"I don't see the use of waiting till morning," grumbled the miner. "The job might as well have been finished up at once."
"You can rest satisfied. The man hasn't long to live."
This proved to be the case. During the night Harry and Jack, who were accommodated with beds in a hut near the prison, heard a noise and a sound of men's voices, but they were too fatigued and worn-out to be thoroughly roused. In the morning, when they left the hut, they needed no explanation. From a lofty branch of a gum-tree a hundred yards to the west dangled the body of the unfortunate criminal, a terrible spectacle, contrasting painfully with the bright and cheerful morning. They learned afterward that the prison had been guarded by a volunteer company of miners, who detected, or feigned to detect, the prisoner in an attempt to escape,—probably the latter,—and forcing an entrance, laid violent hands upon him, and saved the law officers the trouble of executing him.
The captain of police didn't learn what had happened till morning. As it chanced, Obed Stackpole was with him when he received the information.
He took it very coolly.
"What are you goin' to do about it, captain?" asked Obed.
"Nothing."
"Do you allow such doin's here?"
"It doesn't matter much. The man was to have been executed this morning at any rate. He only lost a few hours. It has saved us some trouble."
"Suppose he was an innocent man?"