St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-08-14

an innocent man. have done nothing
wrong that / know of, and if / have in
suited one of you Pm willing to have
my fight with him. At any rate, if Pm
going to be hanged tell me what it's
fOr.'
Oh you, you know well enough
what it's fOr,'' one of them said. You
robbed Red Jim's shebang last night
There's no use saying you didn't. for
we found the money on you.
n you've or re g0d any Fast prayers hat vd to
want to send any message to. you'd
better hurry up about it, for we're going
to string you up in just two minutes"
Pm not going to tell you how pleaded
for my life, for it might not sound we'll:
but l was badly scared man, and l
think / was excusable for being scared.
Almost any man would be moved if he
were standing under tree on dark
night with moose around his neck and
q dozen angry men with SlX-shOOterS
standing round waiting to hoist him into
erward. When l fully understood that
a robbery had been committed and that
four $40 bills had been taken from Red
Jim's money drawer, and that they had
found four $50 bills in my possession
when they searched me. l was nom
plussed. This to them was conclusive evil
dence that / was the burglar. and
they were going to lose no time in ad-
ministering hasty border justice. l told
them that had gone to bed early and
knew nothing about the burglary, but
they only jeered at me and prepared to
pull the rope. And pull it they did
1nf I'M ,,,1
with jerk that almost took my head off,
and in second | was hanging between
heaven and earth.
How did | feel? Stars! | guess l
saw few million of them, besides COM
cts, and moons, and suns, and red lights,
and blue lights, and green lights, and
lights of more cOlorS than ever knew
existed before. MY head seemed to go
round like top. and 1 could hear
buZZing, and roaring, and rumblng as
though locomotive and train Of freight
cars were running race with cannon
ball passenger train on the inside of my
scalp. The time seemed an eternity to
me. although it could have been not
more than few seconds that l was SuS-
pended thus.
Frightful Experience.
Then they let me down. That seems
the worst part of it. felt myself fall
ing, falling, falling; it seemed about a
thousand miles. And then / struck the
earth with crash, as though the two
trains l felt in my head had come to-
gether III collision. And then came the
pain in my neck. | was choking and
gasping for breath. and felt as though
an iron band not more than six
inches III circumference had been
rivited around my throat. | could
feel the thrOb, throb of the blood
as my heart strove to force it up
loosened the moose. | think now know
something about what a man must feel
in a stroke of appOpleXy. The blood
rushed and surged into my brain with
noise as though my head was rocky
coast and the mountain pillows Of the
stormy sea were beating upon it. Then
/ heard voices.
"Give him another chance. boys, and |
maybe he'll tell us who helped him." l
heard some one say.
They gave me drink of whiskey. 1t
burned my THROAT like fire and brought
me back to consciousness. Accomplish,
thought. Why do not know, but it
made me think of the tall stranger with |
whom | slept the night before. Huski- !
ly and blindly, for l could not see |
thing. and my eyeballS seemed starting
from my head, 1 told them about the
tall stranger who had slept with me the
night before.
"Giye me chance to find him."
said, land can prove that l never left
my room all night
That was all 1 could say. and l said it
over and over again. But they only
laughed at me, and the command was
given to ''String him up again If he
won't confess: we've spent enough
time over him." mingled with Oaths.
gave up then and knew l must die. 1t
was strange, but | did not think of the !
injustice of the act then nor of the death |
l was to die away from home and |
friends. Indeed, l do not remember |
that l thought of anything.
Then the moose frightened and up |
went again: You have heard how. when
men are dying, vision of their life |
flashes over their brains-childhood, |
youth. manhood, all the acts they have |
committed, the good and the wrong they |
have done-in short, their whole life /
passes in a panorama. Well, this was |
not my experience. l felt the tighten |
ing of the band again around my throat, |
the rush of the railroad trains as |
they tore madlv around inside my !
skull, and then again shock as
though of terrific collision. My |
uSAt SSuSdCiOtl l Cali udlOAy dCSCllOC W
you. 1t was as though were floating,
not evenly through the air, but as
though l were on soft pillows, which
were moving me up and down and along
with soft, easy, graceful, slumbering
and l felt sensation of
quiet and soothing as though l were
being rocked gently to sleep. That is
all there was to it. l don't remember
anything more-that is, not for several
days aftcrward. What else occurred on
that night can only tell you from what
l heard when got well.
Found the Tall Man.
1t seems that when the men had
drawn their revolvers to fire at me as l
swung at the other end of the rope some
one of them remembered having seen
the tall stranger of whom had spoken,
and whose height made him remarkable.
He had suggested that they let me
down again and endeavor to verify my
If had lied to-them he said
they would have another hanging bee.
They did this and took me back to the
hotel, still insensible. Then they vent
off to the mine l had mentioned with
For dow IT, /