Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1900-12-14

elyn, Il feel as if he is going into dam
ger-that they will kill hint"
For moment the old woman made
no response, and when she did it was
with evident emotion.
81 pray God that he may not be
harmed" Her tone was almost a
prayer in itself.
The baying and shouting were now
very near. Half a mile away torch
lights like firef1ies began to fit along
the swamp. The line of men was now
in the open. They seemed to be headed
in one direction, and it was not many
minutes before all the lights had run
together. Evelyn knew that the pris-
oner was in the center of that cluster of
torches. The shouting had died down
to far-off murmur. Then into the yell
low, smoky glare the two observers saw
white horse rearing and plunging.
Presently the frightened animal
seemed under the control of it's rider,
and a loud, ringing voice like that of an
experienced open-air speaker, broke
the stiffness.
cit is HELP gasped Evelyn, and her
eyes seemed set in their sockets as
she peered through the gloom. "God
have mercy on him!"
Mrs. Lancaster's arm frightened round
the girls waist, but her voice lay dead
in her throat. The distance was too
great to distinguish the words of the
speaker, but his stentorian tones
seemed to cut the dark intervening
space like knife. At times a tempest
of cries and yells would rise from the
mob and drown the leading voice; but
gradually, persistently, it would strug-
gle up te mastery again. This went
On for about ten minutes, and then the
two on the veranda heard several loud
voices raised in threatening tones and
there was sharp ringing report of a
pistol. The cluster of lights widened
and the white horse was seen to plunge
away from the crowd, the beat of his
hoofs being the only sound in the still
air.
ugh! Somebody hit dat time,''
grunted old Ephraim. my Lawd,
whut a pity!"
Evelyn gazed into the white face of
her friend, her terrified eyes seek
ing q confirmation of her own fears.
She could not frame the words for the
question in her heart. Mrs. Lancaster
but she was afraid some calamity had
befallen Ronald Fanshaw.
II could not see if anyone was on
the horse as it broke away" she fall
tered.
ST thought I saw him fall off" said
Evelyn. "Oh, Tiff he is dead"
Evelyn's voice broke. They were
both silent for few minutes and then
they saw the torches going out one
by one. The people were going home.
There could be no doubt now. Some
thing had happened. Ronald's voice
was heard no more; could it be stilled
forever? Then they heard the trap re-
turning. The two women advanced
to the steps as the horses were relned
in at the door. The occupants alight-
ed. AS her father assembled the steps
Evelyn caught both his hands in hers.
''What did they do, father?" she asked.
The old soldier laughed.
"Do?" he exclaimed, enthusiastical-
ly, as he rubbed his hands together,
why, they did nothing. Jade Fanshaw's
son rode into their ranks and made the
grandest speech I ever listened to in
my life. He turned the very marrow
in my bones to ice. I was cold one
minute and as hot as old Nick the
next. believe we were all hypnotized.
From the minute he began to show up
the horror of lynch law and the risk
they were running of hanging an inno-
cent man, I believe I'd aided rather
than let the mob harm the fellow. He
stood there with more ropes on him
than he could carry and didn't look
big enough to harm a fly. After Fan
shaw got their attention the first thing
he demanded was that they let the
prisoner tell his story. He gained his
point and the little chap began to talk.
You could hardly hear what he said,
he was 50 fatigued and hoarse. In
the name of God and Christianity he
said, let me have chance to prove
I'm not guilty.
"Syd Hart Thad Williams and their
faction were too full of whisky and
they were there for blood, and they
were going to have it.; so they tried
to drown out what the prisoner was
saying. But Fanshaw, towering above
them all on his horse, finally succeeded
in getting him heard and the boys
story satisfied me of his innocence. He
said the money he had was his saw
ings from two years hard work in an
iron foundry in Chattanooga and that
he was taking it home to his widowed
mother, who depends on him for her
support. He said he was tramping
home on foot to save the expense of a
railroad ticket. Somebody asked him
why he had tried to escape from the
sheriff, and he said he was afraid of
being lynched-that he had heard of
the treatment men accused of crime re-
ceived in these mountains.
'.Then some one asked him about the