Previously, Caribou Joe and Sam arrive back at Mile 53.
As soon as they had tied up the canoe and were back on dry land again, Sam and Joe pushed their way through the crowd towards their foreman. "What's going on?" asked Joe to one of the men at the gathering.
The man's answer came as a shock to the men whose ears were perked in anticipation.
"You're just in time," said the man. "They're hangin' a fellow down at the end of the wharf!"
Joe hadn't been to a hanging since his growing-up days back in Yale, B.C. "What's the man charged with?" asked Joe as he and Sam pushed their way through the crowd. There was no reply to his question. Their foreman stood waiting for them.
"Mr. Bates, what's going on here?" asked Sam.
"A thief was caught red-handed with stolen railroad cheques. They're just waiting for a few more workers to gather before the hangin' begins." Bates continued as he pointed down to the end of the wharf. "The man's being held in the main warehouse."
Joe and Sam started off through the crowd in the direction of the event but they were quickly called back.
"You boys! Are you forgetting something?" yelled the foreman. "What's the story on the 'Ruth-Ann?' Did you deliver the dyno? And, where's the boat?"
Sam and Joe returned to their boss's side and began their story. They explained how they had made two of their three deliveries and how the third load of dynamite had been lost in the river when their boat, the trusty 'Ruth-Ann,' had broken up on a big rock just north of Croydon.
Mr. Bates eyed the boys suspiciously and said, "She broke up did she? Exactly where did you say this big rock was?"
Before Sam or Joe had a chance to answer, the crowd started cheering wildly. The accused man was being brought out into the open. The hanging was about to begin. There didn't seem to be any trial or speeches planned; just the hanging. The poor fellow already had the rope around his neck when Joe first spotted him. The rope had been threaded through a pulley at the end of a loading gin-pole and most of the slack taken in. The man would be hoisted up like a flag on a flagpole.
Suddenly a loud shot rang out. Four policemen, led by Constable Bigumpound, reached the hanging spot. The cheering stopped.
The next episode is CHARLES TAKES A STAND.
Does the law, in this primitive railway community prevail? Or, does the vigilante crowd have their way? We'll find out soon.
