CHAPTER XI
AN UNEXPECTED WITNESS
The alcalde, the moment he saw that the mob spirit had been subdued, hadreturned quietly to his place behind the barrel; and, when the two boysagain gave their attention to him, he had just reached his rude seat ofjudgment, and was about to speak.
"I knew," he said, as his keen eyes searched the faces of the men, whohad so opportunely formed the cordon of safety around him and his court,"that I could depend on the good sense and fair-mindedness of the peopleof Sacramento City. We will now proceed with the trial," and he quietlyslipped back both of his revolvers into his coat pockets.
"Once more," and the alcalde raised his voice so that all could hear,"the court asks, is there any other witness to bear testimony againstthe two prisoners, if so, let him now step forward."
For a minute or two the alcalde waited. There was no movement, no wordfrom the surrounding crowd.
"We will now proceed with the examination of the prisoners. Young man,take your place on the witness stand," and the alcalde turned to Thure.
"Don't get excited. Keep cool," cautioned Bud, as Thure hastened to takehis place in front of the barrel.
A hush came over the great encircling crowd, as Thure stood beforethe alcalde and was solemnly sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth,and nothing but the truth. Many of those rough bearded men had sonsof their own back at home, hardly younger than was the prisoner, whonow stood before the bar of justice, with a rope dangling threateninglyabove his head; and these men found it hard to believe that thatwholesome-looking, clear-eyed youth could be guilty of the atrociouscrime charged against him. But, there was the evidence; and the laws ofthe city must be enforced; and their faces grew stern and sad.
Thure told his story in a clear straightforward way; told how he and Budhad gone out for a hunt on that day, how they had heard the death-cry ofthe unfortunate horse and had slain the huge grizzly, how, just afterthey had completed the skinning of the grizzly, they had seen thestruggle of the old miner with his two assailants and had rushed to hisrescue, how the robbers had fled, leaving the miner robbed and mortallystabbed, how they had endeavored to get him to their home before hedied, but had failed, and, finally, how the miner had died and they hadborne his dead body home and had buried it.
There was hardly a loud sound made while Thure was telling his story.One could almost have heard the great crowd breathing. When he hadspoken of witnessing the struggle between the miner and his murderersand of rushing to his rescue, there had been a great stir in the crowd,but it had quickly subsided, so eager were all to hear every word thathe uttered. His manner and his story made a deep impression; but, alas,it was soon seen that his evidence had introduced nothing to disprovethe testimony of his two accusers that had any stronger proof back of itthan his own word and the word of his fellow prisoner, while he hadadmitted bringing the dead body of the murdered miner home and buryingit, admitted having the dead body of the miner in his possession. This,at least, was in direct proof of what his accusers had testified; forthey had sworn that they had seen the two boys bear the dead body offwith them. It looked as if they had made their story up to fit in withthe accounts of the previous witnesses and yet disprove the story oftheir accusers.
Thure, so far in his testimony, had said nothing of the description theold miner had given of his murderers. He was saving that for the last,to be brought out by the questions of the alcalde, if possible. Hewished to make it as emphatic and striking as possible, and yet he didnot wish to appear to give it voluntarily; for he was wise enough to seethat for him and Bud to accuse their accusers might re-act back onthemselves. Fortunately the questions of the alcalde led directly to it.
"You testify," began the alcalde, the moment Thure had apparentlycompleted his testimony, "that you drove the murderers away from thebody of the miner. Did you get near enough to them to recognize themagain, should you see them?"
"No," Thure answered. "I could only swear that one was a large man andthat the other was small."
"Did you discover anything that would lead you to surmise who committedthe crime?" again asked the alcalde.
"No, not directly," answered Thure hesitatingly. "But the old miner,just before he died, gave us a description of his two murderers," and hestopped.
"How did he describe them? Why do you hesitate?" asked the alcaldesharply.
"Because," answered Thure boldly, "the description the dying miner gaveof his two murderers appears to make us accuse our accusers, as if wewere trying to get back at them, when it is God's truth that we areuttering."
"Give us the description. We are the ones to judge of its merits,"commanded the alcalde, his face flushing with interest, while thesurrounding crowd became breathless.
Bud was looking at the two men; and he saw both of them start at thewords of Thure and glance apprehensively into each other's eyes.
"The miner said," and Thure turned his eyes full upon Bill Ugger, "thatone of his murderers was a large, red-headed man with a broken nose; andthat the other," and his eyes turned to the face of Spike Quinley, "wasa small man, with a pock-marked face."
For a moment no one spoke. All eyes were bent on the faces of the twomen. There was no mistaking to whom the description applied. Then aharsh laugh broke from Bill Ugger.
"Tryin' to turn th' tables on us, be you?" and again he laughed. "Wal, Ireckon, ever'one here believes that yarn. It fits tew pat, not tew betrue. So me an' Spike are th' true murderers, be we? Wal, this is sumunexpected an' s'prisin', ain't it Spike?" and he turned to his comrade,grinning and glaring like a huge buffoon; but a close observer mighthave noticed that his skin had whitened beneath its red beard.
Quinley had started perceptibly at Thure's description of the miner'smurderers, but he had quickly controlled himself, and a deadly gleam hadcome into his wicked little eyes and his thin lips had tightened, as,unperceived by all eyes, except the eyes the movement was intended for,he had turned and given a man standing in the edge of the circle asignal. The man at once had slipped back in the crowd and vanished.
"Powerful s'prisin'," and Quinley turned and grinned back into the faceof Ugger. "I reckon you can already feel th' rope a-tightenin' 'roundy'ur neck, can't you, Bill? That description sart'in fits us as pat asan old shoe. But th' s'prisin'est thing 'bout it all is, that I don't'pear tew have any rekerlections of a-committin' that murder. Must haveben dreamin', when I done it."
The eyes of the alcalde, during this brief byplay, had been closelywatching the faces of the two men. He now turned to Thure again.
"Have you any witnesses, other than your fellow prisoner, to testify tothe truth of your statements?" he asked.
"No," answered Thure; "except that our mothers and our sisters and thefolks at the rancho can testify to our bringing home the body of thedead miner and that we told them that we had found him just as I havesaid that we did."
"That would prove nothing as to who committed the murder. Is thereanyone in Sacramento City that knows either of you two boys?"
"No," again answered Thure. "Not that I know of, unless," and his facebrightened, "Captain Sutler is here. He knows both of us well. We areexpecting to find our dads at Hangtown."
"Captain Sutter is not here," answered the alcalde, "as anyone in thecity might have told you; and it is impossible to send to Hangtown afteryour fathers."
"But, are we to be proven guilty on the evidence of those two men alone,whom I am almost certain committed the crime themselves?" and Thure'sface flushed indignantly. "Is not our word, at least, as good astheirs?"
"Young man," replied the alcalde sternly, "that is for the jury todecide. Have you any further evidence to give? If not, and the jury donot wish to ask you any questions," he paused and glanced toward theforeman, who shook his head, "you are dismissed, and the other prisonercan take his place on the witness stand."
For a moment Thure hesitated. He wanted to say something, to dosomething to further disprove this horrible accusation--but, what couldhe say or do that he had no
t already said or done? He had told hisstory. There was nothing more for him to tell, nothing more for him todo; and, with tightly compressed lips, he turned and walked from thewitness stand back to his place by the side of the sheriff, while Budtook his place in front of the barrel.
There was nothing new in Bud's testimony. He could only repeat, indifferent words, what Thure had already told.
While Bud was giving his testimony, Spike Quinley worked his way upclose to Thure; and again a piece of paper was slipped furtively intohis hand.
Thure glanced down at the paper. At least here was a chance to escapethe worst. If Bud did not make a better impression than he apparentlyhad, then there would be nothing left but to surrender the map, that orhanging. And it must be done soon now, or it would be too late. Thureshuddered at the thought of the hanging; and, with fingers that trembleda little, cautiously opened the paper and read these dreadful words:
You have gone and done it now you infernal idjit by testifin' agin us it is now yur necks or ourn al hel kant save you now you kan keep the map and we wil git it off yur ded bodies and you kan have the satisfackshun of noin that you might have ben alive and wel when yur danglin ded at the end of a rope.
The vindictive scrawl closed with a rude attempt to draw a rope, hangingfrom a tree, with a man dangling from one end.
Thure stared blankly at the paper for a moment after he had read thewords that appeared to close their last avenue of escape. He saw clearlythe force of their meaning. It had, indeed, now become a battle for lifebetween him and Bud and their two accusers. Their testimony, once theywere free, would turn suspicion directly upon Quinley and Ugger. Itwould be suicidal for the two men now to attempt to do anything to freethem. Thure raised his eyes and looked wildly around, at the face of thealcalde, the faces of the jury, and the faces of the surrounding crowd.On all was a look of ominous sadness and sternness that made his heartsink. Evidently the words and the actions of the cunning Ugger and thecrafty Quinley had again completely turned the tide against them. Butthe worst blow was yet to come.
Bud completed his testimony and, in an ominous silence, was dismissed.The alcalde arose from his judgment-stump and turned to address a fewfinal words to the jury; but, as the first word left his mouth, acommotion occurred in the crowd directly in front of him.
"More testimony! Important testimony!" shouted a voice; and a man, withhis right arm done up in a sling, pushed his way through the encirclingcrowd.
The man hastily and keenly scrutinized the faces of the two prisoners.
"Yes, them's sart'inly th' fellers," he said aloud; and turned his eyeson the faces of their accusers.
"Them's shore th' same two men I seed. Thar's no mistaking them faces,"he declared, with conviction. "Now," and he turned to the alcalde, "Iasks y'ur pardon, y'ur honor; but, bein' sum crippled with a broken arm,as you can see, an', on that account, keepin' sum close in my tent, Iheared nuthin' of this trial 'til jest a few minits ago; but, when I didhear of it, I felt mortally sart'in that it had tew do with th' samemurder that I witness in th' Sacermento Valley three days ago; an',wantin' tew see that justice made no mistake, I got here as quick as Icould, tew give in my testimony. Hope I'm not tew late," and he fixedhis eyes anxiously on the face of the alcalde.
"No; you are not too late," the alcalde answered, looking at the mankeenly, "if your evidence is of real importance."
"I reckon it is of real importance," answered the man, "seein' that Isaw th' killin' done with my own two eyes; an' was close enough tewreckernize th' killers plain."
This statement caused a big sensation in the surrounding crowd. Allpressed nearer, and stretched their heads eagerly forward to get a sightof this new witness, while, "Hush!" "Quiet!" "Shut your mouth!" and likeexpressions, came from all around the crowding circle of men.
Thure and Bud had both started with pleased surprise at the words ofthis unexpected witness, and their faces lighted up with hope. Here, atlast, was a witness who would tell the truth, who would free them fromthis horrible accusation of murder; for, evidently by his actions, hewas as much of a stranger to Ugger and Quinley as he was to themselves,and, consequently, he could not be in league with their two cunning andmendacious accusers. They glanced at the two men. Their surpriseappeared to be real; and the two boys thought they detected a look offearful consternation on each face.
"Step forward and be sworn," commanded the alcalde, the moment the buzzof the excitement caused by the words of the man with the broken arm hadceased.
The man stepped quickly in front of the barrel; and was sworn, in thesame manner the other witnesses had been sworn, to tell the truth.
"What is your name and business?" demanded the alcalde.
"John Skoonly," replied the man; "an' I'm bound for th' diggin's. Jestgot in from San Francisco this mornin'."
"Now, John Skoonly," and the alcalde's eyes rested steadily on thewitness's face as he settled back on his stump, "kindly tell the juryand the people gathered here, what you know of the case now being triedbefore them."
"I was on my way from San Francisco tew here," began the witness, "whenthree days ago I wandered off th' main trail tew do a little huntin' an'was throwed by my hoss an' broke my right arm. That took all th' huntout of me; an' I laid down under sum trees that growed 'long side a criktew try an' do sumthin' tew ease up th' pain an' tew git a little restafore I started back for th' trail.
"Wal, I reckon I hadn't ben thar more'n half an hour, when I heared ascreech that fairly lifted my hat off my head, a-comin' from th' openvalley, jest beyont th' trees whar I was a-lyin' in th' shade, an'a-soundin' like sum feller was gittin' hurt mortal bad. I jumps up quickan' runs tew sum bushes that growed a-treen me an' th' sound, an' looksthrough 'em, a little cautious-like on account of my broken arm, an'seed three men a-strugglin' on th' ground not more'n forty rods fromwhar I was; an' th' next I knowed I heared a lot of yellin', an' seentew men jump out of th' bushes sum twenty rods below me, an' startrunnin' for them fightin' men. But, afore they'd made a dozen jumps, tewof them men springs up from th' ground, th' other man didn't 'pear tewhave any spring left in him, but lay still, grabs up their rifles an'hollers tew them runnin' men tew stop sudden, or they'd shoot; an' th'men stops sudden, they havin' only pistols. Then th' tew men with riflesyells for them tew git an' git quick, an' one on 'em fires his rifle;an', I reckon, th' bullet must have come close, for th' tew men whirled'bout like they was sum scart an' started back for th' bushes.
"Th' tew men now picks up th' body of th' third man, which hangs limplike he was dead, an' flings it across th' back of one of their hossesan' ties it thar. Then they mounts th' other tew hosses an' goesa-ridin' off a-leadin' the hoss with th' dead body across its back ahind'em; an' in ridin' off, they comes within a dozen rods of whar I wasa-hidin', an' I sees 'em plain, an' I was s'prised tew see that theydidn't look tew be much more'n boys; an' yit they 'peared tew havekilled a man!
"Y'ur honor," and the man paused and whirled partly around, and when hecontinued again his voice was very solemn, "as shore as thar is a God inheaven, th' tew men that I saw a-ridin' by me, with that dead body onth' hoss ahind them, are a-standin' right thar!" and he pointed straighttoward Thure and Bud.
A sound of horror and of rage went up from the surrounding crowd, asound that had the promise of dreadful things to come in it.
The alcalde leaped to his feet, his face looking white and drawn; for heknew that now the two boys were doomed, and, somehow, in spite of allthe terrible evidence, he could not look into their clear-eyed faces andbelieve them guilty of such a horrible crime.
"Silence! Silence, men!" he commanded, stretching out both of his handsimperatively. "Silence! I have questions, important questions to ask thewitness."
Almost instantly the great crowd became still, so anxious were all nowto hear every word.
"John Skoonly," and the alcalde turned to the witness, "you swear thatyou saw two men start to the rescue of the murdered man. Did you seethese two men plainly enough
to recognize them should you see themagain?"
"Sart'in'," replied the man promptly, and, whirling about, he pointed toQuinley and Ugger, "Thar they stand. I'd know them mugs ag'in anywhar,"and he grinned.
"Why," continued the alcalde, "did you not make your presence known tothese two men, at least after the murderers had ridden off? There wouldnot have been any danger then," and he smiled scornfully; "and theymight have been of help to you in your crippled condition."
"Wal," answered the man frankly, turning and looking squarely into thefaces of Ugger and Quinley, "tew be honest, I didn't like th' looks ofthem tew faces none tew much; an', as I had consider'ble of money 'longwith me, I reckoned 'twould be safer for me tew travel alone jest then,so I jest sneaked out 'tother side of th' trees an' rode back tew th'trail alone."
Quinley and Ugger scowled at this frank reference to their looks; and afew in the encircling crowd laughed grimly. Plainly there could be nocollusion between this witness and Ugger and Quinley; and this apparentfact gave almost the positiveness of proven truth to his testimony, inthe eyes of the crowd.
"Then," and the alcalde looked sharply into the face of the witness,"you never saw either William Ugger or Spikenard Quinley, until you sawthem, as described in your testimony, on the day of the murder?"
"If y'ur meanin' that little pock-marked runt an' that big red-readedfeller with a smashed nose, a-standin' thar, I sart'inly never did seethem afore that identickle moment. Why, I didn't even know their names'til you spoke 'em out."
Again some of the crowd laughed in a grim sort of a way; and again Uggerand Quinley scowled and glared wrathfully at the frank-spoken witness.
"I am done," the alcalde said quietly, turning to the jury. "Do you,gentlemen of the jury, wish to ask the witness any questions?"
"No," replied the foreman, after a glance into the faces of his fellowjurymen. "Your questions have brought out the only points we wished toinquire about."
"Do the prisoners wish to ask the witness any questions?" and thealcalde turned to Thure and Bud.
For a moment neither boy spoke, neither boy moved. The testimony of thiswitness, so different from what they had expected, had dumfounded them.They felt that he had knocked the last prop out from under their safety;and all the horrors of their situation had dropped down on their spiritswith crushing, numbing force. Their minds, their nerves, their verymuscles were paralyzed, for the moment, by the sudden and awfulrealization that now they must hang, must hang for a crime committed byothers!
But a boy at eighteen can never be long absolutely without hope. Surely,surely the jury, the alcalde must see that this witness had lied, thatall the witnesses against them had lied! They could not, they could notbring in a verdict of guilty! They could not sentence them, ThureConroyal and Bud Randolph, to be hanged! Hanged! The thought stung theminto life; and Thure turned wildly to the alcalde.
"It's a lie! a lie!" he cried. "It is all a lie! They know it is a lie!You surely must believe us! We did not kill the miner! We tried to savehim! In spite of all their lies, you must believe us! We are only twoboys, two boys without a friend to help us! We can not fight againsttheir cunning! It is our word against their word! Look at us! Look intoour faces! Do we look like boys who would kill a man? Look into thefaces of our accusers! Think, we have fathers, mothers, brothers,sisters! Oh, you can not hang us, you can not hang us! You must believeus!"
"My boy," there was a solemn sternness in the voice of the alcalde as hespoke, "if you are guiltless of the crime charged against you, then, mayGod have mercy on us and on you! But I, the jury, the men gathered herecan only judge of your guilt or innocence by the evidence presentedbefore us; and, according to that evidence, and not according to thedictates of hearts that may be touched by your youth and seeminginnocence, must the verdict be rendered. Gentlemen of the jury," and heturned to the jury, "the evidence has now all been laid before you; andit now becomes your duty to determine the guilt or the innocence of theprisoners. May the great God of justice and mercy direct your judgmentaright; and cause you to bring in a verdict in accordance with the realtruth!"