Page:The Statues in the Block and Other Poems (1881).djvu/68



IXON, a Choctaw, twenty years of age,
 * Had killed a miner in a Leadville brawl;

Tried and condemned, the rough-beards curb their rage,
 * And watch him stride in freedom from the hall.

''"Return on Friday, to be shot to death!" ''
 * So ran the sentence—it was Monday night.

The dead man's comrades drew a well-pleased breath;
 * Then all night long the gambling dens were bright.

The days sped slowly; but the Friday came,
 * And flocked the miners to the shooting-ground;

They chose six riflemen of deadly aim,
 * And with low voices sat and lounged around.