The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-12-16

Drutaly. "Seilm was worth nve thousand uoiiarsi
and L had that sum bet on him for the next race,
and l see you have ridden him to death. Men, tie
the rascal, and let us be off with him."
"Stay!' cried Juliet, blushing like scarlet
Colonel Banks. will pay you at your OWN valua-
ton"
"No,' exclaimed the other. and his features
writhed with demoniac rage. "I understand now
why you discarded me, and made choice of this beg
gar and thief; but, by Heaven he shall swing"
John Fitch was Immediately arrested and carried
away to the Jail Of Iredell county, and the ensuing
week was tried. The evidence being fully presented,
the judge, who happened to be n particular friend of
the prosecutor. charged strongly that the defence set
up, furnished no legal justification, and the jury ac-
cordingly returned a verdict of guilty, but with an
urgent recommendation of mercy to the executive.
The Court then passed the sentence of death in
form-fors such was, at that time, the horrible pun
ishment for horse-stealing-and, as if to deprive the
prisoner of all hope, fixed the day of doom for the fol-
lowing Friday, thus allowing insufficient time for
application to the Governor in accordance with the
wishes Of the merciful p anel.
The proud and beautiful Juliet had listened to the
whole proceedings without any signs of extraordinary
emotion, save the death-like paleness of her features;
but as soon as the final and fatal result had been an
nounced, she dispatched q trusty messenger to the
capital of the State, with a certified copy Of the YER
dict and a powerful petition, signed by all the men,
bers Of the bar and most influential citizens, entreat-
ing for the pardon of the juvenile convict, although
it seemed nearly impossible that a response could be
obtained in season to prevent the execution.
Still EDWARDS, as ever, rolled the terrible %triumphal
car of all conquering Time, moving on those viewless
wheels of irresistible destiny, silent as the sepulchre,
soft as the fall of a rose leaf and yet strong enough to
crush all hearts, and crumble into dust the granite
of worlds.
The day of doom arrived, and long before the APP
pointed hour, an immense multitude collected to wit
ness the CHASTITY spectacle. Early in the morning, a
strange scene had been enacted in the prison. The
young lovers-the poor felon and the wealthy heiress
were welded indissolubly for life; hut, oh how
brief must be that life for enc, when the last light Of
evening would shine on his grave! 1t was remarked
by the holy minister who oficiated at the mournful
ceremony, that when the bride uttered her assent,
she added to the usual laconic response, in tones of
the deepest fervor-" Forever and ever, here and
hereafter 2"
At length the crowd of thousands swayed to and
fro, and murmured like a sea swept by a strong wind.
The sheriff appeared with the convict, on the scatfold,
while the weeping Juliet, fated to be a widow almost
as soon as a wife, took her place in a covered car
rage near by 1t would be a species of proclamation
to imagine her feelings. much more to describe them
in the weak words of human language.
The prisoner, standing erect, firm, and fearless as
some mighty warrior in the crisis of a great battle,
offered a brief address, representing the sorrowful
story of his misfortunes rather than crime, with a
pathos and eloquence that drew tears from every
virtuous eye, and filled hundreds of hearts with fury
at the cruel spirit of his prosecutors.
Finally, the signal was given, and John Fitch hung
vibrating, a thing of horror, in the golden sunshine,
sufocating for breath in Gods beautiful, boundless
air. At the end of the proper period, when all to-
kens of vitality became extinct, they cut him down,
and the bereaved young widow sprang from her COW
cred carriage and rushing forward. cried wildly-'I
am his wife and claim his corpse"
The sheriff hesitated, when the brutal voice of COL
onel Banks vociferated-" You dare not grant her
req nest, for according to the sentence, the body must
no given m a surgeon. and here stands the doctor
ready to receive it."
"Do you hear the man-6end. Oh, We sons who
have drawn milk of loving mothers,-ye husbands,
whe have fond wives at your happy homes do you
baar this mur1er0uS monster. that iDSplfc the affpc.
ton of the living and wars with the ashes of the dead ?
Away with him to the hell which his presence would
pollutei'' exclaimed Juliet, with lightning in her
looks. and in tones that rang above the clamor of the
crowd like the blast of a trumpet in battle.
The effect was magical. The long pent-up wrath
of the multitude broke forth in a shout as appalling
as thunder. Some placed the body in the widows
while she leaped in beside, and the black
driver urged his four horses the speed Of the whirl-
wind. At the same instant, others overpowered the
sheriff and his posse, and shut them up in their own
Jail. But the majority CT the frenzied throng vented
their rage upon the ruthless gambler, Col. Banks.
The pillows of the ocean OF angry forms rolled over
him, yelling like beasts of prey. They pulled him
hither and thither in different directions, literally
trampling out the last spark of life, and then hung
his frightful corpse on the gallows.
In the meantime the covered carriage flew Onwards
toward the distant mountain of the Blue Ridge, and
within an hour, by bleeding and employing other
skillful means, the brave wife succeeded in resuscita-
ting her beloved husband from the very jaws of the
remorseless monster, her almighty love thus defying
defeating the grim Demon phantom, Death, which
she had sworn in the morning should never divide
them, either " here or hereafter"
John Fitch was seen no more in Carolina, but the
father of the writer, who was present at his execu-
ton, met him afterwards in Tennessee. to which State
beautiful Juliet moved with him a few days sub
to the catastrophe, and, indeed, as the par
don of the Governor came on in due time, there re-
mained no motive for c~oncealment, and the fact of
the singular resurrection in a short time TRANSFERRED,
to the great joy and intense wonder of the very peo-
pie who had seen him drop, as it were, from the gal
lows into the grave