Yes--to hold a shooting-match was undoubtedly the design of my captors;
and equally clear was it that my breast was to be their mark. This
explained my position upon the summit of the mound, as well as my
attitude upon the cross. I was bound to the latter, in order that my
person might be held erect, spread, and conspicuous. I could not
comfort, myself with any doubt as to their intention. Every movement I
saw confirmed it; and the question was finally set at rest by Red-Hand
possessing himself of one of the loaded muskets, and making ready to
fire. Stepping a pace or two in front of the line of his warriors, he
raised the piece to his shoulder, and pointed it towards me. It is vain
to attempt describing the horror I endured at that moment. Utterly
unable to move, I gazed upon the glistening barrel, with its dark tube,
that threatened to send forth the leaden messenger of death. I have
stood before the pistol of the duellist. It is not a pleasant position
to be in, under any conditions of quarrel. Still it is perfect
happiness compared with that I then held. In the former case, there are
certain circumstances that favour the chances of safety. You know that
you are _en profile_ to your antagonist--thus lessening the danger of
being hit. Judging by yourself, you feel assured that the aim taken
will be quick and unsteady, and the shot a random one. You are
conscious of possessing the capability of motion--that whether you may
feel inclined to give way to it or not, you still have a certain
discretion of avoiding the deadly missile--that by superior skill or
quickness, you may anticipate your antagonist and hinder his bullet from
being sent. There are other circumstances of a moral nature to sustain
you in a trial of this kind--pride, angry passion, the fear of social
contempt; and, stronger than all--perhaps most frequent of all--the
jealousy of rival love. From none of all these could I derive support,
as I stood before the raised musket of the Arapaho. There was no
advantage--either moral or physical--in my favour. I was broad front to
the danger, without the slightest capacity of "dodging" it; whilst there
was nothing to excite the nerves of the marksman, or render his aim
unsteady. On the contrary, he was sighting me as coolly, as if about to
fire at a piece of painted plank.
It may have been but a minute, that the savage occupied himself in
adjusting his aim; but to me it appeared ten. In such a situation, I
may have believed the seconds to be minutes: they seemed so. In
reality, the time must have been considerable. The drops of sweat that
had started from my brow were chasing each other over my cheeks, and
trickling down upon my breast. So prolonged was the suspense, I began
to fancy that the Arapaho was designedly dallying with his aim, for the
purpose of sporting with my fears. He may have had such motive for
procrastination. I could have believed it. Distant though he was, I
could mark his fiendish smile, as he repeatedly dropped the piece from
his shoulder, and then returned it to the level. That he meant more
than mere menace, however, was proved in the end. Having satisfied
himself with several idle feints, I saw him make demonstration, as if
setting himself more determinedly to the work. This time he was
certainly in earnest. His cheek lay steadily along the stock--his arms
appeared more rigid--his finger was pressing on the trigger--the moment
had come!
The flash from the pan--the red stream poured forth from the muzzle--the
hist of the bullet, were all simultaneous. The report came afterwards;
but, before it had reached my ears, I knew that I was untouched. The
lead had already whizzed past, at a distance--as I could judge by the
sound--of several feet from my body. I heard a scratching behind me;
and the instant after, a swarthy face was thrust before my eyes. It was
that of the artist, who had painted me for the part I was playing. I
had been under the impression that he had gone down to the plain, but I
now perceived my error. He had remained near me, concealing his body
behind the rock. I saw that he was now enacting a different _role_--
that of marker for the marksmen. Running his eye over my body, and
perceiving that I was nowhere hit, he telegraphed the intelligence to
his comrades upon the plain; and then glided back to his covert.
I was relieved from the terrible anxiety; but only for a short moment--a
mere interval of about a dozen seconds' duration. The Red-Hand, after
firing, had resigned his place; but this was instantly occupied by one
of his sub-chiefs, who, armed with another musket, in turn stepped up to
the line. Again I saw the gleaming barrel brought to the level, with
its dark tube pointed upon my body. This marksman was more expeditious;
but for all that, it was to me a time of racking torture. Again did the
drops bead out upon my brow, and chase one another down my cheeks.
Again had I to undergo all the agony of death itself and, as before,
without dying, or even losing a drop of my blood! As before, I beheld
the puff of smoke, the flash, the blaze of fire projected from the
muzzle: but ere the crack reached me, I heard the "thud" of the bullet,
as it flattened against the granite on which I stood. This time the
marker did not mount up to the platform. He had seen the splinters
shivered from the rock; and without further inquiry, for the second
time, telegraphed a miss.
A third candidate appeared upon the stand; and my fears returned--as
acute as ever. This fellow caused me to suffer nearly a dozen deaths.
Either was his gun without a flint, or his powder damp: since after
snapping nearly a dozen times, the piece still refused to go off. Had
it been designed to give me a new horror, the thing could not have been
better planned: for each time that the savage essayed to fire, I had to
undergo the agony of a fresh apprehension. The scene ended by another
gun being placed in his hands, that _did_ go off; but with no advantage
to the clumsy marksman: for his bullet, like that of the Red-Hand,
whistled past, far wide of the mark.
A fourth now took the ground. This was a tall, swarthy warrior, one of
the tallest of the tribe; and without the insignia of a chief. The cool
and deliberate manner in which he went about his work, caused me to
anticipate in him a better shot; and my apprehensions were heightened to
a degree of painful intensity. I felt my whole frame shiver as his gun
blazed forth; and for a time I believed myself hit. The cheer of his
companions upon the plain announced the belief in the success of the
shot; but he upon the summit soon undeceived them--just as I became
myself reassured. The bullet had struck the wood-work of my crucifix--
one of the crosspieces to which my arms were attached. It was the shock
of the timber that had deceived me into the belief that I had been
struck.
A fifth marksman followed; and then another and another--until more than
a dozen had tried their hands. The guns were now all emptied; but this
caused only a temporary cessation in the cruel sport. They were soon
reloaded; and new candidates stepped forward to make trial of their
skill.
I had by this time discovered that they were not practising for mere
sport. It was a _game_, and bets were laid, upon it. Apart upon the
plain, the stakes were placed, consisting of saddles, robes, weapons,
and the plunder of the emigrant waggon. Horses also were picketed
near--surplus animals--that were betted against one another: whether in
many separate wagers, or all forming a grand "pool," I could not
determine. My own scalp--I was uncertain whether I still wore it--was
no doubt the chief object of the contest. It was the "cup," to be given
to him who should place his bullet in that white circle upon my breast,
and nearest the red spot in the centre!
The guns being once more reloaded, the firing recommenced, I saw that
only one shot was allowed to each; and this only to those who had
entered a stake. The condition gave me an opportunity of experiencing
my apprehensions in different degrees: since, according to the apparent
adroitness or clumsiness of the marksman, my fears of being hit were
greater or less. Strange to say, before a dozen shots had been fired,
_I no longer wished them to miss_! The dread ordeal, so oft repeated,
was too terrible to be borne. I was sustained by no hope of ultimate
escape. I knew that the fiends would continue firing, till some one of
them should finish me by a fatal shot; and I cared not how soon it
should be sent. Nay, I even desired that it should come quickly. Death
was preferable to the agony I was enduring.