Pauls Valley Sentinel (Pauls Valley, Indian Terr.), Vol. 2, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 5, 1905 Page: 2 of 16
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I
MELQJMM
£iy CHARLES MORRIS BUTLER. __ _
/puffer of "7%e JQerenpe of fVenre'W 7rnemen/ 7?i3?e<ft/?27/t//£JEfq
Copyright 1905, by Charles Morris Buffer.
CHAPTER XVII.
The First Night In the Convict City.
John Rogers and Richard Golden
led the way toward the well-lit build-
ing in the center of the city.
"What relation are you to Golden?"
asked Wilson of Lang.
"No relation," answered Lang.
"How is it you appear to have power
to influence Golden for good? I feel
that Golden is a better man now than
before he met you."
"I saved his life," was Lang's simple
answer.
"Why did you interfere in my be-
half?" was the grateful question of
Wilson.
"My sense of justice. Could I stand
idly by and see a human being torn
to pieces by dogs, when I might save
him?"
"What do you think of your chances
now? You understand in what danger
you have placed yourself by aiding
me?"
"Oh, my chances are all right. Gol-
den has an object in view in keeping
me alive—and I mean to keep you
alive! Now that I have seen your
face, I have an idea that you and I
can pull pretty well together. How
many men, placed in your position,
would have refused aid as you did,
Just because your willing friend would
become involved? That showed me
that you were worth the risk I took."
Wilson gazed on Lang in amaze-
ment "You are the queerest man I
ever met. It is hard to believe that
you are a scoundrel—yet I presume
you are, or you would not be here!"
"So? Well, I robbed Jim Denver,
the Chicago detective of ten thousand
dollars!" said Lang, as if in excuse
for being in the convict city.
"You damned scoundrel!" said Wil-
son, and he threw himself upon Lang
as if to annihilate him. Lang was
taken by surprise at the onslaught,
but was quicker than Wilson, who
had scarce recovered from the fatigue
of his chase.
"So you love Denver?" said Lang in
a low tone, as he deftly pinioned the
other's arms to his side. "You love
him enough to kill the man who has
done him a wrong! Suppose I tell
Golden that Denver is a friend of
yours?" Wilson and Lang had dropped
about twenty feet behind Golden and
Rogers, and as the scuffle had been a
noiseless one, no one had noticed it.
Wilson hung his head. "I couldn't
help it, Lang. Your admission was so
sudden. Denver has been a friend
of mine—(doggedly) he is now, and
when I heard you say you had robbed
him, I could not restrain myself."
"What am I to think of you?" asked
Lang. "Are you a spy?"
"Hush!" said Wilson in alarm.
"Not so loud, for God's sake! If the
people thought that my life wouldn't
be worth a picayune!"
"Never mind," soothingly returned
Lang, who guessed at the truth, "I
have my pusplcions. After we have
settled our present difficulties, I may
see you later. By the way, do you
recognize this?" squeezing the man's
hand in a fashion peculiar to Jim
Denver.
Wilson was puzzled for a moment.
He would have replied, but the party
now had arrived in front of the As-
sembly Hall.
"The king is here," said Golden to
Lang. "You will be requested to take
the oath of allegiance!"
It was not strange that the quar-
tette had met no one in their journey
to the hall. This was a gala night in
Paradise on account of the arrival of
stores and the fact that the girls
brought into the city were to be auc-
tioned off (or rather raffled off). All
persons able were assembled in the
hall.
Quite a commotion was aroused at
the sight of the four, and for several
minutes Golden's name was on every-
body's tongue. There was handshak-
ing and general greeting.
The hands of a clock on the front
of the building pointed to eight; and
the striking of a gong on the outside
notified the people that the opening
ceremonies were about to begin. At
this juncture the usher led the way
into the room, the formation of which
was a revelation to Lang. The in-
terior, instead of being in the shape
of a hall or theater, was finished in
a circle, circus-like, with an enclosed
ring and raised seats from which in
any part of the house the spectators
could command a clear view of any-
thing transpiiing in the pit. It was
undoubtedly modeled after the Coli-
seum of Rome.
John Rogers walked with Lang and
Golden with Wilson down the incline
and into the ring.
The renowned Dr. Schiller sat upon
the raised platform. There was noth-
ing about him to denote that he was
king. He was dressed as the ma-
jority, in plain black evening dress
and spotless linen. Upon the plat-
form were four other seats. Upon
one sat Pearl Huntington, her face
bathed in tears; and Louis Lang
thought that he had never looked upon
a more lovely and pitiable sight Upon
another, with a gavel in his hands,
and a small table with a marble top
before him, sat the crier of the city.
The two other chairs were empty.
Schiller bowed to Golden, coldly,
but showed no surprise in seeing him,
and nodded also at Rogers, motion-
"In a hand to hand flght, the pretti-
est of its kind I ever witnessed, he
killed Long Rope, the Indian chief,
the head of the band who attacked
our train! Three days ago he saved
my life from the hand of Revolver
Rob, who would have assassinated me
but for his interposition. He is a
white man; a true man; he Is worthy
to be one of us!"
"The candidates will now stand be-
fore me," said Schiller, riBing, "while
the oath of allegiance is administered.
I—repeat your name after me "
"I, Louis Lang," said our hero, "re-
nounce allegiance to the President of
the United States, the State of Illi-
nois, or any other state wherein I
may have resided, and declare my al-
legiance to the king of Paradise, and
Intention of obeying all orders and
laws originating from him! That I
will do all in my power to make the
others do the same thing. That I will
not see a citizen wronged if in my
power to prevent it; and that I will
share and share alike with all that I
possess or may possess. That if I
fail in any essential degree, or prove
a traitor, the law, through its head, the
king, may extract from me whatever
punishment it will, even to the taking
of my life. These I do solemnly swear
and agree to before these, the citizens
of Paradise!"
This was the oath as repeated by
all. Then the king pronounced each
and all members of the colony, ending
up with:
"Let me impress upon you the sol
emnity of the oath you have just
taken. You are no longer citizens of
the United States, but belong body
and soul to Paradise! You have ex-
pressed your assent to abide by its
laws; this is clear to you. You will
be expected to work, to do your share
in supporting the country and increas-
ing its wealth. You cannot leave the
city without a written permit from
me, the king. If you prove yourselves
traitors, death is the penalty! Death
is also the penalty for other misdeeds
but here you have one chance of es-
cape; but to be a traitor is death in
but like the brave man he was, with
slow step approached the platform
which represented the throne. L*ng
approached also. Before Wilson made
answer, Golden spoke*up. "He Is
here by my authority," he said, coolly,
realizing that the crisis was at hand.
Then Schiller turned to Golden.
Being in a measure prepared for Gol-
den's championship, he was not sur-
prised. "Why do you bring hiin here?"
he asked.
"For no other reason than that I
desire to see fair play accorded him!"
was the quiet reply.
"You know then that he has been
condemned to death?" was the flirce
question.
"I do," replied Golden rising.
"And yet you dare to bring him
here?"
Certainly! I made the laws by
which this colony is governed," proud-
ly, "and I say that there is no law
which gives even the king right to un-
justly condemn a human being to
death without cause!" There was a
suppressed murmur of admiration
from the crowd.
"The king is supreme!" said Schil-
ler for a moment off his guard at the
seeming audacity of Golden.
"Most powerful czar!" said Golden,
bowing in mock honor to Schiller
while a smile of scorn played round
his face. The king saw his mistake
and flushed scarlet.
'And so it has come to pass that
the people of Paradise have granted
to you the power of life and death—
without question? I won't believe It!
I still maintain that the king is not
the law, simply the instrument—and
I appeal to the people of Paradise!
No one has the power to condemn an
other to death but in open assembly!"
The vast assemblage seemed to rise
to their feet as if of one body. Their
cries were deafening. "No! he has
not this power!"
'I thank you!" said Golden, flushed
with victory. "I knew that such could
not be the case. Without hesitation
then, I place Wilson in your keeping!
Condemned last night to death for
daring to restrain the king from com-
mitting a crime against humanity, *ie
has successfully evaded capttfte!
Hunted by the bloodhounds who guard
your gates, by the aid of Louis Lang
(whom you have granted equal suf-
frage with yourselves) he has killed
his savage pursuers, and I maintain
that he deserves freedom at your
hands!"
"Yes! yes! So be it!" was the cry.
Schiller arose. He saw his power
slipping from him. Crafty to a high
degree he did not attempt to stem the
tide by retorting harshly, but bowing
in mock humiliation, fearful of en-
countering further obstacles and hu-
miliation, he said, "Ye people of Para-
dise! I bow to your decision! It is
just; I was a little hasty; I forgive
Wilson the indignity he has heaped
upon his king!"
The words were spoken humbly, but
Lang and Wilson were not deceived.
They knew that Schiller would never
rest until he had wiped out the bitter
sting of defeat. j
(To be continued.) t
Threw himself upon Lang as If to an nlhilate him.
ing them to occupy the two scats upon
the platform.
At a motion from Schiller, the crier
struck the stone with his gavel and
commanded silence.
"Ladies and gentlemen of Paradise,"
the crier said, "we are about to ad-
minister the oath to these men and
women, and that you may judge of
their merits Intelligently, I shall give
you a brief history of each, after
which, if there are no objections reg-
istered, the king will read the oath."
Then he introduced each candidate,
giving an account of their many sup-
posed virtues and vlccs.
Lang being unknown to the crier,
Golden was then requested to give a
short biography of our hero. This
was done in quite a dramatic man-
ner. He ended up his little intro-
ductory speech with words something
like this:
stanter. Now that I have, I hope,
made myself plain, I warn yon, study
the law, that your days may be long
and happy ones!"
After delivering iis speech Schiller
sat down, while several ushers sup-
plied seats for the several groups and
slotted to them places to sleep. Thus
far the king had seen fit not to notice
Wilson to the extent of speaking to
him, presumably weighing well his
words before compromising himself.
During the lull he sat glaring at Wil
son like a savage beast, seemingly
getting mare angry every minute. Wil-
son calmly returned the glance, smil-
ing frequently, which seemed to mad
den the king more and more.
"What are you doing here?" the
king finally asked, in a voice showing
suppressed excitement. The assem
blage was on the qui vive.
Wilswa did not flinch nor tremble,
More Effective Than Whisky.
"During the war of the rebellion,'*
said the old veteran, "certain of us
boys used to take a big drink of whis-
ky whenever there was any likelihood
of a battle, and most of them thought
it helped them to fight
"Something was found better than
whisky, however. When Grant went
for Lee in the Wilderness all of us
got soaking wet from the downpour of
rain, and all of us had to pass the
night in our wet clothes. As a conse-
quence about forty men of my com-
pany got up next morning with tooth-
ache.
"There was no time to do anything
before we rushed into the firing line,
and forty madder men you never saw.
Their aching teeth made them feel
nne killing somebody, and they im-
proved the chance. It was said of uh
that we fought harder that day than
ever before or after, and that If we
had only kept it up every man would
have received a vote of thanks from
Congress."—Denver Timet.
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Shaw & Parham. Pauls Valley Sentinel (Pauls Valley, Indian Terr.), Vol. 2, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 5, 1905, newspaper, October 5, 1905; Pauls Valley, Indian Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc110274/m1/2/: accessed May 13, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.