Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-05-12

this Court ohould not be passed upon
you?"
The prisoner had noted the return OF
the Jury, and listened to their verdict
rs one in a dream-as man stunned
bv thunderbolt watches the destruc-
ton of his home, wrought by the same
messenger from heaven, dazed and un'
nerved. As the sound of the Judge't
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
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
fierce light burned in his heavy eyes.
"Hev l anything ter say? Yes; !
dare We all to do yer worst DO you
think Red Jim is afeared er tibet We KIN
COW him? Ye don't know him Muir.
der, is it, fer man to save his own
life an We threaten ter hang me? do
it Go on an read out yer sentence.
| defy We, Sheriff, an ALL Red Jim
never sgueals!" and, with snarl like
that of an animal he waved the man
aclcd arms above mis- head.
81 know the trouble we're all afeard
of me, an We better be, fer EFF the devil
let's me live, I'll be the curse of this
thin blooded town an every one III 1t
hate it Curse We one an all, root
an branch, young an old What hcv
We ever done fer NE? NOthn' but ter
foller me an drive me out q decent
livin' an make me M outcast an
criminal AZ | am When | asked fer
work what did yer give me? jail !
When found place We told my boss
tibet 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 !
curse We all -
The man had worked himself into
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 Ill
the ears of the people. and the dark
ness, unusual eXcepI as the furerunner
of Il storm at this time of the year,
thickencd momentarilv. The Judges
granddaughter had crept into his arms
and hidden her face.
aye hev forgot tibet was ever bet
tr'n the dogs Mt yer doors, er the
snakes at yer heels; but hev not
Who saved You from the lniuns thir-
teen wears ago, Tom Bodoin?' he
shouted, turning suddenly toward one
of the jurymen and stretching his
mnnuclCd arms III his direction. "Who
saved We nm Yer family up on the
MOS IhNi Jun IpNI ~ n hllNA ll'l
an Inlun now Who caught the man
tibet tried TO steal yer daughter, Dan
O'NeilE' he continued, pointing to an
other luryman, "whcn he he'd shot yer
horse under We, an the girl had tainted
i'll his arms? Who? Red jim? But
We don't remember it Who went III.
to the cngine-room o the Last Chance
Mine an shut off the steam when every
coward had run, M the b'ilcr 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 u desperate
now hang him! Hang him
His voice WAS raised to IL shrek. and
sounded thrill through the gloom
above the deepening thunder of the
storm.
"And you, Jedge Gary, tibet are to
sentence me to hang by the neck ontll
I'm dead, 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 We when We
couldn't git him yerself an tried TO
make man o him? Who saved him
! frum the hands o the men who would
a torn him in pieces the last night o.
his life fer his devilish work with his
knife when he he'd no friends? Red
jim! Who gave yer son a bed to die
in, old man, when ye he'd refused it
yerself? Red jim An now he braves
We an curses ye, one an all Curses,
( double curses, ten thousand curses
on"
A sudden mighty blow, bursting the
side of the building, hideous roar,
like the voice of an angry ocean, IA
crash rs if the heavens had fa len, inky
| blackness blotting out everything, and
amid the rending of wood and iron,
the shrieks of victims, and the wild
trumpeting of the storm, the cyclone
swept on, leaving mass of ruins where
| the court house had stood.
Half dozen hours later, as the res.
CucIe iuoled, they Cuilt upon III
opening, sort of protected chamber,
as it were, in front of the desk where
the bar had formerly been, made by
the great beams falling one upon the
other. And within it were found three
persons-Judge Gary stretched upon
the floor, stunned but breathing, and,
bending over him, Red jim holding in
his shackled hands, sheltered close to
his breast, the little form of the
Judges granddaughter, living and un-
hurt.
But the central iron support of the
court house dome had fallen directly
across this group, and Brownell had
yielded his life in the effort to protect