I'm going to Payson," and dashed from
the house.
"Wait," cried Jonas Prim, "I'm going with you," and
without waiting to find a hat he ran quickly after the de-
tective. Once in the car he leaned forward urging the
driver to greater speed.
"God in heaven!" he almost cried, "the fools are go-
ing to kill the only man who can tell me anything about
Abigail."
o o o
With oaths and threats the mob, brainless and heart-
less, cowardly, bestial, filled with the lust for blood,
pushed and jammed into the narrow corridor before
the cell door where the two prisoners awaited their
fate. The single guard was brushed away. A dozen
men wielding three railroad ties battered upon the grat-
ing of the door, swinging the ties far back and then in
unison bringing them heavily forward against the puny
iron.
Bridge spoke to them once. "What are you going to do
with us?" he asked.
"We're goin' to hang you higher 'n' Haman, you
damned kidnappers an' murderers," yelled a man in the
crowd.
"Why don't you give us a chance?" asked Bridge in an
even tone, unaltered by fear or excitement. "You've
nothing on us. As a matter of fact we are both inno-
cent--"
"Oh, shut your damned mouth," interrupted another
of the crowd.
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