The Vigilante

This is based on a truly sad story from the late 1930s - Late one August afternoon - the year was nineteen ten - a hero - from my point of view - was quietly laid to rest. Hanged because he’d killed a man, but I am here to say…more than one is grateful ‘mongst the ones who knowed him best. Silas Bingham Tucker was his name…God rest his soul…and every honest man in town is glad fer what he done. Proud as hell they knew him, and - in spite of how some feel - actually tickled pink fer what he ‘ccomplished - with his gun! Rarely does the killin’ of a man bring cause for joy, but every man who knows the truth believes that he done right. And you tell me…when I tell you the facts that jury heard…if hangin’ him was justified fer how it went that night. Jasper Mecum’s widow, on a sultry summer evenin’, was strollin’ ‘round that forty-acre pond just south o’ town. Silas was a’ridin’ by and spotted Mrs. Mecum just as Doby Duncan’s oldest young’n - pulled her down! Goin’ down the way she had appeared a might peculiar, an’ Silas quickly reckoned what he’d seen was odd as hell. He spurred his horse and bolted off toward where the she’d disappeared, and when he got to where they were - he learned she hadn’t fell! Stunned to find the naked loins of Shenandoah Duncan grindin’ hard on where he knew poor Mrs. Mecum lay, Silas drew his rifle out and shouted, "Let her up! This is one with which, I swear…you will not get away!" As it were, this Duncan boy had raped a lot of women, but kin to half the law in town, he’d never gone to jail. Even when his victims swore to God that he was guilty, all they’d do was question him…then turn him loose on bail! But one of Duncan’s victims - whom he’d raped a few years back - torn apart with sorrow, shortly after, took her life. And what he didn’t know was that - the girl he’d put through hell'd consented only days before to be his captor’s wife! That…combined with all the crimes for which a stint in jail - thanks to who his family was - this fiend had never served, And knowing very well that, if he simply turned him in, he’d never pay in any way for what he’d just observed, Made it clear to Silas what it was he had to do. Mrs. Mecum testified that…when he aimed his gun… Just before he pulled the trigger, Silas calmly said, “As of now…your days of gettin’ by with rape - are done!” BTW - My latest book of "verse", titled - "a Treasure Trove of Rhyme" - a giant 10 1/2" X 12" 1/2" Hardcover beast (4 1/2 lbs!!), is still available, and offers 167 poems and 35 illustrations! It's available through either PayPal on my author's website, or by mailing us a check), and is a pretty much a cream of the crop collection up to as recently as 2 years ago. You can buy a copy today at: writerofbooks.com, or you can email me and Connie at: mark@writerofbooks.com for our address for mailing a check. It makes a fine gift for most any poetry fan - PS: I've also posted a bunch of my pieces on YouTube - (search Mark Stellinga Poetry), and I now have a new set of 4 Audio-CDs of my verse listed on ebay under the same search term. Each CD has 62 select pieces, and runs a whopping 4 1/2 hours. Great for when driving or in flight. :-) Cheers, Mark