192 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



come to an end on the twentieth of August, resulting in 

 death sentence for the defendant. The execution was to 

 have taken place on the twenty-first of August, instead of 

 which the authorities proclaimed the governor's pardon 

 of said Robinson who had actually confessed to murder 

 and incendiarism. This gubernatorial act of injustice 

 naturally caused an outburst of wrath from the justly 

 embittered populace, who arose and loudly demanded 

 the execution of the other two law breakers. Meanwhile 

 the vigilance branch committee, forewarned by the kid- 

 naping experience of the other prisoners by the San 

 Francisco sheriff, hastened to hang the two companions 

 of Robinson, Thompson and Hamilton on the twenty- 

 second of August in the public square of Sacramento. 

 And now happened the incredible. Robinson, already 

 freed, had the unprecedented nerve and morbid curiosity 

 to watch the execution from among the many witnesses. 

 As he had taken no precaution whatever to avoid being 

 recognized he was caught anew and the leaders of 

 the committee ordered at once a third scaffold to be 

 erected. This was done in a moment, boards being 

 roughly nailed together— for the purpose — and before his 

 two companions in crime had breathed their last this 

 bandit, too, notwithstanding the governor's pardon, was 

 swinging in mid air, suspended at the end of a rope. 



Though the central committee of the vigilance organ- 

 ization in San Francisco had been greatly exasperated 

 by the kidnaping of the two condemned criminals by the 

 municipal authorities, it took all possible means to calm 

 the great excitement of the general populace, in order 

 to prevent an open rupture with the legal heads of the 

 city government, such as any revolt on the part of over- 

 zealous citizens would undoubtedly have brought about. 

 This, however, did not mean that the committee would 

 willingly stand by to see the previously condemned men 

 escape execution of their sentence, after so much time, 

 effort and money had been spent to reach the ends of 

 justice. It was therefore secretly decided that the pris- 

 oners should be re-taken by means similar to those used 



