Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 481 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

| | / | ' | | | SS ee sg ey ————e new oer eee ee ~ _§ ™ ‘ we =e ~-———_—_-- ---- a After that there was no difference in her, ex- cept that her paroxysms of rage against Little Ah Sin were more frequent, invariably being the culmination of those periods of remorse when she cried out that the devil was intriguing for her soul, So came the day of the trial, which Mrs, Swayne attended with the others. From the first it was plain that every one, even to his Honor, had prejudged the case. A heathen Chinee accused was a heathen Chinee guilty. All the testimony went dead against the pris- | oner, Called to the witness stand, Mrs, Swayne had one of her attacks of delirium, and denounced Little Ah Sin so wildly and incoherently that it was evident that she was raving. Later, in his charge to the jury, his Honor cautioned them not to consider her testimony; | but that legal form did not remove its influence | from their minds, When Little Ah Sin was asked what he had to say in his own defense, he cnly repeated what he had said: to Edith: ‘* No catchee killum that Joss pidgin man.” Then Edith sprung to her feet in sudden wild excitement. “Oh, your Honor!” she cried breathlessly, ‘*do you hear him?” ‘*T hear him, my dear young lady,” said his Honor, gallantly; *‘ but I contess that he does not make himself intelligible to the court. May we depend upon you to render what has been said into better English?” ‘Oh, sir! I have made a mistake all along.” ‘I do not know what it is; but youshall have opportunity to correct it. We all attend you.” ‘He does not deny having killed Mr. Swayne—” ‘Hh? Iconfess my surprise. I thought that the purport—” But in her eagerness Edith interrupted the court without apology. el he says that he has not been killed at all |! **My dear young lady! do I understand you?” The whole court stared agape. _ His Honor looked over his spectacles at Edith in a way that suggested a sudden change of feel- ing. 3 Oh, sir! there can be no doubt about it!” she assured him, anxiously. ‘‘‘No catchee killum that Joss pidgin man,’ means ‘The minister has not been killed.’” “Tf I mistake not,™said his Honor, with a labored politeness which savored of suspicious- ness, ‘‘ those are the same words that have been quoted before.” ‘‘' The same, sir,” admitted Edith. “And yet your previous understanding of them seems to have been different,” Edith blushed, 7 ‘IS was very stupid of me,” she said, almost pipintevely, ** But i think I must have been so ully persuaded of Mr, Swayne’s death that I did not give sufficient consideration to the exact words used,” * Precisely,” saidhis Honor, ‘‘ Any other sup- position is so preposterous, that I think that.even you—with yong evident partiality for the pris- oner—will hesitate to entertain it, his protesta- tions notwithstanding.” That was what his Woot called “ sitting down on the witness,” Edith was dumb, But the half-crazed brain of Mrs, Swayne had caught at the idea advanced. She lost the iden- tity of the person on trial every once in a while thinking that it was Jack. So she caught at any pretext to defend him. She sprung to her feet and cried out: ‘¢ But it is true, your Honor! He is notdead. My husband was suddenly called away on busi- ness,” But when an Officer of the court insisted upon her sitting down, she grew violent, denouncing Little Ah Sin again, and calling down the ven- sence of heaven in quittanes of her husband’s ood, _ While the jury was deliberating she became aay calm, hey rendered a unanimous verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. _ Then she rose to her feet again. “Stop!” she cried, in a voice that thrilled through everybody. All looked expectantly in the direction in which she pointed her long bony finger. ‘* Do you see him?” she cried, in a hoarse, rasp- j r. ‘‘Itis the devil! He is chuckling to think he has secured my soul! See! see!” She uttered a piercing shriek, and fled head- long to cast herself at his Honor’s feet. So startled was he that his spectacles were ' “ s ( : - Ma vo ete Fire ee . es sd 4% . ‘e oF ry ? , : , = yiPe >. ’ : too. oy , \ 4. x 4 fi OU ale ole) Sahni y = if iat #4 <n - P. a 4 TR, : ¥ Re ast a ot a “ST aed a ae <4 —_ plained—‘* something of so vi that I could not wait, Li treating heel. ‘* My good woman!” was the beginning of his _ protest, But she burst in upon his bland speech. ‘* Listen! The boy is as innocent as I or you!” Then turning to the imaginary demon: ‘*Satan, | shall escape your hands! I defy you and all your subtle arts! You may break a mother’s heart, but you shall not have that | which is God’s!” And again to his Honor; ‘* It was the son who slew his father. Let the boy go. He is innocent, I say. He has only been used by the arch-fiend to insnare my soul!” ‘* The poor woman is quite distraught,” stam- mered his Honor, nervously. ‘* Take her away.” But, mistaking for the fiend in person, the of- ficer who came to remove her, Mrs, Swayne swooned with terror. Little Ah Sin was sentenced to be hanged, | and remanded to prison to await the day ot ex- ecution., CHAPTER XI. DELIVERANCE, ALL night long Edith had lain awake, con- ning over the strange expressions Mrs, Swayne had let fall during her moments of ungovern- able excitement. Until now she had been too much shocked to stop to reason ou the possible meaning of that oft-repeated cry that ‘* the devil was bidding for her soul.” Now she associated it with Mis. Swayne’s de- claration that Little Ah Sin was innocent. lf this declaration was made in defiance of Satan, then its opposite—the denunciation of Little Ah Sin—must have been in compliance with his wish. Here then was a reasonable explanation. The Tempter was “ bidding for her soul” by leading her into the sin of bearing false witness, Here too was an explanation of the boy’s ref- erence to her to establish his innocence, He knew that she knew that he was guiltless, and that she could clear him by telling the truth. Having got so far, Edith reverted to Little Ah Sin’s declaration:—‘‘ No catchee killum!”— the man had not been killed. At this point she was seized with a sudden horror. “Tf uncle Abe is not dead, and aunt Merc knows it, yet still accuses Little Ah Sin of his murder—” She could go no further. The enormity of the conclusion stunned her. She dared not say, even to herself—not yet, at least—that it was all a plot so destroy Little Ah Sin. Granted such inconceivable wickedness, what could be their motive? Then came the thought of their fanatical hatred of the boy for having led-little Jerusha to worship Joss. ‘*Oh, mercy!” she cried, clasping her handsin dismay. ‘' Latiove they are making a sacrifice of him, to appease the divine wrath! It is plain that the feeling that they are under a curse has become a monomania with them, so that their religion has become as dark and terrible as any form of paganism, But this is too horrible!” _ However, the more she thought of it, the more everything seemed to point to the conclusion she had reached. ‘* But it is too wild a theory to hope to con- vince others of its truth,” she said to herself. ‘*The judge scouted the idea that uncle Abe might et he alive, without giving it a thought. He said at once that I was partial to Little Ah Sin. Everybody will look at it in that way, and they will hang him without stopping to in- vestigate. Then if uncle Abe returns, it will only be a ‘‘ heathen Chinee,” and no one will care.” She wrung cher hands with hopeless tears at this thought, But at that instant Jim Stebbins flashed across her mind. She remembered her influence over him; and he had expressed the wish that Little Ah Sin would not be caught. There was no chance of sleep after that. She could not even keep in bed. She rose and dress- ed, and even went out into the night, watching for the first gleam of dawn, so that she might tell him her suspicions and enlist him in her cause, He expressed his surprise at seeing her astir 80 early. ‘‘I have something to’ say to you,” she ex- importance 13 7 as thrown frem his nose and crunched under his re- | ‘*T’m listenin’ to ye, ma’am; an’ éf thar’s any- thin’ I kin do fur ye, ye know it’s as gocd as done before ye ask it,” ‘*Thank you! I shall never forget your kindness, if you will do what I wish you to now.” He listened with undisguised astonishment as she laid her suspicions before him. His face he- came so troubled that she hesitated to state the action she wished him to take in the matter, until she had won him to her view. _‘* Miss Edith, ma’am,” he said slowly, *‘ not meanin’ no disrespect to you, ye onderstand, this hyar’s a big thing to swaller. You furgit that it’s murder that you’re chargin’ onto the boss and his lady. They’re cranky—I}] admit that; but they mean to do the square thing. I allow that the Lord don’t come down cn us half so rough as they leton. Butefthey’re so afraid of Him in leetle things, it don’t stand to reason that they’d walk straight into hell-fire by mur- derin’ a hae in this hyar cold-blooded fashion.” In vain she urged the fanaticism that had led to the cruel flagellation. ‘‘The boss was mad then,” said Jim,in ex- tenuation; ‘‘an’ I allow as it warn’t more’n nater, lookin’ at the thing from his stand-p’int. An’I reckon a man don’t burn forever fur hidin’ a boy, even ef he comes down on him purty aig But murder—that’s a diflerent thing.” Edith was in despair. She could not make Jim understand that fanaticism could be carried to such an extreme that the deluded devotee might think he was justified in destroying those whom he considered the enemies of God. **T allow that everybody knows that murder is murder,” he said, ‘‘an’ ef thar’s one place down below that’s hotter than another, it will be kept fur a man that delhberately plots for another’s blood. Ef aman stands up an’ takes his chance, it may be a fair shake; but a snake in the grass, what’s too cowardly to resk his own skin—the Lord hain’t no use fur none sich. I know!” Edith gave up the struggle, too much dis- irited to brush away the tears that rolled down er cheeks, . Jim glanced atthem uneasily. They “struck him where he lived.” “T’ll tell ye what Pll do, though,” he said, at last. She looked at him inquiringly, but said noth- ing. | 3 The boy has been put on mighty rough. The boss wasn’t satisfied with that thrashin’ an’ we don’t know what he might ’a’ been doin’ to him when he laid him out. Takin’ all this hyar into consideration, ll agree to pull him out o’ the lock-up an’turn him loose, Ef he can’t take care of himself then, that'll be Ais lookout.” ‘Oh! will you do that?—will you do that?’ cried Edith, in her excess of gratitude fairly throwing her arms about Jim. He blushed and stammered, and in his embar- rassment released himself from her embrace, But she still held his hand and thanked him over and over again. ‘““T would rather you thought him innocent, as I do,” she said. ‘‘ But, if from any motive you will release him, it will give us time to look for uncle Abe; and some day you may be glad that you yielded to pity so far.” Then they proceeded to lay their plans, except mee Jim insisted that Edith should take no active share. ‘‘ Bein’s as how you're a lady,” he explained, ‘it hain’t the thing fur you to run ag’in’ the law. A man like me, now, kin take care of him- self, Ef they don’t like my style, they know what they kin do.” And Edith, with a woman’s confidence in his ability to meet any emergencey, allowed him to take this risk, That night the constable at Rodger’s Flat was startled from his sleep, to find a masked man in his bed-chamber, holding a revolver to his head, while another was climbing in at the window, through which the heads of several more were visible. ‘* Hold on, boys,” he said, at once jumping to the conclusion that these were lynchers, who had come to take his prisoner out and hang him to the nearest tree. ‘‘ Whar’s the use o’ doin’ this thing irreg’lar, when the heathen’s goin’ to hang anyhow? Can’t you keep yer shirts on fur a few days?” Only the ominous click! click! of the lifted cock of the revolver answered him. He knew what was expected of him, and made no resistance when the second man produced a bit of rope with which to bind bim. ‘It’s all right, boys,” he said, not ill-natured- ly. ‘But go as light as you kin on the gag. ; ’ a) A Fa + pool old es