Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-06-12

| huoWou BIG Whuteu W, III III b u Dig
cloud, an it whirls and whirls, an it
scared me, tool"
AS the Judge was about to reply a
slight commotion attracted his atten-
tion. A moment later the jury filed in
their box, and the foreman ose and
faced the Court.
A hush fell upon the room as the
clerk called the roll; then in q voice
that shook little he said:
"Have the jury agreed upon their
verdict?"
eve have" replied the foreman,
simply.
GLOW do they fnd?"
"Guilty, as charged in the indict-
ment."
A sound that might have been sigh
ran through the listeners. The Judge
rose and faced the prisoner. In the
silence that reigned the voice of the
distant wind, roaring afar off, fell upon
the waiting ears, and the last CLEAN of
sunlight faded from the wall
Solemnly the District-Attorney
moved that sentence now be passed
upon the prisoner.
| CioWhSht oehhu iluNc yOu
anything to say why the sentence of
this Court should not be passed upon
you?"
The prisoner had noted the return of
the jury, and listened to their verdict
as one in dream-as q man stunned
by thunderbolt watches the destruc-
tion of his home, wrought by the same
messenger from heaven, dazed and un-
nerved. AS the sound of the Judges
voice beat upon his dull ears he turned
his head slowly, and looked at him
wonderingly.
"Have you anything to say?"
The man gathered his feet beneath
him, and with an effort rose. For q
long moment he gazed about him-at
the jury in the box, the Judge on the
, bench, and the dense and waiting
crowd behind him. Then an ugly
smile spread across his face, and q
, fierce light burned in his heavy eyes,
"Hev I anything ter say? Yes; /
dare We all to do yer worst Do you
| think Red Jim is afeared er thet ye kin
COW him? Ye don't know him Muir
der, is it, fer man to save his own
life an ye threaten ter hang me? Do
it Go on an read out yer sentence.
I defy ye, Sheriff, an all Red Jim
never squeals!" and, with snarl like
that of an animal he waved the man
acled arms above his head
, 81 know the trouble; ye're all l-afeard
of me, an ye better be, fer eff the devil
, let's me live, I'll be the curse of this
thin-blooded town an every one in it I!
! l hate it Curse ye one an all, root
tan' branch, young an old! What hev
ye ever done fer me? Nothin' but ter
foller me an drive me out O. decent
livin' an make me an outcast an q
criminal as 1 am! When I asked fer
, work what did yer give me? Jail !
When l found place ye told my boss
thet I'd rob him, an he turned me
out When tried to be decent every
mans hand an every woman's tongue
, in this black town was agin me, an I
, curse ye alll'
The man had worked himself into a
fury. His eyes glared, his face was
white as death, and his shackled hands
swung to and fro excitedly, clanking
the heavy irons as though they were
bells.
His listeners were stunned-all but
Sheriff Jack and the Judge, and when
the former would have seized the
prisoner and conveyed him from the
room, the justice stopped him.
AS Brownell paused for breath, the
dull roar of the wind sounded louder in
the ears of the people, and the dark
ness, unusual except as the forerunner
of storm at this time of the year,
thickened momentarily. The Judges
granddaughter had crept into his arms
and hidden her face.
eye hev forgot thet was ever bet
tr'n the dogs at yer doors, er the
snakes at yer heels; but 1 hev not
Who saved you from the Injuns thir-
teen years ago, Tom Bodoin?" he
shouted, turning suddenly toward one
of the jurymen and stretching his
manacled arms in his direction. "Who
saved ye an yer family up on the
Rios? Red Jim! But he's wuss nor
an Injun nowl Who caught the man
thet tried to steal yer daughter, Dan
O'Neil?" he continued, pointing to an
other iuryman, ''when he he'd shot yer
horse under ye, an the girl had tainted
in his arms? Who? Red Jim? But
ye don't remember it Who went in
to the engine-room O. the Last Chance
Mine an shut off the steam when every
coward had run, an the b'iler was at
the point of burstin' an the cage with
fifteen men would have gone to the
bottom O. the shaft? Red Jim? But
that don't count! He's desperate
now-hang him Hang him!"
His voice was raised to shrek, AID
sounded thrill through the gloom
above the deepening thunder of the
storm.
"And you, Jedge Gary, thet are to
sentence me to hang by the neck ontil
I'm dead, I talk to ye with yer grand
child in yer arms! Who refused her
father drink times without number an
cared fer him nights without number !?
Who druv him back to ye when ye
couldn't Git him yerself an tried to