Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/783

 weltering in blood. The governor directed Judge Cato to take an affidavit of the unfortunate mail's dying words, who, writhing in agony, exclaimed: "Oh, this was a most unprovoked and horrid murder! They asked me for my horses, and I plead with them not to take them. I told them that I was a cripple—a poor lame man—that I had an aged father, a deaf and dumb brother, and two sisters, all depending upon me for a living, and my horses were all I had with which to procure it. One of them said I was a God d—d abolitionist, and seizing me by the shoulder with one hand, he shot me with a pistol that he held in the other. I am dying; but my blood will call to Heaven for vengeance, and this horrible deed will not go unpunished. I die a martyr to the cause of freedom, and my death will do much to aid that cause." The governor was affected to tears. He had been on many a battle-field, and had been familiar with suffering and death; but, says he, "I never witnessed a scene that filled my mind with so much horror. There was a peculiar significance in the looks and words of that poor dying man that I never can forget; for they seemed to tell me that I could have no rest until I brought his murderer to justice. And I resolved that no means in my power should be spared to discover, arrest and punish the author of that most villanous butchery."

On his arrival at Lecompton, the governor immediately had a warrant drawn and placed in the hands of the United States marshal, for the arrest of the murderer, for the execution of which warrant the whole of the United States force was at his disposal. Several days elapsed and no return was made, nor had any disposition been discovered to effect the governor's wishes in the matter. The governor, besides offering a reward of five hundred dollars for the arrest of the murderer, employed secret agents to visit that portion of Missouri in which the Rangers resided, and, by making cautious inquiries, to obtain some clue to the perpetrators of the deed. The murderer was discovered in the person of Charles Hays, a resident of Atchison county, Missouri. A new warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was brought to Lecompton. A grand jury, composed entirely of pro-slavery men, on hearing the overwhelming testimony, found a true bill, and committed him for trial. At this time free-state men were seized almost daily by the officers, and thrust into prison, and bail utterly refused by the pro-slavery magistrates. Much to the astonishment and indignation of Governor Geary, he was informed that Judge Lecompte had admitted the murderer of Buffum to bail, and that Sheriff Jones, a man notoriously not worth a cent, was on his bail-bond. The governor boldly pronounced the action of the chief justice in dismissing the murderer of Buffum as a "judicial outrage," and proceeded to treat it as a nullity by issuing the following warrant:

Marshal of Kansas Territory:

"Sir: An indictment for murder in the first degree having been duly found by the grand jury of the territory against Charles Hays, for the murder of a certain David C Buffum. in the county of Douglas, in this territory, and the