The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-04-17
Yours forever,
'.SALLY DUNK
CHAPTER XIII.
The Bolt Falls.


Three times that winter had seen
Benjamin Gri1nshaw followed by the
/ Silent Woman clothed in rags and
| pointing with her finger.
The trial of Amos came on. He had
had blood on his feet" as they used
to say, all the way from LickityspIit
to Lewis county in his fight. having
attacked and slightly wounded two
men with bowie knife who had tried
10 detain him at Rainy Lake. He had
also shot at an officer in the vicinity
OF Lowville, where his arrest was ef-
| fected- He had been identified by all
| these men, and so his character as a
| desperate man had been established.
IhlS IN connection with the scar on his
face and the tracks, which the boots
| of Amos fitted, and the broken gun
stock convinced the jury of his guilt.
L remember we'll the look of the
venerable Judge Cady as he pro-
| Eounced the sentence of death upon
Amos GrimShaw. A ray OF sunlight
slanting through a window in the late
afternoon fell upon his gracious cOun-
teLance, shining also. with the softer
light OF his spirit. Slowly, sOlemnly,
kindly, he spoke the words of doom.
1t was his way of saying them that
first made me feel the dignity and
| majesty Of the law. The kind and IA
therly tone of his voice put me in
mind of that supremest court which
is above all question and which was
swiftly TO enter judgment in this mat
ter and in others related to it,
Slowly the crowd moved out of the
and calmly whispered to his lawyer
He had not spoken to his son or
| seemed to notice him since the trial
had begun, nor did he now. Many had
shed tears that day, but not he. Mr..
Grimshaw never showed but one emo
tiOn-that OF anger. He was angry
now. His face was hard and stern. He
muttered as he walked out of the
| courtroom, his cane briskIy beating the
floor.
The Silent WOman-as ragged as
ever-was waiting on the steps. Out
went her bOny finger as he came down.
He turned and struck at her with his
cane and shouted in a shriI voice that
rang out like trumpet in his frenzy:
$50 way from me. Take her away,
somebody. can't stan it. Shes KILN
me. Take her away. Take her away.
Take her away"
His face turned purple and then
white. He reeIed and fell headlong,
like a tree severed from its roots, and
lay still on the hard, stone pavement.
1t seemed as if snow were falling on
his FACET grew so white. The Silent
Woman stood as still as he, pointing
al him with her finger. her look IN
changed. People came running toward
Us. I lifted the head of Mr.. Grimshaw
and laid 1t on my knee. It felt like the
head OF the stranger in Rattleroad.
Old Kate bent over and looked at the
eyelids of the man which fluttered
family and were still.
"DeadI' she muttered.
Then, as If her work were finished,
she turned and made her way through
the crowd and walked slowly down
the street. Men stood aside to let her
pass, as if they felt the power of her
spirit and feared the touch of her gar
ments.
Two or three men had run TO the
house of the nearest doctor. The crowd
! thickened. As 1 sat looking down at
the. dead face in my lap, a lawyer who
lad come out or the courtroom pressed
near me and bent over and looked at
| the set eyes of Benjamin Grimshaw
and said:
"She f1oOred him at last knew she
would. He tried not to see her, but I
! tell We that bony old finger of hers
| burnt hole in him. He couldn't stand
! it. 1 knew he'd blow up some day IN
/ der the strain. She got him at last
'fWho got him?" another asked.
''Rovin' Kate. She killed him point
ing her finger at him-so."
''She's got an evil eye. Everybody's
afraid o. the crazy o. troIIope."
! Nonsense! She isn't half as crazy
as the most OF us" said the. lawyer.
''In my opinion she had good reason
for pointing her finger at that man.