PAOLINA OR THE MILLIONAIRE'S PLOT.
OUR SERIAL.
By MARIPOSA WEIR. Author of "Evadyne's Temptation," "A Chase Round the World/' etc
CHAPTER XLYII. THE DAY OF THE "GREAT HANGING.'' Friday morning claimed—the day of tlio "great hanging'"'—and ' when the sun showed his red disk over the sharp ridgos of the wild, rocky, hills east of tin* town, ho ushered in a day such as had never bcl'oro boon scon in Sonora. At all the mining camps within a radius of ten or twelve miles the pick and spade were thrown aside, the si aires wero left dry, the shafts and tunnels and hydraulics were deserted, even the stores and saloons were closed, while tho whole motley population put on their best "dry goods," and, with a week's earnings in their pockets, swarmed toward Sonora. The execution was to take place at noon. The gallows had been erected in a gulch, four or five hundred yards from tho main street. As early as eleven o'clock an immense crowd had gathered at the "spot l , while another crowd besieged the county gaol', waiting to see the condemned men taken out to be conducted to their doom. Others, Jess impatient, or more anxi'cfus to make the,best of their time, wero enjoying the various dissipations of the town, which already presented a strange and exciting spectacle. All along the main street, in houses with open fronts, various gambling saloons were going on in broad dayliglit, in full view of the passers-by and the general public. There was none of the reserve or secrecy ordinarily attending such dubious recreations. Faro, monte, rondo, roulette, and
Ed him to take a turn down the street with him. "Let us walk down toward the Campo Seco road," he said, "so as to keep out of the crowd. There's three or four men in town to-day that I've had a bit of trouble with some time or another, and I'd rather not meet 'em. Ordinarily they would be willing to leave me alone; but the town's gone crazy to-day, and by this time, I suppose, they are full of fighting whisky." After walking a short distance in the direction Dade had indicated, he resumed:
"I don't thing we shall have much I difficulty out there. Half the men that belong to the place are in town, and they ain't likely to get back to-night. One of Grandin's right hand men was made away with last night." "Made away with ?" "Yes, I think so. Bob Bulger was seen following him, and neither of 'em has been around to-day. The man I speaik of is Mark Punderson, who used to be superintendent out there when they were working the mine. Punderson won a good deal of money up at the "Tigerie" last night, and took a slice out of Bob—broke him, in fact. Well, Punderson and Lucas started to drive out to the ranch, and when they were a mile or so on the road, Punderson was yanked out of the buggy from : behind, and the horse got frightened and ran away with Lucas —that's his story—and as neither Bob nor Punderson has turned up, it's likely that Punderson's killed, 'and Bob's eloped with the dust. That's the way I put it up, for nothing in the common way could have kept Bulger out of Sonora . on such a day as this." Then the conversation drifted to the preconcerted attack on the ranch, and a few preliminaries 'having been agreed upon, Dade said: "And now. I must go and look after my boys. I shan't see you again till we meet at the Big Oak."
other games of skill and hazard could be witnessed by the crowds that were thronging the chief thoroughfares of the town, without stepping inside the houses. As the hour of noon approached, the hillsides environing the gulch in which the gallows was erected grew black with spectators, but it was fifteen minutes after twelve o'clock with the condemned men, guarded by the officers and a company of militia, arrived.upon the ground. i All the arrangements for the descent upon the Huntingdon Ranch had been finally perfected oil Thursday night, when Hannah Hagburn had made her statement to Hector and her brother. l)ade, with ten men . for whose reliability he vouched, was to be at the Big Oak an hour after sunset, after which they were to move on to the attack.' As nothing further remained to be done, until the time appointed for the rendezvous, the persons engaged in the enterprise were free, if so inclined, to participate in the pleasures of the day. All except certain members of Dade's force, who, being in the judgment of the sagacious leader, liable to become'incapacitated for service if -permitted to mingle with , the crowd, on so exciting .an occasion, were now, by his procurement, safely lodged in tho jail, where thqy fared sumptuously on the best that could be furnished by the neighbouring restaurant, with unlimited cigars and tobacco, but strictly regulated rations of whisky. The accommodations of the hotel having been exhausted by the unusual influx of visitors during the last week, Hannah Hagburn had shared Gina's bedroom on the last night, while Francois, was glad to obtain the accommodation of a bolster and a pair of blankets on a billiard table, which he shared with Counselor Tripp, that gentleman having resigned his room to Doctor Spiretti, who arrived in town on Thursday night.
Though lie had no taste for such exhibitions as the spectacle of the day. Hector was so impatient for the hour appointed for the attack upon Huntingdon's stronghold that he was glad to avail himself of any means of passing the time intermediate. He felt too restless to remain indoors, and, Having gone out into the crowded street, he moved along with the throng until he found himself in front of the scaffold. The shouts of levity, and the coarse jests of the spectators, at the expense of the unfortunate culprits who were about to enter the presence of their Maker, shocked Hector, With difficulty he made his way out of the crowd. He did not wait to witness the tragedy, which was duly enacted, according to the requirements of the law. The next hour or two Hector spent at his room in the hotel, writing to Mrs Cranch. , At about four o'clock Dade made his appearance at the hotel, and meet--ing Hector in the reading room, ask-
CHAPTER XLVIII. GRANDIN PLOTTING A MASTER STROKE. ; When Grandin learned from Lucas that serious and formidable preparations had been made for an attack upon his house, he flew into a strange paroxysm of passion. It seemed from his exclamations as if this attempt impressed him as a most unheard-of arid almost unimaginable outrage, and so impressed him chiefly because North was poor, and he. was rich. "The impudent beggar,'.' lie cried. "He to dare to interfere with" me! Let me onoe get him within my reach, •the young villain." I "But\sir,'' said Lucas, "he's com- [ ing with a troop at his back, and there's no force here can oppose them. That notorious desperado, Deadly Bade, is their leader, and his name is such a terror that half the men here won't lift a weapon against him," Grandin seemed greatly disturbed. He stalked up and down tile room, raging. v "It's easy enough to go into town, sir, and get tip another gang of ruffians to help resist Dade and his set," said Lucas; "or possibly, if you were to "see the sheriff he'd send a posse out to protect you." ' ' Grandin made no reply, but continued to rage up and down the room in a state of manifest excitement. There Were strong ■ reasons for , avoiding a contest in this matter that would involve loss of life and so necessitate an investigation wliiqli would necessarily give wide publicity to the whole tran-
saction. He knew perfectly well that Paolina was of legal age, and that Sidney Huntingdon's authority as her, guardian had expired. He knew that, in the eye of the law, the removal of the girl from Mrs Cranch's house was a serious crime, and he knew that in case the matter should ever come up before a'court, his agency in it could not.be concealed. A desperate fight, resulting in bloodshed, would carry the whole story into the news- j papers, and set all San Francisco talk- j ing. A fight, therefore, must, if possible, be avoided. "You say the attack will not be made until night?" he observed, at length. , (To Be Continued.)
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Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10187, 13 March 1911, Page 2
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1,428PAOLINA OR THE MILLIONAIRE'S PLOT. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10187, 13 March 1911, Page 2
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