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Show 78 THE u u · AND TilE TOT£~!. cicntly serious under which he was arraigned. JTc hnd neglected his duty-had permitted, if not caused, the destruction of the fort by fire-had violated the laws, resisted their execution, and used violence aga-inst the officer of justice ! In this last proven offence all of these which had been alleged were assumed against him. J!c \vas convicted by the rapid action of his superior, as a traitor and a mutineer; nml, to the horror of his fz·icnds, and tl1c tmrprisc of all his comrades, was condemned to cxpi:Jto his fault.s lJy dcn.t11 upon tlH! gnllows. Few of the garrison had anticipated 80 sharp n judgment. 'l'hcy knew that Gucrnncho had been faulty, but they also knDw what had been his provocations. 1'hcy felt that his faults had been the frui t of the injustice under which be suffered. Hut they dared not interpose. The prompt severity ,,itb which Captain Albert carried out his decisions-the merciless character of his vindictiveness-discouraged even remonstrance. G ucrnachc, as we have shown, was greatly beloved, nnd had many t rue fricnde among his people ; but tl1ey were taken by surprise ; and, 80 much stunned and confounded by the rapidity with which events had taken place, that they could only look on tho tcrrihle proceedings ,vith a l•lUle nnJ sclf-rcproacllful horror. The transit ion from the scat of judgment to the place of execution was instnntancous. Oucrnacho appealed in vain to tlJC justice of Ribault, 'vhosc coming from France was momcntly expected. This denied, he implored the less ignoble doom of the sword or the shot, in place of tl1at upon tho scaffold. But it did not suit the menu malice of Albert to omit any of his to1·turcs. Short w::~s the shrift allowed the victim ;- ten minutes for prayer-and sure the cord which stifbd it forever. In deep horror, in !L l1ushed terror, which itself was full of horror, his gloomy comr: l.dcs gnthcrcd a~ th.;, pl:lce of execution, by the commands of T H E L l:GE~D OF GUER:-."ACIIE. 79 their petty de~~;pot. There was no concert among them, by which th:J iucipb nt indig:n~~.t ion and fury in their bosoms mi;;ht have declared itself in rescue and commotion. One groan, the involunt- ary expression of a terror that had almost ceased to breathe, nnswcred the com·ulsi,•c motion which indicated the last struggle of thci1· beloved commde. • Then it was that they began to feel that they could have died for him , and might have saved him. But it was now too late ; and prudence timely intcrp08CJ to prevent a rash explosion. Tho armed myrmidons of Albert were about them. IJc, himself, in complete armor, witl1 his satellite, Pierre R enaud, also fully armed, standing beside him ; and it was evident that every preparation had been made to quell insubordination, and punish the refractory with as sharp and sudden a judgment as that which had just descended upon their comrade. The poor Monnlctta, crouching in the cover of tho woods, recovered from her stupor iu the cool nir of the morning, but i~ was sunset before she could regain the necessa.ry sll·ength to move. Then it wns, th:tt, with the natural tendency of a loving l1eart , curious only about tho fate of him for whom alone her heart desired life, she bent her steps towards that cruel fortress which h::~d been the ROurce of so much misery to both. Very feeble and slo'v was her progress, but it w::~s still too rapid ; it bmugl1t her too soon to a knowledge of that final blo,v which fell, with worse terrors than the scourge, upon the soul. She arrived • Sa)& Charlevoix:- " II pend it lui-m6me un aoldat, qui n'avoit point mer ih~ Ia mort, il en dCgr.~d'l un autre des arms avec auwti peu de justice. pui~ il l'eli ilR, et r on crut f)ue ton de.stein iitoit de le lainer mourir de fa im ct de mhere, etc." llut we must not anticipate the revelation• of t!Je text. |