THE RINGING OF THE BELL.
I sat down, in a full sense of it all, and reasoned upon the ugly
happenings that stood to accuse me. Coincidents sometimes fit snugger
than arrangements that have been carefully planned; they slip into place
with a perverse trueness of adjustment. Thus I speculated, and I was
astonished at my coolness. I turned about from my argument to notice
that a heavy rain was falling. The courthouse bell was ringing
furiously. The jailor came hastening down the corridor.
"What does that bell mean?" I inquired.
"God help you man, it means you!" he cried. "The signal for the mob."
"What! To hang me?"
"Yes, and I can't help you."
"But you can turn me out. Open this door!"
"I can't do that, Sir. They would hang me. They are coming."
There were no cries outside. There was the heavy tramping of feet and a
tap on the door as if a quiet visitor sought admission.
"Who is that?" the jailor demanded, walking slowly down the corridor.
"Open the door, Hill."
"But who is it?"
"A party of friends. Open the door to your neighbors."
"But is it to the law--the sheriff?"
"The sheriff is locked up in the courthouse. We want to be quiet about
this thing, but--the sledge, Dave."
"Hold on, boys, don't break the door. What do you want?"
"A man."
And the man stood in the cell, placing a cool estimate upon each word
and astonished at himself.
"Well, boys, I can't help myself, and when you take him you'll find him
a piece of as dead grit as you ever run against."
I heard the bolt. He threw the door open. There was no rush, no noise,
and not a word was spoken until the jailor opened the door of my cell,
and then a man in a black mask quietly said: "We must trouble you to go
along with us."
It was of no use to protest and I did not reply. With a small rope they
tied my hands behind me and led me out into the street. And now there
arose a yell. Rain was pouring down. The pine torches were extinguished.
The lamps about the public square had been turned out. The mob was going
to do its work by the light of a single lantern, borne by a man who
strode beside me. In front of the courthouse stood a tree. Under it a
large box was placed. A rope, with one end on the box, the other end
lost in the darkness of the tree, looked in the rain like a waterspout.
I heard someone say, "Keep quiet, everybody!" The lantern was placed on
the box.
"Let me assist you to get up," said a polite man. I looked about, but
saw no kindly face; I saw a circle of black masks. Suddenly the lantern
was knocked off the box. A scramble followed in the dark and the rain.
Someone seized my hands, something cold touched them, bore down hard and
the rope fell apart. "Run through the courthouse," a whisper shot like a
needle into my ear. I wheeled about; I knocked men down; and in the
midst of a fury, an outcry, a stampede in hell, I stumbled up the
courthouse steps, ran headlong through the black corridor, out the other
side, into an alley. I scrambled over a fence, fell upon a shopkeeper's
waste ground, stumbled over boxes, climbed over another fence--ran. Away
from the square the gas-lamps were burning, and I shunned the light. The
rain continued to pour, and the roadways were deserted. The speed of
despair soon took me beyond the limits of the town, and now the
darkness was intense. The sandiness of the soil gave warning that I was
near the river, and I halted to listen, but the splash of the rain was
all that I heard. Far behind me was a yellow smear--the town. But what
was in front I knew not. I felt my way along. The ground sloped--the
river. "If I could only find a boat," I mused. I walked up the shore,
close to the water's edge, the ripples sucking the sand from under my
feet. Once I fell with a splash, and I bore off to the right, to keep
clear of the water, but a high bank had arisen between me and the
outlying fields of darkness. Suddenly there came a loud splash. The
sandy banks were caving in. I thought of turning back, and then came a
splash behind me. I was caught in a trap of sand. There was nothing to
do but to wait. I could not climb out, for I was now beneath a shelf,
hollowed out under the bank, a crumbling roof. I sat down to wait for
daylight. The river was rising. I was afraid to move. A yawn might have
called down an avalanche of sand. I could have plunged into the river,
but I could not have swam against the current; I should have been swept
down beyond Bolanyo, to be snatched up at daylight and hanged. And
daylight was coming. The rain had ceased, but the air was heavy and I
knew that the light would be slow. The yellow river grew distinct, close
to the shore, and gradually, but with many a hang-back, it seemed, the
light grew strong enough to reveal the walls and the roof of my prison.
Overhead the sand was held by streaks of clay, but this support, I saw,
must soon give in, for the current was eating fast. Up the stream, only
a few feet away, was a whirlpool, where the bank had caved, and just
below a strong suck was forming, but here was a slope, and I might climb
out over it, though the way was treacherous. I did not hesitate, and
struggling, clutching, on my knees, up again, the sand rolling under me,
I fought and gained the firm ground above. Not a house was within sight.
But I could see the plow on the dome in Bolanyo, miles away; and now it
was a vulture, dark-limned against a darker sky. I trod across a gullied
field, into the woods, to find a place to lie in hiding until night. I
thought of blood-hounds. But the rain, the river and the caving sand
were almost a sure protection against their merciless scent. Still I was
frightened, and I walked for a long distance in a stream of water, with
the old story of a runaway slave fresh in my mind. I could not even
guess at the time of day. At the jail they had taken my watch, my
penknife, money, everything. In a thick patch of briers I lay down
beside a log and slept, and opening my eyes I saw a star. I bore off
from the river, walking as fast as I could. I came upon a patch of yams,
the southerner's vaunted sweet potato, and fed ravenously on the milky
root. I passed numerous negro cabins and dogs barked at me. At daylight
I hid again and slept.
In the evening of the fourth day I made bold to enter a negro's hut,
always the refuge and the asylum of the outcast, and appealed to the
generosity of an enormous fellow who reminded me of Washington. I told
him I was a fugitive fleeing from the wrath of political enemies, and my
story moved his simple and unsuspecting heart. He gave me food and a
bed.
Thus I wandered night after night, heavy of heart, and yet with a prayer
of gratitude. At last I reached the State of Illinois. One day in a
cross-roads grocery where I had halted to split wood for a bit of
cheese, I saw a handbill posted on the door. It set forth the enormity
of my crime, attempted to describe me--tall, dark brown eyes, hair
almost black, a straight nose and about thirty years of age; and they
had paid me the compliment to add the word "graceful." They had added,
also, that the sum of six thousand dollars would be paid for my capture.
The groceryman and his friends were talking politics; and doubtless they
had never given more than a moment's thought to a murder committed away
down in Mississippi.
I believed that a city was my safest refuge, and I made straight for
Chicago. There I might secure some sort of employment, and, under
another name, earn money enough to take me to the wilds of the unknown
West. I felt that a light would one day be thrown upon the mystery. But
I knew that they would hang me, if they could, and then marvel at the
light, should it ever come. I appreciated the fact that the hunt for me
would not be given up. Six thousand dollars serve well to keep the blood
of justice circulating.
I arrived in Chicago one evening, having spent more than two months on
the devious path that led from Bolanyo; and the first attention to mark
my arrival was the stare of a policeman. This threw me into a tremor and
a cold sweat of fear; but he passed on without speaking to me, and I
turned aside to walk slowly, and then almost to run in the opposite
direction.
My appearance was against me. I was almost ragged, and I knew that it
would be useless to apply for any except the meanest sort of employment.
Times were hard, and even day labor was not easy to find. But at last,
after a week of persistent application, of hunger, of shivering in the
raw air, I was put to work in a livery-stable. They called me a
"chambermaid," a "happy hit" in which they found no end of fun.
Sometimes their jokes were rough, but I bore them with a pretense of
good nature, passing on to my task; and one day my zeal found reward in
the notice of the proprietor.
"Jarvis," said he, "you go about your work as if your mind is on it. Do
you reckon you've got sense enough to drive a cab?"
"I think so, Sir."
"Well, have your stubble shaved off and I'll give you a trial."
"I'd rather not have the beard off, Sir. I have trouble with my
throat."
"Well, we'll try you, anyway."
"In livery?" I could not help asking.
"What, ain't proud, are you?"
"Oh, no, but I'd rather not wear livery."
"It strikes me that anything would be an improvement over the clothes
you've got on. But I guess we can fix you out. You must be from the
country. An American farmer may wear patches, but he won't put on
livery. We'll put you on a special, and you may start in to-morrow."