Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-02-18

farewell and was about to resign myself to
your hands when suddenly by the exercise
of some new faculty or perception l saw
the real murderer standing in the crowd
before me, l never saw him before, and
yet / knew him to be the man in whose
stead | 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
l feel indeed as though God himself has
spoken to me and revealed the absolute as
surance Of his divine protection"
The narrator's manner was so earnest
and impressive that hope sprang up re-
sponsve 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 bealIti-
full, clear cool October day. Thousands of
people were in attendance and had gath
cred about the gallows. 1t was to be Il
public hanging, and the multitude awaited
itself of the privilege of seeing human
being choked to death. AS has been init
mated, there were much feeling and SYM
pathy for the doomed man, much argu-
ment as to the falli5ility of circumstantial
evidence, and 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 all that crowd apparently SO
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. l
can but simply reaffirm that I am not
guilty, knowing we'll what would be the
consequences of a 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
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 we'll as
he could. When he found his voice again,
he fairly shrieked:
"There he is! The man of my dream
the murderer. Stop him! Stop him.
He had pointed out a 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
roughly seized and held by the crowd. This
sheriff, almost beside himself with excite
ment, rushed down from the scafYold, fol-
lowed by half a dozen deputies. The young
man was hurriedly searched there and
then. Upon his person were found a watch,
pistol and certain papers of value well
known to have been the property of the
murdered treasurer. He seemed to give up
at once and in answer to excited questions
sullenly responded:
''Well, it seems you have me. was
fool to como here. / demand of the officers
protection from this crowd "
Protection was needed. Like quicksilver
knowledge of the matter seemed to have
permeated tho whole multitude An in
nocent man was saved and the guilty APP
pretended in the nick of time Cries of
Hang the scoundren' "Turn Devereux
loose" arose from all sides, while the off
GERS struggled tiercely to withstand the
surge of theangry mob. There is no know
ing what might have happened had not
Devereux's voice arrested the movement
Let the law take it's course" he said
For Gods sake, do not be too rash
implore you, as one who has been SO near
an ignoble death by reason of this awful
mistake, to let the sheriff take this man.
Give him a fair trial, and may God forgive
him for what he has tried to do to me. +"
The words Of no other man could have
saved the new prisoner The crowd gave
way The hanging of Deyereux 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 Devereux.
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 Devereux, 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 tho glad |
tidings back home to his WIFE For this
purpose he requested the loan of good |
horse and some money, request which |
was enthusiastically gratitied At sunset |
Devereux was miles away.
In the morning the new prisoner spoke
to the sheriff when that officer was making
the rounds of the Jail.
81 Think now," he said "you had bet
ter let me CO."
This display of assurance caused tn.
sheriff to think the prisoner crazy.
81 mean what say" he persisted
"Send ii woman here-your wife. | an
not what you think me- am Il woman
am William Dcvereux's wife. My pur
pose is fulfilled. have saved his life, and
he is now far away. You Gun never catcE
him. He sent mo word where | would
find the things you found on me, and ]
used them to deceive you.
1t was true. Dcvereux's prison man
ner, his talk, the dream the denouement
at the gallows, were all parts Of n skillfully
worked and successful plot. The chival
rous spirit Of the time and country saved
his wife from any punishment Devereux
went to California, changed his name, was
joined by his faithful wife, prospered
greatly and died not many years ago the
leading citizen of a thriving city that bore