Federal soldiers follow orders in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", which Ambrose Bierce (Ambrose 551) characterizes Peyton Farquhar's impending death as he encounters disappointments, exemplifies keen and profound senses, and experiences a disconcerting mental awareness of fight or flight in an escape to a perceived freedom and, nevertheless, remains a “standing civilian and a hanging student” (554). As Peyton Farquhar marches down the center of the line of Federated executioners, then, she stands on a plank with a noose around her neck, as the sun shines, owls hoot overhead, and a single piece of wood floats below. Peyton, in hindsight, had no qualms in a conversation with a gray-clad soldier who asks the "lady" (553) for a glass of water at the gate, and yet convicts Farquhar of interfering with an order (553) . The ticking of his pocket watch causes him fear, from which he tries to escape. As his heart beats in time with his watch, and in that second, he is descending in the keen senses of his mind down into Owl Creek, wi...