But
in the end he agreed. There was nothing else to do. A guard was placed
on the non-desirables and maintained until the vessel cleared--until the
pilot boat returned in fact. San Francisco applauded.
But all the laurels were not with the Committee. On Thursday morning,
August 21, Sheriff Hayes surprised Vigilante Headquarters at dawn and
captured Samuel Whitaker and Robert McKenzie both convicted of murder by
the Committee and sentenced to hang.
The City Government was much elated but the victory was short. For, on
the following Sunday, Vigilantes gained an entrance to the jail and took
their prisoners back without a struggle.
* * * * *
Broderick and Windham, en route to the latter's ranch that afternoon,
heard the Monumental bell toll slowly, solemnly. "What's up?" asked
Broderick, startled.
"It means," Benito answered, "that the Vigilance Committee still rules.
Two more scoundrels have been punished."
CHAPTER XXXVI
FEVERS OF FINANCE
Four years had passed since the Vigilance Committee ceased active
labors. Some said they preserved a tacit organization; theirs was still
a name to conjure with among evil doers, but San Francisco, grown into a
city of some 50,000, was more dignified and subtle in its wickedness.
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