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5 The hangman
The next morning Gertrude got ready to leave for Caster- bridge.
She did not want to go by road because she did not want to meet any of her husband's friends.
So she took one of the heavy horses from the farm, and rode west across the hills.
She was afraid of riding with a half-dead arm,
but the farm horse was quiet and slow, and easy to ride.
He carried her uphill and downhill, past rivers and through trees, moving west all the time.
The sun slowly went down in the sky,
and it was nearly eight o’clock when Gertrude stopped for a moment at the top of a hill.
It was the last hill before the town, and she could see the roofs of Casterbridge below.
There was a big building on a hill at the end of the town, with a white roof.
She knew this was the jail, and she could see a lot of workmen on the roof.
‘What are they doing?’ she thought. ‘They're building something up there on the roof... Oh!’
Suddenly, she understood, and quickly turned her eyes away.
It was a warm summer evening, but she shivered with cold.
‘Tomorrow they're going to hang a man on that roof,’ she thought. ‘And when he is dead...’
She shivered again, but then she remembered her husband's cold words and his unsmiling face,
and she rode on down into the town.
She found a room to stay for the night, and then went out into the town.
‘What do I do now?’ she thought. ‘How can I get into the jail tomorrow?
‘Who must I talk to? The men at the jail, or the hangman?’
She was afraid to go to the jail, so she went to find the hangman.
He had a house down by the river, a boy in the town told her.
When she found the house, she stood outside for some minutes, afraid to go to the door.
Then the door opened and a man came out. ‘Who are you?’ he called out. ‘What do you want?’
‘I want to speak to you for a minute.’
He came nearer, and looked at her. ‘Well, well, that's a pretty face,’ he said. ‘Come into the house.’
They went inside. Davies (that was his name) was a hangman on some days, but a gardener on other days.
‘Is it about gardening work?’ he asked Gertrude. ‘I can't do any tomorrow, because I'm working at the jail.’
‘Yes, yes, I know. That's why I'm here.’
‘Ah! I thought so. Is the poor man one of your family then? Perhaps your young brother?
‘No,’- Davies looked at Gertrude's dress- ‘I don't think so. Was he one of your farm workers perhaps?’
‘No. What time is the hanging?’
‘The same as usual— twelve o’clock.’
‘And it is... it is going to happen, yes?’
‘Oh yes, nothing can stop the hanging now,’ said Davies.
‘But I'm sorry for this young man, I truly am. He's only eighteen.
‘They say it was arson, but I don't know. He was there when the fire began, but there were twenty other men there too.
‘So how do they know? I think they just want to hang someone... anyone.
‘But what can I do for you, my pretty?’
‘I need a cure,’ Gertrude said, ‘a cure for a curse.
‘And a Wise Man told me about the hanged man, and- and turning the blood...’
‘Oh yes, miss! Now I understand. People sometimes come for that.
‘But not pretty young things like you. Well, well. What's the cure for?’
‘It's this.’ Gertrude uncovered her left arm.
‘Ah! It's all withered,’ said the hangman, looking at it. ‘Yes,’ she said.
‘Well, a hanged man's neck is the best cure for that,’ he said. ‘Your Wise Man was right.’
‘So can you help me?’ Gertrude whispered.
‘Usually people go to the jail, and take their doctor with them, and give their name and address...
‘But yes, I can help you- for a little money, perhaps.’
‘Oh, thank you!’ Gertrude said. ‘It's better like this. I don't want people to know about it.’
‘Don't want your lover to know, eh?’ ‘No- husband.’
‘Aha! Very well. You can touch the body.’
‘Where is it now?’ she said, shivering.
‘It?- He, you mean; he's still alive tonight. He's in the jail, a little room right at the top.’
‘And what must I do tomorrow?’ Gertrude said.
‘There's a little door at the back of the jail. Be there at one o’clock, no later.
‘I can open the door from inside, and can take you to the body when they bring him in.
‘Goodnight. Don't be late. And you don't want people to see you, so cover your face. Goodnight, my pretty!’
Gertrude went away, and walked up to the jail on the hill.
She wanted to find the little door at the back, to know it for tomorrow.
Then she went back down into the town and went to her room, and waited for the morning.
