Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-02-17
"Mhtp away, and be ID; but if
'ou don kill me, I'll kill all four of

|
you don't kill me, I'll kill all four Of
T tits fiOt my purpose to detail the hor-
nd scene : the trial Of endurance on one
part, of brute strength on the ether suf-
fee that the hardened rufhan was more
than match for the whole Of them, and
that although their thick whips were
ciotted with blood, and their arms weary
with the exercise, his indomitable spirit
defied them to the last. As he fell INTO
faint, they sat down. those four appren-
tice lynehers, TO counsel with each other.
II was past midnight. The sultry air
Of tle river bottoms, occasionally heated
by one of those breaths that so inexpli-
cablyn meet thetraveler i'm q summer night,
gave evidence Of q coming Storm The
bite of the mosquitoes that choked the
very air inclouds were distressing beyond
all endurance, and asthe half-naked body
Of their prisoner hung backward in Its
faintness, the stripes OF bloody skin, torn
loose by their whip lashes, were quite
hidden by their black. eager forms. What
should they do The Suggestion of DIR.
Veneer cannot be entertained for
moment; tho reader may readily guess
what 1t, was. Finally, it was decided
that Damon should remain hanging there
tiil morning, and the party would then
return. .a.g ic - ID. a. 1,-r
Foreman there amongst the mosquit-
oes. Far more kind to have adopted the
shorter plan oil the Doctors, and let the
black mold of the canebrake copsr its
dead. But thunder clouds were banking
up ON every side, and the regulators
hurried TO the river, 10 get across in time,
barely in time, to ESCAPE the storm.
@ Amidst the crushing of the trees and
the bowling of the blasts, the unpitied
gambler returned TO his senses. 1t had
been the sleep of death, but for those very
shngs that aroused the life within him TO
resist their horrid attacks. The dash of
cold rain upon his exposed wounds was
grateful to the fever that scorched his
very vitals, and, still better, it drove
away the mosquitoes. The lynchers were
gone, that was sufficient evidence; he had
not been whipped to death, as they threat
ened; and, now, could he but clear away
these cords, vengeance was within his
reach. o, how that hope strengthened
his sinews to strain, and hardened his
very teeth to gnaw at the very strong
fbres that bound him. What a horrid
laugh issued from his lungs, as the first
band gave way. With what an exulting
bound he sprang from the holly tree,
whose virgin bark was now first stained
by human blood, and with his right hand
extended towards the Thunderers throne,
vowed death TO the four, or death to him.
self! '..
But little he needed now the torn skin
or gashed flesh upon his back. Resolute-
ly fixing his eye upon star, he dashed
the canes aside, and at run reached the
bank. A half mile up stream brought
him to q farmhouse and woodward,
where a small skiff, without oars, was
fastened TO the bank by chain and
lock. Tearing off the fastenings, regard
less of oars, he pushed off, and by the aid
OF basin that lay in the bottom of the
skiff, propelled the boat across, but at o
point some miles below the town.
a BY noon the next day he was lying, all
unknown to any one except his wife, at
his own house in state of high delirium.
This continued for more than month,
during which time the strong minded
woman hung over his bed by day and
night, fed upon hopes of delicious revenge.
nor suffered a living soul to know that
her husband was there. A strong con-
sItution carried the gambler through,
and be was pronounced by his faithful
nurse to be out of danger.
Thav, tho fur cot Co.. lnrr~ 1o,,~e G.
hours that ran far into the night of morn
ing. and devised their projects of revenge.
There was no difference of sentiment be-
tween them as to the amount of the provo
cation, none as the ertea to which their
vengeance should 60. Death, death was
the horrid sum total but the details,
these required consideration, and who of
the doomed four should lead the way in
the procession Of ghosts And should
they all die in the same manner And
in what manner should death be meted
out to them? And when should " the
tower of Sloan" fall
, SO carefully had the heroine preserved
the secret Of her husbands return that
her nearest neighbors did not suspect it.
The four lynchers discovered that Damon
had freed himself, but finding no evidence
that he had ever made his escape from
the cane-brake, they agreed that he must
have died there, so they concealed the
guilty mystery of his disappearance in
their breasts.
Mrs. Damon caused an advertisement
to be inserted in the town journal, offer
ing a large reward for the discovery of
her husbands body, supposed to have
been drowned about the night of July =.
This step added to their assurance, and
in few weeks they began to breathe
freely again.
But the avenger was in their path. A
States warrant was sworn out against
the four for assault and battery on the
person OF Eugene Damon. Confronted
with their accuser in the magistrates
court, they were identified by his plain,
direct testimony, as well as ty various
circumstantial evidences, and put under
the heaviest bail bonds to appear before
the next Circuit Court.
But the bar before which they were to
stand, and the Judge with whom they
were to be confronted, were of a far
higher character than those. For, as
they sat IN the presence of their friends.
two of them having their wives and chill.
dren- present, as they sat depressed in