“Then let it be by lot,” said the leader.
This course having been determined upon, a pebble was produced for every man present. One was a white pebble; the others were of various colours. The man who drew the white pebble was to be the executioner. The pebbles were placed in a small hole in the side of the cave, not touched by the light of the fire, and too high, even if there was most perfect light to allow anyone to see its contents. The old man was the first to try his fate, and kept the pebble which he drew close in his clenched fist; the others followed, and each also kept the pebble in his closed fist. The last to draw was the leader. The old man, stirring the logs with his feet, said as the blaze lit up the cave—
“Now, let us show our hands,” and every man displayed the pebble upon his level palm.
The white was in the leader’s hand. He had no sooner shown it than his fingers closed over it with a convulsive grasp that might have crushed it into powder.
“Yes,” he said, with a strident voice, “the lot has decided I’m to be the executioner. I shall answer for the discharge of my duty with my life.”
“To-night,” hissed the old man between his teeth.
“Yes, to-night,” was the reply, cold, and brief and fierce.
The conspirators filed out of the cave; the last to leave was the leader.
The new moon had just broken through the clouds, which flung their dark shadows on the sea. He gained the strand, conscious that his comrades were watching him. He took the direction of the doomed house; he moved along like a man whose heart was dead within him. He crossed the lawn, he advanced to the window; the lights were burning in the room as they had burned on that other night. The father and the daughter sat, side by side, in front of the cheerful fire, her arm round his neck, and from the movements of her lips, the light upon her face, and the pleasant laughter in her eyes, the chief knew she was talking fondly. In a moment of madness he lifted his pistol, and aimed it at her father’s head. Just then the girl drew back, rose from her chair, and standing up to her full height, displayed all her freshening beauty.