The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-04

I stopped a moment at the barricade and then swarmed on it. As If by its own | volition the long table reared itself on | end, staggered a moment and then fell backward with It's human burden on the | heads below.
 l The modern Samson stepped back calm | ly into the room. The two men barred the great door again and ran for the gall Iery under the skylight with a rope by which they intended to lower themselves I down the rear of the building from the | roof in a desperate effort at escape. | Suddenly they reeled and pitched against | each other. The heavy chandelier fell with a crash. Plaster and cornice fell down. There was cry outside, and then a rush of the lynchers down the stairs. "An earthquaket' said the sheriff.
 They hurried to the roof. There came another rush up the staircase and fran tic assault on the door. But it did not yield. The earthquake that had settled the walls had sealed it firmly. Another shock made the earth tremble just as Gabriel emerged on the roof. The door closed sharply behind him. Gabriel turned to open it, but could not. It was sealed like the door below, and the sheriff was a prisoner.
 Gabriel Conroy had no time to delay. As he peered around the doomed roof he saw that the lynchers were raising lad der. He crouched behind a great wooden figure of justice that lowered fifteen feet , high, with drawn sword and hanging scales.
 shout arose at sight of him. Bullets thudded against the Goddess. Gabriel fas- tened his rope to a girder and lowered the rope over the side into the gully that sank away from the rear wall.
 Something arose slowly over the level of the roof before him. He saw the uprights of ladder and then he saw 1t tremble as men mounted on it. Suddenly the figure of Justice leaned toward them. The sword seemed to sweep threateningly. The bal ances shook. Topping forward, the mighty figure swept down on them and went crashing to the depths with the lad der. From behind the pedestal Gabriel arose, panting.
 That night he lay hidden in a cave in the canyon. The next day he gave him self up to the sheriff again and submitted quietly to Imprisonment. There was no further danger of lynching The Vigi- lantes hired by MT. Dumphy had gone out of the Vigilante business forever when the statue of Justice fell, and the rest of One Horse Gulch was excited about much more interesting event that had been brought about by the earthquake.
 The great conroy mine had vanishedl The earth had swallowed the lead. and MT. Dumphy found himself in possession of stock that fell rapidly till it reached nothing. where it stayed.
 In the clamor over this event Gabriel Conroy was forgotten temporarily, and when his case again called for public opinion a skillful hand had taken charge and was molding that public opinion to friendlness toward the prisoner
 The friend who came thus opportunely was the brilliant San Francisco lawyer, Arthur Ponsett
 He explained his adoption of the name of Ashley deftly to the trustful Gabriel, and told him that Grace had disappeared from the logging camp where he had left her after their escape from Starvation Camp.
 Gabriel pressed his hand and listened to the man like a child. But he proved strangely obstinate when Poinsett tried to outline a defense for him. The shrewd lawyer perceived at once that he was as guiltless of the murder as a baby, and that he proposed to take the crime on himself to shield his wife. It was clear from his extraordinary attempts to be art
 
 of having killed her enemy.
 He confounded judge, jury and prose-