In the meantime, A. B. Davis and Robert Hereford prepared a scaffold. The butt of a small pine, forty feet in length, was placed on the inside of a half-enclosed building standing near, under its rear wall, the top projecting over a cross-beam in front. Near the upper end was fastened the fatal cord, and a large dry-goods box, about five feet high, was placed beneath for the trap. Every preparation being completed, Ives was informed that the time for his execution had come. He submitted to be led quietly to the drop, but hundreds of voices were raised in opposition. The roofs of all the adjacent buildings were crowded with spectators. While some cried, “Hang the ruffian,” others said, “Let’s banish him,” and others shouted, “Don’t hang him.” Some said, “Hang Long John. He’s the real murderer,” and occasionally was heard a threat, “I’ll shoot the murdering souls,” accompanied by curses and epithets. The flash of revolvers was everywhere seen in the moonlight. The guards stood grim and firm. The miners cocked their guns, muttered threats against all who interfered, and formed a solid phalanx which it would have been madness to assault. When the culprit appeared upon the platform, instant stillness pervaded the assembly. The rope was adjusted. The usual question, “Have you anything to say?” was addressed to the prisoner, who replied in a distinct voice, “I am innocent of this crime. Alex Carter killed the Dutchman.” This was the only time he accused any one except Long John. He then expressed a wish to see Long John, and his sympathizers yelled in approbation; but as an attempted rescue was anticipated, the request was denied. When all the formalities and last requests were over, the order was given to the guard, “Men, do your duty.” The click of a hundred gun-locks was heard, as the guard levelled their weapons upon the crowd, and the box flew from under the murderer’s feet, as he swung “in the night breeze, facing the pale moon, that lighted up the scene of retributive justice.” The crowd of rescuers fled in terror at the click of the guns. “He is dead,” said the judge, who was standing near him. “His neck is broken.” Henry Spivey, the juror who voted against the conviction of Ives, was a thoroughly honest and conscientious man. He was not satisfied that the evidence showed Ives to be guilty of the murder of Tiebalt, and as this was the specific charge against him, he could not vote against his conscience. He said that if Ives had been tried as a road agent, he would have voted for his conviction. The highest praise is due to Colonel Sanders for the fearlessness and energy he displayed in the conduct of this trial; for it furnished an example which was not lost upon the law and order men in all their subsequent efforts to rid the Territory of the ruffians. CHAPTER XXXI RESULT OF IVES’S EXECUTION