"Did he?" chorused the crowd.
"Lemme through! Here's a rope!"
Then followed wild sounds that could not be distinguished as words.
These men of Paloma seemed bent upon fighting for the possession of
Frank Danes, who, having now recovered his senses, emitted shrill
appeals for mercy.
"Here's the fire-bug! Here's the human match!"
"To the nearest tree!"
"I've got the rope ready!"
In another thirty seconds Frank Danes would have been dangling from a
limb of the nearest tree. Again Reade and Hazelton sprang into action.
"Stand back, men--please do!" begged Tom, fighting his way through the
thinnest side of the crowd. "Don't kill any man without a trial."
"You know that this tenderfoot fired the hotel, don't you?" asked one
man hoarsely.
"I've reason to suspect that he did--"
"That's enough for us!" roared a hundred voices.
"But I've no positive proof of Danes' guilt," Tom insisted.
"To the tree with him!"
"Not while I've breath left in my body!" Tom blazed forth desperately.
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