Part I

Questions

1. What state is the story set in?
2. How many men are standing near the middle of the bridge at the beginning of the story?
3. What army do the executioners belong to?
4. What crime is the man condemned for?
5. How old is the condemned man?
6. What army was the condemned man in?
7. What kind of expression does the condemned man have?
8. After the preparations are complete, what do the two private soldiers do?
9. At a signal from the captain to the sergeant, what happens?
10. What does the condemned man notice floating in the stream?
11. What does the condemned man try to fix his last thoughts on?
12. What sound distracts the condemned man from thinking about his wife?
13. Where is the sound coming from?
14. What would the condemned man do if he could throw off his noose?
15. What are the condemned man's last thoughts before he drops?

Answers

1. Alabama
2. Five
3. The Federal army
4. Murder
5. About 35
6. Neither, he was a civilian
7. A "kindly one"
8. Draw away the planks they stood on, and step back from the man
9. The sergeant steps off his plank, and the condemned man falls between the two railroad tracks.
10. Driftwood
11. His wife and children
12. A sharp metallic percussion
13. His watch
14. Dive into the water and go home
15. That his home is past enemy lines and his family is safe