And then I see that there stood Old Bobbet, Sime Yerden, Deacon Sypher, and, in fact, most all the men in the neighborhood and some beyend it, some from the Loontown road, and some from over towards Shackville. There wuz more'n twenty of 'em.
And I sez, and I almost fainted as I sez it—
"Has another war broke loose, or is it a wild animal from a circus? Tell me, oh, tell me what it is!"
And one on 'em hollered, "It is a wild beast in human shape, but he won't be a wild beast much longer!"
And he pinted to the rope he had on his arm.
And I see then the fearful meanin' hangin' round that bed-cord. I see that others had 'em, and I see that hangin' wuz about to take place and ensue. And I besought Josiah Allen "to pause, to stay a little, to tell me what it all meant, to not take the law into his own hands."
I poured out words like a flood, I wuz inkoherent in the extreme, and my words wuz vain.
But Josiah Allen—oh, how that man loves me! He darted back, throwed a paper at my feet, and hollered—