The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-12

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moral and physical bravery Of my mule. ! was
| from The Captains right hand when Hodge
uemble under me for q second. then, before OF
| anybody else had the slightest idea Of what was
happening he animal had dare, re forward ,S as
ling Of an eye had fairly lcaped across the open
| space separating our two small armies and stood
with his hairy nose brushing az ainst Atsalom
Hodge s whiskers. ! was meyer 10 badly scared
In my life. I thought should die o. fright II
pose should. only fear held me stationary. !
looked stcadfas1y at the weapons Hodge held
cooked, ready ior, firing, expected TO have ne
an, sure such would have been my fate had NOT
Hodge been so completely dumbfounded with
surprise as was with fear. As was quite natu-
den attack. He attributed the unexpected ex-
hibtion Of daring. to bravery on my part whereas
was due snary to some hGn nass. ' sa1e I o
The credit for the reckless dash. and not 10 be
ouldone in courage they put spurs into Their own own
made Hodges yell Of defiance sound like the
peeping Of a chicken In comparison.
Il don't suppose there ever wss , mob mat
Of resistance. My apparently reckless disregard
Of Hodges threats had completely unneryed
s% As e Ss roa as sSppsd
hin %y prsopt5 Sill sSpsasd yiIS sSIP%Iss
inclaiion to mischief. The wheccrs gave in. rank
and file. and within an hour from the time we
left tho Square We were back at the Court House
"The long delayed trial was put under way at
once. For two weeks the Judge. the lawyers
deducing scraps Of evidence for and against the
prisoner During that time the militia mad com
pnraiively little TO do, but We were ever-viglant
Tor we knew the nature Of these old mouniaineers
well enough 10 know that there was more trouble
10 come. On the evening Of the third day sevcra
Of our men who had been sent out Into me surl
M ntrN M
town with alarming reports. The awe ana as
constituent Of the Wheeler forces had finally
inactivity they were prepared 10 wage battle with
twoiold vigor They were approaching me
town from The south several hundred strong n1
the scouts told us. and were fully determined 10
rescue their leader or die. Hut mat was not me
worst The Hawkinses who. since, our advent
in the nrighhorhood. had maintained an attitude
OF armed neutrality had decided upon aggressive
measures. and were marching down upon us
from the north Both Of these hostile forces
salon Hodge from Jail but with different DIRECTS IN
view, the Whcelcrs Of course. wishing 10 save
him from The inevitable consequences OF nus Srlme;
which they feared the dilatory court would posi-,
ponr indefinitely, I, was of course; The duty oil
The militia To protect Hodge from both parties
This. it was plain. would require desperate srug-
gle on our part with the chances strongly in favor
OF crushing defeat for II did not srcm possible
that a body Of youngsters Ike ourselves could
hold out against two bands OF hardy lighters
Ii was sickrning To think Of Hodge fate IN tlle
a crtlmblins. onc.s,ory brick building iha, did
not APPEAR 10 have strength enough 10 Withstand
"a strong gale Of wind much less an on elplii
from hundreds OF desperate men. ana IN NE hand-
tu-nand conflict which was bound 10 ensue once
the jail doors were broken open, the Likelihood
was that Hodge would he Torn INTO shreds, -,
The night was clear and an oppressive sun.
ness had settled down over the mountains About
al o'clock w. heard the trhmplng oil many iect
coming up IRON the south so accurately mad
the Two mobs timed their movements that almost
al the same moment the sound was cchvcN from
tue north. Fifteen minutes later hoih mhluamrn
and !aIl were surrounded. Nh,n Tue 'hpthih
OF the militia loOAcd round upon the squad of
angry men, and realized that tue gravity Oi our
situation had been niinimilrd ra'her thah ehas
gerated, he lost his head completely. L or bou
sake he said to me IN whisper, say something
10 tuem Argue with them: explain 10 them
incri,nble, cannot be aycrtcd. THIS is terrible
Il pltlrd the fellow. yet despiscd MN iOr ms
weakness For wonder; l. mySen, , c Wa CO.,
for those who knew fear. Don't he LODI
said, sruHy y GU are the one To- do The talking
30 it ENtcmporile with them ! have an idea
II Nnu can mold oil the attack say for five minutes,
thInk perhaps We can save Hodge Tue la'I anu
ourselves ~ ,,,., 49,,
to shout out some reply TO the demands ui ihe
men. ~ for me- l ran back INTO The Ihil and
into Hodgcs cell Since the Gay my mule hsa
brushed noses with this man. he had sc-ilcd TO
vest me with the authority ana wisdom oil see
ond.rate divinity and felt that II 1t came y a
test my influence Oh HIM was unboundcd. Az
any rate, our only hope lay in my making TRIAL
Of my power, and / went at him full tilt he
great ugly giant was crouched down ey we WIN,
dow when | entered, trying 10 peer out thtough
the bars into the swAying iosting crowd hen
he saw me- he sprang Ny ana grabbed me by Tue
arm arm p 10 here ,s iaye ,hcS come to set me
free,
Il shook oil his heavy hand and held my Ian;
tern up clos TO his face Part OF them have
! said. and part oi them have come To III you
I hey who would Kill are greatly IN the majority
Like flash his bravado vanished. he COW
Al, NIL kg "A 1
1T EN- gel al me, he whispered. They'll
they II xii. M" you say? YES yes, know tAeg
silver me- up SO that the Lord himself won't DO
able 10 find all Of me and pu; me together again
al the Resurrection Day; ,
"Ie hid his face behind his arm and howlcd
with terror. But you wont let en- get e. me,
WA SoT: h" mI1tsd lna!S Se %Sss m'"' IS
yes, said l. that's what were here formto
prolrc, both the innocent and the guilty. Tho
question is, can We do ~ In tins case N quilc
sure We can't II the fighting point is reached
here To- night that mob will have You out OF hero
in less than no time, and then you Will be- nothing
or less than bone 81 b0 sn
YOU and only one. ! have heard many reports
you You have had them under your, power.
They may be cu,,hroats when guided BY you,
bu, at heart they're not bad snd..thsy hate
II. too that II they knew positively that you
were guilty they wouldn't turn a hand over TO
rescue you from Jail. They wouldn't turn fair
and square and go against you, considering how
long you have been their IL ndcr. but they wouldn
help you. Therein lies your chance. Arc you
guilty? II you ere say So and let me go out and
assure them that You IRE, and then your adhcr-
ents Will Withdraw from the field and leave the
militia and the HawkinScs To fight II out We
can whip the IIawklnsrs and save the Jail and
incidentally yourself, but we can hold out against
both parties. What will you do? Are you guilty
or not guilty.
Il poured my words out mercilcssly. Tho
man gasped M though he were choking But
what II ! say I'm guilty. he cried. What them
The court will hang me. I've got TO die any
well returned. heartlcssly. and what II
you have In the latter case you won't be slnugh-
tered like hog
Il saw that had read his character Alright
lie was, at bottom, a buffer and coward and
instead Of standing game as many less preien.
tious rascals would have done, he quailed and
begged for mercy. Slowly the big ungainly
bulk Of humanity sank 10 the floor and crlnged
incrtly at my feet I'm guilty he whined
Tell them I'm guilty
our Captain was still talking when reached
the street again Without a word Of apology
or explanation | pushed him aside and began
10 speak Gentlemen said, i have Just had
an Interview with tho prisoner. lie assures
me that no killed his WIFE and that he Is not worth
fighting for II il his sincere wish that his former
followers depart and leave him here. As for his
enemies, ! assure them he will be dealt with TO