"Rube!" Benz shouted, sternly. "Here's where he shows the yellow streak," he said to himself. "Before all these fellows, too! … Rube, you being the main offender, you must pay the penalty with your life. Carry him up to the rail, men!"
The fellows obeyed, soberly.
"You're not goin' to throw me in with my feet tied, are you?" asked Judd, calmly, without an effort to struggle. It was quite dark save for the reflection cast by the moon.
"We sure are!" Benz winked at the crowd that stood just behind, watching proceedings. "Any word you wish to leave for friends or relatives? Any directions as to how you want your earthly goods disposed of?"
"No, I reckon I'm ready to die now. The sooner the better," replied
Judd, undaunted.
Benz hesitated. His bluff was not having the desired effect. "Why don't he beg for mercy?" Benz asked himself. "Isn't that guy afraid of anything?"
Then Benz did a daring thing. Without stopping to think of the consequences he seized Judd's shackled feet and lifted them over the low rail. A dozen hands assisted in hoisting Judd's big body up and over. Here was the critical moment. Would he beg now? If not, the fellows must pull him back and acknowledge that he was real stuff.
"How about it, Rube?" asked Benz, watching Judd's face closely, as he helped hold him, suspended, over the river. Not a muscle in Judd's body so much as quivered.
"You might untie my legs,…" he said again, quietly. "I never tried to swim that way."
Splash! It was done! Judd had dropped, how, no one knew, … except Benz. There were wild cries and shouts; fellows crossed on both sides of the river to try and get trace of him. It was so dark no one saw him reappear, if he did reappear; after he struck the water. Benz, his teeth chattering with fright, ran back and forth upon the bridge not knowing what to do.