Sentence:  I sincerely hope, for your sake, that Don Beltran may expiate his treason, on the old Spanish gibbet in the Recoveco, as soon as Caraccas is a little more quiet; unless, indeed, the earthquake has already <WSD>cheated the hangman</WSD> of his fee, as is most probable. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To die, especially by suicide, while under sentence of death, or while guilty of a capital crime; also to kill someone else who is in such a state.