He took the oath and afterwards declared that he had overheard Jack
coaching the boy about what he should tell the Committee. The Captain,
having brought out that point, promptly excused him.
"Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the evidence, and your duty is
plain. We are waiting for the verdict."
The man with the cud looked a question at the Captain; turned
and glanced down the row at the eleven, who nodded their heads in
unanimous approval of his thoughts. He once more shifted the wad
of tobacco, as a preliminary to expectorating gravely into the sand
floor, and pronounced his sentence with a promptness that savored of
relish:
"The verdict of the jury is that we hang Jack Allen for killin' Texas
and Rawhide, and for bein' a mean, ornery cuss, anyway."
The Captain turned coldly to the prisoner. "You hear the verdict. The
Committee believes it to be just."
He looked at the group near the door. "Mr. Wilson," he called
maliciously, "you will now be given an opportunity to collect from the
prisoner what he owes you."
"Jack Allen don't owe me a cent!" cried Bill Wilson hotly, shouldering
his way to the open space before the Captain. "But there's a heavy
debt hanging over this damned Committee--a debt they'll have to pay
themselves one day at the end of a rope, if there's as many honest men
in this town as I think there is.
"I helped form the first Vigilance Committee, boys.
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