The Deserter<br >Almost every week there d be new frightening stories of<br >captured deserters， who， no matter how cunningly they<br >had disguised themselves as sailors or tradesmen or<br >even women， or hidden themselves in tuns or barrels<br >or whatever， had been caught just the same. Then we<br >had to watch while they were made to run the gaunt-<br >let， eight times or more， through a corridor of two<br >hundred men， until they r collapsed， unable to draw<br >another breath--only to have to go through it again<br >the next day. ~，<br >From The Life Story of the Poor Man<br >of Tockenburg， Zurich， x789<br >The cherry trees bloomed for the second time that year， and it<br >seemed the summer would never end. The barns could hardly<br >hold the harvest， but the earth seemed far from tired; the winter<br >wheat grew so fast the farmers began to yearn for an early frost，<br >to bring this strange miracle to an end.<br > The sheer abundance of the year 1775 made everyone uneasy.<br >The sky seemed too blue， the sun too warm， and it was more than<br >people could accept. They weren t used to being given anything<br >at all; they knew that everything they had--property， freedom，<br >life--was theirs only on loan， and could be taken away at any<br >time， without warning. It was a fact they could hardly forget，<br >living as they did at the foot of a fortress that was both barracks<br >and prison in one.<br >r<br >r:<br >c<br >r，<br ><br >