me, I hope theyâll let the rest of you go.â
âIf they were only after you, they wouldnât have rounded up the rest of us. It looks to me like weâre all under the gun,â Duncan said.
Blackburn cleared his throat and ran his bony fingers through his shaggy white hair, his wrinkled face solemn. âMost of you are young and have your lives ahead of you,â he said hoarsely. âIf justice is done....â Ellis interrupted him.
âIf justice is done and they shoot the worst scoundrel among us, itâs got to be Waters,â he growled. âHe should have been shot years ago.â There were grunts of approval from the others. Waters wiped the sweat from his sharp nose and sighed deeply, but said nothing.
The next morning, the door swung open again, and Ellis shivered when dignified Antonio GarÃa Tejado, adjutant inspector of the Interior Provinces, solemnly entered the room holding a paper in his hand. With him were prosecutor DÃaz de Bustamante and the prisonersâs counsel, Verea. All three wore black cloaks, and their faces were expressionless. Verea motioned to the prisoners to kneel. Theyâve come to pronounce sentence, Ellis thought; at least theyâve got bad news. He dreaded to hear it.
âThis is His Majestyâs decree,â Garcia de Tejado intoned. âOne man in every five who entered Texas with Nolan and who fired on royal troops must die.â Ellis heard gasps around him, followed by heavy breathing, while his own thoughts were racing. How will they decide who to execute? he wondered.
GarcÃa de Tejado cleared his throat and continued. âBecause your man Pierce is dead and only nine of you are left, only one must die.â He looked as if it pained him to deliver the order, but since it came from the king, he had no choice.
The Spanish troops had attacked them; they had merely defended themselves, Ellis thought bitterly, but there was little time to contemplate the cruel sentence. A soldier immediately entered the hushed room and placed a big drum on the floor, while another set a crystal cup containing a pair of dice on the drumhead.
âYou must all throw the dice while blindfolded,â GarcÃa de Tejado informed them. âThe unfortunate one who casts the lowest number must die.â The pale prisoners stood as far away from the drum as they could, staring open-eyed at the dice as if they were rattlesnakes poised to strike. Garcia de Tejado cleared his throat again, but no one stepped forward to test his luck.
âLetâs throw in the order of our ages,â Fero said, his voice hollow. âThe oldest first.â The others all glanced at Ephraim Blackburn. Ellis thought of all the dangers theyâd faced before. Nothing equalled staking their lives on one throw of the dice while blindfolded.
Ephraim Blackburn knelt prayerfully beside the dram. A soldier tied a blindfold around his head and placed the crystal cup in his trembling hands. He shouldnât have to do this, Ellis thought. He came with Nolan, but didnât even fire on Spanish troops. All eyes were on the drumhead as Blackburn cast the dice. He immediately arose and lifted the blindfold, wincing when he saw heâd thrown a four. Swallowing hard, a look of resignation on his ashen face, he stepped back to make room for Luciano, who took his place by the drum. Ellis watched Luciano roll a seven and exhale deeply. Joseph Reed cast an eleven and involuntarily smiled. When he glanced around and saw Blackburnâs somber face the smile vanished.
Fero threw an eight, Cooley an eleven, Jonah Waters a seven. Ellis wiped his moist palms on his trousers and knelt while the soldier fixed the blindfold. He cast the dice and arose, almost afraid to look. Heâd rolled a five. Duncan followed with a six. The last was William Danlin, who cast a seven.
Solemn, black-robed priests immediately swarmed around Blackburn, clucking sympathetically and