ABSTRACT
On the Tuesday following the events recorded in the last chapter, a procession of a striking character passed along the road which had been the scene of the audacious attempt on the life of Cartwright. On the morning of that day a troop of cavalry escorted to Rawfolds the miserable delinquent who had been condemned by the court martial to receive his punishment at the soene of his crime. The decision of the court with respect to the place where the sentence was to be carried out was not made known to Mr. Cartwright, and he was much pained when he found out that the soldier was to be whipped near his mill. The appearance of the military with the prisoner in their midst attracted hundreds of people, who formed in a ring when the place was reached, and the trees around were black with those who had climbed them to witness the novel spectacle. As the man appointed to inflict the punishment produced the instrument of torture, and the soldier was bound and his back laid bare, the onlookers watched the preparations with evident 126concern. And now all is ready for the infliction of the fearful chastisement. Stepping forward and measuring the distance for an instant the man raises the whip, it whistles swiftly through the air and descends on the white back of the soldier on which a broad red line appears, while underneath the muscles quiver visibly. Again and again the whip is raised and descends, and by and bye the onlookers are shocked to observe that the skin is broken, the blood begins to trickle slowly down, and the sight soon becomes sickening. The women in the crowd, for there are many present, turrn their eyes from the sight, and even stout-hearted men cannot forbear to express their pity for the poor wretch, who with pale face and firmly compressed lips, suffers the dreadful torture. ‘There is a movement at the outskirts of the crowd and a lane is formed, down which Mr. Cartwright passes, closely guarded by soldiers, who clear the road for him. Many make way sullenly, gazing upon the stern man with dark and threatening brows and muttering fiercely. Their thought plainly is that “the bloodhound,” as they now almost invariably call him, has come to gloat on the sufferings of the victim, but to their astonishment, when he reaches the place where the officer is standing, he asks that the bloody scourge may now rest and that the remainder of the sentence may not be carried out. The officer in command listens to him respotfully and then, without answering, signals after a brief pause to the man who wields the cat to go on. Again the whip descends, and at every stroke the skin seems to be stripped from the shoulders to the loins. Only twenty lashes have been given as yet; two hundred and eighty more are required to complete the sentence. It is plain that the man will never live to receive them. The cries of the women wax louder: the ominous muttering of the man grows fiercer. The doctor examines the sufferer and feels his pulse. The surging crowd gather neaier to hear his report, but the stolid fuetionary simply steps back to his 127place saying nothing, and the signal to proceed again is given. Five strokes more are inflicted and the crowd surges wildly, angry exclamations filling the air. Again Cartwright stands before the officer and pleads, passionately this time, for the remission of the remainder of the sentence. Hb is listened to as before respectfully, and is this time answered. He urges his request with greater vehemence, and at last he prevails. The signal to stay the punishment is given, and the sufferer, who seems dazed and almost unconscious of what is passing around him, is unbound.
