|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 38
"You inquire about it with perfect courtesy; but, monsieur, you
inquire as one inquires about a custom that his sense of justice
rejects."
He paused.
"Your pardon, monsieur; but there are some conceptions of justice
in the law of your admirable country that seem equally strange to
me."
The men about the Count on the exquisite terrace, looking down
over Cannes into the arc of the sea, felt that the great age of
this man gave him a right of frankness, a privilege of direct
expression, they could not resent. Somehow, at the extremity of
life, he seemed beyond pretenses; and he had the right to omit
the digressions by which younger men are accustomed to approach
the truth.
"What is this strange thing in our law, Count?" said the
American.
The old man made a vague gesture, as one who puts away an
inquiry until the answer appears.
"Many years ago," he continued, "I read a story about the red
Indians by your author, Cooper. It was named `The Oak Openings,'
and was included, I think, in a volume entitled Stories of the
Prairie. I believe I have the names quite right, since the
author impressed me as an inferior comer with an abundance of
gold about him. In the story Corporal Flint was captured by the
Indians under the leadership of Bough of Oak, a cruel and
bloodthirsty savage.
"This hideous beast determined to put his prisoner to the torture
of the saplings, a barbarity rivaling the crucifixion of the
Romans. Two small trees standing near each other were selected,
the tops lopped off and the branches removed; they were bent and
the tops were lashed together. One of the victim's wrists was
bound to the top of each of the young trees; then the saplings
were released and the victim, his arms wrenched and dislocated,
hung suspended in excruciating agony, like a man nailed to a
cross.
"It was fearful torture. The strain on the limbs was hideous,
yet the victim might live for days. Nothing short of crucifixion
- that beauty of the Roman law - ever equaled it."
He paused and flicked the ashes from his cigarette.
"Corporal Flint, who seemed to have a knowledge of the Indian
character, had endeavored so to anger the Indians by taunt and
invective that some brave would put an arrow into his heart, or
dash his brains out with a stone ax.
"In this he failed. Bough of Oak controlled his braves and
Corporal Flint was lashed to the saplings. But, as the trees
sprang apart, wrenching the man's arms out of their sockets, a
friendly Indian, Pigeonwing, concealed in a neighboring thicket,
unable to rescue his friend and wishing to save him from the long
hours of awful torture, shot Corporal Flint through the forehead.
"Now," continued the Count, "if there was no question about these
facts, and Bough of Oak stood for trial before any civilized
tribunal on this earth, do you think the laws of any country
would acquit him of the murder of Corporal Flint?"
The whole company laughed.
"I am entirely serious," continued the Count. "What do you
think? There are three great nations represented here."
"The exigencies of war," said Sir Henry Marquis, "might
differentiate a barbarity from a crime."
"But let us assume," replied the Count, "that no state of war
existed; that it was a time of peace; that Corporal Flint was
innocent of wrong; and that Bough of Oak was acting entirely from
a depraved instinct bent on murder. In other words, suppose this
thing had occurred yesterday in one of the Middle States of the
American Republic?"
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|