The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1883-01-18


as little to fear as the individual
p who regarded his purse as trash.
At the sound of his voice there
came menacing murmur assfrom
; an angry crowd of men without.
) What does that mean? He sat
up and watched his hostess light a
candle, and rather TREMENDOUSLY open
, the door, calling out at the same
time, in a sharp, defiant key:
what brings anybody here at
this unreasonable hour, to skeer
honest folks out of their senses?"
We've nothing to say to you
we want your sonr' was the grufiiy
j spoken reply. -
= ssWant my son? Lord-a-mercy T
i haint SGT my eyes on him in three
months.n
Come, old woman, that won't do.
| He was seen to stop here tonight.
j He is fairly freed, and might as sNsa
come down. 81 Z -
1 My father, divining the mistake
| that had been made, now steppedt to-
the door for the purpose of correct
ing it. By the light of lanterns and
torches, made of hickory bark,
which they carried, he could dimly
descry a considerable number Of
men assembled in front of the cabin
some on foot, others on horse
back, most of them armed with guns
or stout clubs. 4
Being somewhat confused by the
novelty of his position, my worthy
father not unnaturally fell into the
formal preaching tone much affected
by ministers of that day, and, from
force of habit, addressed his hearers
as ''brethren," explaining that he
was minister of the Presbyterian
Church, who, being overtaken by
darkness on a strange road, had
found shelter with the good SISTER,
and that there was no other person
in the house.
| Altogether, the speech sounded |
not unlike crude imitation of the
ministerial style; and as such il
was evidently received by the crowd
with yells and hootings. n
Baked in finding what they
sought, they were bent on doing !
mischief of some sort. /
Just then, by an unlucky chance
some one happened to bring round
the pretended parsons horse, a tall
brown quadruped of good locomo-
tive powers, which the owner had
recently purchased of a dealer in
Cincinnati, but which three or four
persons at once declared to have
been stolen from an adjoining neigh
borhood within month past.
The young scapegrace, whom
they had come out to seek, had t
been suspected of the theft; and
this canting parson was doubtless
an accomplice. Il
/ Prompt action was at once taken.
An impromptu jury was hastily
selected by the leaders of the mob,
which, retiring to the interior of thu
cabin, examined witnesses as to the
identity of tlrc-horse.. Examined the
prisoner with steadily increasing
incredulity, and, after ten minutes
deliberation, brought in verdict of
guilty, and recommended summary
punishment.
They meant hanging before day
light.
Strange as it may seem, the situa
ton was critical; the men here as
sembled were the scum of no more
than semi-civilized society, belong
ing to the lowest type of southern
whites-lank- haired, tallow-faced
fellows, whose ideal existence would
have consisted of chewing tobacco,
drinking whisky, and celebrating
the fouth of July perennlally. In
all new settlements, moreover, the
horse-thief is, next to the cold |
blooded murderer, the criminal most
detested, because most dresded.
This community, in particular, had
been of late specially exasperated
against this class by series of
losses from that cause.
The verdict was, therefore, re-
ceived with yell of appreciation.
The leaders consulted together a
few moments, then announced to
their prisoner that he must prepare
to die.
To his remonstrances and ex-
plantations they gave no heed, and
less, if possible, to the outcries of
the old dame, who stood his fast
friend. They were all hot from a
neighboring grogeery, where the
whole scheme had been Matched,
and were about as venomous and
unreasoning as so many reused
rattlesnakes.
The preparations were terribly I
brief and simple. A spreading
beech-tree was selected Just on the I
edge of the clearing. The prisoner
was conducted thither, his arms Sc
curely bound behind him-the fatal |
moose adjusted.
Then one of the leaders, who |
seemed trifle less brutal than his
companions, held up his watch to |
the light of lantern, and said:
at now lacks ten minutes to two.
These ten minutes are all of life
that is left you. You will do well
to spend them in seeking mercy
hereafter for here it will not be
granted"
In the dead pause that ensued,
| some human brute called out:
eff yer preacher, give US taste
of yer prayin' talentsF
Even in that laWless assembly
the coarse jest awoke muttered
/ dissent. 1 have heard my father
say often, that even in that trying
1 hour the incident brought to his
| mind the scene of like lawless VIC
Ience long ago, when 'sthey that
passed by wagged their heads and
! rallied on Him." and something of
| that Divine Sufferers spirit must
have flowed in upon him with the
recollection; for when there was
again silence, in calm, mistaken
voice, he began to pray aloud, for
his enemies not less than himself.
i He had always been, as a minis
. ter. remarkable for fervency in
PRAYER and now all the intense
emotions of this supreme moment
found its eloquent expression. As
he went on, his tone gathered
strength, his face lighted up, his
whole soul seemed to rise superior
| IN the naltrv considerations of self