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disagreeable duty, and modestly represented their objection to the 

 commanding officer; who informed them the duty must be done, 

 and he would be present at the execution. This representation 

 having been respectfully made, no notice was then taken of it: at the 

 appointed hour captain Torriano, accompanied by three other gen- 

 tlemen attended the party. The place of execution was between 

 the enemy's batteries and the fort: while on their way thither they 

 were interrupted by the hasty arrival of a person who had been 

 employed to gain information; after a private conversation with 

 the captain he retired, and the party proceeded. While the crimi- 

 nals stood under the gallows with halters about their necks, the 

 quarter-master serjeant, hitherto distinguished for exemplary con- 

 duct, with a countenance expressive of every humane sensation, 

 dropped upon his knees; and, in the name of all the Europeans 

 supplicated for a pardon to the deserters. The commandant im- 

 mediately replied, that both himself and his brave comrades must 

 be sensible it Avas his first wish to oblige them in every reasonable 

 request, but in the present instance a paramount duty to his em- 

 ployers, himself, and every man under his command, precluded all 

 possibility of compliance. This he was assured they would readily 

 credit, when at a proper time they were informed of the reasons for 

 this resolution. The execution Avas then ordered; but on the 

 appearance of some reluctance, captain Torriano took a pistol 

 from the holster, and threatening to shoot the first man who re- 

 fused obedience, the criminals were launched into eternity. 



On leaving this distressing scene, captain Torriano hastened 

 to the fort, where an alarming occurrence required immediate 

 attention. The person who so hastily addressed him, when pro- 



