Nothing is so unreasoning as a crowd under excitement. The miners were inflamed1 with fierce anger against men of whom they knew nothing, except that they were accused of theft by two other men, of whom also they knew nothing. Whether the charge was true or false they did not stop to inquire. Apparently2, they did not care. They only wanted revenge, and that stern and immediate3.
The moderate speaker, already referred to, tried to turn the tide by an appeal for delay. "Wait till morning," he said. "This charge may not be true. Let us not commit an injustice4."
But his appeal was drowned in the cries of the excited crowd, "Hang the horse-thieves! string 'em up."
Each of the four victims was dragged by a force which he couldn't resist to the place of execution.
Richard Dewey was pale, but his expression was stern and contemptuous, as if he regarded the party of miners as fools or lunatics.
"Was this to be the end?" he asked himself. "Just as the prospect5 of happiness was opening before him, just as he was to be reunited to the object of his affection, was he to fall a victim to the fury of a mob?"
Jake Bradley perhaps took the matter more philosophically6 than either of the other three. He had less to live for, and his attachment7 to life was not therefore so strong. Still, to be hanged as a thief was not a pleasant way to leave life, and that was what he thought of most. Again, his sympathy was excited in behalf of the boy Ben, whom he had come to love as if he were his own son. He could not bear to think of the boy's young life being extinguished in so shocking a manner.
"This is rough, Ben," he managed to say as the two, side by side, were hurried along by the vindictive8 crowd.
Ben's face was pale and his heart was full of sorrow and awe9 with the prospect of a shameful10 death rising before him. Life was sweet to him, and it seemed hard to lose it.
Jake Bradley shook his head mournfully. "I am afraid not," he said. "I'd like to shoot one of those lyin' scoundrels" (referring to Bill Mosely and his companion) "before I am swung off. To think their word should cost us our lives! It's a burnin' shame!"
Ki Sing looked the image of terror as he too was forced forward by a couple of strong miners. His feet refused to do their office, and he was literally12 dragged forward, his feet trailing along the ground. He was indeed a ludicrous figure, if anything connected with such a tragedy can be considered ludicrous. Probably it was not so much death that Ki Sing feared, for with his race life is held cheap, but Chinamen shrink from violence, particularly that of a brutal13 character. They are ready with their knives, but other violence is not common among them.
Bill Mosely and Tom Hadley followed in the rear of the crowd. They would have liked to improve the time by stealing away with the mustangs which they coveted14, but even in this hour of public excitement they knew it would not be safe, and the act might arouse suspicion.
While Mosely felt gratified that the men he hated were likely to be put out of the way, there was in his heart a sensation of fear, and he involuntarily shuddered15 when he reflected that if justice were done he would he in the place of these men who were about to suffer a shameful death. Moreover, he knew that some day it were far from improbable that he himself would be figuring in a similar scene as a chief actor, or rather chief victim. So, though he exulted16, he also trembled.
Meanwhile the place of execution had been reached. Then it was discovered that one important accessory to the contemplated17 tragedy was lacking--a rope. So one of the party was sent to the hotel for a rope, being instructed by Jim Brown where to find it.
It seemed the last chance for an appeal, and, hopeless as it seemed, Richard Dewey resolved to improve it. "Gentlemen," he said in a solemn tone, "I call God to witness that you are about to put to death four innocent men."
"Enough of that!" said Jim Brown, roughly, "We don't want to hear any more of your talk."
But Dewey did not stop. "You have condemned18 us," he proceeded, "on the testimony19 of two as arrant20 scoundrels as can be found in California;" and he pointed21 scornfully at Bill Mosely and his partner.
"Are you goin' to let him insult us?" asked Mosely in the tone of a wronged man.
"That don't go down, stranger," said Jim Brown. "We know you're guilty, and that's enough."
"You know it? How do you know it?" retorted Dewey. "What proof is there except the word of two thieves and liars22 who deserve the fate which you are preparing for us?"
"Hang 'em up!" shouted somebody; and the cry was taken up by the rest.
"If you won't believe me," continued Dewey, "I want to make one appeal--to ask one last favor. Spare the life of that innocent boy, who certainly has done no evil. If there are any fathers present I ask, Have you the heart to take away the life of a child just entering upon life and its enjoyments23?"
He had touched the chord in the hearts of more than one.
"That's so!" cried the speaker who had tried to stem the popular excitement. "It would be a crime and a disgrace, and I'll shoot the man that puts the rope 'round the boy's neck."
"You're right," cried three others, who themselves had left children in their distant homes. "The boy's life must be saved."
The two men who held Ben in their grasp released him, and our young hero found himself free. There was a great rush of joy to his heart as he saw the shadow of death lifted from him, but he was not satisfied that his life alone should be spared. He resolved to make an appeal in turn. "Gentlemen," he said, "I am only a boy, but I want to speak a few words, and those words shall be true."
Ben had been a good speaker at school, and he had unconsciously assumed the attitude with which he commenced declaiming upon the school-rostrum.
"Hear the boy!" shouted several; and there was a general silence. It was a new thing to be addressed by a boy, and there was a feeling of curiosity as to what he would say.
"I want to say this," continued Ben--"that what Mr. Dewey has said is strictly24 true. Not one of us is guilty of the crime that has been charged upon us. The men who have testified against us are thieves, and robbed us of these very horses, which we finally recovered from them. May I tell you how it all happened?"
Partly from curiosity, the permission was given, and Ben, in plain, simple language, told the story of how they had received Mosely and Hadley hospitably25, and awoke in the morning to find that they had stolen their horses. He also described the manner in which later they tried to rob Dewey when confined to his bed by sickness. His words were frank and sincere, and bore the impress of truth. Evidently a sentiment was being created favorable to the prisoners, and Bill Mosely saw it and trembled.
"Let us go," he whispered to Hadley.
"If you wish to know whether I speak the truth," Ben concluded, "look in the faces of those two men who have accused us."
The terror in the face of Bill Mosely was plainly to be seen. Suddenly the minds of the fickle26 multitude veered27 round to the two accusers, and shouts arose: "The boy's right! Hang the thieves!"
Then Bill Mosely did perhaps the most unwise thing possible. His courage fairly broke down, and he started to run. Immediately a dozen men were on his track. He was brought back, moaning and begging for mercy, but the crowd was in no merciful mood. Victims they demanded, and when the rope was brought the two wretched men were summarily suspended to the branches of two neighboring trees.
They had fallen into the pit which they had prepared for others.
As for Ben, he became the hero of the hour. The miners raised him on their shoulders and bore him aloft in triumph to the hotel from which he had so recently been dragged to execution.
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1
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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2
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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3
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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4
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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5
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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6
philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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7
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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8
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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9
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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10
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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11
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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12
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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13
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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14
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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15
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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16
exulted
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| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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18
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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19
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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20
arrant
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| adj.极端的；最大的 | |
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21
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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22
liars
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| 说谎者( liar的名词复数 ) | |
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23
enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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24
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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25
hospitably
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| 亲切地，招待周到地，善于款待地 | |
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26
fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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27
veered
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| v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转 | |
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