Page 76 - In A New World

"I cannot," answered the captain in an inflexible tone. "If I yielded to such a
weakness all discipline would be at an end. If treachery is to be pardoned,

who knows which one among you might be the next to imitate the example
of this man. No! justice is stern, and punishment must be inflicted. The

guilty must be punished though the heavens fall. Men, stand aside!"

[Illustration: The Death of the Bushranger Captain.]

This was addressed to the two men who stood, one on each side of the

condemned bushranger.

They obeyed the command of their chief and he, raising his revolver,

pointed it at the breast of the unhappy offender.

There was a moment of intense excitement. Harry and Jack were
spellbound. Their faces were pale, and wore an expression of horror. They
were about to see a human life taken. They could hardly forbear uttering a

groan.

The silence was broken by a sharp, explosive sound. The deadly weapon
had done its work; but it was not the captive who had received the winged
messenger of death. It was the captain himself who staggered and with one

convulsive movement fell prone to the earth.