The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-19

|
there saw the same party which had been
there the night befere-the landlord, willy
Hammond, Green and Judge Lyman. On
a table were cards. slips of paper, an ink
stand, pen and pile of bank notes. On
side table were deeantere BEETLES and
glasses. ''Judge Lyman, Is 1t possible
I did not expect to find you here" ex-
| claimed Jacobs. Green instantly swept his
| hend ever the table to secure The money
In sight. But ere he had accomplished 1t
young Hammond grabbed three or four
bits of paper lying there and tore them
| In pieces. i'Yeu are a cheating sceun-
drelp, cried Green. thrustins his hand into
his bosom ss Il to draw a weapon. Ham
mend eprans upon him with the herceness
of tiger and bore him to the floor. Both
hands were about tho gamblers neck, and
before the spectators could interfere to
drag the assailant of Green's face was
purple.
| Call me a cheating scoundre1.' foamed
Hammond, me, whom you have followed
| like a thirsty bloodhound; me. whom you
have robbed, cheated and debased from
| the beginning7 Let me go, gentlemen,
and render the world one service before
die by Kidding 1t of that scoundrel.'
| And with one vigorous wrench he broke
from the hands which held him and sprang
upon Green The gambler had by this
time got his knife clear, and as Hammond
closed with him he plunged 1t through his
side. Two more stabs followed In rapid
succession before the gambler was dis
armed. Willy Hammond fell over, the
blood gushing from his wounds. His
father and his mother reached him befrore
he expired and willy Hammond's wasted
life went out as he lay in his mother S
aims. When she saw that her son was
gone forever Mrs. Hammond fell dead
over his body.
There was tremendous excitement In the
village and a mob collected, with mutter-
| ings of vengeance against Green and
Simon Glade. Chiefly was the indignation
of the mob directed toward Green, and
| when some one oil the crowd shouted 1.-THE
murderer must not escaped hoarse,
angry cry answered the appeal The car
| rying out of the two dead bodies of
mother and son from the tavern still fur
Their excited the crowd, and 10 men were
selected to search the inn and its out
buildings. But Green could not be found
and the self-constituted leaders of the
mob sent off parties, mounted and on foot.
to scour every inch of the country for
three miles around.
The mob being dispersed upon its mis-
sion slade made his appearance. Anxiety
and alarm were written upon his face.
This is dreadful" he said, dreadful"
Yet fear for the consequences of the
crime and not the crime itself was what
| disturbed him-so far had the liquor traf-
| fic debased him. All evening began to
fall the unsuccessful pursuers of the
gambler began to return, one by one,
to congregate in the barroom. where they
were still further inhamed by steady
flow of liquor. Slade kept out of sight,,
but as the men drank more they began to
ask why he did not show himself. He
had been in the room when the murder
was committed-had been playing cards
with Hammond. Why should he DE alb
sent now? Perhaps he aided the muir
derer to escape At once the house was
thoroughly searched-but Simon could not
be found. But the stranger, upon going
to his room discovered Green hiding I'M
der the bed. He told the gambler that he
could not escape, that the whole town was
armed, and II he fell into the hands of
the mob his life was not worth a penny s
purchase. Green consented to stay where
he was until the stranger could notify the
sheriff of his whereabouts
| The appearance of the sheriff and hi,
posse aroused the crowd to frenzy once
more, and when the officers of the law
were seen coming down stairs with the
murderer handcuffed oaths and execra-
lions filled the air 1t was In vain that
the sheriff appealed to the excited throns
t. make way and let him through. They
cried out for Harvey Green's blood and
the blood Of his accomplices, Simon Slade
and Judge Lyman. Finally the sheriff
and the five other officers with him drew
their revolvers and prepared to force a
passage through the mob. Suddenly IA
shot rang out 1t came from the mob,
| and Harvey Green sank to the floor, dead
| Who fired that shot was never known to
| certainty The death of Green ap-
peased the crowds thirst for blood, and
| Simon Slade came from his hiding place,
looking haggard and worn, his eyes rest
less and anxious. Judge Lyman, too
vcntured to visit the barroom, though il
could be plainly seen that he had i'm
! bited large amounts of liquor in order
! to get up courage enough to show him
sell to the people. But the Judge had
overdone the matter and drank so muo h
that he lost his discretion and became
| quarrelsome.
| The fury of the mob was again ex-
cited against him. He called one of the
men liar and the next instant a blow
staggered him against the wall Every
| man In the barroom had been drinking
heavily all day and was mad with pas
sion and rum. The blow which sem
Judge Lyman against the wall seemed
| signal. The entire mob fell upon him
He was thrown to the floor, kicked, pound
| ed and stamped on in flendsh manner
until they thought him dead But the
judge was not killed, only terribly man
handled-his features bruised out of al
human resemblance. Later the crowd,
drunk and furious, began fights among
themselves and in the struggle the furni-
ture of the barroom and the sitting roo;1
was wrecked. Slade received beating
almost as bad as that inflicted upon
Judge Lyman. This Seventh Night in
be room had proved an exciting one for
tho stranger.
Two years elapsed before he again Wis
tied Ceda rviIle Neglect decav dila nida-