an arrest

by Ambrose Bierce

Having murdered his brother-in-law, Orrin Brower of Kentucky was a fugitive from justice . from_the county jail where he had_been confined to await his trial he had escaped by knocking down his jailer with an iron bar, robbing him of_his keys and, opening the outer door, walking out into_the night . the jailer being unarmed, Brower got no weapon with_which to defend his recovered liberty . as_soon_as he_was out_of_the town he had the folly to enter a forest; this_was many years_ago, when_that region was wilder than it_is now .

the night was pretty dark, with neither moon nor stars visible, and as Brower had never dwelt thereabout, and knew nothing of_the lay of_the land, he_was, naturally, not long in losing himself . he_could_not have said if he were getting farther away from_the town or going back to_it--a most important matter to Orrin Brower . he_knew that in either case a posse of citizens with a pack of bloodhounds would soon be on_his track and_his chance of escape was very slender; but he_did_not wish to assist in_his own pursuit . even an added hour of freedom was worth having .

suddenly he emerged from_the forest into an old road, and there before him saw, indistinctly, the figure of a man, motionless in_the gloom . it_was too late to retreat: the fugitive felt that at_the first movement back toward the wood he_would_be, as he afterward explained, " filled with buckshot ." so the two stood there like trees, Brower nearly suffocated by_the activity of_his own heart; the other-- the emotions of_the other are_not recorded .

a moment later-- it may have_been an hour-- the moon sailed into a patch of unclouded sky and_the hunted man saw that visible embodiment of law lift an arm and point significantly toward and beyond him . he understood .Turning his back to_his captor, he walked submissively away in_the direction indicated, looking to neither the right nor the left; hardly daring to breathe, his head and back actually aching with a prophecy of buckshot .

Brower was as courageous a criminal as ever lived to_be hanged; that was shown by_the conditions of awful personal peril in_which he had coolly killed his brother-in-law . it_is needless to relate them here; they came out at his trial, and_the revelation of_his calmness in confronting them came near to saving his neck . but what would you_have ? -- when a brave man is beaten, he submits .

so they pursued their journey jailward along the old road through_the woods . only once did Brower venture a turn of_the head: just once, when he_was in deep shadow and he_knew that_the other was in moonlight, he looked backward . his captor was Burton Duff, the jailer, as white as death and bearing upon his brow the livid mark of_the iron bar .Orrin Brower had no further curiosity .

eventually they entered the town, which_was all alight, but deserted; only the women and children remained, and_they were off the streets . straight toward the jail the criminal held his way . straight up_to_the main entrance he walked, laid his hand upon_the knob of_the heavy iron door, pushed it open without command, entered and found himself in_the presence of a half- dozen armed men . then he turned . nobody else entered .

on a table in_the corridor lay the dead body of Burton Duff .