The Republican journal., 1875-02-04

have been able to look from his window
on the public square, some hundred yards
away, with the gigantic figure ofits bronze
soldier-sentinel casting a gnOmOn- shadow
on the great white dial-plate of the square
below. The shadow heightened till the
fantastic Silhouette of the bronze sol
dier's head stretched to the very curb
stone of the square on the east, and was
broken Cup by an irregular patch OF dark
ness by the heaped-up ice in the frozen
gutter. The clock struck 2 about that
time; and a Waterman, Levi Durham,
passed by the court house to the square
His solitary, stalwart figure might have
made the prisoners heart beat more easily,
tor he now saw in the policeman only
protector. The figure crossed the square
and got its shadow horribly mixed up with
the shadow of the brass soldiers and hnal-
" disappeared around the opposite corner,
trailing its shadow behind it. The clock
struck three; the voices of the guards in
the next room became hushed; the light
that streamed under the prisoners door
from the lanterns without became dim
mer; the head of the sentry's shadow be-
can to poke itself into the lower windows
| of the houses on the east side of the square.
And at last the moon dropped behind the
town, and the great shadow of night came
over everything, and the brass soldiers
head alone became distinctly visible
against the sky Perhaps the prisoner
wondered why that Waterman hadn't come
back That wStchman was tied hand ana
foot before the clock struck four, and its
tones had not died away before the pris-
oners heart must have leaped into his
mouth with fear The alley in rear OF the
court house was echoing the solld tramp
Of an organized band of men. Before the
| guards were awakened from their doze
| the ygilants were at the door beloW-32
| black masks. and one white one. The
white mask led Six carried heavy oak
en- beam I'VE want the prisoner" said
| the White Mask. through speaking trunl-
pet No answer Numbers One, Two,
Three Four, Five and Six, step to the
| 'front.' ordered the White Mask. The
battering ram was carried to the door,
and the prisoner again demanded i'll vain,
| Then the door was driven in, with its
frame, by one vigorous blow; and Is
maskcrs went up stairs, to encounter the
guards. They were oyerpowered and
bound almost instantly, and the leader
called again; Number SevenH'
Number seven Immediately placed a
cold chisel against the outer lock OF the
prisoners cell. Then number eight was
called and stepped out with a sledge, In
! five minutes the prisoner was dragged out
OF his cell, bound and carried down stairs
He uttered but one hdeous. long-drawn
groan OF fear when they dragged him out
Of the cage. Meantime 4 number OF the
! band had posted themselves as guards at
! I,, ont, To, IF I'd
ran across the road to the hat store. and
returned with a dry goods box, which he
| placed under magnolia tree in front OF
the court house, being the second tree to
the left of the entrance, on North Main
street To this the prisoner was brought
and placed standing upon it with the moose
round his neck, while the leader pulled
out his watch, a handsome gold tme-piece,
which cleaned in the light of the lantern
he bore, and exclaimed, ''prisoner, You
have two minutes to pray" Then Num-
ber Nine climbed the tree, fastened the
other end OF the rope to Il strong forked
branch. The prisoner mOaned out. ''Oh,
Jesus. have pity on my soul, and relapsed
| into silence. Then the six men reappearetl
with the battering-ram the leader gave
the signal, "One, two, three; the box
was knocked from beneath the Wretch's
feet; the body turned round once or twice
in the air. and the world was morally
clearer than it had been sixty seconds pre-
ViouslN. 10 enter the yard burst in the
jail gate and cell doors; overpower and
bind the guards; bind the prisoner and
hang, occupied only thirteen minutes,
| showing what an excellent thing a Mon
tana education is. A crowd had by this
time collected, and attempted to enter,
but were driven to the other side OF the
street at the muzzle of 80 REVIEWERS Fit
teen minutes later the leader called the
roll by numbers, to which every man an
swered, Here, " and the band marched
off, two by two, with the white mask at
their head, the same way they had come
None dared to follow them. About two
| O'Clock the body was buried, the afternoon
inquest having resulted in a satisfactory
verdict of death by hanging, at the hands
ct parties unknown" 1t is said that sev-
eral Of the vigilants Were themselves on
the coroner's jury.