-the "ictim Uut a few paces ofl'- usi11g no weapons, and !)leading with a shrickiw,. desperate voice for that life, which seetned at the same time to~ despicable to demnnd or deserve a cnro. And yet, wlten I reflected tlwt to grant h is prayer and tnkc him aliYe, was not to save his life, but to subject him to a dentl1, in the ignominy of which I too must shnrc, I felt that he couhl not live. I rushed U}JOn him with the extended pistol, but was prevented from using it .by a singulnr visio11, in tho sudden ap~ pearance of the poor idiot daugbtcr of' I>ickett. She came from the door of a little collage Ly the road.side, which I had not before seen, and to whicb, it is more than proLable, that John Hurdis was bending l1is steps, as to a place of refuge. rro my horror and surprise she called me by name, and thus gave my brother the first intim:ttion wh ich ltc had of the person to whom he IH·a.yed. llow t!Jis idiot come to discover tl~~:tt which nobod;r besides had sus1)ected, was wonder enough to me; and wlnle I stood, astounded for the instant, she rnn for· ward like a. thoughtless child, crying as she came :- "0h, Mr. Uichard, don't you sltoot-it's l\Iaster John-it's your own dear brother - don't yon sltoot-don't." "Brother !" cried the miscrJ.Llc -..v rcteh, wilh hoarse and husky tones, followed by a chuckle of laughter, -..vhich indicated |