West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1878-01-26

murderer. He could. not even plead inn.
pulse or heat OF passion. Indeed he
was not the one 10 seek to avoid conse.
quences. BE made a statement To the
effect that he had deliberately murdered
and robbed the good man, t.nd added:
Now, boys, there's no use in a great
fuss over the matter. Put a guard over
me, and the ret of you go back TO your
sleep You'll hang me, of course, and
when morning comes / shall have a re
quest 10 make. L sha mt try 10 get away.
and I'm not going to lay the baby when
the last hour comes"
Joe Swain was known among us as n
game man. He had fought Mexicans.
trailed Indians and iuilled three or four
white rufhans who ha,l made themselves
n terror 10 certain localities. Armed
1 with his bowie-knife he would have been
a match for any four of us, and il was
owing to his presence more than that of
any one else that our village was not
troubled with the roughs and gamblers
who attached themselves to other camps
like lecches.
Murder was a crime that could not be
palliateG in a mining camp. Had il
been any thing else a ~ alority of the
men would have been in favor of letting
Joe jump the diggings and go unpun-
ished. But when they looked in on the
white-faced and blood-stained corpse of
! the good old man who had been like n
father TO all of them, eac h heart hard
ened against the murde rer, and each
man said to the other:
Joe Swain must hang for this"
There was no need of trial When
he was brought out after breakfast he
said:
Boys, / don't want any fuss over
l this thing. j killed the old man, and il
is your duty TO swing me up to limb.
knew what / was up to- and knew I'd
have TO stretch rope if | couldn't get
! away. / 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 it 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 ayew
"AyeP shouted every man around
! him.
Those opposed will say nop'
Not n voice was heard.
The ayes have it, and am to be
! hung at sundown,' continued Joe. 81
want to write half-a-doEen letters, sleep
TIVE or three hours, and / hope you
won't crowd in on me. Select your tree,
| get your rope ready, and when the time
comes I'll be on hand"
| If Joe had been a captivein in the hands
of Indians, and WIS to be burned at the
stake at sundown every miner would
! have wagered his outfit that Swain
would have died game. In this case,
where he was to meet a disgraceful
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 culver
of muscle, but there were two or three
who said:
"He is a brave man, but when he
takes his last look around he will
weaken"
Before the day was four hours old
there wasa strange wager between two of
our men. 1t was rifle against rifle that Joe
Swain would show a woman's heart be-
fore he swung off.
The doomed man was left to himself
all day long. A strong guard was
placed around his tent, but no one en-
| tered it to interrupt the work of his last
hours. The corpse of his victim was
buried at the foot of the lone tree on
which Joe was 10 swing, and as the six
men carrying the body passed near his
tent the murderer came out and stood
with uncovered head to show his respect
for the dead. He wrote five letters,
drew up brief will, ate full meal
about mid-afternoon, and half an hour
before sundown he was ready. Before
starting for the tree he said "After /
a vufl GvI
letters in there are TO be forwarded as
soon as convenient. This is n shabby
old suit of clothes TO be hung in, but
it's all i had, and / couldn't go round
borrowing. Have you got the rope and
barrel readyP
eyes, everything is all ready" replied
a voice.
"Thats right" said Joe. "Now.
then, form in procession, give me a most
conspicuous place, and march along"
The man wasn't smiling. His face
was pale, his eyes had an anxious look,
and il was plain enough that he realized
the grimness of his last hour on earth.
4 The procession was formed, and Joe
marched away for the tree as steadily a.
n soldier on parade. His hand and feet
were free, but as he halted beside theold
barrel, with the moose dangling above
his head, he said:
Boys, tie my hands behind my back.
and after you lift me up, tie my feet to-
gether. If you make a bungle Of this
you'll get bad name all through the
diggings."
When Joe stood on the barrel, the moose
around his neck, the men fell back little.
He looked from man 10 man with
steady eye, glanced up at the limb, and
then looked over the heads of the men
on the green prairie. The sinking sun
had filed the grass with millions of
sparkling jewels. A score of antelope
were trOtting along mile away; great
birds were sailing toward the Rockies
with lazy wing; the flowers never
seemed 80 thick and beautiful rs then.
For minute we all looked south
ward, and there was something in the
vision that softened every heart
When we looked up at Joe again, we
hardly knew him. All the hard lines
bad melted out Of his face his eyes were
full Of tears, and there was a 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 q man mOved-nOt a man couId