0111111111) THE NOOSE.
Down in Alabama they tell a
strange story about a man who suc-
ceeded in cheating the gallows by a
clever ruse. As he lived a respect-
able life afterward, and some of his
children are still living, his real name
is not given. We will call him Dever-
9111.
William Devereux was a rising
young lawyer of good family, married
.to an accomplished wife, and pos-
sessed of a large number of admiring
and devoted friends. Indeed, he was
one of those magnetic persons, having
the fortunate faculty of making strong
and loyal friends of nearly all who
came in contact with him.
But in the town where he lived there
was considerable dissipation of a cer-
tain kind. Devereux became a mem-
ber of a choice circle of card players.
He lost money of others with which
he had been entrusted. For a long
time he managed to keep this state of
affairs concealed by a sort of system
of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and to
meet his obligations as they matured.
But a period came when W'illiam Dev-
ereux realized that these‘things could
be concealed no longer, and the day
of exposure and disgrace came ever
nearer.
It was in the old-fashioned times,
when there Were no railroads, no tel-
egraph, no means of travel, save over
ill-kept roads, generally on horseback.
It was before the day when drafts,
bills of exchange and similar banking
conveniences for facilitating money
{transfers had reached anything like
modern perfection, and payments
{were made at a distance by sending
the money itself.
It was also the custom of the vari-
ous county collectors and treasurers
to make yearly trips to the state cap<
ital, carrying such moneys as had
been collected in their districts on be-
half of the state and the necessary
vouchers, and have an annual settle-
ment for the year’s receipts and dis-
bursements.
Now, at the time when Devereux’s
affairs were most desperate, his own
county treasurer started out on horse-
back with the state money, a large
sum, in a pair of saddlebags, to efiect
his annual accounting.
0n the road he was joined by a fel-
low traveler, who afterwards was
proved to be Devereux. They put up
one night at a roadside tavern, occu-
pying the same room. Next morning
the treasurer was found dead in bed,
his throat cut from ear to ear. His
companion had disappeared. and the
saddlebags, with their contents, were
also. missing. The countryside was
aroused, bloodhounds were brought
out, and a fierce chase of some hours
resulted in Devereux being run down
and captured. There was no ques-
tion but that he had been the mur-
dered man’s companion the night he-
fiOre, but none of the missing money
or papers were found upon him.
These were the facts in the case.
When the news passed from traveler
in traveler along the country roads,
and finally reached Devereux's home
town, there was a tremendous sensa-
ti'on, further heightened when the
damning circumstances of his busi-
ness affairs came to light and made
'clear the motive of his crime.
Nevertheless, many of his friends
were still loyal, strong family influ-
ence was exerted in his behalf, the
best lawyers were employed, and
every effort was made to free him
from the consequences of his awful
crime. All without avail. He was
tried, found guilty,and sentenced to
be. hanged. The higher courts de-
cided against him on appeal. The
Governor refused to interfere, and
Devereux occupied a cell in the jail
in the little town of St. Stephens,
closely guarded, within a few days
of the date appointed for the date of
his execution, with all prospects of
escape seemingly cut off.
In spite of the enormity of his crime
there began to be a great deal of sym-
pathy for the man who lay in jail
awaiting death. His youth, his hand-
some face. his graceful, dignified hear-
ing, his calm courage, his perfect
manner and his unfailing persistence
in the declaration of his innocence, all
combined to produce this effect. He
expressed no animosity toward wit-
neSSes, judge, jury or prosecutor, sim-
ply stating that he was an unfortu-
nate victim of remarkable circum-
stances, from which he could blame
no one for drawing the mistaken in-
ference of his guilt.
Not many days before the fatal day
the sheriffufound the prisoner visibly
agitated and in an excitable. state,
noticeably different from his usual
calmness. In answer to the officer's
question as to the reason. Devereux
gave th- t‘ollowiug explanation:
“l )1: ve 11111," he said. “a most ex-
traordinary experience. It came to
1111- liiHi night in the form of a dream
so real. distinct, and different from
the usual hazy di1nness of ordinary
visions that. I believe it to be the pre-
monition of an actual event. I can-
not rid 1113'self of this impression. I
expert may seem foolish to you 01'
the 11.111! of the broodings and half-
wai-zi.zg iniaginings of a man in my
coinéiiimi. but nevertheless I will tell
it to you.
“Last night I dreamed I was stand-
ing on the scaffold facing thousands
of people. The scene was as real to
me 211: the actuality itself. I had spo-
ken a few words of farewell, and. was
about to resign myself to your hands,
when sudihaily by the exercise of
some new faculty or perception, I
saw the. real murderer standing in the
crowd before me. I never saw him
before, and yet I knew him to be the
man in who. . stead I was to suffer
death. He was slight in build, with
dark hair. and eyes and neatly
dressed. His features are indellibly
fixed in 11': mind With this tecog~
11111011 my dream fadefaway. ’lnere
~.
THE EVENING GAZETTE
Tllli 'llAlill’AlliN
IS ON.
NOW is he TIM
for $I.OQ a Year
1m.
W
me
To Subscribe for the
Both Papers Sent to one Address.
was no further intimation as to my
fate, yet I feel indeed as though God
himself had spoken to me and re-
vealed the absolute assurance of His
' Divine protection.”
The narrator’s manner was so ear-
nest and impressive that a hope
sprang up responsive in the sheriff’s
mind that something might happen.
He was mentally prepared and on the
watch for the happening of the mirac—
ulous.
The day of the execution was a
beautiful. clear. cool October day.
Thousands of people were in attend-
ance, and had gathered about the gal-
lows. It was to be a public hanging.
and the multitude availed itself of
the privilege of seeing a human being
choked to death. As has been inti-
mated, there was much 'feeling and
sympathy for the doomed man, much
argument as to the fallibility of cir-
cumstantial evidence, and a hundred
vague 'rumo1s in circulation suggest-
ing his innocence.
At last Devereux stood upon the
gallows platform and faced the peo-
ple. There was no man in all that
crowd apparently so cool, so collected,
and so much a master of himself. He
stepped forward to say a few words
of farewell. His voice rang out in the
stillness clear, distinct, and perfectly
audible to all. ‘
“Friends,”"he said, “this is not a
fitting time to indulge in vain protest~
ations. I can but simply reaffirm that
I am not guilty, knowing well what
would be the consequences of a false-
hood standing as I am, almost in the
presence of my immortal God. I de-
sire especially to relieve any man
from the possible thought that he
may have misjudged or wronged me,
and might have to meet my accusing
words before the great tribunal here-
after. It was a human error. the re-
sult——”
At this moment the speaker stopped
short and leaned heavily against the
railing. His countenance betrayed
terrible excitement. His eyes seemed
fixed on some one in the crowd before
him, whom he indicated, bound as he
was, as well as he could. When he
found his voice again he fairly
shrieked:
“There he is! The man of my
dream, the murderer. Stop him,
Stop him!”
He had pointed out a slightly built
almost feminine looking young man,
who utterd a hasty exclamation and
attempted to get away, but before he
could do so he was roughly seized and
held by the crowd. The sherid. al-
most beside himself with excitement,
rushed down from the scaffold, fol-
lowed by a. half dozen deputies. The
young man was hurriedly searched
there and‘ then. Upon his person
were found a watch, a pistol, and
certain papers of value well known
to have been the'property of the mur-
dered treasurer. He seemed to give
up at once, and in answer to excited
questions sullenly responded:
“Well, it seems you have me. [I
was *a fool to come here. I demand
of the officers protection from this
crowd.”
Protection was needed. Like quick-
silver a knowledge of the matter
seemed to have permeated the whole
multitude. An innocent man was
saved and the guilty apprehended in
the nick of time. Cries of “Hang the
scoundrel,” “Turn Devereux loose,”
arose from all sides, while the ofl‘icers
struggled fiercely to withstand the
surge of the angry mob. There is no
knowing what might have happened
had not Devereux’s voice arrested the
movement.
“Let the law take its course}? he
said. “For God’s sake, do not be rash.
I implore you as one who has been so
near an ignoble death by reason of
this awful mistake to let the sheriff
take this man. Give him a fair trial,
and 'may God forgive him for what
he has tried to do to me.”
The words of no other man could
have saved the new prisoner. The
crowd gave way. The hanging of
Devereux was out of the question.
The pepulace would not have permit-
ted it, and the sheriff would anyhow
have felt justified in suspending the
execution.
The mob poured up the gallows
stairs and cut the ropes that bound
Devereux. The jail officers hurried
their prisoner to the jail. Once there
the latter made a full confession, which
soon became the talk of the streets.
Nothing could be done that was too
good for Devereux, who at first busied
himself in counseling moderation, and
being satisfied of its accomplishment,
simply asked for two things. He
wanted to go at once, he said, and
bear the glad tidings back to his wife.
For this purpose he requested the
loan of a good horse and some money,
a request which was enthusiastically
gratified. At sunset Devereux was
miles away.
In the morning the new prisoner
spoke to the sherifl when that oflicer
was making the rounds of the jail.
“I think now,” he said, "you had
better let me go.”
The display of assurance caused the
sheriff to think the prisoner crazy.
“I mean what I say,” he persisted,
“send a woman here, your wife. I am
not what you think me. I am 'a wo-
man. ' I am William Devereux’s wife.
My purpose is fulfilled; I have saved
his life, and he is now far away. You
can never catch him. He sent me
word where I would find the things
you found on me, and I used them- to
deceive you.”
It was true. Devereux’ s p1ison mane
ner, his talk, the dream, the denoue-
ment at the gallows were all parts of
a skillfully worked and successful
plot. The chivalrors spirit of the
time and country sawd his w 1“ om
any punishment. Devereux- \.en1. to
California, changed his name, was
joined by his faithful wife, piespered
greatly, and died not many years ago,
the leading citizen of a thriving vil-
lage that bore his false name.
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VJ DE
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Norwalk Chronicler