The Argosy, August 1905 — page 18: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

‘alryman gave it a turn, then stood up and said in a passionless voice: “J will ask you again—where have you hidden the paper? ” Perote uttered a cry, and, being de- prived of speech, shook his head vio- lently. oe “We shall see,” said the Mexican * coldly, and, with the table-cloth as a 4 7 guard to protect his hand from the heat Pan of the metal, he removed the ramrod ) og from the bed of charcoal. The next in- ~— stant Perote nitered a piercing shriek, for the red hot point of the iron was thrust in contact with his flesh. “The paper! * demanded the cavalry- man. Suddenly the feeling of terror left Perote’s body. The pain of the burn filled him only with rage. He closed his lips tightly, but his eyes continued to glare at his captors. The cavalrymen looked at each other. “Tf you will not tell!” cried one fiereely, and lifted the iron the second time. Perote gritted his teeth together, but aiter a time all sense of pain seemed to _ be leaving him; his head swam yiolenitly, then he lost consciousness. : | When he opened his eyes daylight was streaming through the window into the room. ‘Things remained much as he remembered them, except the charcoal in the brazier no longer gave out a red glow. For a time he could only move his head from side to side, for his body seemed to be seared with lines of fire and he remembered they had bound him se- curely. Then he became aware that he could move one of his hands. The hot end of the ramrod had come in contact with the cord which held his right wrist and the hemp was severed. Slowly Perote loosed, one after an- other, the bonds which held him. Care- fully getting upon his feet, he leaned iCd - _ heavily against the table, his brain y and every inch of his body smart- count d at the THE ARGOSY. ye little heed—it was from his face ae the greatest pain. In the kitchen hune a small mirror which ex had ideingly taken im payment for a raphis isdenns Now he blessed the day when it had been forced upon him. He passed slowly from the room and approached the glass, dreading to look into it, but urged by an uncontrollable ' ‘§ | ‘ impulse. A Mexican is proud of his good looks, and Perote was still a young man. hat which stared out at him from the dingy glass brought a groan to his white lips. The face, once passing comely, was frightfully disfigured by two deep burns extending from the middle of the chin upward to a point below each ear. These burns formed the letter X. It was as though the man was gazing out upon the world through two. crossed bars. Tn the first moment the luckless land- lord gave way to a feeling of despair; it would have been more merciful had they killed him while his mimd was blank. Then the devilish cruelty of the thing came home to him. The smarting of the burns would cease, but the livid bars must always rest across his face. In all Mexico there was not a man so plainly marked for ridicule—and pity. Perote remembered how a certain girl in the far-off capital had once clung to him when a beggar marked with the smallpox had brushed against her in the street. Suddenly the hopes he had cherished, the goal toward which he had labored, crumpled to ashes before his mental vis- ion; the victim of the dread disease was less disfigured than he. ~ For a few moments he leaned against the wall, his hands clenched until the nails bit into the palms, despair master- ing him completely. Then a sudden transformation was apparent. In a single moment Perote, the timid land- — lord of the wayside mn, gave place toa — “man whose heart held only bitter hatred. I’rom being a moral coward, fearful of suffering, he became imb pay with a spirit which would stop at « a. . 9 = . danger or fear of God ¢ mi ) ore. : comicbooks.com