The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1896-11-25

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farewell and was about to rssign myself TO
your hands when suddenly by the EXERCISE
6f some new faculty or perception ] saw
the real murderer standing In the crowd
before me. never saw him before, and
yet knew him to be the man In whose
stead I was about to suffer death. He was
slight in build, with dark hair and eyes,
and neatly dressed. His features are In
delibly fixed In my mind. With this recog-
milton my dream faded away. There was
no particular intimation as to my fate, yet
feel indeed as though God himself has
spoken to Inc and revealed the absolute as
suranoe of his divine protection.
The narrator's manner was 40 earnest
and impressive that hope sprang up re-
sponsive in the sheriff's mind that some
thing might happen. He was mentally
prepared and on the watch for the happen
ing Of the miraculous.
The day OF the execution was beauti-
fu), clear, cool October day. Thousands Of
people were In attendance and had gath
eod about the gallows. 1t was to be a
public hanging, and the multitude availed
itself of the privilege of seeing human
being choked to death. As has been init
pathy for the doomed man, much argu-
ment as to the fallibility of circumstantial
evidence, and q hundred vague rumors In
circulation suggesting his innocence
At last Devereux stood upon the gallows
platform and faced the people. There was
no man in oil that crowd apparently 80
COOL so collected and so much the master
of himself. He stepped forward to say
few words of farewell His voice rang
out In the stiffness, clear, distinct and per-
fectly audible to all.
Friends" he said, "this Is not fitting
time to indulge In vain protestations.
can but simply reafflrm that am not
guilty, knowing well what would be the
consequences of falsehood, standing, as
am, almost in the presence of my immortal
God. l desire especially to relieve any
man from the possible thought that he
may have misjudged or wronged me and
might have to meet my accusing words be-
fore the great tribunal hereafter 1t was
q human error, the result
At this moment the speaker stopped
short and leaned heavily against the rail
ing. His countenance betrayed terrible
excitement His eyes seemed fixed on
some one in the crowd before him whom
he indicated, bound as he was, as well as
he could When he found his voice again,
no fairly shrieked
"There he isl The man of my dream
the murderer. Stop him! Stop him!'
He had pointed out slightly built, al
most feminine looking young man, who
uttered a hasty exclamation and attempted
to get away, but before he could do so was
Ill, I.l.l Al
sheriff, almost beside himself with excite
ment, rushed down from the scaff0ld, fol-
lowed by half dozen deputies. The young
man was hurredly searched there and
then. Upon his person were found watch,
pistol and certain papers of value we'll
known to have been the property Of the
murdered treasurer He seemed to give up
at once and In answer to excited questions
sulenly responded:
"Well, it seems you have me- was
fool to come hero. demand of the officers
protection from this crowd.
Protection was needed. Like quicksilver
q knowledge of the matter seemed to have
permeated tho whole multitude An in
nocent man was saved and the guilty ap-
pretended in tho nick of time. Cries of
"Hang the scoundrelp' "Turn Devereux
loosew arose from all sides, while the off,
GERS struggled hercely to withstand the
surge of the angry mob. There is no know
ing what might have happened had not
Devercux' g voice arrested the movement
LET tho law take Its course, +" he said.
"For Gods sake, do not be too rash! I
implore you, as one who has been so near
ON ignoblo death by reason of this awful
mistake to let tho sheriff take this man.
Give him fair trial, and may God forgive
him for what he has tried to do to me. d"
The words of no other man could have
saved the new prisoner. The crowd gave
way. The hanging of Dcvereux was out
of the question. The populace would not
have permitted it, and the sheriff would
anyhow have felt justified in suspending !
the execution.
The mob poured up the gallows stairs
and cut the ropes that bound Devcreux
The Jail officers hurried their prisoner to
the Jail. Once there, the latter made full |
confession, which soon became the talk Of
the streets. Nothing could be done that
was too good for Dcveroux, who at first
busted himself in counseling moderation,
and being satisfied Of Its accomplishment
simply asked for two things. He wanted
to go at once he said and bear the glad
tidings back home to his wife. For this
purpose he requested the loan of good
horse and some money, request which
was enthusiastically gratifled. AT sunset
Devcreux was miles away.
In the morning the new prisoner spoke
TO the sheriff when that officer was making
tho rounds of tho jail
II think, now" he said, "you had bet
ter let mo CO..
This display of assurance caused tho
sheriff to think the prisoner crazy.
II mean what l say he persisted.
Send woman here-your wife. l am
lot what yol think me- l am u wolnan
am William Devcreuxs vito. My pur-
lose Is fulfilled. l have saved his life, and
10 is now far away. You can never catch
lin. He sent mo word whore would
ind the things you found on me and l
lsed them to deceive you"
1t was true Dovereux's prison man
Ter, his talk, the dream, the denouement
It the gallows were all parts of n skillfully
worked and successful plot. The chval-
Gus spirit Of the time and country saved
zig wife from any punishment. Dcveroux
vent to California, changed his name was
oined by his faithful wife, prospercd
realty and died not many years ago the
eading citizen of u thriving city that boro
is false name.-Philadelphi Times.