{"product_id":"2940014593014","title":"AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE","description":"A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down\u003cbr\u003einto the swift water twenty feet below.  The man's hands were behind\u003cbr\u003ehis back, the wrists bound with a cord.  A rope closely encircled his\u003cbr\u003eneck.  It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the\u003cbr\u003eslack fell to the level of his knees.  Some loose boards laid upon the\u003cbr\u003eties supporting the rails of the railway supplied a footing for him\u003cbr\u003eand his executioners--two private soldiers of the Federal army,\u003cbr\u003edirected by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy\u003cbr\u003esheriff.  At a short remove upon the same temporary platform was an\u003cbr\u003eofficer in the uniform of his rank, armed.  He was a captain.  A\u003cbr\u003esentinel at each end of the bridge stood with his rifle in the\u003cbr\u003eposition known as \"support,\" that is to say, vertical in front of the\u003cbr\u003eleft shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight\u003cbr\u003eacross the chest--a formal and unnatural position, enforcing an erect\u003cbr\u003ecarriage of the body.  It did not appear to be the duty of these two\u003cbr\u003emen to know what was occurring at the center of the bridge; they\u003cbr\u003emerely blockaded the two ends of the foot planking that traversed it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad ran\u003cbr\u003estraight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, curving, was\u003cbr\u003elost to view.  Doubtless there was an outpost farther along.  The\u003cbr\u003eother bank of the stream was open ground--a gentle slope topped with\u003cbr\u003ea stockade of vertical tree trunks, loopholed for rifles, with a\u003cbr\u003esingle embrasure through which protruded the muzzle of a brass cannon\u003cbr\u003ecommanding the bridge.  Midway up the slope between the bridge and\u003cbr\u003efort were the spectators--a single company of infantry in line, at\u003cbr\u003e\"parade rest,\" the butts of their rifles on the ground, the barrels\u003cbr\u003einclining slightly backward against the right shoulder, the hands\u003cbr\u003ecrossed upon the stock. A lieutenant stood at the right of the line,\u003cbr\u003ethe point of his sword upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his\u003cbr\u003eright.  Excepting the group of four at the center of the bridge, not a\u003cbr\u003eman moved.  The company faced the bridge, staring stonily, motionless.\u003cbr\u003eThe sentinels, facing the banks of the stream, might have been statues\u003cbr\u003eto adorn the bridge.  The captain stood with folded arms, silent,\u003cbr\u003eobserving the work of his subordinates, but making no sign. Death is a\u003cbr\u003edignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal\u003cbr\u003emanifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him.  In\u003cbr\u003ethe code of military etiquette silence and fixity are forms of\u003cbr\u003edeference.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47074059452656,"sku":"2940014593014","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014593014","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}