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diff --git a/old/375.txt b/old/375.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..22e2c4e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/375.txt @@ -0,0 +1,783 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Occurrence at Owl Creek, by Ambrose Bierce + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States +and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this +eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not +located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this ebook. + + +Title: An Occurrence at Owl Creek + +Author: Ambrose Bierce + +Release Date: March 19, 2008 [EBook #375] +[Last updated: November 25, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK *** + + + + + + + + + + + +AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE + + +by + +Ambrose Bierce + +THE MILLENNIUM FULCRUM EDITION, 1988 + + + +A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down +into the swift water twenty feet below. The man's hands were behind +his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his +neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the +slack fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards laid upon the +ties supporting the rails of the railway supplied a footing for him +and his executioners--two private soldiers of the Federal army, +directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy +sheriff. At a short remove upon the same temporary platform was an +officer in the uniform of his rank, armed. He was a captain. A +sentinel at each end of the bridge stood with his rifle in the +position known as "support," that is to say, vertical in front of the +left shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight +across the chest--a formal and unnatural position, enforcing an erect +carriage of the body. It did not appear to be the duty of these two +men to know what was occurring at the center of the bridge; they +merely blockaded the two ends of the foot planking that traversed it. + +Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad ran +straight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, curving, was +lost to view. Doubtless there was an outpost farther along. The +other bank of the stream was open ground--a gentle slope topped with +a stockade of vertical tree trunks, loopholed for rifles, with a +single embrasure through which protruded the muzzle of a brass cannon +commanding the bridge. Midway up the slope between the bridge and +fort were the spectators--a single company of infantry in line, at +"parade rest," the butts of their rifles on the ground, the barrels +inclining slightly backward against the right shoulder, the hands +crossed upon the stock. A lieutenant stood at the right of the line, +the point of his sword upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his +right. Excepting the group of four at the center of the bridge, not a +man moved. The company faced the bridge, staring stonily, motionless. +The sentinels, facing the banks of the stream, might have been statues +to adorn the bridge. The captain stood with folded arms, silent, +observing the work of his subordinates, but making no sign. Death is a +dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal +manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him. In +the code of military etiquette silence and fixity are forms of +deference. + +The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about +thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might judge from +his habit, which was that of a planter. His features were good--a +straight nose, firm mouth, broad forehead, from which his long, dark +hair was combed straight back, falling behind his ears to the collar +of his well fitting frock coat. He wore a moustache and pointed +beard, but no whiskers; his eyes were large and dark gray, and had a +kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose +neck was in the hemp. Evidently this was no vulgar assassin. The +liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of +persons, and gentlemen are not excluded. + +The preparations being complete, the two private soldiers stepped +aside and each drew away the plank upon which he had been standing. +The sergeant turned to the captain, saluted and placed himself +immediately behind that officer, who in turn moved apart one pace. +These movements left the condemned man and the sergeant standing on +the two ends of the same plank, which spanned three of the cross-ties +of the bridge. The end upon which the civilian stood almost, but not +quite, reached a fourth. This plank had been held in place by the +weight of the captain; it was now held by that of the sergeant. At a +signal from the former the latter would step aside, the plank would +tilt and the condemned man go down between two ties. The arrangement +commended itself to his judgement as simple and effective. His face +had not been covered nor his eyes bandaged. He looked a moment at his +"unsteadfast footing," then let his gaze wander to the swirling water +of the stream racing madly beneath his feet. A piece of dancing +driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the +current. How slowly it appeared to move! What a sluggish stream! + +He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and +children. The water, touched to gold by the early sun, the brooding +mists under the banks at some distance down the stream, the fort, the +soldiers, the piece of drift--all had distracted him. And now he +became conscious of a new disturbance. Striking through the thought +of his dear ones was sound which he could neither ignore nor +understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of +a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality. +He wondered what it was, and whether immeasurably distant or near by-- +it seemed both. Its recurrence was regular, but as slow as the +tolling of a death knell. He awaited each new stroke with impatience +and--he knew not why--apprehension. The intervals of silence grew +progressively longer; the delays became maddening. With their greater +infrequency the sounds increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt +his ear like the thrust of a knife; he feared he would shriek. What he +heard was the ticking of his watch. + +He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. "If I could +free my hands," he thought, "I might throw off the noose and spring +into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming +vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. My +home, thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife and little +ones are still beyond the invader's farthest advance." + +As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words, were +flashed into the doomed man's brain rather than evolved from it the +captain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant stepped aside. + +II + +Peyton Farquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and highly +respected Alabama family. Being a slave owner and like other slave +owners a politician, he was naturally an original secessionist and +ardently devoted to the Southern cause. Circumstances of an imperious +nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from +taking service with that gallant army which had fought the disastrous +campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth, and he chafed under the +inglorious restraint, longing for the release of his energies, the +larger life of the soldier, the opportunity for distinction. That +opportunity, he felt, would come, as it comes to all in wartime. +Meanwhile he did what he could. No service was too humble for him to +perform in the aid of the South, no adventure too perilous for him to +undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was at +heart a soldier, and who in good faith and without too much +qualification assented to at least a part of the frankly villainous +dictum that all is fair in love and war. + +One evening while Farquhar and his wife were sitting on a rustic bench +near the entrance to his grounds, a gray-clad soldier rode up to the +gate and asked for a drink of water. Mrs. Farquhar was only too happy +to serve him with her own white hands. While she was fetching the +water her husband approached the dusty horseman and inquired eagerly +for news from the front. + +"The Yanks are repairing the railroads," said the man, "and are +getting ready for another advance. They have reached the Owl Creek +bridge, put it in order and built a stockade on the north bank. The +commandant has issued an order, which is posted everywhere, declaring +that any civilian caught interfering with the railroad, its bridges, +tunnels, or trains will be summarily hanged. I saw the order." + +"How far is it to the Owl Creek bridge?" Farquhar asked. + +"About thirty miles." + +"Is there no force on this side of the creek?" + +"Only a picket post half a mile out, on the railroad, and a single +sentinel at this end of the bridge." + +"Suppose a man--a civilian and student of hanging--should elude the +picket post and perhaps get the better of the sentinel," said +Farquhar, smiling, "what could he accomplish?" + +The soldier reflected. "I was there a month ago," he replied. "I +observed that the flood of last winter had lodged a great quantity of +driftwood against the wooden pier at this end of the bridge. It is +now dry and would burn like tinder." + +The lady had now brought the water, which the soldier drank. He +thanked her ceremoniously, bowed to her husband and rode away. An +hour later, after nightfall, he repassed the plantation, going +northward in the direction from which he had come. He was a Federal +scout. + +III + +As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge he lost +consciousness and was as one already dead. From this state he was +awakened--ages later, it seemed to him--by the pain of a sharp +pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation. Keen, +poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every +fiber of his body and limbs. These pains appeared to flash along well +defined lines of ramification and to beat with an inconceivably rapid +periodicity. They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him +to an intolerable temperature. As to his head, he was conscious of +nothing but a feeling of fullness--of congestion. These sensations +were unaccompanied by thought. The intellectual part of his nature +was already effaced; he had power only to feel, and feeling was +torment. He was conscious of motion. Encompassed in a luminous cloud, +of which he was now merely the fiery heart, without material +substance, he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a +vast pendulum. Then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the light +about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash; a frightful +roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and dark. The power of +thought was restored; he knew that the rope had broken and he had +fallen into the stream. There was no additional strangulation; the +noose about his neck was already suffocating him and kept the water +from his lungs. To die of hanging at the bottom of a river!--the idea +seemed to him ludicrous. He opened his eyes in the darkness and saw +above him a gleam of light, but how distant, how inaccessible! He was +still sinking, for the light became fainter and fainter until it was a +mere glimmer. Then it began to grow and brighten, and he knew that he +was rising toward the surface--knew it with reluctance, for he was now +very comfortable. "To be hanged and drowned," he thought, "that is +not so bad; but I do not wish to be shot. No; I will not be shot; +that is not fair." + +He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist +apprised him that he was trying to free his hands. He gave the +struggle his attention, as an idler might observe the feat of a +juggler, without interest in the outcome. What splendid effort!--what +magnificent, what superhuman strength! Ah, that was a fine endeavor! +Bravo! The cord fell away; his arms parted and floated upward, the +hands dimly seen on each side in the growing light. He watched them +with a new interest as first one and then the other pounced upon the +noose at his neck. They tore it away and thrust it fiercely aside, +its undulations resembling those of a water snake. "Put it back, put +it back!" He thought he shouted these words to his hands, for the +undoing of the noose had been succeeded by the direst pang that he had +yet experienced. His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire, his +heart, which had been fluttering faintly, gave a great leap, trying to +force itself out at his mouth. His whole body was racked and wrenched +with an insupportable anguish! But his disobedient hands gave no heed +to the command. They beat the water vigorously with quick, downward +strokes, forcing him to the surface. He felt his head emerge; his +eyes were blinded by the sunlight; his chest expanded convulsively, +and with a supreme and crowning agony his lungs engulfed a great +draught of air, which instantly he expelled in a shriek! + +He was now in full possession of his physical senses. They were, +indeed, preternaturally keen and alert. Something in the awful +disturbance of his organic system had so exalted and refined them that +they made record of things never before perceived. He felt the +ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. +He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual +trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf--he saw the very +insects upon them: the locusts, the brilliant bodied flies, the gray +spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig. He noted the +prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass. +The humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream, +the beating of the dragon flies' wings, the strokes of the water +spiders' legs, like oars which had lifted their boat--all these made +audible music. A fish slid along beneath his eyes and he heard the +rush of its body parting the water. + +He had come to the surface facing down the stream; in a moment the +visible world seemed to wheel slowly round, himself the pivotal point, +and he saw the bridge, the fort, the soldiers upon the bridge, the +captain, the sergeant, the two privates, his executioners. They were +in silhouette against the blue sky. They shouted and gesticulated, +pointing at him. The captain had drawn his pistol, but did not fire; +the others were unarmed. Their movements were grotesque and horrible, +their forms gigantic. + +Suddenly he heard a sharp report and something struck the water +smartly within a few inches of his head, spattering his face with +spray. He heard a second report, and saw one of the sentinels with +his rifle at his shoulder, a light cloud of blue smoke rising from the +muzzle. The man in the water saw the eye of the man on the bridge +gazing into his own through the sights of the rifle. He observed that +it was a gray eye and remembered having read that gray eyes were +keenest, and that all famous marksmen had them. Nevertheless, this one +had missed. + +A counter-swirl had caught Farquhar and turned him half round; he was +again looking at the forest on the bank opposite the fort. The sound +of a clear, high voice in a monotonous singsong now rang out behind +him and came across the water with a distinctness that pierced and +subdued all other sounds, even the beating of the ripples in his ears. +Although no soldier, he had frequented camps enough to know the dread +significance of that deliberate, drawling, aspirated chant; the +lieutenant on shore was taking a part in the morning's work. How +coldly and pitilessly--with what an even, calm intonation, presaging, +and enforcing tranquility in the men--with what accurately measured +interval fell those cruel words: + +"Company! . . . Attention! . . . Shoulder arms! . . . Ready!. . . +Aim! . . . Fire!" + +Farquhar dived--dived as deeply as he could. The water roared in his +ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dull thunder of the +volley and, rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of +metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward. Some of +them touched him on the face and hands, then fell away, continuing +their descent. One lodged between his collar and neck; it was +uncomfortably warm and he snatched it out. + +As he rose to the surface, gasping for breath, he saw that he had been +a long time under water; he was perceptibly farther downstream--nearer +to safety. The soldiers had almost finished reloading; the metal +ramrods flashed all at once in the sunshine as they were drawn from +the barrels, turned in the air, and thrust into their sockets. The +two sentinels fired again, independently and ineffectually. + +The hunted man saw all this over his shoulder; he was now swimming +vigorously with the current. His brain was as energetic as his arms +and legs; he thought with the rapidity of lightning: + +"The officer," he reasoned, "will not make that martinet's error a +second time. It is as easy to dodge a volley as a single shot. He +has probably already given the command to fire at will. God help me, +I cannot dodge them all!" + +An appalling splash within two yards of him was followed by a loud, +rushing sound, DIMINUENDO, which seemed to travel back through the air +to the fort and died in an explosion which stirred the very river to +its deeps! A rising sheet of water curved over him, fell down upon +him, blinded him, strangled him! The cannon had taken an hand in the +game. As he shook his head free from the commotion of the smitten +water he heard the deflected shot humming through the air ahead, and +in an instant it was cracking and smashing the branches in the forest +beyond. + +"They will not do that again," he thought; "the next time they will +use a charge of grape. I must keep my eye upon the gun; the smoke +will apprise me--the report arrives too late; it lags behind the +missile. That is a good gun." + +Suddenly he felt himself whirled round and round--spinning like a top. +The water, the banks, the forests, the now distant bridge, fort and +men, all were commingled and blurred. Objects were represented by +their colors only; circular horizontal streaks of color--that was all +he saw. He had been caught in a vortex and was being whirled on with a +velocity of advance and gyration that made him giddy and sick. In few +moments he was flung upon the gravel at the foot of the left bank of +the stream--the southern bank--and behind a projecting point which +concealed him from his enemies. The sudden arrest of his motion, the +abrasion of one of his hands on the gravel, restored him, and he wept +with delight. He dug his fingers into the sand, threw it over himself +in handfuls and audibly blessed it. It looked like diamonds, rubies, +emeralds; he could think of nothing beautiful which it did not +resemble. The trees upon the bank were giant garden plants; he noted +a definite order in their arrangement, inhaled the fragrance of their +blooms. A strange roseate light shone through the spaces among their +trunks and the wind made in their branches the music of AEolian harps. +He had not wish to perfect his escape--he was content to remain in +that enchanting spot until retaken. + +A whiz and a rattle of grapeshot among the branches high above his +head roused him from his dream. The baffled cannoneer had fired him a +random farewell. He sprang to his feet, rushed up the sloping bank, +and plunged into the forest. + +All that day he traveled, laying his course by the rounding sun. The +forest seemed interminable; nowhere did he discover a break in it, not +even a woodman's road. He had not known that he lived in so wild a +region. There was something uncanny in the revelation. + +By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famished. The thought of his +wife and children urged him on. At last he found a road which led him +in what he knew to be the right direction. It was as wide and +straight as a city street, yet it seemed untraveled. No fields +bordered it, no dwelling anywhere. Not so much as the barking of a +dog suggested human habitation. The black bodies of the trees formed +a straight wall on both sides, terminating on the horizon in a point, +like a diagram in a lesson in perspective. Overhead, as he looked up +through this rift in the wood, shone great golden stars looking +unfamiliar and grouped in strange constellations. He was sure they +were arranged in some order which had a secret and malign +significance. The wood on either side was full of singular noises, +among which--once, twice, and again--he distinctly heard whispers in +an unknown tongue. + +His neck was in pain and lifting his hand to it found it horribly +swollen. He knew that it had a circle of black where the rope had +bruised it. His eyes felt congested; he could no longer close them. +His tongue was swollen with thirst; he relieved its fever by thrusting +it forward from between his teeth into the cold air. How softly the +turf had carpeted the untraveled avenue--he could no longer feel the +roadway beneath his feet! + +Doubtless, despite his suffering, he had fallen asleep while walking, +for now he sees another scene--perhaps he has merely recovered from a +delirium. He stands at the gate of his own home. All is as he left +it, and all bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine. He must +have traveled the entire night. As he pushes open the gate and passes +up the wide white walk, he sees a flutter of female garments; his +wife, looking fresh and cool and sweet, steps down from the veranda to +meet him. At the bottom of the steps she stands waiting, with a smile +of ineffable joy, an attitude of matchless grace and dignity. Ah, how +beautiful she is! He springs forwards with extended arms. As he is +about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; +a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the +shock of a cannon--then all is darkness and silence! + +Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently +from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's An Occurrence at Owl Creek, by Ambrose Bierce + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK *** + +***** This file should be named 375.txt or 375.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/375/ + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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The +man's hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a +cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. It was attached to +a stout cross-timber above his head and the slack fell to the +level of his knees. Some loose boards laid upon the ties +supporting the rails of the railway supplied a footing for +him and his executioners -- two private soldiers of the +Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may +have been a deputy sheriff. At a short remove upon the same +temporary platform was an officer in the uniform of his rank, +armed. He was a captain. A sentinel at each end of the +bridge stood with his rifle in the position known as +"support," that is to say, vertical in front of the left +shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight +across the chest -- a formal and unnatural position, +enforcing an erect carriage of the body. It did not appear +to be the duty of these two men to know what was occurring at +the center of the bridge; they merely blockaded the two ends +of the foot planking that traversed it. + +Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad +ran straight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, +curving, was lost to view. Doubtless there was an outpost +farther along. The other bank of the stream was open ground +-- a gentle slope topped with a stockade of vertical tree +trunks, loopholed for rifles, with a single embrasure +through which protruded the muzzle of a brass cannon +commanding the bridge. Midway up the slope between the +bridge and fort were the spectators -- a single company of +infantry in line, at "parade rest," the butts of their rifles +on the ground, the barrels inclining slightly backward +against the right shoulder, the hands crossed upon the stock. +A lieutenant stood at the right of the line, the point +of his sword upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his +right. Excepting the group of four at the center of the +bridge, not a man moved. The company faced the bridge, +staring stonily, motionless. The sentinels, facing the +banks of the stream, might have been statues to adorn the +bridge. The captain stood with folded arms, silent, +observing the work of his subordinates, but making no sign. +Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be +received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those +most familiar with him. In the code of military etiquette +silence and fixity are forms of deference. + +The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about +thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might +judge from his habit, which was that of a planter. His +features were good -- a straight nose, firm mouth, broad +forehead, from which his long, dark hair was combed straight +back, falling behind his ears to the collar of his well +fitting frock coat. He wore a moustache and pointed beard, +but no whiskers; his eyes were large and dark gray, and had a +kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one +whose neck was in the hemp. Evidently this was no vulgar +assassin. The liberal military code makes provision for +hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not +excluded. + +The preparations being complete, the two private soldiers +stepped aside and each drew away the plank upon which he had +been standing. The sergeant turned to the captain, saluted +and placed himself immediately behind that officer, who in +turn moved apart one pace. These movements left the +condemned man and the sergeant standing on the two ends of +the same plank, which spanned three of the cross-ties of the +bridge. The end upon which the civilian stood almost, but +not quite, reached a fourth. This plank had been held in +place by the weight of the captain; it was now held by that +of the sergeant. At a signal from the former the latter +would step aside, the plank would tilt and the condemned man +go down between two ties. The arrangement commended itself +to his judgement as simple and effective. His face had not +been covered nor his eyes bandaged. He looked a moment at +his "unsteadfast footing," then let his gaze wander to the +swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet. +A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his +eyes followed it down the current. How slowly it appeared +to move! What a sluggish stream! + +He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his +wife and children. The water, touched to gold by the early +sun, the brooding mists under the banks at some distance down +the stream, the fort, the soldiers, the piece of drift -- all +had distracted him. And now he became conscious of a new +disturbance. Striking through the thought of his dear +ones was sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, +a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a +blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing +quality. He wondered what it was, and whether immeasurably +distant or near by -- it seemed both. Its recurrence was +regular, but as slow as the tolling of a death knell. He +awaited each new stroke with impatience and -- he knew not +why -- apprehension. The intervals of silence grew +progressively longer; the delays became maddening. With +their greater infrequency the sounds increased in strength +and sharpness. They hurt his ear like the trust of a knife; +he feared he would shriek. What he heard was the ticking of +his watch. + +He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. "If +I could free my hands," he thought, "I might throw off the +noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade +the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take +to the woods and get away home. My home, thank God, is as +yet outside their lines; my wife and little ones are still +beyond the invader's farthest advance." + +As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words, +were flashed into the doomed man's brain rather than evolved +from it the captain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant +stepped aside. + + II + +Peyton Fahrquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and +highly respected Alabama family. Being a slave owner and +like other slave owners a politician, he was naturally an +original secessionist and ardently devoted to the Southern +cause. Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is +unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking +service with that gallant army which had fought the +disastrous campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth, and he +chafed under the inglorious restraint, longing for the +release of his energies, the larger life of the soldier, the +opportunity for distinction. That opportunity, he felt, +would come, as it comes to all in wartime. Meanwhile he +did what he could. No service was too humble for him to +perform in the aid of the South, no adventure to perilous for +him to undertake if consistent with the character of a +civilian who was at heart a soldier, and who in good faith +and without too much qualification assented to at least a +part of the frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in +love and war. + +One evening while Fahrquhar and his wife were sitting on a +rustic bench near the entrance to his grounds, a gray-clad +soldier rode up to the gate and asked for a drink of water. +Mrs. Fahrquhar was only too happy to serve him with her own +white hands. While she was fetching the water her husband +approached the dusty horseman and inquired eagerly for news +from the front. + +"The Yanks are repairing the railroads," said the man, "and +are getting ready for another advance. They have reached the +Owl Creek bridge, put it in order and built a stockade on the +north bank. The commandant has issued an order, which is +posted everywhere, declaring that any civilian caught +interfering with the railroad, its bridges, tunnels, or +trains will be summarily hanged. I saw the order." + +"How far is it to the Owl Creek bridge?" Fahrquhar asked. + +"About thirty miles." + +"Is there no force on this side of the creek?" + +"Only a picket post half a mile out, on the railroad, and a +single sentinel at this end of the bridge." + +"Suppose a man -- a civilian and student of hanging -- +should elude the picket post and perhaps get the better of +the sentinel," said Fahrquhar, smiling, "what could he +accomplish?" + +The soldier reflected. "I was there a month ago," he +replied. "I observed that the flood of last winter had +lodged a great quantity of driftwood against the wooden pier +at this end of the bridge. It is now dry and would burn like +tinder." + +The lady had now brought the water, which the soldier drank. +He thanked her ceremoniously, bowed to her husband and rode +away. An hour later, after nightfall, he repassed the +plantation, going northward in the direction from which he +had come. He was a Federal scout. + + III + + As Peyton Fahrquhar fell straight downward through the +bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead. +From this state he was awakened -- ages later, it seemed to +him -- by the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, +followed by a sense of suffocation. Keen, poignant agonies +seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every fiber of +his body and limbs. These pains appeared to flash along well +defined lines of ramification and to beat with an +inconceivably rapid periodicity. They seemed like streams of +pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature. As +to his head, he was conscious of nothing but a feeling of +fullness -- of congestion. These sensations were +unaccompanied by thought. The intellectual part of his +nature was already effaced; he had power only to feel, and +feeling was torment. He was conscious of motion. +Encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely +the fiery heart, without material substance, he swung +through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast +pendulum. Then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the +light about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash; +a frightful roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and +dark. The power of thought was restored; he knew that the +rope had broken and he had fallen into the stream. There was +no additional strangulation; the noose about his neck +was already suffocating him and kept the water from his +lungs. To die of hanging at the bottom of a river! -- the +idea seemed to him ludicrous. He opened his eyes in the +darkness and saw above him a gleam of light, but how distant, +how inaccessible! He was still sinking, for the light became +fainter and fainter until it was a mere glimmer. Then it +began to grow and brighten, and he knew that he was rising +toward the surface -- knew it with reluctance, for he was now +very comfortable. "To be hanged and drowned," he thought, +"that is not so bad; but I do not wish to be shot. No; I +will not be shot; that is not fair." + +He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his +wrist apprised him that he was trying to free his hands. He +gave the struggle his attention, as an idler might observe +the feat of a juggler, without interest in the outcome. What +splendid effort! -- what magnificent, what superhuman +strength! Ah, that was a fine endeavor! Bravo! The cord +fell away; his arms parted and floated upward, the hands +dimly seen on each side in the growing light. He watched +them with a new interest as first one and then the other +pounced upon the noose at his neck. They tore it away and +thrust it fiercely aside, its undulations resembling those of +a water snake. "Put it back, put it back!" He thought he +shouted these words to his hands, for the undoing of the +noose had been succeeded by the direst pang that he had yet +experienced. His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire, +his heart, which had been fluttering faintly, gave a great +leap, trying to force itself out at his mouth. His whole +body was racked and wrenched with an insupportable anguish! +But his disobedient hands gave no heed to the command. They +beat the water vigorously with quick, downward strokes, +forcing him to the surface. He felt his head emerge; his +eyes were blinded by the sunlight; his chest expanded +convulsively, and with a supreme and crowning agony his lungs +engulfed a great draught of air, which instantly he expelled +in a shriek! + +He was now in full possession of his physical senses. They +were, indeed, preternaturally keen and alert. Something in +the awful disturbance of his organic system had so exalted +and refined them that they made record of things never before +perceived. He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their +separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on +the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves +and the veining of each leaf -- he saw the very insects upon +them: the locusts, the brilliant bodied flies, the gray +spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig. He noted +the prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million +blades of grass. The humming of the gnats that danced above +the eddies of the stream, the beating of the dragon flies' +wings, the strokes of the water spiders' legs, like oars +which had lifted their boat -- all these made audible +music. A fish slid along beneath his eyes and he heard the +rush of its body parting the water. + +He had come to the surface facing down the stream; in a +moment the visible world seemed to wheel slowly round, +himself the pivotal point, and he saw the bridge, the fort, +the soldiers upon the bridge, the captain, the sergeant, the +two privates, his executioners. They were in silhouette +against the blue sky. They shouted and gesticulated, +pointing at him. The captain had drawn his pistol, but did +not fire; the others were unarmed. Their movements were +grotesque and horrible, their forms gigantic. + +Suddenly he heard a sharp report and something struck the +water smartly within a few inches of his head, spattering his +face with spray. He heard a second report, and saw one of +the sentinels with his rifle at his shoulder, a light cloud +of blue smoke rising from the muzzle. The man in the water +saw the eye of the man on the bridge gazing into his own +through the sights of the rifle. He observed that it was a +gray eye and remembered having read that gray eyes were +keenest, and that all famous marksmen had them. +Nevertheless, this one had missed. + +A counter-swirl had caught Fahrquhar and turned him half +round; he was again looking at the forest on the bank +opposite the fort. The sound of a clear, high voice in a +monotonous singsong now rang out behind him and came across +the water with a distinctness that pierced and subdued all +other sounds, even the beating of the ripples in his ears. +Although no soldier, he had frequented camps enough to know +the dread significance of that deliberate, drawling, +aspirated chant; the lieutenant on shore was taking a part in +the morning's work. How coldly and pitilessly -- with what +an even, calm intonation, presaging, and enforcing +tranquility in the men -- with what accurately measured +interval fell those cruel words: + +"Company! . . . Attention! . . . Shoulder arms! . . . Ready! +. . . Aim! . . . Fire!" + +Fahrquhar dived -- dived as deeply as he could. The water +roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard +the dull thunder of the volley and, rising again toward the +surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, +oscillating slowly downward. Some of them touched him on the +face and hands, then fell away, continuing their descent. +One lodged between his collar and neck; it was uncomfortably +warm and he snatched it out. + +As he rose to the surface, gasping for breath, he saw that he +had been a long time under water; he was perceptibly farther +downstream -- nearer to safety. The soldiers had almost +finished reloading; the metal ramrods flashed all at once in +the sunshine as they were drawn from the barrels, +turned in the air, and thrust into their sockets. The two +sentinels fired again, independently and ineffectually. + +The hunted man saw all this over his shoulder; he was now +swimming vigorously with the current. His brain was as +energetic as his arms and legs; he thought with the rapidity +of lightning: + +"The officer," he reasoned, "will not make that martinet's +error a second time. It is as easy to dodge a volley as a +single shot. He has probably already given the command to +fire at will. God help me, I cannot dodge them all!" + +An appalling splash within two yards of him was followed by a +loud, rushing sound, DIMINUENDO, which seemed to travel back +through the air to the fort and died in an explosion which +stirred the very river to its deeps! A rising sheet of water +curved over him, fell down upon him, blinded him, strangled +him! The cannon had taken an hand in the game. As he shook +his head free from the commotion of the smitten water he +heard the deflected shot humming through the air ahead, and +in an instant it was cracking and smashing the branches in +the forest beyond. + +"They will not do that again," he thought; "the next time +they will use a charge of grape. I must keep my eye upon +the gun; the smoke will apprise me -- the report arrives too +late; it lags behind the missile. That is a good gun." + +Suddenly he felt himself whirled round and round -- spinning +like a top. The water, the banks, the forests, the now +distant bridge, fort and men, all were commingled and +blurred. Objects were represented by their colors only; +circular horizontal streaks of color -- that was all he saw. +He had been caught in a vortex and was being whirled on with +a velocity of advance and gyration that made him giddy and +sick. In few moments he was flung upon the gravel at the +foot of the left bank of the stream -- the southern bank -- +and behind a projecting point which concealed him from his +enemies. The sudden arrest of his motion, the abrasion of +one of his hands on the gravel, restored him, and he wept +with delight. He dug his fingers into the sand, threw it +over himself in handfuls and audibly blessed it. It looked +like diamonds, rubies, emeralds; he could think of nothing +beautiful which it did not resemble. The trees upon the bank +were giant garden plants; he noted a definite order in their +arrangement, inhaled the fragrance of their blooms. A +strange roseate light shone through the spaces among their +trunks and the wind made in their branches the music of +AEolian harps. He had not wish to perfect his escape -- he +was content to remain in that enchanting spot until retaken. + +A whiz and a rattle of grapeshot among the branches high +above his head roused him from his dream. The baffled +cannoneer had fired him a random farewell. He sprang +to his feet, rushed up the sloping bank, and plunged into the +forest. + +All that day he traveled, laying his course by the rounding +sun. The forest seemed interminable; nowhere did he +discover a break in it, not even a woodman's road. He had +not known that he lived in so wild a region. There was +something uncanny in the revelation. + +By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famished. The +thought of his wife and children urged him on. At last he +found a road which led him in what he knew to be the right +direction. It was as wide and straight as a city street, yet +it seemed untraveled. No fields bordered it, no dwelling +anywhere. Not so much as the barking of a dog suggested +human habitation. The black bodies of the trees formed a +straight wall on both sides, terminating on the horizon in a +point, like a diagram in a lesson in perspective. Overhead, +as he looked up through this rift in the wood, shone great +golden stars looking unfamiliar and grouped in strange +constellations. He was sure they were arranged in some order +which had a secret and malign significance. The wood on +either side was full of singular noises, among which -- once, +twice, and again -- he distinctly heard whispers in an +unknown tongue. + +His neck was in pain and lifting his hand to it found it +horribly swollen. He knew that it had a circle of black +where the rope had bruised it. His eyes felt congested; he +could no longer close them. His tongue was swollen with +thirst; he relieved its fever by thrusting it forward from +between his teeth into the cold air. How softly the turf had +carpeted the untraveled avenue -- he could no longer feel the +roadway beneath his feet! + +Doubtless, despite his suffering, he had fallen asleep while +walking, for now he sees another scene -- perhaps he has +merely recovered from a delirium. He stands at the gate of +his own home. All is as he left it, and all bright and +beautiful in the morning sunshine. He must have traveled the +entire night. As he pushes open the gate and passes up the +wide white walk, he sees a flutter of female garments; his +wife, looking fresh and cool and sweet, steps down from the +veranda to meet him. At the bottom of the steps she stands +waiting, with a smile of ineffable joy, an attitude of +matchless grace and dignity. Ah, how beautiful she is! He +springs forwards with extended arms. As he is about to clasp +her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a +blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like +the shock of a cannon -- then all is darkness and silence! + +Peyton Fahrquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, +swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the +Owl Creek bridge. + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge + diff --git a/old/owlcr10.zip b/old/owlcr10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6715ec4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/owlcr10.zip diff --git a/old/owlcr11.txt b/old/owlcr11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..907c3fe --- /dev/null +++ b/old/owlcr11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,636 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge + +[This was the #1 rated Twilight Zone episode of all time] +#2 in our Ambrose Bierce series + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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The man's hands were behind +his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his +neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the +slack fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards laid upon the +ties supporting the rails of the railway supplied a footing for him +and his executioners--two private soldiers of the Federal army, +directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy +sheriff. At a short remove upon the same temporary platform was an +officer in the uniform of his rank, armed. He was a captain. A +sentinel at each end of the bridge stood with his rifle in the +position known as "support," that is to say, vertical in front of the +left shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight +across the chest--a formal and unnatural position, enforcing an erect +carriage of the body. It did not appear to be the duty of these two +men to know what was occurring at the center of the bridge; they +merely blockaded the two ends of the foot planking that traversed it. + +Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad ran +straight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, curving, was +lost to view. Doubtless there was an outpost farther along. The +other bank of the stream was open ground--a gentle slope topped with +a stockade of vertical tree trunks, loopholed for rifles, with a +single embrasure through which protruded the muzzle of a brass cannon +commanding the bridge. Midway up the slope between the bridge and +fort were the spectators--a single company of infantry in line, at +"parade rest," the butts of their rifles on the ground, the barrels +inclining slightly backward against the right shoulder, the hands +crossed upon the stock. A lieutenant stood at the right of the line, +the point of his sword upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his +right. Excepting the group of four at the center of the bridge, not a +man moved. The company faced the bridge, staring stonily, motionless. +The sentinels, facing the banks of the stream, might have been statues +to adorn the bridge. The captain stood with folded arms, silent, +observing the work of his subordinates, but making no sign. Death is a +dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal +manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him. In +the code of military etiquette silence and fixity are forms of +deference. + +The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about +thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might judge from +his habit, which was that of a planter. His features were good--a +straight nose, firm mouth, broad forehead, from which his long, dark +hair was combed straight back, falling behind his ears to the collar +of his well fitting frock coat. He wore a moustache and pointed +beard, but no whiskers; his eyes were large and dark gray, and had a +kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose +neck was in the hemp. Evidently this was no vulgar assassin. The +liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of +persons, and gentlemen are not excluded. + +The preparations being complete, the two private soldiers stepped +aside and each drew away the plank upon which he had been standing. +The sergeant turned to the captain, saluted and placed himself +immediately behind that officer, who in turn moved apart one pace. +These movements left the condemned man and the sergeant standing on +the two ends of the same plank, which spanned three of the cross-ties +of the bridge. The end upon which the civilian stood almost, but not +quite, reached a fourth. This plank had been held in place by the +weight of the captain; it was now held by that of the sergeant. At a +signal from the former the latter would step aside, the plank would +tilt and the condemned man go down between two ties. The arrangement +commended itself to his judgement as simple and effective. His face +had not been covered nor his eyes bandaged. He looked a moment at his +"unsteadfast footing," then let his gaze wander to the swirling water +of the stream racing madly beneath his feet. A piece of dancing +driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the +current. How slowly it appeared to move! What a sluggish stream! + +He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and +children. The water, touched to gold by the early sun, the brooding +mists under the banks at some distance down the stream, the fort, the +soldiers, the piece of drift--all had distracted him. And now he +became conscious of a new disturbance. Striking through the thought +of his dear ones was sound which he could neither ignore nor +understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of +a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality. +He wondered what it was, and whether immeasurably distant or near by-- +it seemed both. Its recurrence was regular, but as slow as the +tolling of a death knell. He awaited each new stroke with impatience +and--he knew not why--apprehension. The intervals of silence grew +progressively longer; the delays became maddening. With their greater +infrequency the sounds increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt +his ear like the trust of a knife; he feared he would shriek. What he +heard was the ticking of his watch. + +He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. "If I could +free my hands," he thought, "I might throw off the noose and spring +into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming +vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. My +home, thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife and little +ones are still beyond the invader's farthest advance." + +As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words, were +flashed into the doomed man's brain rather than evolved from it the +captain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant stepped aside. + +II + +Peyton Farquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and highly +respected Alabama family. Being a slave owner and like other slave +owners a politician, he was naturally an original secessionist and +ardently devoted to the Southern cause. Circumstances of an imperious +nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from +taking service with that gallant army which had fought the disastrous +campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth, and he chafed under the +inglorious restraint, longing for the release of his energies, the +larger life of the soldier, the opportunity for distinction. That +opportunity, he felt, would come, as it comes to all in wartime. +Meanwhile he did what he could. No service was too humble for him to +perform in the aid of the South, no adventure to perilous for him to +undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was at +heart a soldier, and who in good faith and without too much +qualification assented to at least a part of the frankly villainous +dictum that all is fair in love and war. + +One evening while Farquhar and his wife were sitting on a rustic bench +near the entrance to his grounds, a gray-clad soldier rode up to the +gate and asked for a drink of water. Mrs. Farquhar was only too happy +to serve him with her own white hands. While she was fetching the +water her husband approached the dusty horseman and inquired eagerly +for news from the front. + +"The Yanks are repairing the railroads," said the man, "and are +getting ready for another advance. They have reached the Owl Creek +bridge, put it in order and built a stockade on the north bank. The +commandant has issued an order, which is posted everywhere, declaring +that any civilian caught interfering with the railroad, its bridges, +tunnels, or trains will be summarily hanged. I saw the order." + +"How far is it to the Owl Creek bridge?" Farquhar asked. + +"About thirty miles." + +"Is there no force on this side of the creek?" + +"Only a picket post half a mile out, on the railroad, and a single +sentinel at this end of the bridge." + +"Suppose a man--a civilian and student of hanging--should elude the +picket post and perhaps get the better of the sentinel," said +Farquhar, smiling, "what could he accomplish?" + +The soldier reflected. "I was there a month ago," he replied. "I +observed that the flood of last winter had lodged a great quantity of +driftwood against the wooden pier at this end of the bridge. It is +now dry and would burn like tinder." + +The lady had now brought the water, which the soldier drank. He +thanked her ceremoniously, bowed to her husband and rode away. An +hour later, after nightfall, he repassed the plantation, going +northward in the direction from which he had come. He was a Federal +scout. + +III + +As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge he lost +consciousness and was as one already dead. From this state he was +awakened--ages later, it seemed to him--by the pain of a sharp +pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation. Keen, +poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward through every +fiber of his body and limbs. These pains appeared to flash along well +defined lines of ramification and to beat with an inconceivably rapid +periodicity. They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him +to an intolerable temperature. As to his head, he was conscious of +nothing but a feeling of fullness--of congestion. These sensations +were unaccompanied by thought. The intellectual part of his nature +was already effaced; he had power only to feel, and feeling was +torment. He was conscious of motion. Encompassed in a luminous cloud, +of which he was now merely the fiery heart, without material +substance, he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a +vast pendulum. Then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the light +about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash; a frightful +roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and dark. The power of +thought was restored; he knew that the rope had broken and he had +fallen into the stream. There was no additional strangulation; the +noose about his neck was already suffocating him and kept the water +from his lungs. To die of hanging at the bottom of a river!--the idea +seemed to him ludicrous. He opened his eyes in the darkness and saw +above him a gleam of light, but how distant, how inaccessible! He was +still sinking, for the light became fainter and fainter until it was a +mere glimmer. Then it began to grow and brighten, and he knew that he +was rising toward the surface--knew it with reluctance, for he was now +very comfortable. "To be hanged and drowned," he thought, "that is +not so bad; but I do not wish to be shot. No; I will not be shot; +that is not fair." + +He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist +apprised him that he was trying to free his hands. He gave the +struggle his attention, as an idler might observe the feat of a +juggler, without interest in the outcome. What splendid effort!--what +magnificent, what superhuman strength! Ah, that was a fine endeavor! +Bravo! The cord fell away; his arms parted and floated upward, the +hands dimly seen on each side in the growing light. He watched them +with a new interest as first one and then the other pounced upon the +noose at his neck. They tore it away and thrust it fiercely aside, +its undulations resembling those of a water snake. "Put it back, put +it back!" He thought he shouted these words to his hands, for the +undoing of the noose had been succeeded by the direst pang that he had +yet experienced. His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire, his +heart, which had been fluttering faintly, gave a great leap, trying to +force itself out at his mouth. His whole body was racked and wrenched +with an insupportable anguish! But his disobedient hands gave no heed +to the command. They beat the water vigorously with quick, downward +strokes, forcing him to the surface. He felt his head emerge; his +eyes were blinded by the sunlight; his chest expanded convulsively, +and with a supreme and crowning agony his lungs engulfed a great +draught of air, which instantly he expelled in a shriek! + +He was now in full possession of his physical senses. They were, +indeed, preternaturally keen and alert. Something in the awful +disturbance of his organic system had so exalted and refined them that +they made record of things never before perceived. He felt the +ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. +He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual +trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf--he saw the very +insects upon them: the locusts, the brilliant bodied flies, the gray +spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig. He noted the +prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass. +The humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream, +the beating of the dragon flies' wings, the strokes of the water +spiders' legs, like oars which had lifted their boat--all these made +audible music. A fish slid along beneath his eyes and he heard the +rush of its body parting the water. + +He had come to the surface facing down the stream; in a moment the +visible world seemed to wheel slowly round, himself the pivotal point, +and he saw the bridge, the fort, the soldiers upon the bridge, the +captain, the sergeant, the two privates, his executioners. They were +in silhouette against the blue sky. They shouted and gesticulated, +pointing at him. The captain had drawn his pistol, but did not fire; +the others were unarmed. Their movements were grotesque and horrible, +their forms gigantic. + +Suddenly he heard a sharp report and something struck the water +smartly within a few inches of his head, spattering his face with +spray. He heard a second report, and saw one of the sentinels with +his rifle at his shoulder, a light cloud of blue smoke rising from the +muzzle. The man in the water saw the eye of the man on the bridge +gazing into his own through the sights of the rifle. He observed that +it was a gray eye and remembered having read that gray eyes were +keenest, and that all famous marksmen had them. Nevertheless, this one +had missed. + +A counter-swirl had caught Farquhar and turned him half round; he was +again looking at the forest on the bank opposite the fort. The sound +of a clear, high voice in a monotonous singsong now rang out behind +him and came across the water with a distinctness that pierced and +subdued all other sounds, even the beating of the ripples in his ears. +Although no soldier, he had frequented camps enough to know the dread +significance of that deliberate, drawling, aspirated chant; the +lieutenant on shore was taking a part in the morning's work. How +coldly and pitilessly--with what an even, calm intonation, presaging, +and enforcing tranquility in the men--with what accurately measured +interval fell those cruel words: + +"Company! . . . Attention! . . . Shoulder arms! . . . Ready!. . . +Aim! . . . Fire!" + +Farquhar dived--dived as deeply as he could. The water roared in his +ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dull thunder of the +volley and, rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of +metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward. Some of +them touched him on the face and hands, then fell away, continuing +their descent. One lodged between his collar and neck; it was +uncomfortably warm and he snatched it out. + +As he rose to the surface, gasping for breath, he saw that he had been +a long time under water; he was perceptibly farther downstream--nearer +to safety. The soldiers had almost finished reloading; the metal +ramrods flashed all at once in the sunshine as they were drawn from +the barrels, turned in the air, and thrust into their sockets. The +two sentinels fired again, independently and ineffectually. + +The hunted man saw all this over his shoulder; he was now swimming +vigorously with the current. His brain was as energetic as his arms +and legs; he thought with the rapidity of lightning: + +"The officer," he reasoned, "will not make that martinet's error a +second time. It is as easy to dodge a volley as a single shot. He +has probably already given the command to fire at will. God help me, +I cannot dodge them all!" + +An appalling splash within two yards of him was followed by a loud, +rushing sound, DIMINUENDO, which seemed to travel back through the air +to the fort and died in an explosion which stirred the very river to +its deeps! A rising sheet of water curved over him, fell down upon +him, blinded him, strangled him! The cannon had taken an hand in the +game. As he shook his head free from the commotion of the smitten +water he heard the deflected shot humming through the air ahead, and +in an instant it was cracking and smashing the branches in the forest +beyond. + +"They will not do that again," he thought; "the next time they will +use a charge of grape. I must keep my eye upon the gun; the smoke +will apprise me--the report arrives too late; it lags behind the +missile. That is a good gun." + +Suddenly he felt himself whirled round and round--spinning like a top. +The water, the banks, the forests, the now distant bridge, fort and +men, all were commingled and blurred. Objects were represented by +their colors only; circular horizontal streaks of color--that was all +he saw. He had been caught in a vortex and was being whirled on with a +velocity of advance and gyration that made him giddy and sick. In few +moments he was flung upon the gravel at the foot of the left bank of +the stream--the southern bank--and behind a projecting point which +concealed him from his enemies. The sudden arrest of his motion, the +abrasion of one of his hands on the gravel, restored him, and he wept +with delight. He dug his fingers into the sand, threw it over himself +in handfuls and audibly blessed it. It looked like diamonds, rubies, +emeralds; he could think of nothing beautiful which it did not +resemble. The trees upon the bank were giant garden plants; he noted +a definite order in their arrangement, inhaled the fragrance of their +blooms. A strange roseate light shone through the spaces among their +trunks and the wind made in their branches the music of AEolian harps. +He had not wish to perfect his escape--he was content to remain in +that enchanting spot until retaken. + +A whiz and a rattle of grapeshot among the branches high above his +head roused him from his dream. The baffled cannoneer had fired him a +random farewell. He sprang to his feet, rushed up the sloping bank, +and plunged into the forest. + +All that day he traveled, laying his course by the rounding sun. The +forest seemed interminable; nowhere did he discover a break in it, not +even a woodman's road. He had not known that he lived in so wild a +region. There was something uncanny in the revelation. + +By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famished. The thought of his +wife and children urged him on. At last he found a road which led him +in what he knew to be the right direction. It was as wide and +straight as a city street, yet it seemed untraveled. No fields +bordered it, no dwelling anywhere. Not so much as the barking of a +dog suggested human habitation. The black bodies of the trees formed +a straight wall on both sides, terminating on the horizon in a point, +like a diagram in a lesson in perspective. Overhead, as he looked up +through this rift in the wood, shone great golden stars looking +unfamiliar and grouped in strange constellations. He was sure they +were arranged in some order which had a secret and malign +significance. The wood on either side was full of singular noises, +among which--once, twice, and again--he distinctly heard whispers in +an unknown tongue. + +His neck was in pain and lifting his hand to it found it horribly +swollen. He knew that it had a circle of black where the rope had +bruised it. His eyes felt congested; he could no longer close them. +His tongue was swollen with thirst; he relieved its fever by thrusting +it forward from between his teeth into the cold air. How softly the +turf had carpeted the untraveled avenue--he could no longer feel the +roadway beneath his feet! + +Doubtless, despite his suffering, he had fallen asleep while walking, +for now he sees another scene--perhaps he has merely recovered from a +delirium. He stands at the gate of his own home. All is as he left +it, and all bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine. He must +have traveled the entire night. As he pushes open the gate and passes +up the wide white walk, he sees a flutter of female garments; his +wife, looking fresh and cool and sweet, steps down from the veranda to +meet him. At the bottom of the steps she stands waiting, with a smile +of ineffable joy, an attitude of matchless grace and dignity. Ah, how +beautiful she is! He springs forwards with extended arms. As he is +about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; +a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the +shock of a cannon--then all is darkness and silence! + +Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently +from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge. + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge + diff --git a/old/owlcr11.zip b/old/owlcr11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b17d40 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/owlcr11.zip |