He went round to the twelve condemned wretches, and asked each man separately if, being under sentence of death, he desired a reprieve or wished for death.

As luck would have it, of the twelve men, six pleaded for life and six as earnestly prayed that they might be sent to the scaffold.

So the Captain hanged the six men who wished to live, and spared the six men who prayed for death to release them from their awful misery.

This is an absolutely true story, which I have heard from men to whom the Captain himself told it.

Besides, it bears on its face the impress of truth.