The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-09-23

WOru, a.,
a hricr discussion ensucd upon whether
il would he best to hang Sing 10y at once OF
carry him back TO Thurbcr'S rancho. lie dlC
not even INQUIRE why they proposed to hang
him II WAS determined to take HIM back
and then the question arose how he was to b'
carried.
and wnen his "horsee' was brought out it wa
a, once recognized as ThurDer's property
After that, taking him back seemed supertu
Gus Formally Still, it was decided that II
would be in better form to do so. His hand.
were tied behind his back, his legs fastened
together under the horse, and mounted man
on each side held the bride. Two vel
mounted and armed men rode behind him
two others in front. Thus formed, the little
cortege, in grim silence, dashed away IN the
darkness and pelting rain.
Not until the echoes OF the horses hoois
had died away in the distance did one Of Sing
| Lows late companions venture to draw u full
breath, murmur an audible prayer of thanks
giving to the Joss for his marvellous escape,
or feel his cherished pigtal to assure himself
that the barbarians had let 1t intact. Then
all at once a torrent of jabber broke forth ov'
! er this new illustration OF the lnsCrutable
WAYS of the awesome Mclean man That
Sing Loy had gone to be gathered To his faith
ers no one doubted for an instant, but no one
! was rash enough to PROFOUND any theory to
| account for his personal calamity. SO they
calmly burned some red paper under joss
nostrils thereby conveniently offering up
their prayers for the benefit OF the departed
one, and their sqaeaky fiddles sounded again,
perhaps little more dismally than they did
before.
Sing Logs captors rode late and hard
They stopped for breakfast and to change
horses at the house of one of their number,
and at an early hour the next day drew rem
before Thurber's house, In all their ride
Sing I.oy said never word. They had given
him some breakfast, and he had eaten 1t in
silence Then they had trussed him up again
on horseback and galloped on, without his
ever inqurng why they treated him so.
Dick Tremain was sA!l alive. lie had
slept most of the intervening time, but IN his
waxing intervals still whispered ieebly, Sing
10y! Sing 10y"
they placed the Chinaman before him, but
there was no light OF recognition in his eyes
Sing 10y seemed Mortified when he saw the
corpse Of Mr.. Thurber and the mangled head
of Dick. In his excitement he forgot what
little English he knew, and began to jabber
Chinese volubly.
"Shut your Did gibberish," ordered
one of his captors; "you did it--you know
you did"
The poor Chinaman called upon his gods
to witness that he did not. They searched
HIM. In an inside pocket OF his blouse they
found blood stains
"That is where he carried his knife after
he cut their throats," suggested some one in
the party.
He declared that they came from chicken
which he confessed to have stolen and killed
to add to the feast of his friends; but the
knife theory was most sensational, and no one
believed his story.
In another pocket was found some loose
silver, among which was Prussian thaler,
marked with triangular stamp, which was
identified as belonglngto Dick Tremain, who
had kept it for some time Us pocket piece,
and had shown it to several friends. Finally,
the having of one of Mr.. Thurber's horses IN
his possession was deemed conclusive evi
dence of robbery having supplemented his
greater crime Of murder, and by the crowd
now gathered at the Thurber rancho it was
resolved that Sing 10y should
die, Sending him anywhere to undergo trial
would be- they thought, waste of time, so
they simply ran out IA beam from u little loft
window at one end Of tho house, AM strung.
up to it, by rope lariat about his neck the
luthlNSo NAiiS iipiii ihi Nh'haC
While his execution was being accomplish.
ed, some Of the younger and more eXcltable
men present seriously proposed going over to-
the Chinese camp and "cleaning it OUT a.
programme which would very probably have
found general favor had the sun continued toI
shine all day, but rain storm dampened the
ardor Of the crowd so far that the sixty mile
ride to the Chinese camp and back seemed
lnadvisable
a week elapsed before Dick Tremaln began
to show signs of regaining consciousness and
Then his rugged constitution rap
idly asserted itself, and In few days more
he was sufficiently recovered TO sit up and
converse
As soon Gs this time came, they told him
what had been done, and learned IN return, to
their great establishment and regret, that they
had hanged the wrong man. Sing 10y, he
said, was a good honest faithful boy, who
had gone off, by Mr. Thurber's permission, to
spend his holidays with his friends at the
Chinese camps. Mr.. Thurber had willingly
lent HIM the horse which was found in HIS
possession, and had paid HIM his wages in
full up to date, that he might have good
time among his friends. He Dick had also
made the poor fellow present Of the silver
thaler found in his pocket AS for the
~h''N'h oN'l Nv was Iui'S "I'iHS w DCliNNN
it true, IS he had very little confidence in a
Chinaman having much respect for rights of
property in fowls about that season of the
year.
His story was that Sing 10y had left the
rancho after supper, riding Mr.. Thurber's
horse, the night OF the tragic occurrence.
That about two hours after his departure n
hall. breed Mexican, named Antonio Garcilias,
who had worked for Mr. Thurbcr the summer
before in the shearing season, applied for
shelter for the night, and thai his request was
granted by Mr.. Thurber. When bedtime
came Antonio was given cot in Dicks
room. The next thing dlCk knew he was
awakened by dull, stunning pain In his
head, and looking up he saw Antonio stand.
ing over him with some weapon raised tel
strike aim He forgot that Sing 10y, whose
little room was .ust adjoining his, had gone
away, and tried TO call him, but could not
move or call loudly, and then all conscious
ness was blo,tcd out 10y another savage blow
on the head Then, tor eleven days, he knew
natbinr rburbpr's death his ,,,,, a., .