The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-06-16
CHAPTER XVIII.

Y Id
week Of mldIuly, and Canaan hy
inert aud helpless beneath broli,
a ing sun. The few people who
moved about the streets went ianguld.
III. keeping close 10 the wall on the
shady side: the women In thin white
fabrics; the men. often coatless. carry.
Ing palm leaf fans and replacing col
lars with handkerchiefs In the court.
house yard the maple leaves, gray with
blown dust and grown TO great breadth.
dropped heavily. depressing the long.
,notIonless branches with their weight
10 low that the four or Ave shabby
oilers upon the benches beneath now
aud then licked them slecpiiy with
whitfield sprlgs.
The doors and windows OF the stores
stood open. displaying limp warcs OF
trade. bot few tokens OF life. the clerks
hanging over dim counters ns fnr as
possible from the glare In front. gos
slping fragmentarlly. usually about the
Cory murder and anon upon u subject
suggested by the sight OF an occasional
pedestrian passing perspIring by with
scrooged eyelids and purplIng skin,
From street and sidewalk transparent
hot waves swan up and danced them
,elves into nothing, while from the riy
er bank half mile away came a
sound hotter than even the locusts
midsummer rasp, the drone OF plan
Ing MILL. -.
Greater heat than that Of these blnz.
Ing days could not have kept one OF
the sages from attending the conclnye
now, for the battle was on In Canaan.
and here upon the National House cor
ner, under the shadow OF the west
wall, II wuxed even keener. Perhaps
we may find full Justification for call
Ing what was happening battle In 80
far as we restrict the figure TO apply
to this one spot. Elsewhere In tho
Canaan OF the Toasln the conflict was
too one sided. The TocsIn had indeed
tried the case of Happy Fear in ad-
vance. had convicted and condemned
and every day grew more bitter Nor
was the urgent vigor Of Its attack with
out effect
Sleepy as Main street seemed In the
heat. the town was ineensed and rous-
ed to tensity OF feeling II had not
known since the civil war. when, on
occasion, 1t had get out to hang half
dozen "Knlghts Of the Golden Circle
Joe had been hIssed on the street
many times since the lnlmlcal clerk
had whIstled at him. Probably dem
onstratons OF that sort would have
continued had he remained In Canaan,
but for almost a month he had been
absent and his office closed. Its thresh'
old gray with dust, There were peo-
ple who believed that he had run
away again, this time never to retVrn'
among those who held to this opinion
being Mrs. Louden and her sister, Joes
step.aunt. Upon only one point was
everybody agreed-that twelve men
could not be found In the county who
could be so far persuaded and befud'
died by Louden that they would dare
allow Happy Fear to escape. The
women Of Canaan, lncensed by the ter.
rible circumstances Of the case, as the
Tocsin colored TIA man shot down IN
the act of begging his enemy's for
glyeness -clamored as loudly as the
men. There was only the difference
that the latter vociferated for the
hanging Of Happy their good ladies
used the word punishment"
And yet, while the place rang with
condemnation OF the little man In the
jail and his attorney, there were voices
here and there upllfted on the other
side. People existed, 1t astonlshIngly
appeared, who liked Happy Fear
These were for the greater part OBJ
scure and even darkllug In their lives,
yet quite demonstrably human beings,
able to smile, suffer, leap, run and to
entertain 'fancies; even to have, ae'
cordlng 10 their degree, a certain rudl
mentary sense Of right and wrong, IN
spite Of which they strongly favored
the prisoners aequlttal' Precisely on