“Why, they always try the rope that way, to see if it’s all right. If they don’t, it’s liable to break, and they’d have to hang ‘em over again. They take a bag of sand that weighs just about the same as a man and tie the rope to the sand, and then knock the door out and the sand falls. I guess the rope’s all right; I hope so. I don’t want ‘em to make any mistake. It’ll be bad enough to be hung once. I wonder how I’ll stand it. I hope I don’t make a scene. But I don’t really think anyone ought to be blamed no matter what they do when they’re gettin’ hung, do you? “It seems to me, though, that they might be a better way to kill anyone. I think shootin’ would be better’n this way. That’s the way they kill steers down to the stock-yards and I don’t believe the Humane Society would let ‘em hang ‘em up by the neck. I should think ‘twould be better to take some cell that’s air-tight and put ‘em to bed in there and then turn on the gas. But I s’pose any way would seem bad enough. Did you ever stop to think how you’d like to die? I guess nobody could pick any way that they wanted to go, and mebbe we’d all rather take chances; but I don’t believe anybody’d pick hangin’. It seems to me the very worst way anybody could die. I wonder how they commenced it in the first place. Well, I can’t help it by thinkin’ it over. I’ve done that often enough already, goodness knows. I believe I’ll ask the guard for another drink before I tell any more.” The guard came at the first call. “Sure, you can have all the whiskey you want. I was just down to the office a little while ago. Take this bottle. I think it’s pretty smooth, but it’s a little weak. Guess the clerk poured some water in, thinkin’ it was goin’ to the ladies’ ward. You’d better take a pretty big drink to do you any good.” Jim thanked him as he took the bottle, and then inquired: “Did you go down to the telephone again to see whether there had anything come over to the telegraph office?” “No—I didn’t,” the guard answered, “but I’ll go back pretty soon. They keep open all night. It’s early yet, anyhow.” Jim offered the bottle to his friend. Hank took a good drink, which he needed after the excitement of the night. Then he passed the bottle back to Jim. “If I was you I’d drink all that’s left; it’s good, but it’s pretty weak, all right. I’m sure you’d feel better to take it all.” Jim raised it to his lips, tipped his head back and held the bottle almost straight until the last drop had run slowly down his throat. IX Jim laid the bottle on the bed and then sat down on his chair. “My head begins to swim some but I guess I can finish the story all right. I know I’m pretty longwinded. Still I guess I can’t talk very much more if I wanted to. I’m glad the whiskey’s beginnin’ to get in its work; I don’t believe I’ll have much trouble gettin’ so drunk that I won’t know whether I’m goin’ to a hangin’ or a primary.