The Republican journal., 1869-10-28

|
ing no doubt in their own minds. they were
willing to give the prisoner the benefit O any
that might exist. Secure in the hyrothcsis
that he ought to be hanged, on general prjn-
ciples, they ndulged him with more latitude
Of defence than his reckless hardness seem
ed to ask The Judge appeared to be more
anxious than the prisoner, who. otherwise
unconcerncd, evidently took grim pleasure
in the responsibility he had created II don't
take any hand in this yer game had been
his invarable but good-humored reply to all
questions. The Judge-whO was also his
captor-for a moment vaguely regretted that
he had not Shot him ION sight thai morning
but presently dismissed this human weakness;
Us unworthy of the judicial mind. Nevcrhc-
less, when there was n tap at the door. and
it was said that Iennesscc's Partner Was thcre
on behalf Of the prisoner, he was admitted
at once without question. Perhaps the young
er members Of the jury, to whom the procced-
ngs We're becoming irksomely thoughtful
hailed linn as u relief.
For he was not EVIDENTLY an impoSin"
figure. Short and stout, with IL square face
sunbuIned into pretcrnaklal rcdnrss clad
in a loose duck ''jumpcr'' and trowsers streak
ed ana spltshcd With retlYoli. his aspect un-
der amy circumstances would have been
quaint, and was now even ridiculous. As he
stopped to deposit at his feet heavy carpet
bag he was carrying, ii became obyious,
from partially developed legends and inscrip-
tons that the material With which his trows-
ers had been patched had been originally in
tended for a less ambitions covrriny Yet
he advanced with great gravity, and, after
having shaken the hand Of each person in the
room with lahorcd corlillity, hp wiped his
serious perplcXed face on Il red han,lana
handkerchief, a shade lighter than his COM
pleNon, laid his powerful hand upon the
table to steady himself, and thus addressed
the Judge:
Il was paasin hy," hc began, by way of
apology, 'and thought Ill Just step in ana
see how things was @ttin along with Ten
nessec thar-my Partner. It's II hot night
disremcmber any ~ich weather before on
the Bar
He paused Il moment, bet nobody volun-
teering any other meteorological recollection,
he again had recourse to his ockct-handler-
chief, and lor some moments moppcl his face
diligently.
''llave You anything to say in behalf OF the
prisoncr? said the Judge, finally.
'Thet's it, said Tennc4set's Partner, in Il
tone Of relief, 81 come yar as Tennessce's
misunderstanding him nigh ON four year, off
and on, wet and dry, in luck on out o luck
His ways amt alters my ways, but thar amt
any p'ints in that young man-tllar amt any
llVclincss rs he's been up to--aS | don't know
And you sez to me, sen -conlilential-lk like,
and between man and mHn-sez you, 10 YOU
know anything in bis bchalf?7 and sen to
you, scz I--conGdencc-likc rs between man
and man--What should man know Of lis
pardncr?" ?"
''Is that all you have to say o. asked the
Judge, impatiently, feeling perhaps, that Il
dangerous sympathy Of humor was beginning
to humanlze the Court.
"Thet'S so, continued TenneHSees Partner
1T aint for me to say anything again him,
And now, whats the ease? Heres Tcnnes-
see wants money, wants it bad, and doSen't
like to ask it of his old pardncr Well, what
does Tennessee do? lie LAYS for u stranger,
and he lctches that stranger. And You lav
for him, and you tetchcs that him; and the
honors is easy. And put it to you--bein' u
fail -mindedman-andto to y"n gentleman, all,
rs fairmlmded men, cl this isn't 50 y
''prisoner," said the Judge, intcrrupting,
"haye you any questions to ask this man -
.'No! no!n continued Tcnne>sec's Partner,
hastily, Il play this Yer hand alone To
come down to the bcd-roc1 it's lust this
Tennessee, thar, has played ii pretty rough
and eXpensivc-like on 4 stranger and on this
yer camp. And now, what's the fair thing?
Some would say more; some would Say less
Here's seventeen hundred dollars in coarse
gold and Il Watcl-it's about all my pile--and
call it square" And before a hand could hc
raised to prevent him, he had emptied the
contents of the carpet-ba@ upon the table
For Il moment his life was in leopard. One
or two men Sprang to their feet several hands
CROPPED for hidden weapons and Il suomcs-
ton to ''throw him from the windows was
only ovcr-rdden by a gesture from the Judge.
Tennessee laughed. And apparently obIivi-
Gus Of the excitement, Tcme>@ec's Partner
improved the opportunity to mop his face
again with his handkerchief
When order was restored ;md the man
was made to understand Ly the use Of iorc-
bic figures and rhetoric that Icnncssces of
fence could not be condoned by money his
face took 4 more serious and sanguinarv hue,
and those who We're nearest to him noticed
that his rough hand trcmblcd Slightly on the
table. He hesilated Il moment rs he slowly
returned the gold to The carpet-bag, i. if he
had not yet entirely caught the elevated sense
of Justice which swaycd the tribunal and
was pcrplcxed with the belief that he had
not offered enough. Then hc turned to the
Judge, and saying, ''rhis yer is u lone hand
played alone and without amy par,ner," he
bowed to the jury and was about To- Withdraw
when the Judge called him back. ''lf you
have anything to say to Tennessee, you had
better say ii now" For the first time that
evening the eyes Of the prisoner and his
strange advocate met Tennessee smiled,
showed his white teeth, and saying, 81 Just
dropped in As | was passin to see how things
was gcttin' on" LET the hand pasSively fall,
and adding that sit was Il warm night, f"
again mopped his face with his handkerchief
and without another word withdrew.
The two men never again met cachother
alive.
For the unparalleled insult Of a hribe Of
fered to Judge Lynch-who, meteorological,
weak, or narrow, was ut least incorruptihle
firmly fixed in the mind Of that mythical
parsonage any wavcring determination off
Tennessee's fate; and at the break of day he
was marched, closely guarded, to meet it at
the top of Marley's Hill.
How he met it, how cool he was how he
refused to say anything, how perfect were the
arrangements of the committee, were all duly
the addition of 4 warning
moral and example to all future cyil-doers-
in the Red Dog Clarion by its editor, who
was present, and to whose vigorous English
| cheerfully refer the reader But the beauty
of that midsummer morning, the blessed
amitv of earth and air and sky, the awakened
life of the free woods and hills, the joyous
renewal and promise Of Nature, and above
all. the infinite serenity that thrilled though
each, was not reported, us not being part of