Went out one night for to make a little round I met little Sadie and I shot her down Went back home and I got in my bed 44 pistol under my head Wake up next morning 'bout a half past nine The hacks and the buggies all standing in line Gents and the gamblers standing all around Taking little Sadie to her burying ground Then I begin to think what a deed I'd done I grabbed my hat and away I run I made a good run but a little too slow They overtook me in Jericho I was standing on the corner, reading the bill When up stepped the sheriff from Thomasville He says, "Young man, ain't your name Brown? Remember the night you shot Sadie down?" I says, "Yes, sir, my name is Lee I murdered little Sadie in the first degree And the first degree and the second degree If you got any papers, won't you read 'em to me?" They took me downtown and dressed me in black Put me on the train and started me back They crammed me back in that Thomasville jail And I had no money for to go my bail That judge and the jury, they took their stand The judge had the papers in his right hand 41 days and 41 nights 41 years to wear the ball and the stripes