JACK TAKES A PRISONER 



"What are you going to do with him, Jack?" I 

 asked in hearing of the captive. 



"Oh, make a ' spread eagle' of him on a hind 

 wheel of the wagon till mornin', I suppose, an' 

 then take him down to the timber an' hang him 

 an' be done with him," he replied as he began to 

 put the first part of this programme into execu- 

 tion. 



The "spread eagle" is made by requiring the 

 prisoner to stand with his back against a hind 

 wheel of a wagon; his arms are then stretched out 

 on each side and tied by the wrists to the upper 

 rim of the wheel, while his ankles, with feet spread 

 apart, are tied in like manner to the bottom of the 

 wheel. The prisoner can ease himself a little by 

 sitting on the hub of the wheel, but this affords 

 an insecure and uncomfortable seat. 



As soon as we had securely spread the big 

 jayhawker on the wheel, Jack left me to watch 

 him, with a caution to see that he did not work 

 himself loose, while he unsaddled and picketed 

 out the fine black horse he had captured. When 

 this was accomplished he called Tom and me off to 

 one side, far enough to be out of hearing of the 

 prisoner, taking the precaution to place the light 

 near the open tent door where it would shine on 

 our "spread eagle," so that we could see if he 

 made any effort to free himself, and then Jack 

 gave us a detailed account of his trip. 



"When I got to a place in the timber where I 



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