Evening star., 1936-03-18
CHAPTER XY.

Somebody QaSneQ INSIDE ana procured
q short length of rope, with which
Jesus hands were tied behind him
and his feet bound together. Joaquin
hurled himself upon the mob, but
strong hands restrained him and held
him, while the RATA was passed over
a top limb of the tree and the loop
dropped around Jesus neck with the
hondo under his right ear.
There was a believing yo-ho as the
drunken mob tailed on to the end
of the RATA and Jesus shot skyward.
His body twisted a little, his feet
came up and down in last frantic
kick. and then he was still, swinging
gently from the limb, while Joaquin
struggled madly with his captors.
The law of the drunken, irresponsi-
bic mob of riff-raf had triumphed.
Even in this agony, as he watched
his brother swinging gently to and
fro, Joaquin realized that Deputy
Sheriff Harmon was not in Sawmill
Flat, else Jesus would have been saved.
There's been enough hoSs an mule
stealin' goin' on in this county" the
HAL WIlO Ildu dISllSCN OOdHOAAA oAA-
nounced. Reckon thisn be lesson
to others. This wholesale stealin's
what comes O. havin' baby-hearted
deputy sheriff around these diggin's.
lannon's always insistin' that the law
take its course; even when the proofs
clear he's got to have more, an the
result is the skunks is turned loose to
do some more stealin'."
His speech met with a sympathetic
roar of approval.
las for this feller here" the speaker
continued, pointing to Joaquin, I'm
willin' to admit he didn't steal my
mule, but I reckon We got ter do
somethin' to him that'l make him
steer clear O. Sawrnill Flat. He's sem
tenced to 80 laShes to learn him to
keen away from bad company. III
lest lay them lasheS on myself"
Joauuin'S shirt was torn from his
body, his hands were tied together
and then fastened to the tree trunk
we'll above his head: somebody pro-
duced a heavy rawhide Mexican qulrt
and the flogging proceeded, a mo-
notonous count succeeding each ter
rible blow. Joaquin took the punish
ment without an outcry; he merely
kept twisting, between blows, to face
the mob. When he did this the quirt
descended on his breast. He would
then turn to apprise the men standing
on the other side. His dark eyes
blaZed like those of a cornered animal
his lips moved; he was repeating some
thing to himself. At the thirtieth
blow he tainted, and when the thirty
ninth had been delivered God alone
could have told why the number
should have been 39), the mob, sobered
now and little sickened by the bloody
spectacle, united Joaquin's hands and
permitted his body to sag to the
ground; apparently by mutual consent
crowded back into the saloon to have
a drink or two to talk the incident
over and congratulate themselves on
q good deed we'll done. There were in
the saloon-indeed, there had been
present at the lynching and flogging-
a few men who had protested violently
but as they were in tiny majority
they could do nothing. 1t was the
ruf1ans' day to strut. and right
sturdily they had strutted.
Presently up the wide, winding,
dusty main street of the town IL
horsemen rode. They were all dark
skinned men-Hispano Californians-
and at their head rode a short, stout,
brutal-looking fellow. He pulled up
his horse and gazed at that tree with
its bloody fruit. Over his shoulder
he cried in a voice of authority, in
Spanish:
These men are Of our race. I will
take the man who has been beaten.
Hola. Thomas, Guillaume! Pass him
up to me. Pepe and Manuel, cut down
the dead man and put him on his pack
mule"
Swiftly the task was accomplished.
When one of the pitying ones, sick
ened to the point where he could no
longer remain in the vicinity of the
mob, emerged from the saloon the
tree had been robbed of its fruit and
the horsemen were riding away. Their
leader chanced to glance back. saw
the American standing in the doorway,
pulled his pistol and fired three in
effectual shots at the man before the
latter dodged back into the saloon.
The sound of the shots and the
frightened citizens hurried entrance
brought the mob to silence. And the
citizen spoke.
"Three-Fingered Jack and his gang
have taken the Murietta brothers
away" he painted. There were 20
men in the mob that dif that dirty
job, and you're all here. Joaquin
Murietta marked you all; he marked,
too. the three of us that protested
your work; he smiled at us in turn
and nodded. I figger we're out Of it,
but I figger you'd all been safer If
you'd hung him, too. You might re-
member, when you're sober how he
kept twistin' an turnin', markin' down
every man, fixing the feller'S face In
his mind. Damned, dirty, stinkin'
skunks. I wouldn't give cents for
your lives when he gifts over that
floggin'. In his place, I'd never rest
until I'd killed you all" He walked
up to the man who had accused Joa-
quin of stealing his mule. "The mules
are gone, too," he said, IAN I'm here
to tell you think you lied that poor
greaSer's life away to get back mule
you sold when you was hard up an
needed money for grub" He struck
the man on the jaw and stretched
him unconscious on the floor. He
strode from the saloon and no mans
hand was lifted against him.
AS the cavalcade of horsemen who
had appropriated the bodies of Jesus
and Joaquin came abreast the Muri-
eta homestead, the mule which Joa-
Quin had ridden into town and which
now carried the body of Jesus, securely
tied into the saddle, broke from the
cavalcade in which he was being
driven, leaped of the trail down into
Sawmill Flat Greek and trotted up
the slope to Jesus Muriettas little
farm.
The leader pulled up his horse,
"The mule" he announced, "is a