Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-12-22
HOW JOE WEAKENED.
I'M o,ad in the Detroit Free Press

food Of sunshine at noon day We had a village
Sixty strong and sturdy men were digging
into the base Of the black topped mountain in
search of silver.
Wewere not i'm luck. and though each man
was gloomy and discouraged, there was no
excuse for murder. We had banded together
10 share and share alike. and il fortune smiled
on one all would receive benefits.
One night when the days's toll of fifty seven
men yielded an estimate of only p. the miners
cursed and swore and felt like striking each
other. We were short of provisions, new tools
were needed, and the men turned in for the
night with a determination TO strike for some
other locality If the next days work should
exhibit like barren results.
AT midnight there was great cutlery. Ii
was not an Indian attack, as each miner an
ticipated when he rushed out, but a horrible
murder had been committed, and the muir
derer captured by one of the sentinels. A
miner named Joseph Swain. but hardly known
in camp by any other name than joe" occu-
pied tent in company with an old man
named Arnold. The two were on good terms.
but while Arnold had about $50 in gold coin.
acquired in other speculatiOns, Swain hadn't a
dollar outside of the common fund. The gold
was buried in the earth under the bed on
which the two slept. and Swain could not get
at il by night without arouSing his companion.
Had he secured il during the day and made
oil he would have been oyerhauled very
quickly, and his punishment nothing less than
hanging. Ii could be no more if he added
murder TO the robbery, and that night. when
we all felt 50 bitter against luck, and when
partners felt so much like striking each other
Joe swain murdered the man who had done
so much fer him. He was getting away with
the gold when halted. and though he made a
sharp night for liberty he was tied hand and
foot within five minutes after the first alarm
Arnold was dead, stabbed in three or four
places, and the gold was found in yoe's belt.
There was no show for the murd erer. He
could not even plead impulse or heat of pas
sion. Indeed, he was not the one To seek To
avoid consequences. He made a statement To
the effect that he had deliberately murdered
and robbed the good Old man. and added:
Now, boys. there's no use of a great fuss
over this matter. Put guard over me, and
the rest of YOU go back to your sleep. You'll
hang me, of course, and when morning comes
shall have request tn make. Shan't try 10
get away, and I'm not going TO play the baby
when the last hour comes"
Joe Swain was known among us as a game
man. He had fought MeXicanS, trailed In
dlanS and killed three or -four white rutfianS
who had made themselves a terror To certain
localities. Armed with his bowie knife he
would have been match for any four of us.
and II was owing to his presence more than
that Of any one else that our village was not
troubled with the roughs and gamblers who
attach themselves to other camps like leecheS.
Murder was crime that could not be pal
i ,ia,ea ma IN nining camp Had II been any
been in favor of letting Joe Jump the diggngs
and go unpublished. But when they looked i'm
the good Old man who had been like a father
10 all of them, each heart hardened against the
murderer, and each man said to the other:
Joe Swain must hang for this,''
There was no need of a trial. When he was
brought out after breakfast he said
boys, don't want any fuss over this thing.
Killed the old man, and il is your duty To
swing me up TO a limb. l knew what | was up
10, and knew I'd have TO stretch a rope if
couldn't get away. i don't deserve a kind
word and shan't look for any sympathy. The
request want to make is that you won't hang
me till sunset. know it's bad To have one OF
these affairs hanging around camp all day, but
yet 1t won't make no great difference to YOU as
long as you are working for almost nothing.
Now, then, all in favor of waiting till sunset To
hang me say aver
Aye shouted every man around him.
those opposed Will say nor
Not a voice was heard.
das ayes haye it, and to be hung at
half-a-dOZen letters, sleep for two or three
hours, and l hope you won't crowd i'm on me-
Select your tree, get your rope ready and
when the time comes I'll be on hand
III Joe had been captive in the hands of the
Indians. and was To be burned at the stake at
shutdown. every miner would have wagered
ms Qutilt that swain would have died game.
full death at the hands of men who had worked
and fought beside him for months most OF the
miners thought he'd take the moose without
the qulyer OF a muscle. but there were two or
three who said:
:" He is brave man. but when he takes his
last look around he will weaken
Before the day was four hours old there was
strange wager between two OF our men. LII
was rifle against rifle that Joe Swain would
show wOman's heart before he swung Off
The doomed man was left to himself all day
long strong guard was placed around his
tent, but no one entered il to interrupt the
work OF his last hours. The corpse of his vie
tlin was buried at the foot of the lone tree on
winch Joe was To swing, and as the six men
carrying the body passed near his tent the
murderer came out and stood with uncovered
mead 10 show his respect for the dead. He
full meal about mid-afternOOn. and half an
hour before shutdown he was ready. Before
starting Tor the tree, he said: After l am
there are to be forwarded as soon as cOnye-
nient. This is a shabby old suit of clothes TO
be hung in, but it's all had. and couldn't 60
are harrs the rope and
voice;
and well march along"
The man wasn't smiling His face was
pale. his eyes had an anxious look, and it was
formed, and Joe marched away for the tree as
steadily as soldier on parade. His hands
and feet were Tree. but as he halted beside the
old barrel, with the moose dangling above his
head, he said:
Boys, lie my hands behind my back, and
AFTER you lift me up tie my feet together. If
All though Ssng se If tins y9u get bad
When Joe stood on the BARREL, the moose
around his neck, the men fell back little. He
lVoheu lTOIl man 10 man Win steady eye,
glanced up at the limb, and then looked over
the heads of the men out upon the green
prairie. The sinking sun had filled the grass
with millions of sparkling jewels, a score of
antelope were trOtting along a mile away:
great birds were sailing towards the Rockies
with lazy wing; the flowers never seemed so
thick and beautiful as then.
For minute We all looked southwark, and
there was something I'm the vision that soft
ened every heart.
When We looked up at Joe again we hardly
knew him. All the hard lines had melted out
of his face his eyes were full of tears, and there
was sob in his throat, as he turned and
whispered:
Don't blame me, boys-it is my last look
on earth! Now, do your duty!''
Not man mOved-nOt a man could move.
Taking a swift glance over the prairie and
another up the mountain SIDE Joe softly said:
God forgive me that l was not better
man.
He fell forwards off the barrel, his own exc
cutiOner, and no man dared look up, until the
body hung limp and lifeless.
Joe had weakened, and those who had bet
on his game" had lost. Yet, when We talked
it over in low voices at the campfire, we
agreed that brave JOe's bravest act of life
time was shown when the tenderness was al
lowed to creep into his heart and his eyes to
fill with tearS-When he proved to lis that he