In the mean time the city government had been at a standstill,
because without Luigi there was a tie in the board of aldermen, whereas
with him the liquor interest--the richest in the political field--would
have one majority. But the court decided that Angelo could not sit in
the board with him, either in public or executive sessions, and at the
same time forbade the board to deny admission to Luigi, a fairly and
legally chosen alderman. The case was carried up and up from court to
court, yet still the same old original decision was confirmed every
time. As a result, the city government not only stood still, with its
hands tied, but everything it was created to protect and care for went a
steady gait toward rack and ruin. There was no way to levy a tax, so the
minor officials had to resign or starve; therefore they resigned. There
being no city money, the enormous legal expenses on both sides had to be
defrayed by private subscription. But at last the people came to their
senses, and said:

"Pudd'nhead was right at the start--we ought to have hired the official
half of that human phillipene to resign; but it's too late now; some of
us haven't got anything left to hire him with."

"Yes, we have," said another citizen, "we've got this"--and he produced
a halter.

Many shouted: "That's the ticket." But others said: "No--Count Angelo is
innocent; we mustn't hang him."

"Who said anything about hanging him? We are only going to hang the
other one."

"Then that is all right--there is no objection to that."

So they hanged Luigi. And so ends the history of "Those Extraordinary
Twins."

FINAL REMARKS

As you see, it was an extravagant sort of a tale, and had no purpose but
to exhibit that monstrous "freak" in all sorts of grotesque lights. But
when Roxy wandered into the tale she had to be furnished with something
to do; so she changed the children in the cradle; this necessitated
the invention of a reason for it; this, in turn, resulted in making the
children prominent personages--nothing could prevent it of course. Their
career began to take a tragic aspect, and some one had to be brought
in to help work the machinery; so Pudd'nhead Wilson was introduced and
taken on trial. By this time the whole show was being run by the
new people and in their interest, and the original show was become
side-tracked and forgotten; the twin-monster, and the heroine, and the
lads, and the old ladies had dwindled to inconsequent