Page:By Sanction of Law.pdf/177

 for ten or fifteen feet crunching wood, bones and flesh in one mass. Bennet turned sick. Dr. Tansey closed his eyes at the sight, then opened them again with "My God!" on his lips. As they looked the motorman dismounted from his vestibule, after backing his car off the mass, went to the scene, looked at the mule, then into the mutilated face of the driver. After discovering that he was nobody known to him he threw the hat carelessly down on the face again, mounted his car, while the conductor with the aid of bystanders, tried to pull the mass off the track. Failing in this way they left the mule in the street, backed the car to a turnout and continued on their way.

As they started away, Dr. Tansey and Bennet made for the door. Dr. Tansey turned to the young man, and almost shouted the command: "Stay here." He rushed to the street, muttering, "I never saw anything so deliberate. The brute. The brute."

When he reached the spot, he could hear the exclamation: "Too bad. Too bad." He thought they were pitying the driver, till one of the men added: "Yes, that mule's worth one hundred and forty dollars."

"Mules be damned," exclaimed Dr. Tansey. "What about the man!"

"Him?—Humph. You can get a nigger anywhere. Mules are valuable."

Dr. Tansey, his being burning with indignation bent over the prostrate form to see if the man was alive. As he knelt, from the crowd came the words: "Who's he? Who's he. Some stranger. Some nigger-loving stranger?"