The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1913-03-01

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verdict was an acquittal for Ernest
Cronk. a conviction for murder In the
first degree against Richard, with the
recommendation he be hanged by the
neck until dead.
At IL o'clock on the morning Of q
bitterly cold Friday in January a grim,
sullen group Of men. evil faced fellows,
whose eyes were heavy with dread and,
whose lips hung limp with detection,
crowded around the stove in a squalid,
Ill smelling basement room. They
spoke but seldoms their voices were
rarely raised above the hoarse hale
whisper of anxiety.
In a far corner, huddled against the
wall there was a shivering. silent ng-
urc, a Pariah wen among these UNDER
world outcasts. He sat apart from the
others, denied a place in the circle, de-
spised and abhorred by the men he
once had scorned because they were
the devil-may-care companions and
emulators of his brother. His beady
black eyes never shifted from the low.
padlocked door in the opposite end Of
the room. He, too, was waiting for the
dread news from the upper world. His
breathing was sharply audible, as Of
n drugged by sleep. His body had not
moved an inch in an hour or more, SO
fierce was the suspense that held him
rigid. From time to time he swallowed.
although his mouth was dry and emp
ty. There was a rafting sound accom-
panying the act that suggested the
hoarse croak of a frog. Always his
gaze was on the door, never wavering,
unblinking, fascinated by the horror
that was creeping down to him AZ
surely as the sun crcpt up to the apex
of the day.
Noon! Twelve o'clock, midday! Tha
hour they were dreading!
One of the shivering thieves beside
the stove drew forth from a ragged
pocket the plutocratic timepiece Of a
millionaire victim. The way his eyes
narrowed as he looked at its face told
the silent observers that it was IL
o'clock and after. Unconsciorsly ev-
cry figure stiffened, every jaw was set,
every nostril spread with the intake OF
air. Every minds eye in that fear
sick group leaped afar and drew a pic
ture Of the thing that was happening
then! At that very instant 1t was hap
pening!
THE jig's up wild Dick. Kids" groan-
ed one. "Blacky ought to be here wild
de extry. Wot's a keepin' him?"
Twelve sharp, that's wot 1t says"
shuddered a small, pinched thief.
Hes a-swingin' now"
Suddenly a wild, appalling shrek
arose from the corner behind them.
As one n they whirled. Their gaze
fell upon the crfnging figure over there,
now g~roveling on the floor in the agony
of a terror that severed all the re-
~straining bonds that had held his
tongue so long.
They shrank back as their minds be-
gan to grasp the words he was Shrek
ing in his madness.
He was sobbing out the thing that
each man there had suspected from
the first.
For many minutes they listened toi
his rawlings, stupeied, aghast. Then
a stealthy glance swept round the cir
Gle as If inspired by n central intel
ligence.
A hand reached down and grasped
the leg of a short, heavy stool. Anoth-
er went lower and clutched a long.
murderous bar of iron that served as a
poker. Savage eyes went in quest Of
deadly things, and ~purposeful hands
obeyed the common impulse.
Then they advanced.
Later the steafthy, shtvertng grouu|
stole forth from the and down
the black hallway that led to the
street. The last man out cast a ter
riied glance at the still, shapeless OBJ
ject in the corner al he closed the
door behind him and fed after his fell
lows. When they came from the pas1
sage into the full light Of day each
skulker looked at his hands and found
that they shook as II with a mighty
ague.
Even as they blinked their yes I'M
the glaring sunlight an excited young
man came rushing toward them from
the opposite side of the street. They
paused irresolute. The newcomer was
white, excited-yes, jubilant In his
hand Lac carried a newspaper. the
heavy black headlines standing ont In
bold relief.
Hes got a ~reprieve!" he was shout
ing eagerly. Look 'erc!."
Fascinated. they skunk back into the
dark passage to listen in stupefaction
while the joyous Blacky repeated the
astounding news from the prison.
"Mr. 9enison and his wife done itr'
cried Blacky, his eyes cleaning. 1T
says so here. They went to the gov
nor this morning and put 1t up to him
in a way that made him grant a re-
prieve for thirty days, SOS Mr.. Jenison
can get the real facts before him That
means a pardon sure, kids. Say, Jeni-
sons all right. He's the Kind of q