a fatal wound; a fatal disease; that fatal day; a fatal mistake

After a long morning working, he decided to have a little lie-down before cooking lunch.

When the appointed time arrived and Majors Gladwyn and Rogers; Captains Dalzell, Grant, and Gray; Lieutenants Cuyler, Hay, and Brown, and half a dozen more, all in speckless uniforms, were assembled about the homely but well-laden mess-table, there entered still another at whom the newcomers gazed in surprise but without recognition.

The certainty of punishment is the truest security against crimes.