The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1858-01-22
The twice Hanged.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENcH.1

Two Hen one older than the other, one til,
father and the other the son, both peasants
are jogging along the road into the town
mounted on couple Of ponies, which tro
at pace sufficiently agreeable, considering
they are only ponies bestrode by PEASANTS
"Shall We get there in time 2" asked tn,
son.
Yes; won't take place before two o'clock,
answered the father, "und it is only quar-.
ter past noon, by the stu"
1T is what l am very curious 10 see."
81 have no doubt you arc."
"And SO he is to be hung in the armor
he s,olei"
"Yes."
"Was the armor handsome 2"
"Magnificicnt, they say, embossed all
over with goId."
"And he was caught as he was making
away with it?"
"fes; you can comprehend that the ar
NOR was not to be carried off without ma.
king horrible claukiag and rattling. The
people in the chateau were awakened by the
noise they heard"
"And they arrested the fellow %
"Not Immediately ; they were in a fright
at first"
Afraid Of wkom 7"
'V ghost. This wrctched thief of un.
common strength, i.eId the armor in front
of bi'sa, in such way that his head WAS at
about the level Of the waist of the said ar
NOR, SO that ii appeared TO Ire Of gigantic
proportions in the corridor along which he
passed. Add to that harsh noise which
the cunning rascal male behind him, and
you can fancy what terror the Wallets were
in. Unfortunately for him, they went and
aroused the Seigueur Of La Piroche, who
cares straw for no man, either living or
dead, who simply, and without any ones
assistance, stopped the thief, and delivered
him mp, bound haud and foot, to his own
proper 5estice,"
"And his own proper justice?"
"Condemed him to bo hanged, clad in
the armor"
"Wherefore that clause in the sentence e.
because the Seigneur Of La Pirocle is
not only Il brave captain. buta man of sense
aHd spirit, who wants to obtain from this
just condemnation both an example from
others and a benefit for himself. Well, don't
you know that whatever has touched han
ged man becomes talisman for it's posses
sor? The Seigneur Of La Proche, there
fore, ordered the criminal to be clad in his
armor, that lie might take it back again af.
ter he was dead, and o have talisman in
our coming wars"
"Thats very clever stroke.'
81 should think so indeed.'
LET us push on then /; for I particularly
want to see this poor wretch hanged"
The father and son continued their Jour
ney, chatting rs they went, and half an hour
afterwards they reached La Piroche. There
was an immense concourse of people in the
grand sqnare in front of the chateon, for
there the scaffold was crccted-a very
handsome gallows, in truth, made Of superb
oak wood. The two companions got as
near as possible to the scaffoId, in order to
lose nothing Of the events that were about
to take place; and like everybody else, they
awaited the spectacle, with the advantage
of being mounted on pony back, and of see.
ing better, with less fatigue. Their sus-
pense was not of long duration.ss
At a quarter to two the gate of the chat
eau was opened, and the condemned man
appeared, preced by the gnards Of the Seig.
neur,. of La Piroche, and followed by the
executioner. The thief was in the armor
he had stolen, and was riding backwards
on an ASS without a saddle. His visor was
down, and he hung his head. He was led
close to the scaffoId, and picture that must
have been. anything but agreeable to his
feelings began to be sketched in upon the
azure back grounds.
&ihe hangman bad just set his ladder
leaning against the gallows, and the chap.
lian Of seigneur La Piroche, mondted on a
platform purposely prepared, yass reading
the sentence. The condemned man did
not stir. You would have said that b 6
bad played the spectators the scuryy trick
s.t dying before there was time to hapgSbim
They called out TO hidn to pct of b is as,
I and give himself up q the bsngnap. @He
Did az q not bulge an inch. We can understand
bis hesitation. Then the lhsnginan seized
him by elbows lifted him of shs .ass,s baSk
u and g ses5 him doWpeuptg pn the gtop6d
" hsn xe y say that 10 sssh down pn ll
sEright w spsak Tie .s,rhth q Bats swe ,l slions Ii
Eel a fslss ii6 thss III; N rsinaip q s