The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-07-17
THE MOB

A man leaning against lamp post
on a street corner, sullen and moody
and a dangerous look in his eyes. If
one had but known his thoughts he
would have compared him to the dull,
red coal left behind in the hunters
camp fire, to be blown out into the dry
grass by gust of wind, and to start
conhagration which would sweep over
miles OF forest.
"The law The law Curse the
law he growled as he souched on,
but halted a few rods away to greet
another of his ilk.
"Who says we must wait for the
law?"
"Lets lynch him"
The second man is the fame start.
ing the live coal. That fame could
be trampled out by hunters foot now,
but there is no one at hand to realize
the danger. %,
"Lawl Law! Why, the lawyers will
luggle Win the law, anu ~ VIZ Q ~ -
we are the law in the case OF such
wretches as he"
The voice of the third man fans the
flame, and it spreads out among the
drv leaves. A hunters blanket would
cover it, but it is creeping with fearful
rapidity.
"Away with the law and bring us a
rope Lynch law is what we want
here
The fame is darling out a thousand
tongues now as it races before the wind
"a wave of fame which lengthens like
a SERPENT stretching itself in the noon
day sun, and which lifts its crest higher
and higher as it finds richer fuel Not
one man now, but ten, twenty, nifty
They do not scatter to spread the
news, but other men come to them
There is a strange magnetism about
crowd-a crowd which whispers and
mutters and menaces. 1t draws out
the householder, though he has heard
nothing. 1t draws the vagibond from
his bed in a box in the alley though
he has seen nothing, Men come to 1t
through court and alley--from cham
bers above and cellars beneath
"Move on to the jail
There are no shouting and hurrah-
ing, no pushing and hurrying. There,
in lies the menace. Men speak as they
press on, but their words do not float
up to the open chamber windows n >
one has been selected to lead, but
there is a leader. When he issued his
first command, all obeyed without
question. A something in his look
and tone put him at the head OF the
mob. Turn to the lett--turn to the
right--straight on for two blocks, and
the grim old Jail looms up through the
darkness. Half dozen men detach
themselves to knock at the Jailers
door. The footsteps of a great mob
at midnight made sound like thunder
afar off in the deep woods. Men do
not wake up to turn over and slumber
again, but to grow pale and peer from
their windows.
"The keys and the murderer?
The keys are handed over. If the
mob were shouting and camorng, the
taller might refuse, but 1t was silent
mob. Determined men utter no shouts,
The half dozen disappear inside the
building. The man they want is sleep
ing. He hears them al the door OF his
cell and is wide awake in an instant,
He knows why they have come HIS
lips part to make an appeal, but as ne
looks into their faces his words are un-
spoken. They have come for his life
They utter no word, and the lines Of
their faces are hard set. Two by two
they march out past the trembling laler
and into the street. There is a sound
from the crowd-not shout or hurrah,
but a deep, vindictive chuckle-whIch
reminds YOU of the wolf as he over.
takes his prey and feels the taste OF
blood
Down the street four blocks-turn to
the highland here is the tree The
prisoner looks about him as he walks,
but does not speak. If there were
shouting and hurrahing he might hope
1t is a crowd where men whisper or
mutter, and he is awed to despair,
There is little waiting. A rope is
thrown over a limb, the moose passed
over his head, ard the men fall back
and leave him the pivot OF small
circle. No one speaks to him, but he
realizes what the action means. Stand
ing there with his arms tied behind
him and his chin on his breast, he is
like a statue dimly seen through the
midnight gloom. Perhaps ne utters
prayer, though the blood Of his victim
still stains his clothing. There IS
silence all around him--silence so deep