Stouter ropes next appeared, one end passing through the pulleys
overhead, then they were caught up in nooses. The other ends were in the
committee rooms.
Men tested the platforms by standing on them; tried the nooses; found
them strong. Then the carpenters retired. The windows were closed.
A crowd below looked up expectantly, but nothing happened until noon,
when military companies formed lines along Sacramento, Front and Davis
streets. Cannon were placed to command all possible approaches. The
great alarm bell of the Vigilantes sounded.
By this time every roof near by was thronged with people. A cry went up
as the windows of Vigilante headquarters were opened. At each stood a
man, his arms pinioned. He advanced to the edge of the platform.
* * * * *
Bells were tolling. Black bunting was festooned from hundreds of doors
and windows. All the flags of the city were at half-mast, even those of
ships in the Bay.
From the Unitarian Church on Stockton street, between Clay and
Sacramento, came the funeral cortege on its way to the burial ground at
Lone Mountain. Everywhere along the route people stood with bared heads.
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