The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-13

next for stealing hogs and the next | because he's unpopular and the next | because he happens to dun you for l debt And in five years life will be as cheap in Watson county as it is in New York slum whereA they feed tm- migrants to the factories. You'll all l be tot1ng guns and grudges and trying to lynch each other. s"The place to stop the thing is where it starts. You can't have it both ways you've got to stand pat on the law or else see the law spit on right and left in the end and nobody safe. It's either law or'- "But,1 says Grimes, s'there's a, higher law than that on the statute books. There's''-
 There's a lot of dub-dub," says the colonel, about higher laws and un- written laws. But we've got high enough law written if we live up to it. There's"-
 "ColoneI Tom Buckner," says Buck Hightower, what kind of law was it when you shot Ed Howard fifteen years ago? What
 s'You're out of or7er,'' says the chair man, Colonel Buckner has the door And I'll remind you, Buck Hightower, that, on the occasion you drag in, Colo
 
 about higher laws or unwritten laws. E1e sent word to the sheriff to come and get him if he dared"
 ''Boys," says the colonel, ''I'm preach ing you higher doctrine than I've ever lived by. I'm in the same boat with all of you, and tell you it's up to all of us to stop lynchings in this county-to set our faces against it. I tell you''- '1s that all you've got to. say to us, | colone1P'
 The question come out of a group that had drawed nearer together whilst the colonel was talking They was tired of listening to talk and argu- ments, and showed it. The colonel let loose jest one word: l ''Nor'
 l Not very loud, but with a ring in it 1 that sounded like danger. And he got '-n waiting agin, and hanging on his 1 words.
 And he paused agin, pointing one long white finger at the crowd t'If you Jg7scb thts man goI must kiII nse 7SrstP'
 couldn't get away from thinking, as he stood there making them take that in, that they was something like | a play actor about him. But they saw he was in earnest
 "You'n lynch him, will you?'' he says, kind of passion getting into his 1 voice fur the first time and his eyes ] glittering. 'GYou think you will? Well, you won'tI
 t'You won't because I say notI Do you hear? came here tonight to save ] him.
 'fYou might string him up and not be called to account for 1t. But how aI,"Trt me?"
 A4o-took step forward, and, looking from face to face with a dare in his eyes, he went on:
 +1s there a man among you fool enough to think you could kill Tom Buckner and not pay for it?'
 He reached over and took from the teachers desk the sheet of paper Will had used to check off the name Of each mRn and how he voted He held it up in front of him and every man looked at it.
 You know me-" he says. 'fYou know Isdo not break my word. And I promise you that unless you do kill me here tonight-yes, God is my witness, I threaten you-I will spend every dollar own and every atom of influence I possess to bring each one of you to justice for that mans mur der''
 They knowed, that crowd did, that killing a man like Colonel Buckner-a leader and a big man in that part of the state-was different proposition from killing stranger like Dr., Kirby.
 'tI told you,' he said, not raising his voice. but dropping it and making it somehow come creeping nearer to every one by doing that, 'I told you the first white man you lynched would lead to other lynchings. Let me show you =what you're up against tonight. ''Kin the man and the boy here and you must kill me Kill me and you must kill old man Wfthers too.'
 Every one turned toward the door as he mentioned old man W1thers. He had never been very far into the room.
 "Oh, he's gone," said Colonel Tom as they turned toward the door and then looked at each other. ~Gone home. Gone home with the name of every man present Don't you see you'd have to kill old man Withers, too if you killed me? And then his wife. And then-how many more? Do you see it widen-that pool of blood? Do you see it spread and 6pread?'
 It was a horrible idea the way he played that there pool of blood, and he shuddered like he felt it climbing up himself. And they felt it.
 ''Now,'' says Colonel Tom, ''what man among you wants to start it?' Nobody moved. He waited a min ste. Still nobody moved. They all , boked at him. It was awful plain jest where they would have to begin. ) It was awful plain jest what it would all end up in. After a minute more of } that strain a feller by the door picks up his gun out of the corner with a 7 scrape and hists it to his shoulder and walks out. And then Colonel Tom [ says to Will:
 twill. perhaps a motion to adjourn : -wouId: be in cE6er1s, @~