The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-08-02

You come right along o. me or well
hang you in place of t'other feller!' ne
observed in a serious sort o way, and
L thought it best to humcr his mood.
At the end of q mile and half we
came to the lawn party. There was
seven guests present, and the principal
figure was a man with his hands tied
behind him and a rope around his neck.
He wasn't looking exactly happy though
he wasn't as cast down as some crit
tiers would hev been under the circum-
.'The trubble is jest this" said the
leader of the party, as he shook hands
with me to make me feel to home in
his society. This critter stole a boss
over at Happy Valley, and we caught
up with him. He stole that boss
KNOWN what would result if he was
Overtaken. but now he's raisin' all sorts
of objections and delayin' the game. he
don't seem to keer a red cent for any
body's feelin's but his own We've got
corn to hoe and 'taterS to take keer or
but he won't let the hangin' go on
You've got a benign look and chin whlS-
kers two feet long. and we want you to
wrestle with MIN"
''Whythi unwillingness to go henceY'
1 asked of the prisoner, as L turned TO
him.
"Bel<ase 1 don't want to be buried on
a hot day." he replied. Things should
be done decently and in order. 1 want
a lawyer 1 want to be sent to Jail for
q couple of weeks and then hev a trial.
/ want a chance to state my case and
hear the lawyers argue If I'm SEN
fenced to be hung / want crowd on
hand and chance to make a speech,
and 1 want to pick out the spot where
I'm to repOse afterwards m man
who allus sot around on the head of a
bar'l and whitted up pine shingles, and
this suddenness don't agree with me-"
But under the cir cumstances,
couldn't you waive some of your objec-
tions? The weather isn't so very hot,
and what real difference does it make
in dyin'? It's all the same arter you are
dead"
IN waive nuthin'." he contended.
I'm goin' to stand on my dignity and
rights and them venerable whiskers o.
yours won't make any difference. It's
the first time I was ever about TO be
hung, and if there is any advertisement
in it want the benefit
When I had argued with him for
quarter of an hour without avail, it
suddenly struck me that he was a crit
ter full of deception. and looked him
in the eyes and asked:
Hasn't there been a mistake here?
Did you really steal the hoss2''
Now you are gettin' down to fust
principles" he replied. 1T was alto
Eetner another cusS who stole the boss,
and wouldn't give me no chance to ex-
plain, / was for lettin' EN- go ahead
and load up their consciences with
hangin' an inherent man.
was considerin' whether to believe
him or not when a party of four more
men arrived. They not only had the
right man. but the boss itself, and
things were changed about. On the
face of the man who might have been
hung an hour before was a smile of
sarcasm and derision, and when he
refused to rub it off we fell upon him
and gave him the boot and drove him
over the hoWer-decked prairie.
AS for the other, he said he'd rather
be hung than tarry in Oklahoma any
longer. He always felt that SIGH would
be his end, and had been disappointed
that ii had not come sooner. Not one
single kick did he make, even when he
saw that there was no soap to grease
the rope, and as a reward he was
handled with care and turned off with
as much conSiderashun as could we'll
be shown under the circumstances.
His last remarks was addressed to
me, and they sank deep into my heart
He warned me agin lynn and swearfn'
and boss stealin-' and expressed his
personal opinyun that my Pilgrim Pain
Alleviator was KILN off more people
than cholera or yaller fever. He was
badly mistaken, of course, but heEin'
alIuS been a fair minded man
wouldn't be mean enough to suppress
his dyin' statements.
The ceremonies hevin' been con-
cluded. L drove on, but there was an
other function awaitin- me two miles