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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Traitor, by Thomas Dixon, Jr.
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-Title: The Traitor
-       A Story of the Fall of the Invisible Empire
-
-Author: Thomas Dixon, Jr.
-
-Illustrator: C. D. Williams
-
-Release Date: May 23, 2017 [EBook #54766]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAITOR ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by David Widger from page images generously
-provided by the Internet Archive
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-THE TRAITOR
-
-A Story of the Fall of the Invisible Empire
-
-By Thomas Dixon, Jr.
-
-Illustrated By C. D. Williams
-
-New York: Doubleday, Page & Company
-
-1907
-
-[Illustration: 0001]
-
-[Illustration: 0008]
-
-[Illustration: 0008]
-
-DEDICATED TO THE MEN OF THE SOUTH WHO SUFFERED EXILE. IMPRISONMENT AND
-DEATH FOR THE DARING SERVICE THEY RENDERED OUR COUNTRY AS CITIZENS OF
-THE INVISIBLE EMPIRE
-
-This volume closes, as originally planned,
-
-“THE TRILOGY OF RECONSTRUCTION”
-
-“The Leopard’s Spots”
-
-“The Clansman”
-
-“The Traitor”
-
-“The Clansman” ended with the political triumph of the Klu Klux Klan,
-or Invisible Empire. The story of “The Traitor” opens with the order of
-dissolution by General Forest and is set in the atmosphere of the fierce
-neighborhood feuds which marked the Klan’s downfall in the Piedmont
-region of the South.
-
-Thomas Dixon, Jr.
-
-New York, 1907.
-
-
-
-
-LEADING CHARACTERS OF THE STORY
-
-
-Scene: The Foothills of North Carolina.
-
-Time: 1870 to 1872.
-
-John Graham.............Ex-chief of the Klan
-
-Major Graham............His Father
-
-Billy...................His Brother
-
-Alfred..................The Family Butler
-
-Mrs. Wilson.............Their Landlady
-
-Susie...................Her Daughter
-
-Dan Wiley...............A Mountaineer
-
-Steve Hoyle.............Chief of the New Klan
-
-Judge Butler............Of the U. S. Circuit Court
-
-Stella..................His Daughter
-
-Aunt Julie Ann..........His Cook
-
-Maggie..................Stella’s Maid
-
-Suggs...................A Detective
-
-Ackerman................Of the U. S. Secret Service
-
-Alexander Larkin........A Carpetbagger
-
-Isaac A. Postle.........A Sanctified Man
-
-The Attorney General of the United States
-Hon. Reverdy Johnson of Maryland
-
-Hon. Henry Stanbery.....Of Ohio
-
-U. S. Grant.............The President
-
-
-
-
-THE TRAITOR
-
-
-
-
-BOOK I-THE CRIME
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I--THE THREAT
-
-
-WHAS the mather with the latch!
-
-He shook it gently.
-
-“No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence. I’ll have to climb
-over.”
-
-He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened
-himself with dignity and growled:
-
-“I won’t climb over my own fence, and I won’t scratch under. I’ll walk
-straight through.”
-
-A vicious lurch against the gate smashed the latch and he fell heavily
-inside.
-
-He had scarcely touched the ground when a fair girl of eighteen, dressed
-in spotless white, reached the gate, running breathlessly, darted
-inside, seized his arm and helped him to his feet.
-
-“Mr. John, you must come home with me,” she said eagerly.
-
-“Grot to see old Butler, Miss Susie.”
-
-“You’re in no condition to see Judge Butler.” She spoke with tenderness
-and yet with authority.
-
-“And why not?” he argued good-naturedly. “Ain’t I dressed in my best bib
-and tucker?”
-
-He brushed the dirt from his seedy frock coat and buttoned it carefully.
-
-“You’ve been drinking,” pleaded the girl.
-
-“Yet I’m not drunk!” he declared triumphantly.
-
-“Then you’re giving a good imitation,” she said with an audible smile.
-
-“Miss Susie, I deny the allegation.”
-
-He bowed with impressive dignity.
-
-Susie drew him firmly toward the street.
-
-“You mustn’t go in--I ran all the way to stop you in time--you’ll
-quarrel with the Judge.”
-
-“That’s what I came for.”
-
-“Well, you musn’t do it. Mama says the Judge has the power to ruin you.”
-
-John’s eyes shot a look of red hate toward the house and his strong jaws
-snapped.
-
-“He has done it already, child!” he growled; paused, and changed his
-tone to a quizzical drawl. “The fact is, Miss Susie, I’ve merely imbibed
-a little eloquence on purpose to-night to tell this distinguished
-ornament of the United States Judiciary, without reservation and with
-due emphasis, just how many kinds of a scoundrel he really is.”
-
-“Don’t do it.”
-
-“It’s my patriotic duty.”
-
-“But you’ll fight.”
-
-“Far from it, Miss Susie. I may thrash the Judge incidentally during our
-talk, but there will be no fight.”
-
-“Please don’t go in, Mr. John!” she pleaded softly.
-
-“I must, child,” he answered, smilingly but firmly. “Old Butler to-day
-used his arbitrary power to disbar me from the practice of law. If that
-order stands, I’m a pauper. I already owe your mother for two months’
-board.”
-
-“We don’t want the money,” eagerly broke in the girl.
-
-“Two months’ board,” he went on, ignoring her interruption, “for my dear
-old crazy Dad, helpless as a babe with his faithful servant Alfred who
-must wait on him--two months’ board for my bouncing brother Billy, an
-eighteen-year-old cub who never missed a meal--two months’ board for
-my war-tried appetite that was never known to fail. No, Miss Susie, we
-can’t impose on the good nature of the widow Wilson and her beautiful
-daughter who does the work of a slave without wages and without a
-murmur.”
-
-Susie’s eyes suddenly fell.
-
-“No, I’ve given Alfred orders to pack. We must move to-morrow.”
-
-“You’ll do nothing of the kind,” cried the girl. “You can pay us when
-you are able. Your father saved us from want during the war. We owe
-him a debt that can’t be paid. He is no trouble, and Alfred works the
-garden. Mother loves Billy as if he were my brother. And we are honoured
-in having you in our home.”
-
-The tender gray eyes were lowered again.
-
-John looked at her curiously, bowed and kissed her hand.
-
-“Thanks, Miss Susie! I appreciate, more than I can tell, your coming
-alone after me here to-night--a very rash and daring thing for a girl to
-do in these troublesome times. Such things make a fellow ashamed that
-he ever took a drink, make him feel that life is always worth the
-fight--and I’m going to make it to-night--and I’m going to win!”
-
-“Then don’t give old Butler the chance to ruin you,” pleaded the gentle
-voice.
-
-“I won’t, my little girl, I won’t--don’t worry! I’ll play my trump
-card--I’ve got it here.”
-
-He fumbled in his pocket and drew out a letter which he crushed
-nervously in his slender but powerful hand, drawing his tall figure
-suddenly erect.
-
-The girl saw that her pleadings were in vain, and said helplessly:
-
-“You won’t come back with me?”
-
-“No, Miss Susie, I’ve serious work just now with the present lord of
-this manor; my future hangs on the issue. I’ll win--and I’ll come home
-later in the evening without a scratch.”
-
-Again the slender white hand rested on his arm. “Promise me to wait
-an hour until you are cooler and your head is clear before you see
-him--will you?”
-
-“Maybe,” he said evasively.
-
-“If you do appreciate my coming,” she urged, “at least show it by this;
-promise for my sake, won’t you?”
-
-He hesitated a moment and answered with courtesy:
-
-“Yes, I promise for your sake, Susie, my little mascot and fellow
-conspirator of The Invisible Empire--good-bye!” He seized her hand, and
-held it a moment. “My! my! but you look one of us to-night, with that
-sylph figure robed in white standing there ghost-like in the moonlit
-shadows!”
-
-“I wish I could share your dangers. I’d go on a raid with you if you’d
-let me,” she cried eagerly.
-
-“No doubt,” he laughed.
-
-“I’ll sit up until you come,” she whispered as she turned and left him.
-
-John Graham leaned against the picket fence and watched intently the
-white figure until Susie Wilson disappeared. The talk with her had more
-than half sobered him.
-
-“And now for business,” he muttered, turning through the open gate
-toward the house. He stopped suddenly with amazement.
-
-“Well, what the Devil! every window from cellar to attic ablaze with
-light. And the old scoundrel has always kept it dark as the grave.”
-
-He seated himself on a rustic bench in the shadows to await the lapse of
-the hour he had promised Susie, and pondered more carefully the plan of
-personal vengeance against Butler which was now rapidly shaping itself
-in his mind. That he had the power, as chief of the dreaded Ku Klux
-Klan, to execute it was not to be doubted. The Invisible Empire obeyed
-his word without a question.
-
-Tender memories of his childhood began to flood his soul. Beneath these
-trees he had spent the happiest days of life--the charmed life of the
-old régime. He could see now the stately form of his mother moving among
-its boxwood walks directing the work of her slaves.
-
-He had not been there before since the day her body was carried from
-the hall five years ago and laid to rest in the family vault in the far
-corner of the lawn. Ah, that awful day! Could he ever forget it? The day
-old Butler brought his deputy marshals and evicted his father and mother
-from the home they loved as life itself!
-
-The Graham house had always been a show place in the town of
-Independence. Built in 1840, by John’s grandfather, Robert Graham, the
-eccentric son of Colonel John Graham of Revolutionary fame, it was a
-curious mixture of Colonial and French architecture. The French touches
-were tributes to the Huguenot ancestry of his grandmother.
-
-The building crowned the summit of a hill and was surrounded by
-twenty-five acres of trees of native growth beneath which wound
-labyrinths of walks hedged by boxwood. Its shape was a huge, red brick
-rectangle, three and a half stories in height, with mansard roof broken
-by quaint projecting French windows. On three sides porches had been
-added, their roof supported by small white Colonial columns. The front
-door, of pure Colonial pattern, opened directly into a great hall of
-baronial dimensions, at the back of which a circular stairway wound
-along the curved wall.
-
-The attic story was lighted by the windows of an observatory. From the
-hall one could thus look up through the galleries of three floors and
-the slightest whisper from above was echoed with startling distinctness.
-The strange noises which the Negro servants had heard floating down
-from these upper spaces had been translated into ghost stories which
-had grown in volume and picturesque distinction with each succeeding
-generation. The house had always been “haunted.”
-
-The family vault in the remotest corner of the lawn was built of solid
-masonry sunk deep into the hillside. Its iron doors, which were never
-locked, opened through a mass of tangled ivy and honeysuckle climbing
-in all directions over the cedars and holly which completely hid its
-existence.
-
-Popular tradition said that Robert Graham had loved his frail Huguenot
-bride with passionate idolatry, and anticipating her early death, had
-constructed this vault, a very unusual thing in this section of the
-South. It was whispered, too, that he had dug a secret passage-way from
-the house to this tomb, that he might spend his evenings near her body
-without the prying eyes of the world to watch his anguish. Whether this
-secret way was a myth or reality only the Grahams knew. Not one of the
-family had ever been known to speak of the rumour, either to affirm or
-deny it.
-
-A year after his wife’s death Robert Graham was found insane, wandering
-among the trees at the entrance of the vault. This branch of the
-family had always been noted for it’s men of genius and it’s touch of
-hereditary insanity.
-
-On the day of his mother’s burial John Graham had found his own father
-sitting in the door of this tomb hopelessly insane.
-
-But he had not accepted the theory of hereditary insanity in the case of
-his father. The Major was a man of quiet courteous manners, deliberate
-in his habits, a trained soldier, a distinguished veteran of the Mexican
-war, conciliatory in temper, and a diplomat by instinct. He had never
-had a quarrel with a neighbour or a personal feud in his life.
-
-The longer John Graham brooded over this tragedy to-night, the fiercer
-grew his hatred of Butler. Something had happened in the hall the day
-of his mother’s death which had remained a mystery. Aunt Julie Ann, who
-stayed with the new master of the old house as his cook, had told John
-that she had heard high words between Butler and the Major, and when she
-was called, found her mistress dead on the floor and his father lying
-moaning beside her.
-
-John had always held the theory that Butler had used rough or insulting
-language to his mother; his father had resented it, and the Judge,
-taking advantage of his weakness from a long illness of typhoid fever,
-had struck the Major a cowardly blow. The shock had killed his mother,
-and rendered his father insane. Experts had examined the Major’s head,
-however, and failed to discover any pressure of the skull on the brain.
-Yet John held this theory as firmly as if he had been present and
-witnessed the tragedy.
-
-He rose from his seat, walked to the front entrance of the house and
-looked at his watch by the bright light which streamed through the
-leaded glass beside the door. He had yet ten minutes.
-
-He retraced in part his steps, followed the narrow path to the foot of
-the hill and entered the vault. Feeling his way along the sides to the
-arched niche in the rear, he pressed his shoulder heavily against the
-right side of the smooth stone wall forming the back of the niche,
-and felt it instantly give. The rush of damp air told him that the old
-underground way was open.
-
-He smiled with satisfaction. He knew that this passage led through a
-blind wall in the basement of the house and up into the great hall by a
-panel in the oak wainscoting under the stairs.
-
-“It’s easy! My men could seize him without a struggle!” he said grimly,
-slowly allowing the door to settle back of its own weight into place
-again.
-
-He stood for a moment in the darkness of the vault, clinched his fist at
-last and exclaimed:
-
-“I’ll do it!--but I prefer the front door. I’ll try that first.”
-
-A few minutes later he had reached the house, knocked loudly and stood
-waiting an answer.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann’s black face smiled him a hearty welcome.
-
-“Come right in, Marse John, honey, an’ make yo’ sef at home. I sho is
-glad ter see ye!”
-
-John walked deliberately across the hall and sat down on the old
-mahogany davenport under the stairs behind which he knew the secret door
-opened. He reached back carelessly, played with the spring and felt it
-yield.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann’s huge form waddled after him. “Fore I pass de time er
-day I mus’ tell ye Marse John, what de Jedge say. He give ‘structions
-ter all de folks dat ef any Graham put his foot ter dat do’ ter tell ‘im
-he don’t low you inside dis yard! I tell ye, so’s I kin tell him I tell
-ye--Cose, I can’t help it dat you brush right pass me an’ come in, can
-I, honey?”
-
-“Of course not, Aunt Julie Ann.”
-
-Her big figure shook with suppressed laughter. “De very idee er me
-keepin’ Mammy’s baby outen dis house when I carry him across dis hall in
-my arms de day he wuz born! An how’s all de folks, Marse John?”
-
-“About as usual, thank you, Aunt Julie Ann. How are you?”
-
-“Poorly, thank God, poorly.”
-
-“Why, what’s the matter?”
-
-She glanced furtively up into the dim moonlit gallery of the observatory
-and whispered:
-
-“Dey wuz terrible times here las’ night!”
-
-“What happened?”
-
-“Ghosts!”
-
-“What, again?” John laughed.
-
-“Nasah, dem wuz new ones! We got de lights all burnin’ ter-night. De
-Jedge, he wuz scared outen ten years growth. He been in bed all day, des
-now git up ter supper. Wuz Marse William well las’ night?”
-
-“As well as usual, yes; Alfred put him to bed early.”
-
-“Well, sho’s you born, his livin’ ghost wuz here! He wuz clothed an’ in
-his right min’ too! I hear sumfin walkin’ up in de attic ’bout leben
-erclock, an’ I creep out in de hall an’ look up, an’ bress de Lawd, dar
-stood you Pa leanin’ ober de railin’ lookin’ right at me! Well, sah, I
-wuz scared dat bad I couldn’t holler. I look ergin an’ dar stood yo Ma,
-my dead Missy, right side er him.”
-
-“Ah, Aunt Julie Ann, you were walking in your sleep.”
-
-“Nasah! I’se jist as waked as I is now. I try my bes’ ergin ter holler,
-but I clean los’ my breath and couldn’t. So I crawl to the Jedge’s room,
-an’ tell him what I see. He wuz scared most ter death, but he follow me
-out in de hall an’ look up. He seed ‘em too an’ drop down side er me er
-foamin’ at de mouf. He’s powerful scary anyhow, de Jedge is--des like us
-niggers. I got him ter bed and poured er big drink er licker down ‘im,
-an’ when he come to, he make me promise nebber ter tell nobody, an’ I
-promise. Cose, hit’s des like I’se talkin’ ter myself, honey, when I
-tell you.”
-
-“And this morning he gave orders to admit no one of the tribe of Graham
-inside the yard again?”
-
-“Yassah!”
-
-“Well, tell his Honour that I am here and wish to see him at once.”
-
-“Yassah, I spec he won’t come down--but I tell ‘im, sah.”
-
-She waddled up the stairs to the Judge’s room. John heard the quarrel
-between them. Aunt Julie Ann’s voice loud, shrill, defiant, insolent,
-above the Judge’s. She served him for his money and her love for the old
-house, but secretly she despised him as she did all poor white trash and
-in such moments made no effort to hide her feelings.
-
-“Bully for Aunt Julie Ann!” John chuckled.
-
-When she returned, he slipped the last piece of money he possessed into
-her hand and smiled.
-
-“Keep it for good luck,” he said.
-
-“Yassah! De Jedge say he be down as soon as he dresses--he all dress now
-but he des want ter keep you waitin’.”
-
-“I understand,” said John with a laugh. “Are you sure, Aunt Julie Ann,
-that the ghost of the Major you saw last night wasn’t the real man
-himself?”
-
-“Cose I’se sho’. Hit wuz his speret!”
-
-“Alfred says he’s walking in his sleep of late; at least he found mud on
-his shoes the other morning when he got up.”
-
-“De Lawd, Marse John, hit wuz his speret, des lak I tell ye. He didn’t
-look crazy no mo’n you is. He look des lak he look in de ole days when
-we wuz all rich an’ proud and happy. He wuz laughin’ an’ talkin’ low
-like to my Missy an’ she wuz laughin’ an talkin’ back at ‘im. I seed ‘em
-bof wid my own eyes des ez plain ez I see you now, chile.”
-
-“You thought you did, anyway.”
-
-“Cose I did, honey. De doors is all locked an’ bolted wid new iron
-bolts--nuttin but sperets kin get in dis house atter dark--de Jedge he
-sees ‘em too--des ez plain ez I did.”
-
-“And this coward is set to rule a downtrodden people,” John muttered
-fiercely under his breath. “Yes it’s easy, he’ll do what I tell
-him to-night, or--I’ll--use--the--power I wield--to--execute--the
-judgment--of--a--just--God.”
-
-“What you say, honey?” Aunt Julie Ann asked.
-
-“Nothing.”
-
-“Dar’s de Jedge commin’ now,” she whispered, hastily leaving.
-
-John kept his seat in sullen silence until the shuffling footsteps of
-his enemy had descended the stairs and crossed half the space of the
-hall.
-
-The younger man rose and gazed at him a moment, his eyes flashing with
-hatred he could no longer mask.
-
-The Judge halted, moved his feet nervously and fumbled at the big gold
-watch-chain he wore across his ponderous waist. His shifting bead eyes
-sought the floor, and then he suddenly lifted his drooping head like
-a turtle, approached John in a fawning, creeping, half-walk,
-half-shuffle, and extended his hand.
-
-“I bid you welcome, young man, to the old home of your ancestors. In
-fact, I’m delighted to see you. I heard to-day that you would probably
-call this evening, and had the servants illuminate every room in your
-honour.”
-
-“Indeed!” John sneered.
-
-“Yes, I’ve wished for some time that I might have such an opportunity to
-talk things over with you.”
-
-John had turned from the proffered hand and seated himself with
-deliberate insolence.
-
-“Thanks for the illuminations in honour of my family!”
-
-The sneer with which he spoke was not lost on the Judge. His patronising
-judicial air, so newly acquired, wavered before the cold threat of the
-younger man’s manner. Yet he recovered himself sufficiently to say:
-
-“My boy, I like your high spirit, but I _must_ give you a little
-fatherly advice.”
-
-“Seeing that my own father at present cannot do so.”
-
-The Judge ignored the interruption and seated himself with an attempt at
-dignity.
-
-“Mr. Graham, you must recognise the authority of the United States
-Government.”
-
-“Which means you?”
-
-“I was compelled to make an example of disloyalty.”
-
-“You disbarred me from personal malice.”
-
-“For your treasonable utterances.”
-
-“I have the right to criticise your degradation of the judiciary in
-using it to further your political ambitions.”
-
-“I disbarred you for treason and contempt of court.”
-
-John rose and stood glaring at the judge whose shifting eyes avoided
-him.
-
-“Well, you’re on solid ground there, your Honour! Were I the master
-of every language of earth, past master of all the dead tongues of the
-ages, a genius in the use of every epithet the rage of man ever spoke,
-still words would have no power to express my contempt for you!”
-
-The Judge shuffled his big feet as if to rise.
-
-“Sit still!” John growled. “I’ve come here to-night to demand of you two
-things.”
-
-“You’re in no position to demand anything of me!” spluttered Butler,
-running his hand nervously through his heavy black hair.
-
-“Two things,” John went on evenly: “First revoke your order and restore
-me to my law practice to-morrow morning.”
-
-“Not until you apologise for your criticism.”
-
-“That’s what I’m doing now. I profoundly regret the incident. I should
-have kicked you across the street--criticism was an error of judgment.”
-
-Butler shambled to his feet, trembling with rage, pulled nervously at
-his beard again and gasped:
-
-“How dare you insult me in my house!”
-
-“It’s my house!” flashed the angry answer.
-
-“Your house?” the Judge stammered, again tugging at his beard.
-
-“Yes, sit down.”
-
-The astonished jurist dropped into his chair, his shifting basilisk eyes
-dancing with a new excitement.
-
-“Your house, your house--why, what--what!”
-
-“Yes and you’re going to vacate it within two weeks.”
-
-“What do you mean, sir?” demanded the Judge, plucking up his courage for
-a moment.
-
-“I mean that the distinguished jurist, Hugh Butler, who had the honour
-of presiding over the trial of Jefferson Davis, and now aspires to the
-leadership of his party in the South, was living in a stolen house when
-he delivered his famous charge concerning traitors to the grand jury,
-that morning in Richmond. It is with peculiar personal pleasure that I
-now brand you to your face--coward, liar, perjurer, thief!”
-
-John paused a moment to watch the effects of his words on his enemy. The
-cold sweat began to appear in the bald spot above the Judge’s forehead,
-and his answer came with gasping feeble emphasis:
-
-“I bought this house and paid for it!”
-
-“Exactly!” sneered the younger man. “But I never knew until I got this
-letter”--he drew the letter from his pocket--“just how you came to buy a
-house which cost $50,000 for so trifling a sum of money.”
-
-“Who wrote that letter?” interrupted the Judge eagerly.
-
-“Evidently a friend of yours, once high in your councils, who has grown
-of late to love you as passionately as I do. And I think he could put a
-knife into your ribs with as much pleasure.”
-
-The Judge winced and glanced nervously into the galleries.
-
-“Don’t worry, your Honour. If you take the medicine I prescribe,
-amputation will not be necessary. Let me read the letter. It’s brief but
-to the point:”
-
-_To John Graham, Esq._
-
-_Dear Sir: The secret of Butler’s possession of your estate is simple.
-Under his authority as United States Judge, he ordered its confiscation,
-forced his wife to buy it for $2,800, at a fake sale, which had not been
-advertised, and later had it reconveyed to him. His wife refused to live
-in the house, sent her daughter to school in Washington, and died two
-years later from the conscious dishonour she had been obliged at least
-in secret to share. A suit brought before the United States Supreme
-Court will restore your property, hurl a scoundrel from the bench, and
-cover him with everlasting infamy._
-
-_A Former Pal of His Honour._
-
-“An anonymous slanderer!” snorted the judge.
-
-“Yet he expresses himself with vigour and accuracy, and his words are
-backed by circumstantial evidence.”
-
-Butler sprang to his feet livid with rage crying:
-
-“John Graham, you’re drunk!”
-
-“Just drunk enough to talk entertainingly to you, Judge.”
-
-“Will you leave my house? or must I call an officer to eject you, sir?”
- he thundered.
-
-“A process of law is slow and expensive, Judge,” said John with a drawl.
-“I haven’t the money at present to waste on a suit, May I ask when you
-will vacate this estate?”
-
-“When ordered to do so by the last court of appeal, sir!”
-
-John looked the Judge squarely in the eye and slowly said:
-
-“You are before the last court of appeal now, and it’s judgment day.”
-
-“I understand your threat, sir, but I want to tell you that your Ku Klux
-Klan has had its day. The President is aroused--Congress has acted.
-I’ll order a regiment of troops to this town tomorrow! Dare to lift the
-weight of your little finger against my authority and I’ll send your
-crazy old father to the county poorhouse and you to the gallows--to the
-gallows! I warn you!” John took a step closer to his enemy, towering
-over his slouchy figure menacingly, and said, “When will you vacate this
-house?”
-
-Butler grasped the back of his chair, trembling with fury.
-
-“The possession of this estate is the fulfillment of one of the proudest
-ambitions of my life.”
-
-“When will you get out?”
-
-“And my daughter has just returned to-day from Washington, a beautiful
-accomplished woman, to preside over it.”
-
-“When--will--you--get--out?”
-
-“When ordered by the Supreme Court of the United States--or when I’m
-carried out--feet--foremost--through--that--door!”
-
-The Judge choked with anger.
-
-“Then, until we meet again!”
-
-John bowed with mock courtesy, walked across the hall to the alcove and
-took his hat from the rack where Aunt Julie Ann had hung it, just as
-Stella Butler sprang through the rear entrance with a joyous shout,
-reached at a bound the Judge’s side and threw her arms around his neck.
-
-“Oh! Papa, what a glorious night! Steve and I had such a ride!” The
-Judge placed his hand on her lips and whispered:
-
-“My dear, there’s someone here.”
-
-Stella glanced over her shoulder and saw John fumbling his hat in
-embarrassment.
-
-“Why it’s the famous Mr. John Graham--introduce me, quick!”
-
-“Not to-night, dear; I do not wish you to know him.”
-
-Stella released herself and, with a ripple of girlish laughter, walked
-boldly over to John, her face wreathed in friendly smiles.
-
-“Mr. Graham, permit me to introduce myself, Stella Butler. My father has
-just forbidden it. I care nothing for your old politics--shall we not be
-friends?”
-
-She extended a dainty little hand and John took it stammering
-incoherently. Never had he touched a hand so warm, and tender and so
-full of vital magnetism. It thrilled him with strange confusion.
-
-Never had he seen a vision of such bewildering loveliness. An exquisite
-oval face with lines like a delicate cameo, cheeks of ripe-peach red,
-a crown of unruly raven-black hair, and big brown eyes shaded by heavy
-lashes. Her dress showed the perfection of good taste and careful
-study--a yellow satin, trimmed in old lace that fitted her rounded
-little figure without a wrinkle, dainty feet in snow-white stockings and
-bow-tipped slippers that peeped in and out mischievously as she walked,
-and with it all a magnetic personality which riveted and held the
-attention.
-
-He stared at her a moment dumb with wonder. Could it be possible that a
-girl of such extraordinary beauty, of such remarkable character, of such
-appealing manners could have been born of such a father!
-
-“As the new mistress of your old home let me bid you a hearty welcome,
-Mr. Graham,” she said softly. “You must come often and tell me all its
-legends and ghost stories?”
-
-The Judge shuffled uneasily and cleared his throat with nervous anger.
-
-“Now keep still, Papa! I’m going to make this old house ring with joy
-and laughter. I won’t have any of your political quarrels. I’m going to
-be friends with everybody, as my mother was--they say she was a famous
-belle in her day, Mr. Graham?”
-
-“So I have often heard,” John answered with increasing confusion, as he
-retreated toward the door.
-
-“You will come again?”
-
-“I hope to soon,” he gravely answered as he bowed himself out the door.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II--MR. HOYLE RECEIVES A SHOCK
-
-STEVE HOYLE had called early at the Judge’s to see Stella the morning
-after John’s encounter in the hall. As he paced restlessly back and
-forth waiting the return of Stella’s maid, he was evidently in an ugly
-humour.
-
-When he heard the story at the hotel late the night before, that his
-hated rival in politics and society had dared to venture into Judge
-Butler’s home, he could not believe it. And the idea that Stella should
-receive him had cut his vanity to the quick.
-
-The richest young man in the county, he aspired to be the most popular,
-and he had long enjoyed the distinction in the estimation of his friends
-of being the handsomest man in his section of the state. In his own
-estimation there had never been any question about this. And beyond
-a doubt he was a magnificent animal. Six feet tall, a superb figure,
-somewhat coarse and heavy in the neck, with smooth, regular features.
-He was slightly given to fat, but his complexion was red and clean as a
-boy’s, and he might well be pardoned his vanity when one remembered his
-money.
-
-His father, the elder Hoyle, who had avoided service in the war by
-hiring a substitute, had emerged from the tragedy far wealthier than
-when he entered it. Some people hinted that if the Treasury Agents,
-who had stolen the cotton of the country under the absurd and infamous
-Confiscation Act of Congress, would speak, they might explain this
-fortune. They had never spoken. The old fox had been too clever and his
-tracks were all covered.
-
-Steve had recently met Stella at one of her school receptions in
-Washington while on business for his father, yielded instantly to her
-spell, and they were engaged. He felt that he had condescended to honour
-the Judge by marrying into his family.
-
-Butler never had been a slave owner, and in spite of his fawning
-ambitions as a turncoat politician and social aspirant, he was still
-poor--so poor in fact that he could scarcely keep up appearances in
-the Graham mansion. Steve planned to live there after his marriage in
-a style befitting his wealth and social position. He noted the faded
-covering on the old mahogany furniture and determined to make it shine
-with new plush on his advent as master.
-
-He walked over to the hall mirror and adjusted his tie. He was getting
-nervous. Stella was keeping him waiting longer than usual. She was doing
-this to tease him, but he would have his revenge when they were married.
-
-Steve had quickly come to a perfect understanding with the Judge.
-The Piedmont Congressional District, which included several mountain
-counties, was overwhelmingly Democratic. The Judge, as the Republican
-leader, had promised Steve to put up no candidate, but to support him as
-an independent if the approaching Democratic Convention nominated John
-Graham for Congress.
-
-Steve as a man of capital proclaimed that the money interests of the
-North should be cultivated and that a deal with the enemy was always
-better than a fight.
-
-Sure of his success, he had already promised Stella with boastful
-certainty a brilliant social season in Washington as his wife. In spite
-of his immense vanity, he knew that this promise had gone far to win her
-favour. She too was vain of her beauty, and her social ambitions were
-boundless. He had received her mild professions of love with a grain of
-salt. She was yet too young and beautiful to take life seriously. His
-fortune and his good looks had been the magnets that drew her. But he
-was content. He would make her love him in due time. He was sure of it.
-Yet on two occasions he had observed that she had shown a disposition
-to flirt skilfully and daringly with every handsome fellow who came her
-way--and it had distressed him not a little.
-
-He was angry and uneasy this morning, and made up his mind to assert
-his rights with dignity--and yet with a firmness that would leave no
-question as to who was going to be master in his house. He decided to
-nip Stella’s acquaintance with John Graham in the bud on the spot. That
-he had called for any other reason than to see her, never occurred to
-him.
-
-When Maggie, Stella’s little coal black maid, at length reappeared, she
-was grinning with more than usual cunning.
-
-“Miss Stella say she be down in a minute,” she said with a giggle.
-
-“You’ve been gone a half hour,” Steve answered frowning.
-
-“I spec I is,” observed Maggie, continuing to giggle and glance
-furtively at Steve.
-
-“What’s the matter with you?” he asked suspiciously.
-
-“Nuttin.”
-
-He held up a quarter and beckoned. She hastened to his side.
-
-“I want us to be good friends.”
-
-She took the money, grinned again and said: “Yassah!”
-
-“Now, what have you been giggling about?”
-
-“Mr. John Graham wuz here last night!”
-
-“So I hear. Did he see Miss Stella?”
-
-“Deed he did! Dat’s what dey all come fur. She so purty dey can’t hep
-it.”
-
-“How long did he stay?”
-
-“Till atter midnight!”
-
-“Indeed!”
-
-“Yassah!” Maggie went on, walling her eyes with tragic earnestness. “She
-play de pianer fur ’im long time in de parlour, an’ he sing fur her an’
-den she sing fur ’im.”
-
-Steve cleared his throat angrily.
-
-“Yassah! an’ atter dey git froo singin’ she take him out fur er stroll
-on de lawn an’ dey go way down in de fur corner an’ set in one er dem
-rustics fur ’bout er hour. Den dey come in an’ bof un ’em set in de
-moonlight in de hammock right close side an’ side, and he talk low an’
-sof, an’ she laugh, an’ laugh, an’ hit ’im wid er fan--jesso! Yassah. Sh!
-She comin’ now!”
-
-The girl darted out of sight as Stella’s dress rustled in the hall
-above.
-
-Steve pulled himself together with an effort, and met her at the foot of
-the stairs.
-
-She made an entrancing picture as she slowly descended the steps,
-serenely conscious of her beauty and its power over the man below whose
-eyes were now devouring her. The flowing train of her cream-coloured
-morning gown made her look a half foot taller than she was. She had
-always fretted at her diminutive stature, and wore her dresses the
-extreme length to give her added height.
-
-With a gracious smile she welcomed Steve and he attempted to kiss her.
-She repulsed him firmly and allowed him to kiss her hand.
-
-“Stella dear,” he began petulantly, with an accent of offended dignity,
-“you must quit this foolishness! We have been engaged three weeks and
-I’ve never touched your lips.”
-
-She laughed and tossed her pretty head.
-
-“And we’re engaged!”
-
-“Not yet married,” she observed, lifting her arched brows.
-
-“I have honoured you with my fortune and my life.”
-
-“Thanks,” she interrupted smiling.
-
-Steve flushed and went on rapidly.
-
-“Really, Stella, the time has come for a serious talk between us.”
-
-She seated herself at the piano and ran her fingers lightly over the
-keys. Steve followed, a frown clouding his smooth handsome forehead.
-
-“Will you hear me?” he asked.
-
-“Certainly!” she answered, turning on him her big brown eyes. In their
-depths he might have seen a sudden dangerous light, had he been less
-absorbed in himself. As it was he only saw a smile lurking about the
-corners of her lips which irritated him the more.
-
-“I understand that John Graham called on you last night?”
-
-“Indeed, I hadn’t heard it,” she answered lightly.
-
-“And stayed until after midnight.”
-
-Stella sprang to her feet, looked steadily at Steve, frowned, walked to
-the door and called:
-
-“Maggie!”
-
-The black face appeared instantly.
-
-“Yassum!” she answered, with eager innocence.
-
-“Have you said anything about Mr. Graham’s visit last night?”
-
-Maggie walled her eyes in amazement at such an outrageous suspicion.
-
-“No, M’am! I aint open my mouf--has I Mister Steve?”
-
-“Certainly not,” Steve answered curtly.
-
-“I thought I heard your voice in the hall,” Stella continued, looking
-sternly at Maggie.
-
-“Nobum! Twan’t me. I nebber stop er second. I pass right straight on
-froo de hall--nebber even look t’ward Mr. Steve.”
-
-“You can go,” was the stern command. “Yassum!” Maggie half whispered,
-backing out the door, her eyes travelling quickly from Steve to her
-mistress.
-
-“As my affianced bride,” he went on firmly, “I cannot afford to have you
-receive the man who is my bitterest enemy.”
-
-With a smile, Stella quickly but quietly removed the ring from her
-hand and gave it to Steve, who stood for a moment paralysed with
-astonishment. “Stella!” he gasped.
-
-“The burden of your affianced bride is too heavy for my young
-shoulders.”
-
-“Forgive me dear!” he pleaded.
-
-“I prefer to receive whom I please, when and where I please, without
-consulting you. When I need a master to order my daily conduct, I’ll let
-you know.
-
-“But, Stella, dear!”
-
-“Miss Butler--if you please!”
-
-“I--I only meant to tell you that I love you desperately, that I’m
-jealous and ask you not to torture me--you cannot mean this, dear?”
-
-“How dare you address me in that manner again!” she cried, flaming with
-anger, the tense little figure drawn to its full height.
-
-Steve attempted to take her hand, but the fierce light in her eyes
-stopped him without a word.
-
-“Leave this house instantly!” she said, with quiet emphasis.
-
-With deep muttered curses in his soul against John Graham, Steve turned
-and left.
-
-As he passed through the doorway, a black face peeped from the alcove
-and giggled.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III--A BLOW IS STRUCK
-
-
-TRUE to his word Butler called for a regiment of United States troops.
-
-On the second day after his interview with the Judge, John Graham
-watched from his office window the blue coats march through the streets
-of Independence to their camp.
-
-He turned to his chair beside a quaint old mahogany desk and wrote an
-official order to each of the eight district chiefs of the Invisible
-Empire who were under his command in the state.
-
-When he had finished his task he sat for an hour in silence staring out
-of his window and seeing nothing save the big brown eyes of a beautiful
-girl--eyes of extraordinary size and brilliance that seemed to be
-searching the depths of his soul. It was a new and startling experience
-in his life. He had made love harmlessly after the gallant fashion of
-his race to many girls; yet none of them had found the man within.
-
-He was angry with himself now for his inability to shake off the
-impression Stella Butler had made. He hated her very name. The idea of
-his ever seeking the hand of a Butler in marriage made him shiver. To
-even meet her socially with such a father was unthinkable. And yet he
-kept thinking.
-
-Two things especially about her haunted him with persistence and had
-thrown a spell over his imagination--the strange appealing tenderness
-of her eyes and the marvellous low notes of her voice, a voice at once
-musical, and warm with slumbering passion. Her voice seemed the echo of
-ravishing music he had heard somewhere, or dreamed or caught in another
-world he fancied sometimes his soul had inhabited before reaching this.
-Never had he heard a voice so full of feeling, so soft, so seductive, so
-full of tender appeal. Its every accent seemed to caress.
-
-He cursed himself for brooding over her and then came back to his
-brooding with the certainty of fate. Yet it should make no difference
-in his fight with old Butler. He would kick that fawning, creeping
-scoundrel out of his house if it was the last and only thing he ever
-accomplished on earth. The only question he still debated was the time
-and method of the execution of his plan.
-
-One thing became more and more clear--he was going to need the full
-use of every faculty with which God had endowed him and he must set his
-house in order.
-
-He opened the door of the little cupboard above his desk and took from
-it a decanter of moonshine whiskey Dan Wiley, one of his mountain men,
-had always kept filled for him. From the drawer he took two packs of
-cards and a case of poker chips. The cards and chips he rolled in a
-newspaper, placed in his stove and set them on fire. He smiled as he
-stood and listened to the roar of the sudden blaze. He raised his window
-and hurled the red-eyed decanter across the vacant lot in the rear
-of his office and saw it break into a hundred fragments on a pile of
-stones.
-
-“Wonder what Dan will say to that when he comes this morning?” he
-exclaimed, looking at his watch and resuming his seat.
-
-He heard a stealthy footfall at the door, turned and saw the tall lanky
-form of the mountaineer smiling at him.
-
-“Well, Chief, you sent for me?”
-
-“Yes, come in Dan!”
-
-Dan Wiley tipped in and stood pulling his long moustache thoughtfully,
-before taking a chair.
-
-“What’s on your mind?” asked John.
-
-“I heered somethin’.”
-
-“About me?”
-
-“Yes, and it pestered me.”
-
-“Well?”
-
-“They say you got drunk night ’fore last.”
-
-“And you’re going to preach me a sermon on temperance, you confounded
-old moonshining distilling sinner!”
-
-“Ye mustn’t git drunk,” observed Dan seriously.
-
-“But, didn’t you bring me the whiskey?”
-
-“Not to git drunk on. I brought it as a compliment. My whiskey’s pure
-mountain dew, life restorer--it’s medicine.”
-
-“It’s good whiskey, I’ll say that,” said John. “Even if you don’t pay
-taxes on it. You brought the men?”
-
-“Yes, but Chief, I’m oneasy.”
-
-“What about?”
-
-“Don’t like the looks er them dam Yankees. I’m a member er the church
-an’ a law abidin’ citizen.”
-
-“Yet I hear that a revenue officer passed away in your township last
-fall.”
-
-“Rattlesnakes and Revenue officers don’t count--they ain’t human.”
-
-“I see!” laughed John.
-
-“Say,” Dan whispered, “you ain’t calculatin’ ter make a raid ternight
-with them thousand blue-coats paradin’ round this town, are ye?”
-
-“That’s my business, Dan,” was John’s smiling answer. “It’s your
-business as a faithful night-hawk of the Empire to obey orders. Are you
-ready?”
-
-“Well, Chief, I followed you four years in the war, an’ I’ve never
-showed the white feather yet, but these is ticklish times. There’s a
-powerful lot er damfools gettin’ ermongst us, an’ I want ter ax ye one
-question?”
-
-“What?”
-
-“Are ye goin’ ter git drunk ter-night?”
-
-John walked to Dan’s side and placed his hand on his shoulder, and said
-slowly:
-
-“I’ll never touch another drop of liquor as long as I live. Does that
-satisfy you?”
-
-“I never knowd a Graham ter break his word.” John pressed the
-mountaineer’s hand.
-
-“Thanks Dan.”
-
-“I’m with you--and I’ll charge the mouth of the pit with my bare hands
-if you give the order.”
-
-“Good. Meet me at the spring in the woods behind the old cemetery at
-eleven o’clock to-night with forty picked men.”
-
-“Forty!--better make it an even thousand, man for man with the Yanks.”
-
-“Just forty men, mark you--picked men, not a boy or a fool among them.”
-
-“I understand,” said Dan, turning on his heel toward the door.
-
-“And see to it”--called John--“I want them mounted on the best horses in
-the county and every man armed to the teeth.”
-
-Dan nodded and disappeared.
-
-By eight o’clock the town was in a ferment of excitement and the streets
-were crowded with feverish groups discussing a rumour which late in the
-afternoon had spread like wild-fire. From some mysterious source had
-come the announcement that a great Ku Klux parade was to take place in
-Independence at midnight for the purpose of overawing if not attacking
-the regiment of soldiers, which had just been quartered in the town.
-
-By eleven o’clock the entire white population, men, women and children,
-were crowding the sidewalks of the main street.
-
-Billy Graham passed John’s office with Susie Wilson leaning on his arm.
-Billy was in high feather and Susie silent and depressed.
-
-“Great Scott, Miss Susie, what’s the matter? This isn’t a funeral. It’s
-a triumphant demonstration of power to our oppressors.”
-
-“I wish they wouldn’t do it with all these troops in town,” answered the
-girl, anxiously glancing at the dark window of John’s office.
-
-“Bah! The Ku Klux have been getting pusillanimous of late--haven’t been
-on a raid in six months. They need a leader. Give me a hundred of those
-white mounted men and I’d be the master of this county in ten days!”
-
-“It’s a dangerous job, Billy.”
-
-“That’s the only kind of a job that interests me. A dozen wholesome
-raids would put these scalawags and carpetbaggers out of business.
-There ought to be five thousand men in line tonight. I’ll bet they
-don’t muster a thousand. It wouldn’t surprise me if they backed out
-altogether.”
-
-“I wish they would,” sighed Susie.
-
-“Of course you do, little girl,” said Billy with sudden patronising
-tenderness. “I know what you need.”
-
-Susie smiled and asked demurely:
-
-“What?”
-
-Billy seized both her hands and drew her under the shadow of a tree.
-
-“A strong manly breast on which to lean--Susie, my Darling, I love you!
-Will you be my wife?”
-
-Susie burst into a fit of laughter and Billy dropped her hands in rage.
-
-“You treat the offer of my heart as a senseless joke, young woman?”
-
-“No, Billy dear, I don’t. I appreciate it more than words can express.
-You have paid me the highest tribute a girl can receive, but the idea of
-marrying a boy of your age is ridiculous!”
-
-“Ridiculous! Ridiculous! How dare you insult me? I’m as old as you are!”
- thundered Billy.
-
-“Yes, we are each eighteen.”
-
-“And your mother married at sixteen.”
-
-“And she’s still only sixteen,” said the girl with a sigh.
-
-“Wait a few days and I’ll show you whether I’m a man or not,” said
-Billy, with insulted dignity. “Come, your mother is waiting for us at
-the corner.”
-
-Mrs. Wilson stood among a group of boys chatting and joking. She
-belonged to the type of widows, fair, fat and frivolous. Time had dealt
-gently with her. She was still handsome in spite of her weight,
-and intensely jealous lest her serious daughter supplant her in the
-affections of the youth of Independence.
-
-She greeted Billy with just the words to heal his wounded vanity.
-
-“My! Billy, but you look serious and manly! I’d kiss you if the other
-boys were not here. You ought to be at the head of that line of white
-raiders to-night”--she dropped her voice to a whisper--“I’ll be making
-your disguise before long.”
-
-Billy turned from Susie and devoted himself with dignity to her mother.
-
-The widow lifted her hand in sudden warning.
-
-“Sh! Billy, the enemy! There goes Stella Butler with that fat little
-detective whom the Judge has imported with the troops.”
-
-“Captain” Suggs of the Secret Service was more than duly impressed with
-his importance as he forced his pudgy figure through the throng on the
-sidewalk, ostentatiously protecting Stella from the touch of the crowd.
-
-“It’s arrant nonsense, Miss Stella,” he was saying, as they passed.
-“These Southern people are savages, I know----”
-
-“Why, Captain, I’m a Southerner too,” said the girl archly.
-
-“I mean the disloyal traitors of the South--not the broad-minded
-patriots like your father,” Suggs hastened to explain. “I say it’s
-arrant nonsense this talk of such a parade by these traitors. I credit
-them with too much cunning to dare to flaunt their treason in the
-streets here to-night with a regiment of troops and the head of the
-Secret Service on the spot.”
-
-The little fellow expanded his chest and puffed his cheeks.
-
-Billy doubled his fist, and made a dash for him. With a suppressed
-scream, Mrs. Wilson caught him.
-
-“Billy! for heaven’s sake, are you crazy!” They passed on down the
-street toward the Judge’s house.
-
-“I’m not so sure they will not parade, Mr. Suggs,” Stella replied.
-
-“Don’t be alarmed, Miss Stella!” he urged soothingly. “I’ve taken ample
-means to protect you and your father from any attack of these assassins
-and desperadoes if they dare enter the town.”
-
-“I’m not afraid of them, Captain, she answered lightly.
-
-“Of course not--we’re here and ready for them. The very audacity of
-their manner is an insult to the Government.”
-
-“I like audacity. It stirs your blood,” Stella cried, her brown eyes
-twinkling.
-
-Suggs leaned nearer and said in his deepest voice:
-
-“Let them dare this insult to authority to-night and you’ll see audacity
-come to sudden grief in front of your father’s house.”
-
-“Have you prepared an ambush?” Stella asked eagerly.
-
-“Better. We’ve an extra hundred loyal policemen on the spot. Each of
-them is sworn to capture dead or alive any Ku Klux raider who shows his
-head. I hope they’ll come--but it’s too good to be true. With a dozen
-prisoners safe in jail, before to-morrow dawns I’ll have the secrets
-of the Klan in my pocket. I’ll make things hum in Washington. Watch me.
-It’s the big opportunity of life I’ve been waiting for--my only fear is
-I’ll miss it.”
-
-“I think you’ll get it, Mr. Suggs,” was the laughing answer.
-
-She had scarcely spoken, when a tow-headed boy rushed into the middle of
-the street and yelled, “Gee bucks! Look out! They’re a comin’!”
-
-Men, women and children rushed into the street.
-
-Suggs stood irresolute and tightened his grip on Stella’s arm.
-
-Down the street cheers burst forth and as they died away the clatter of
-horses’ hoofs rang clear, distinct, defiant. They were riding slowly as
-in dress parade.
-
-Another cheer was heard and Suggs stepped into the street and
-reconnoitred.
-
-His face wore a puzzled look as he returned to Stella’s side.
-
-“They’ve actually ridden past the regimental camp. I can’t understand
-why the Colonel did not attack them.”
-
-“Gee Whilikens, there’s a million of ’em!” cried a boy nearby.
-
-“Perhaps the Colonel thought discretion the better part of valour, Mr.
-Suggs,” suggested Stella smilingly.
-
-“Red tape,” the detective explained with disgust--“he has no order. Just
-wait until the assassins walk into the trap I’ve laid for them. Come, we
-will hurry to your gate. I want you to see what happens.”
-
-They crossed the street and hurried to the Judge’s place.
-
-Suggs summoned the commander of his force of “metropolitan” police and
-in short sharp tones gave his orders.
-
-“Are your men all ready, officer?”
-
-“Yessir!”
-
-“Fully armed?”
-
-“You bet.”
-
-“Handcuffs ready?”
-
-“All ready.”
-
-“Good. Throw your line, double column, across the street, stop the
-parade and arrest them one at a time.”
-
-Suggs squared his round shoulders as best he could; the officer saluted
-and returned to his place to execute the order.
-
-When the cordon formed across the street the boys yelled and the
-news flashed from lip to lip far down the line. A great crowd quickly
-gathered surging back and forth in waves of excitement as the raiders
-approached.
-
-The white ghostlike figures could now be seen, the draped horse and
-rider appearing of gigantic size in the shimmering moonlight.
-
-“Now we’ll have some fun,” exclaimed Suggs with a triumphant smile.
-
-Stella trembled with excitement, two bright red spots appearing on her
-dimpled cheeks, her eyes sparkling.
-
-Amid constant cheers from the crowds the line of white figures slowly
-approached the cordon of police without apparently noticing their
-existence.
-
-“Now for the climax of the drama!” cried Suggs, watching with eager
-interest the rapidly closing space between the Clansmen and his police.
-
-The officer in command, noting an uneasy tension along his lines,
-crossed the street in front of his men exhorting them.
-
-“Stand your ground, boys!” he said firmly.
-
-“Better save your hides, you scalawag skunks!” yelled an urchin from the
-crowd.
-
-The leader of the Klan was now but ten feet away, towering tall, white
-and terrible, with an apparently interminable procession of mounted
-ghosts behind him.
-
-The line of police swayed in the centre.
-
-The Clansman leader lifted his hand, and the shrill scream of his
-whistle rang three times, and each white figure answered with a long
-piercing cry.
-
-The police cordon broke into scurrying fragments and melted into the
-throngs on the sidewalks, while the procession of white and scarlet
-horsemen, without a pause, passed slowly on amid shouts of laughter from
-the people who had witnessed the fiasco.
-
-“Well, I’ll be d------! excuse me, Miss Stella!”
-
-Suggs cried in a stupor of blank amazement, his round little figure
-suddenly collapsing like a punctured balloon.
-
-“You can’t help admiring such men, Captain!” the girl laughed.
-
-Suggs who had lost the power of speech wandered among the crowd in
-search of his commanding officer.
-
-As the parade passed the Judge’s gate, Stella stood wide-eyed, tense
-with excitement, watching the tall horseman with two scarlet crosses on
-his breast who led the procession.
-
-“The spirit of some daring knight of the middle ages come back to earth
-again!” she cried. “Superb! Superb! I could surrender to such a man!”
-
-A lace handkerchief fluttered from her bosom and waved a moment above
-her head. The tall figure turned in astonishment, bowed, tipped his
-spiked helmet, and without realising it suddenly reined his horse to a
-stand--and the whole line halted.
-
-The leader whispered to a tall figure by his side, apparently his
-orderly, who turned to the line behind and shouted.
-
-“Boys! three cheers for the little gal at the gate! She’s all right!
-_The purtiest little gal in the countee--oh!_”
-
-A rousing cheer rose from the ranks.
-
-A ripple of sweet girlish laughter broke the silence which followed, the
-lace handkerchief fluttered again and the line moved slowly on.
-
-Stella counted them.
-
-“Only forty men. And they dared a regiment!” With another laugh, she
-deserted Suggs and disappeared in the flowers and shrubbery toward the
-house as the last echoes of the raiders died away in the distance.
-
-The Clansmen descended a hill, turned sharply to the right toward the
-river and broke into a quick gallop. Within thirty minutes they entered
-a forest on the river bank, and down its dim aisles, lit by moonbeams,
-slowly wound their way to their old rendezvous.
-
-The signal was given to dismount and disrobe the horses. Within a minute
-the white figures gathered about a newly opened grave.
-
-The men began to whisper excitedly to one another.
-
-“What’s this?”
-
-“What’s the matter?”
-
-“Who’s dead?”
-
-“You’re too many for me!”
-
-“What’s up, Steve Hoyle?” asked one of the raiders.
-
-“It’s beyond me, sonny. The Grand Dragon of the State honours us with
-his presence to-night and is in command--he will no doubt explain. Have
-a drink.” He handed the group a flask of whiskey, and passed on.
-
-When the men had assembled beside the shallow grave, the chaplain led in
-prayer.
-
-The tall figure with the double scarlet cross on his breast removed his
-helmet and faced the men.
-
-“Boys,” began John Graham, “you have assembled here to-night for the
-last time as members of the Invisible Empire!”
-
-“Hell!”
-
-“What’s that?”
-
-The exclamations, half incredulous, half angry, came from every
-direction with suddenness and unanimity which showed the men to be
-utterly unprepared for such an announcement.
-
-“Yes,” the even voice went on, “I hold in my hand an official order of
-the Grand Wizard of the Empire, dissolving its existence for all time.
-Our Commander-in-chief has given the word. As loyal members of the
-order, we accept his message.”
-
-“Then our parade to-night was not a defiance of these soldiers who have
-marched into town?” sneered a voice.
-
-“No, Steve Hoyle, it was not. Our parade to-night was in accordance with
-this order of dissolution. It was our last formal appearance. Our work
-is done----”
-
-Steve saw in a flash his opportunity to defeat his enemy and make
-himself not only the master of his Congressional District but of the
-state itself.
-
-“Not by a damn sight!” snapped the big square jaw.
-
-“You refuse as the commander of this district to obey the order of the
-Grand Wizard?” asked the tall quiet figure.
-
-“I refuse, John Graham, to accept your word as the edict of God!” was
-the quick retort. “Our men can vote on this and decide for themselves.”
-
-“Yes, vote on it!”
-
-“We’ll decide for ourselves!”
-
-The quick responses which came from all sides showed the temper of the
-men. John Graham stepped in front of the big leader of the district.
-
-“Look here, Steve Hoyle, I want no trouble with you to-night, nor in the
-future--but I’m going to carry this order into execution here and now.”
-
-“Let’s see you do it!” was the defiant answer.
-
-“I will,” he continued. “Boys!”
-
-There was the ring of conscious authority in his tones and the men
-responded with sharp attention.
-
-“You have each sworn to obey your superior officer on the penalty of
-your life?”
-
-“Yes!”
-
-“You are men of your word. As the Grand Dragon of the State I command
-you to deliver to me immediately your helmets and robes.”
-
-With the precision of soldiers they deposited them in the open grave.
-Steve Hoyle surrendered his last.
-
-When all had been placed in the grave, John Graham removed his own,
-reverently placed it with the others, tied two pieces of pine into the
-form of the fiery cross, lighted its ends, drew the ritual of the Klan
-from his pocket, set it on fire and held it over the grave while the
-ashes slowly fell on the folds of the white and scarlet regalia which
-he also ignited. Some of the men were sobbing. While the regalia rapidly
-burned he turned and said:
-
-[Illustration: 0073]
-
-“Boys, I thank you. You have helped me do a painful thing. But it is
-best. Our work is done. We have rescued our state from Negro rule.
-We dissolve this powerful secret order in time to save you from
-persecution, exile, imprisonment and death. The National Government is
-getting ready to strike. When the blow falls it will be on the vanished
-shadow of a ghost. There’s a time to fight, and a time to retreat. We
-retreat from a field of victory.
-
-“I should have dissolved the Klan a month ago. I confess to you a
-secret. I waited because I meant to strike with it a blow at a personal
-enemy. I realise now that I stood as your leader on the brink of the
-precipice of social anarchy. Forgive me for the wrong I might have done,
-had you followed me. As Grand Dragon of the Empire I declare this order
-dissolved forever in the state of North Carolina!”
-
-He seized a shovel and covered with earth and leaves the ashes of the
-burned regalia.
-
-Steve Hoyle stepped quickly in front of his rival. The veins on his
-massive neck stood out like cords and his eyes shone ominously in the
-moonlight. The slender figure of John Graham instinctively stiffened at
-the threat of his movement as the two men faced each other.
-
-“The Klan is now a thing of the past?” asked Steve.
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“As though it had never been?”
-
-“As though it had never existed.”
-
-“Then your authority is at an end?”
-
-“As an officer of the Klan, yes. As a leader of men, no.”
-
-“The officer only interests me--Boys!” Steve’s angry voice rang with
-defiance.
-
-The men gathered closer.
-
-“The Invisible Empire is no more. Its officers are as dead as the
-ashes of its ritual. Meet me here to-morrow night at eleven o’clock to
-organise a new order of patriots! Will you come?”
-
-“Yes!”
-
-“You bet your life!”
-
-The answers seemed to leap from every throat at the same moment.
-
-John Graham’s face went white for a moment and his fist closed.
-
-“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, Steve Hoyle,” he said
-with slow emphasis.
-
-“And traitors pose as moral leaders,” was the retort.
-
-“Time will show which of us is a traitor. Will you dare thus to defy me
-and reorganise this Klan?”
-
-“Wait and see!”
-
-John Graham stepped close to his rival, and, in a low voice unheard save
-by the man to whom he spoke, said:
-
-“Take back that order and tell those men to go home and stay there.”
-
-“I’ll see you in hell first!” came the answer in a growl.
-
-Scarcely had the words passed his lips when John Graham’s fist shot into
-his rival’s face.
-
-The blow was delivered so quickly Steve’s heavy form struck the ground
-before the astonished men could interfere.
-
-In a moment a dozen men sprang between them and John said with quiet
-emphasis, glaring at his enemy:
-
-“I’ll be in my office at ten o’clock to-morrow morning, to receive any
-communication you may wish to make--you understand!”
-
-And deliberately mounting his horse, he rode away into the night alone.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV--THE OLD CODE
-
-
-JOHN GRAHAM walked briskly to his office the next morning at a quarter
-to ten, and found Dan Wiley standing at the door.
-
-The lank mountaineer merely nodded, followed the young lawyer into
-the office, and stood in silence watching him as he opened a case of
-duelling pistols which had been handed down through four generations of
-his family.
-
-“Don’t do it,” said Dan abruptly.
-
-“I’ve got to.”
-
-“Ain’t no sense in it.”
-
-“It’s the only way, Dan, and I’m going to ask you to be my second.”
-
-Dan placed his big rough hand on the younger man’s shoulders.
-
-“Lemme be fust, not second.”
-
-“It’s not my way!”
-
-“That’s why I’m axin ye. You’re the biggest man in the state! I seed it
-last night as ye stood there makin’ that speech to the boys. You’ll
-be the Governor if ye don’t do some fool thing like this. If ye
-fight ’im, an’ he kills ye, your’e a goner. If you kill him, you’re
-ruined--what’s the use?”
-
-“It can’t be helped,” was the quiet answer.
-
-“Are ye goin’ ter kill ’im?”
-
-“Yes. The Klan was the only way to save our civilisation. I’ve sowed
-the wind and now I begin to see that somebody must reap the whirlwind. I
-realised it all in a flash last night when that scoundrel called the men
-to reorganise.”
-
-“They won’t follow him.”
-
-“The fools will, and there are thousands outside clamouring to get in.
-I’ve kept the young and reckless out as far as possible. Steve Hoyle
-knows that he can beat me for Congress with this new wildcat Klan at
-his back. He hasn’t sense enough to see that the spell of authority once
-broken, he wields a power no human hand can control. It will be faction
-against faction, neighbour against neighbour, man against man--the end
-martial law, prison bars and the shadow of the gallows. I can save
-the lives of thousands of men, and my state from crime and disgrace by
-killing this fool as I’d kill a mad dog, and I’m going to do it!”
-
-“Hit’ll ruin ye, boy!”
-
-“I know it.”
-
-“Look here, John Graham, do me a special favour. Leave Steve to me.
-My wife’s dead and I aint got a chick or a child--you’ve defended me
-without a cent and you’re the best friend I’ve got in the world. It’s my
-turn now. Nobody would miss me.”
-
-“I’d miss you, Dan!” said John slowly.
-
-The two men silently clasped hands and looked into each other’s faces.
-
-“You’re a fool to do this, boy”--the mountaineer’s voice broke.
-
-“Of course, Dan, many of our old-fashioned ways are foolish but at least
-they hold the honour of man, and the virtue of woman dearer than human
-life!”
-
-A boy suddenly opened the door without knocking and handed John a note.
-
-He read it aloud with a scowl:
-
-_My friends have decided that I shall not play into your hands by an
-absurd appeal to the Code of the Dark Ages. I’ll fight you in my own
-way at a time and place of my own choosing and with weapons that will be
-effective._
-
-_Steve Hoyle._
-
-“Now, by gum, you’ll have to leave ’im to me,” laughed the
-mountaineer.
-
-John tore the note into bits and turned to the boy:
-
-“No answer, you can go.”
-
-“He’ll pick you off some night from behind a tree,” warned Dan.
-
-“Sneak and coward!” muttered John.
-
-“Ye won’t let me help ye?”
-
-“No, go home and disband your men.”
-
-“May they keep the rig?”
-
-“If you won’t go on a raid.”
-
-“I’ll not, unless you need me, John Graham,” cried the mountaineer
-grasping again his young leader’s hand.
-
-“All right. I can trust you. Keep their costumes in your house under
-lock and key until I call for them.”
-
-As Dan turned slowly through the door he drawled over his shoulder:
-“You’ll ’em purty quick!”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V--GRAHAM VS. BUTLER
-
-WHEN Dan Wiley closed the door John turned to his desk and drew from
-a pigeon hole the mass of legal papers containing the evidence he had
-gathered of Butler’s theft of his estate.
-
-The dissolution of the Klan had left him only the process of the law
-by which to recover it. Yet it was only a question of time when the
-decision of the Supreme Court would hurl the Judge from the Graham home
-and arraign him for impeachment.
-
-Now that he was ready to file the suit, his mind was in a tumult of
-hesitation. The soft invisible hand of a girl was holding his hand. He
-gazed steadily at the documents and saw nothing that was within. The ink
-lines slowly resolved themselves into the raven glossy hair of Stella
-piled in curling confusion above her white forehead, and he was trying
-in vain to find the depths of her wonderful eyes.
-
-Something in the expression of those eyes held his memory in a perpetual
-spell--their remarkable size and their dilation when she spoke. They
-seemed to enfold him in a soft mantle of light.
-
-He suddenly bundled the papers, replaced them, and took up his pen.
-
-“I’ve got to see her--that’s all!” he exclaimed. “Who knows? Perhaps I’m
-answering the great summons of life. I’ll put it to the test. At least
-I’ll not throw my chance away for a house, some trees and a few acres of
-dirt. When Love calls life’s too short for revenge.”
-
-On a sheet of delicate old note paper with a crest of yellow and black
-at the top, he wrote:
-
-_My Dear Miss Butler:_
-
-_You were gracious enough to ask me to call again. I cannot believe your
-words were mere conventional phrases. Their accent was too genuine and
-sincere. So I beg the privilege of calling to-day while your father,
-my valiant political enemy, is busy down town with the delegates to his
-convention which meets to-morrow. I anxiously await your answer._
-
-_Sincerely,_
-
-_John Graham_.
-
-“Unless I’ve mistaken her character, she’ll see me!” he mused as he
-sealed the note.
-
-He went at once to Mrs. Wilson’s, found Alfred, and gave him the
-missive.
-
-“Take that to the Judge’s and give it to Miss Stella.”
-
-Alfred stared.
-
-“Down to de ole place!”
-
-“Yes, of course.”
-
-Alfred sat down and laughed.
-
-“Well, fore de Lawd, doan dat beat ye!”
-
-“Shut up, and hurry back--I’ll wait for you at the office.”
-
-“Yassah, right away, sah!”
-
-“And Alfred, not a word to a living soul of this.”
-
-“No, sah, cose not Marse John--I know how tis ’my sef’--de course er
-true love ain’t run smooth wid me nuther.”
-
-“Quick, now, don’t you lose a minute.”
-
-John returned to his office to await with impatience the word that would
-mean the beginning of a new chapter in his life.
-
-Alfred placed the note carefully under his hat and hastened to the
-Judge’s, laughing and chuckling to himself.
-
-For reasons best known to himself he entered by the carriage way.
-
-At the wide double gate still stood the old lodge-keeper’s cottage,
-a relic of the slave regime. In the cottage Aunt Julie Ann lived with
-Uncle Isaac, her latest husband. Alfred had once been honoured with that
-relationship before the war, but Isaac had whipped him and taken Aunt
-Julie Ann by force of arms.
-
-Alfred was much the larger man of the two, tall, awkward and slow of
-movement, while Isaac was small and active as a cat. The agility of his
-movements had swept Aunt Julie Ann’s imagination by storm. The contrast
-to her own three hundred pounds had no doubt been the secret charm.
-
-She had loudly professed her love for Alfred until she saw Isaac thrash
-him, and without a word she surrendered to the new lord and refused to
-recognise her former husband.
-
-This happened two years before the war and Alfred had watched and waited
-the day of his revenge to dawn. Many a night he had prowled around her
-cottage spying and listening at the keyhole for her cry of help. He had
-heard at last that Isaac was beating her unmercifully and he chuckled
-with grim satisfaction. Every opportunity he got he hung around the
-cottage and listened for the long expected cry. As he approached the
-gates this morning in a peculiarly romantic frame of mind, remembering
-the mission he was on, he heard Uncle Isaac’s voice in sharp accents
-within, hectoring it over his former spouse.
-
-He crept to the door and listened breathlessly.
-
-“Dar now, I’se jes’ in time ter sabe my lady love!”
-
-He peeped cautiously through the keyhole and saw Aunt Julie Ann’s huge
-form busy at the ironing board, while Isaac sat majestically in a rocker
-delivering to her an eloquent discourse on Sanctification in general
-and his own sinless perfection in particular. Isaac had changed his name
-several times after the war, following the example of many Negroes who
-were afraid the use of their old master’s name might some day serve as
-the badge of slavery. He had lately become a Northern Methodist
-exhorter of great fame and went from church to church holding revivals,
-particularly among the sisters of the church, calling them to the life
-of stainless purity of those who had not merely “salvation,” as the
-ordinary Methodist or Baptist understood it, but “sanctification” as
-only those of the inner circle of the Lord knew it.
-
-Isaac had long ago been “sanctified,” and had declared not only his
-sinless nature but had boldy proclaimed himself a prophet of the new
-dispensation and had finally fixed his name as “Isaac the Apostle,”
- which had been simplified by busy clerks in written form to Isaac A.
-Postle.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann had heard of his wonderful success in his sanctification
-meetings with misgivings, as the large majority of his converts were
-invariably among the sisters. She had finally dared to question the
-authenticity of his apostolic call. Her scepticism had aroused Isaac to
-a frenzy of religious enthusiasm. That the wife of his bosom should be
-the only voice to question his divine mission was proof positive that
-she had in some mysterious way become possessed of the devil--perhaps
-seven devils.
-
-He determined to cast them out--by moral suasion if possible--if not,
-by the main strength of his good right arm. He must set his own house
-in order lest the very source of his inspiration be poisoned by lack of
-faith. He was devoting this morning to the task when Alfred arrived.
-
-He had just finished a long and fervid explanation of the mystery of
-Sanctification.
-
-“Fur de las’ time I axes ye, ’oman, what sez ye ter de word er de
-Lawd?”
-
-Aunt Julie Ann banged the board with the iron and merely grunted:
-
-“Huh!”
-
-Isaac rose and repeated his question with rising wrath:
-
-“What sez ye ter de word er de Lawd?”
-
-“I ain’ heared de Lawd say nuttin yit!”
-
-“An’ why ain’t ye?”
-
-“Case you keep so much fuss I can’t hear nuttin’, Isaac Graham!”
-
-“Doan you call me dat name, you brazen sinner dat sets in de seat er de
-scornful! Is ye ready ter repent an’ sin no mo?”
-
-Isaac approached her threateningly and Alfred, watching with bulging
-eyes, clutched the stick he had picked up.
-
-“Tech me if ye dare--I bus’ yo head open wid dis flat-iron!”
-
-Isaac knew his duty now and determined to perform it without further
-ceremony. The anointed of the Lord had been threatened by the ungodly.
-He drew a seasoned hickory withe from a crack where he had hidden it and
-approached his sceptical spouse.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann began to whimper.
-
-“Put down dat flat-iron!” he sternly commanded.
-
-Alfred peering through the keyhole gasped in amazement as he saw her
-drop the iron heavily on the floor.
-
-Isaac raised his switch and began to whip her. Around and around she
-flew screaming, begging, pleading for mercy. But Isaac continued to lay
-on steadily.
-
-Alfred tried to rise and rush to the rescue but somehow he couldn’t
-move. To his own surprise the performance fascinated him. He sat peering
-with satisfaction.
-
-“Dat’s paying her back now fur leavin’ me fer dat low live rascal. Give
-it to her, old man! Give it to her! She sho’ deserves it!”
-
-At length Isaac paused, and eyed her steadily while he shook his switch
-with unction.
-
-“I axes ye now, does ye believe in de Sanctification er de Saints?”
-
-“Yes, Lawd, I sees it now!” she cried with fervour.
-
-“An’ thanks me fer showin’ ye de error er yo’ way?”
-
-“Yes, honey! I’m gwine ter seek dat Sanctification myself!”
-
-“Glory! We’se er comin’ on!”
-
-Aunt Julie Ann picked up the flat-iron. Isaac eyed her with suspicion
-but he was too much elated with his victory to notice anything unusual
-in her manner.
-
-“Ye b’lieves now in de Sanctification er de Lawd’s messenger Isaac A.
-Postle?”
-
-With a sudden flash of her eye Aunt Julie Ann hurled the flat-iron
-straight at the head of the Lord’s messenger saying:
-
-“No, I ain’t sed dat yit!”
-
-But Isaac was quick. He dodged in time. The corner of the flat-iron
-merely tipped his ear and smashed through the window.
-
-He grabbed his ear with sudden pain and gripped his switch with renewed
-zeal.
-
-“I see I’se des begun--one debble out, but dey’s six mo’ ter come!”
-
-Again he whipped her around the room, threw her down, held her hair and
-banged her head against the floor.
-
-“Fur de las’ time I axes ye, is de Lawd’s messenger, Isaac A. Postle, a
-sanctified one?”
-
-Bang! Bang! Bang! went her head against the planks.
-
-“Yes honey, I sees it now!” she cried with enthusiasm.
-
-“Dat’s de way!”
-
-“Does ye lub me fur showin’ ye de light?”
-
-Bang! Bang! went her head.
-
-“Yes, Lawd, I lub ye.”
-
-“Say it strong.”
-
-Bang! Bang! went her head.
-
-“I lubs ye, my honey, yes I do!” shouted Aunt Julie Ann.
-
-“An’ I’se de only man dat ye ebber lub?”
-
-A moment’s pause, and again bang! bang! went her head.
-
-Alfred couldn’t wait for the answer; he gripped his stick, sprang
-through the door, knocked the Apostle flat on his back, and jumped on
-him.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann was more astonished than Isaac at her sudden deliverance.
-
-She scrambled to her feet and gazed for a moment in amazement at Alfred
-as he pummelled Isaac’s head against the floor with one hand and pounded
-him with the other.
-
-At every thump of his head Isaac yelled:
-
-“God sabe me! de debble done got me! Help, Lawd, help! Save me
-Lawd--save me now!” Alfred pounded steadily away.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann, when she caught her breath, grasped Alfred’s arm and
-yelled:
-
-“What yer doin’ here, nigger!”
-
-He wrenched his arm loose from her grasp and hit Isaac a smashing blow
-in the mouth as he cried again for help.
-
-“Git often my ole man. I tell ye!” screamed Aunt Julie Ann, gripping
-Alfred by the throat.
-
-“Name er God, ’oman, what yer doin’ when I comes here ter save ye!” cried
-Alfred, wrenching himself from her grip and returning to his work on
-Isaac.
-
-“Git often ’im, I tell ye, fo’ I bus’ yer open!” she panted, towering
-above the writhing pair. She began to pound Alfred over the head with
-her fists, but he worked steadily away on Isaac without noticing the
-interruptions.
-
-Suddenly Aunt Julie Ann threw both arms around his neck, bent his
-lank figure double across Isaac’s prostrate form, and hurled her three
-hundred pounds squarely across the two writhing men. There was dead
-silence for a moment and then Isaac groaned:
-
-“God save me now! we’se bof gone! De house done fall on us!”
-
-“Na! honey, it’s me!” cried Aunt Julie Ann, “an’ I got ’im in de gills!”
-
-She rolled over and pulled Alfred with her--both hands gripped to his
-throat.
-
-In a moment Isaac was on his feet.
-
-“De Lawd hear my cry!” he exclaimed with unction, pouncing on Alfred
-and pounding him unmercifully while his faithful spouse held him fast.
-Alfred found his voice at last, and began to yell murder.
-
-Steve Hoyle, who was pacing the walk in front of the Judge’s anxiously
-waiting an answer to a pleading letter he had sent to Stella asking for
-an interview, heard the cries and rushed to Alfred’s rescue.
-
-He pulled Isaac and Aunt Julie Ann off in time to save his hat and
-portions of his clothes.
-
-As he entered the cottage, he had seen instantly the note in John
-Graham’s handwriting which Alfred had dropped on the floor. He picked it
-up hastily and put it in his pocket.
-
-When Alfred got out the door, he did not stand on the order of his
-going. He struck a bee line for John Graham’s office and ran every step
-of the way without looking back.
-
-John was pacing the floor, his heart beating out the interminable
-minutes.
-
-Alfred burst into the room, his nose bleeding, a gash across his
-forehead, his clothes torn and spotted with the blood from his nose. He
-was still wild with the fear of death which had clutched his soul as the
-light of day faded under Aunt Julie Ann’s awful grip on his throat.
-
-He dropped, panting and speechless, on the floor. “For God’s sake,
-Alfred, what’s happened!” John cried, seizing a glass of water and
-pressing it to his lips.
-
-“Dey kill me, Marse John!”
-
-“Who did it?--what for?”
-
-“De folks at de Judge’s.”
-
-“Where’s my note?”
-
-“Dunno sah!”
-
-“Didn’t you deliver it?”
-
-“Dunno sah!”
-
-“Did you go to the house?”
-
-“Dunno sah!”
-
-“Where did this happen?”
-
-“At de gate, sah, dey wuz layin’ fer me--De Judge mus’ er tole ’em ter
-kill me.”
-
-“Who did it?”
-
-“Ole Isaac and Julie Ann jump on me fust, but tow’d de last dey wuz er
-dozen. Six un ’em wuz er beatin’ me on de head at de same time, three er
-four wuz er settin’ on top er me, two had me by the throat an’ de res’
-un ’em wuz er steady kickin’ me in de stummick. Dey’d er had me sho’ by
-dis time ef I hadn’t kotch my breaf an’ holler’d.”
-
-“And who helped you?”
-
-“Mr. Steve Hoyle wuz dar ter see Miss Stella an’ he run in an’ pulled
-’em off. When I lit out for home I wuz er sight sho nuff. I hear Miss
-Stella come up ter Mr. Steve an’ bust out laffin’ fit ter kill herself.”
-
-“And you don’t know what became of the note?”
-
-“Yassah! cose sah! dey tuck hit away fum me and tore it up--dat’s what
-I fit ’em ’bout--yassah!” John’s face was white with rage. He sent Alfred
-home, sat down at his desk, and drew out the papers he had laid aside.
-The Judge had won. He had covered him with infamy in the eyes of his
-beautiful daughter and had dared to perpetrate this infamous outrage. He
-couldn’t understand Aunt Julie Ann’s part in the row, but the evidence
-of Alfred’s plight could not be mistaken.
-
-For three hours with stern set face he worked completing the case
-of Graham vs. Butler. At four o’clock he had entered the suit and an
-officer served the papers on the astonished Judge.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI--SCALAWAG AND CARPETBAGGER
-
-
-JOHN GRAHAM, as leader of the opposition, as well as for personal
-reasons, was early on the grounds with half a dozen trusted lieutenants
-to watch the action of the Republican County Convention. He was curious
-to observe the effects of his suit on the Judge and his followers.
-He soon discovered that the scathing recital of fraud which he had
-incorporated into the form of his complaint as published in the
-morning’s paper was a mistake. It had been accepted by the mottled crew
-of nondescript politicians and Negroes as proof positive of his own
-depravity and the Judge’s spotless purity.
-
-The Convention was seated in the open air on improvised boards. The
-Judge was peculiarly sensitive to the atmosphere of a crowd of Negroes.
-He had to associate with them to get their votes, but like all poor
-white men of Southern birth, he hated them without measure.
-
-This Convention of his home county was the most important crisis in the
-development of his ambitions as the leader of his party in the South.
-
-He was a candidate for the United States Senate. Delegates were to be
-elected to-day to the state convention. Unless he could go with a united
-front from his home county he was doomed.
-
-His opponent, Alexander Larkin, was the boldest, most unscrupulous, and
-powerful Carpetbag adventurer who had ever entered the South from the
-slums of the North.
-
-Larkin had made himself the Chairman of the Republican State Executive
-Committee, and was running neck and neck with the Judge for the Senate.
-He had determined to break his opponent’s backbone by capturing the
-whole, or at least a part of the delegates from Butler’s home county.
-The audacity of this movement had fairly taken the Judge’s breath. He
-halted Suggs in his thrilling pursuit of Ku Klux evidence and sent him
-North on an important mission. He meant to be fully prepared for any
-trick Larkin might spring. Suggs was bustling about among the delegates
-conscious that he was the trusted lieutenant of the coming man.
-
-The Carpetbagger had so timed his anonymous letter to John Graham that
-the shadow of disgrace thus thrown over Butler’s name would give him the
-balance of power. He could not foresee the chain of trivial events which
-would produce the terrific document John Graham had filed. Every word of
-its passionate arraignment had the sting of a scorpion, and its effects
-had been electrical. By instinct the crowd had accepted John’s suit as a
-blow at the cause and Butler had become their champion.
-
-As the Judge approached the crowd accompanied by Stella and Steve Hoyle,
-John saw with sinking heart that the first effect of his suit had been
-to bring Steve and Stella closer together and to dig an impassable gulf
-between him and the girl he had begun unconsciously to worship. She
-had evidently laid aside her hatred of politics and become her father’s
-champion. And he knew that Steve Hoyle had lost no time in this crisis
-in poisoning her mind forever against him. In fact Steve had spent the
-morning by her side developing the bitter sentences in his complaint
-into revelations of hereditary insanity and envenomed malice.
-
-The girl had, however, taken his statements with reservations. She would
-stand by her father before the world and she would publicly insult John
-Graham if he ever dared give her the opportunity, but deep down in
-her heart she half suspected the truth. The memory of the bitter feud
-between her mother and father over some secret connected with this
-estate and her father’s shuffling evasions, returned to her now with
-startling import.
-
-Her mother was of the old regime of the South, an aristocrat of
-aristocrats to her finger tips. Her people had blotted her very name
-from their memory for her marriage to Butler. She had fiercely resented
-to the day of her death this ostracism. The fear that her husband was
-a scoundrel, which slowly grew into a certainty in later years, at last
-broke her proud spirit. She gave up the struggle and died.
-
-There were moments in which Stella felt this inherited repugnance to her
-father when the proud spirit of her mother’s blood ruled in her soul.
-There were other moments when she felt the necessity of tricks and lies
-to make life agreeable and accepted her father as of the inevitable
-order of human existence.
-
-This morning she was her father’s daughter. Whether he was guilty
-or innocent she would show John Graham and his proud Bourbon set her
-contempt for them and their opinions.
-
-As the three reached the edge of the crowd she was smiling graciously on
-Steve in answer to a sally of his cheap wit. She fixed John with a look
-of contempt and his soul grew sick with the consciousness that he had
-paid too great a price for his suit against the Judge. In her anger she
-was superb. The very air about her seemed charged with the intensity
-of her personality. She radiated it in every direction. It was the
-consciousness of this intensity of nature which drew John to her with
-resistless power. No other type of woman could interest him, and Stella
-was endowed with this subtle magnetism as no human being he had ever
-met. It spoke in every movement of her body, in every accent of her
-voice.
-
-As she passed and turned her back on him, the sense of a hopeless and
-irreparable loss crushed his spirit. The words of the preacher rang in
-his soul, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and
-forfeit his life.”
-
-“What are houses and lands after all, before the elemental forces
-which make life worth while,” he muttered. “I’ve an almost irresistible
-impulse to knock Steve Hoyle down, seize her in my arms, smother her
-with kisses and carry her off to some cave on a mountain! To the devil
-with goods and chattels, houses and lands.”
-
-With a start he came down from the clouds of fancy. She had dismissed
-Steve, taken the Judge’s arm, and was actually going to walk down the
-aisle through that mob of Negroes and greasy politicians and accompany
-him to the platform.
-
-When they reached the centre of the crowd, seated in semicircle about
-the covered speaker’s stand, pandemonium broke loose. The Judge received
-the most remarkable ovation of his life.
-
-The throng leaped to their feet and screamed themselves horse.
-
-“Keep your house Judge!” yelled a henchman.
-
-“Houses were built for patriots, and jails for traitors!”
-
-The Judge bowed and again the crowd yelled.
-
-Larkin from the platform watched the demonstration with amazement.
-
-“I’ve miscalculated. They’re all thieves and scoundrels. I’ve made him a
-hero.”
-
-With a hypocritical smile he seized the Judge’s hand, wrung it heartily,
-congratulated him, and drew him to the platform. Stella sprang lightly
-up after him, took a rosebud from her belt, pinned it on her father’s
-slouchy ill-fitting broadcloth coat, kissed him and amid the cheers of
-the mob retraced her steps and left the ground with Steve Hoyle.
-
-John watched her lift her parasol above her dainty head with smothered
-curses at his folly. He had unconsciously taken his own hat off and
-stood bareheaded in the broiling Southern sun of a June day. The
-bitterness of his mistake stirred him to more dogged persistence. With
-an effort he turned to the Judge and the Convention--trying in vain
-to shake off the impression Stella had left. But he found his mind
-constantly wandering from the scene. Wherever he looked, within or
-without, he saw the delicate oval face with those great brown eyes
-smiling as they did the night he met her in the hall of his old home.
-
-At length he awoke from his reverie with his eye resting unconsciously
-on Larkin, the Judge’s opponent. He had never seen him before, though
-his name had become known in every county of the state.
-
-He was a man of more than the average height, of powerful build, high
-intellectual forehead, a full beard, long, silken, snow white. His hair,
-also long and white, was inclined to curl at the ends, and a pair of
-piercing black eyes looked out fearlessly from shaggy brows. He carried
-himself with instinctive dignity, and his whole appearance proclaimed a
-bold and powerful leader of men.
-
-Rumour said that he had been a Wesleyan preacher in England but had been
-expelled in some factional fight and had sought his fortunes in America.
-Darker rumour whispered that he had a criminal record and that he had
-never even attained citizenship in the country of his adoption. Such
-rumours, however, counted for nothing in the tainted atmosphere of the
-riot and revolution of the Reconstruction period. From the sewers of the
-North, jail birds and ex-convicts had poured into the stricken South as
-vultures follow the wake of a victorious army.
-
-In two years Larkin had proven himself a party leader of remarkable
-executive ability and on the hustings had shown himself an orator of
-undoubted eloquence. He was fast becoming the idol of the more daring
-and radical wing of his party. He boldly proclaimed and practiced Negro
-equality and held up to public scorn any man who dared to quibble on the
-issue.
-
-So bold and radical were his utterances the Negroes were a little afraid
-of him. Yet he was steadily gaining in his influence over them. He
-knew that they constituted nine-tenths of the voting strength of the
-Republican party in the South, and that ultimately the man who pandered
-most skilfully to their passions must become master of the situation.
-
-He had laid siege to Uncle Isaac immediately on his arrival and had
-played on his vanity so deftly that the Apostle of Sanctification had
-been completely fascinated by the Carpetbagger.
-
-The moment Larkin’s eye rested on Isaac seated in the crowd he saw in a
-flash the master stroke by which he could break the spell of the
-Judge’s influence over the delegates. He quickly threaded his way to
-the Apostle’s side and escorted him to the speakers’ stand with his arm
-around his waist. He lifted him to the platform, forced the Judge to
-rise and shake hands, and seated Isaac by Butler’s side. The Negroes
-burst into a frenzy of applause.
-
-So elated was Isaac by his newly found honours he began to interrupt the
-meeting by fervid religious exclamations to the intense disgust of the
-Judge who squirmed with increasing anger at each new outburst. When
-Isaac recognised any of his dusky acquaintances in the crowd he waved
-his hand and pointed his remarks in that direction.
-
-“Yas Lawd! De year er juberlee is come, an’ I’se right here!”
-
-A loud guffaw would invariably answer his sally.
-
-Larkin ostentatiously consulted Isaac from time to time as to the
-conduct of the convention and every Negro watched him spellbound.
-
-The Judge’s henchmen were dismayed at the impending stampede by the
-Carpetbagger. Butler had assured them the night before that they had
-nothing to fear from Larkin. But it was only too apparent that he
-had underestimated his opponent. Larkin’s commanding appearance, his
-magnetism and eloquence, the boldness and evident sincerity of his
-profession of Negro equality were steadily winning adherents.
-
-Personally the Judge cut a poor figure beside him with his slouchy
-ill-fitting clothes, his fawning shuffling walk, his drooping head,
-shifting eyes, and his vague professions of platitudes.
-
-Butler watched Larkin’s sudden growth of power with sullen rage. He had
-in reserve a weapon which he had found in the Carpetbagger’s English
-career, with which he could crush him at a single blow, but he had not
-expected to be forced to the extreme necessity of using it. For many
-reasons he wished to beat Larkin in an open fight. The weapon he could
-use was a dangerous one. He knew that Larkin had learned the facts
-concerning his confiscation of the Graham estate, and he was not sure
-how far his resentment would go in retaliation for an attack on his
-personal character. But he determined to put a stop to Isaac’s insolence
-which was rapidly becoming unendurable.
-
-The Judge leaned over toward the enthusiastic Apostle and with a frown
-said:
-
-“Shut your mouth and behave yourself!” Isaac subsided with a look of
-injured innocence directed in mute appeal toward Larkin.
-
-Again the Carpetbagger saw his opportunity. He approached Isaac, seized
-his hand, slipped his arm around his shoulder and whispered:
-
-“Brother, I’m going to make a motion to amend the Judge’s list of
-delegates by substituting six men of colour for six of the poor white
-men he has chosen. I’ll put your name first. Will you make a speech in
-favour of my motion?”
-
-“Dat I will!”
-
-“Then repeat that story of the vision you told me last night, and apply
-it to the Judge--will you do it?”
-
-“Make de movement, an’ I sho’ ye!” whispered Isaac.
-
-Larkin’s bold motion, a direct appeal to the Negro to use his power
-against the white man, took the Judge’s breath. He stared at his
-opponent in blank amazement while Larkin smiled at him with good-natured
-contempt.
-
-“And I have asked,” continued the Carpetbagger, “a distinguished leader
-of his race, Mr. Isaac A. Postle, a constituent and neighbour of Judge
-Butler, to address the Convention before the motion is opened to general
-debate. I am sure the Convention will give its unanimous consent to hear
-him.”
-
-The roar of applause which greeted this remark left no doubt as to their
-consent. Larkin seized Isaac and drew him before the speaker’s table
-with his arm again affectionately around him.
-
-Isaac was in a broad grin and evidently enjoyed his honours. He cleared
-his throat and glanced at the Judge. The Negroes burst into roars of
-laughter and the Apostle lifted his hand solemnly for silence.
-
-Butler scowled and shuffled uneasily while Larkin’s face was wreathed in
-smiles.
-
-“Gemmens an’ feller citizens!” Isaac began with great deliberation.
-“I’se called by de Lawd dis mawnin’ ter come up on high and expose de
-vision dat I seed in de dead er de night las’ week. I drempt a dream.
-I dream dat I die and go ter heaben. An’ as I wuz gwine long up de hill
-ter de pearly gates who should I meet comin’ down de hill but our good
-frien’ Judge Butler----”
-
-The Judge gave a sharp little angry cough, pulled his long black
-whiskers and crossed his legs quickly. Isaac glanced at him and walled
-his eyes at the dusky crowd who broke into another roar of laughter.
-
-“Yassah!” he went on, “I met Judge Butler comin’ down de hill lookin’
-pow’ful sad. An’ he say ter me:
-
-“‘Isaac, whar ye gwine?’
-
-“‘Gwine ter heben,’ sezzi.
-
-“‘Ye can’t git in!’ sezze.
-
-“‘Why so?’ sezzi.
-
-“‘Case ye got ter be er ridin’,’ sezze--‘I jes come down frum dar--an’
-hits des lak I tell ye!’
-
-“‘Is dat so?’ sezzi.
-
-“‘But I tell ye what we kin do, Isaac!’ sezze.
-
-“‘I’ll git on yo back an’ ride up to de gate, an’ we bof git in.”
-
-“Dat seem all right ter me fust off so I hump mysef an’ de Jedge git
-on my back, an’ I gallup up de hill ter de pearly gates, an’ de angel
-Gabul, he look over de fence an’ say:
-
-“‘Who’s dar?’
-
-“‘Hit’s me, Jedge Butler,’ sezze.
-
-“‘Ridin’ er walkin’?’ de angel say.
-
-“‘Er ridin’!’ sezze.
-
-“An’ I chuckled ter myse’f dat I’se er settin my feet in de gates er
-glory!
-
-“An’ den de angel say:
-
-“‘Des hitch yer hoss outside an’ come in!’
-
-“An’ bress God! ef de Jedge didn’t hitch me ter de pos’ on de outside
-an’ go in an’ leave me dar!”
-
-Again the crowd screamed with laughter. Wave after wave swept them while
-Isaac folded his hands across his little protruding stomach and laughed
-with them. In vain the chairman rapped for order.
-
-The Judge flushed red with anger and called Suggs to his side. Larkin
-bent low his face between his hands, convulsed with laughter.
-
-When at length the tumult wore itself out Isaac’s voice rang over the
-assembly in sharp vibrant triumphant tones:
-
-“An’ I moves yer, sah, dat we all unanimously second de motion er Brer
-Larkin!”
-
-Amid a shout of approval he sat down.
-
-The Carpetbagger, elated by his success, determined to make a bolder
-stroke, capture the entire delegation and put the Judge out of the race.
-
-He leaped to his feet and launched at once into an eloquent appeal for
-the equal rights of man, meaning, of course, the right of the Negro race
-to rule the white man of the South, the former slave to rule his master.
-Bold as a lion by instinct, he did not quibble over words. He told the
-Negro that his hour had come to strike for his right by force of arms
-if need be. He denounced the Ku Klux Klan in the bitterest terms. Every
-Negro followed his scathing words with breathless attention. For the
-moment he was the veritable prophet of the Most High God. Never before
-had they heard any man in public dare thus to arraign this dreaded order
-of white and scarlet horsemen. Here was their champion whose valiant
-soul knew not the fear of man, ghost, clansman or devil. He was
-transfigured before their yes into the white-haired prophet of the Lord,
-and they hung on his every word as inspired.
-
-In another moment he would have made his motion for a solid Negro
-delegation and stampeded the Convention had it not been for the single
-burst of eloquence with which he closed his speech. Just at the moment
-when he held every heart in the dusky host in the hollow of his hand, he
-thundered:
-
-“Against the white traitor of the South who has perpetrated these wrongs
-on your defenseless heads I hurl the everlasting curse of God! Only a
-race of dastards and cowards would thus sneak under the cover of night
-to strike their foes!”
-
-He had scarcely uttered the words when Billy Graham rushed from the
-outer circle of the crowd where he had sauntered with Mrs. Wilson,
-surrounded by a dozen fun-making youngsters, and ran toward the
-platform.
-
-“Wait a minute!” he said, with uplifted hand, his voice quivering with
-rage.
-
-Larkin’s arm dropped; he halted in amazement, every eye fixed on Billy.
-John Graham sprang to his feet with a muttered oath of surprise in time
-to see Billy square himself in front of the speaker and say:
-
-“If you think the Southern people a race of cowards and dastards come
-down off that platform and knock this chip off my shoulder, you old
-white-livered cur!”
-
-He placed a chip on his shoulder and strutted before Larkin. The
-Carpetbagger was too astonished to reply. He gazed at the boy in
-confusion and muttered an inarticulate protest.
-
-Billy jumped on the platform and walked around him like a game bantam,
-crying:
-
-“Knock it off--d------ you! knock it off! If you want to test it! A
-dozen of my friends are out there, yours all around you, a hundred to
-one, but knock it off! knock it off!”
-
-John Graham had reached the platform by this time, seized Billy and led
-him back through the crowd to Mrs. Wilson who was in hysterics, the boys
-vainly trying to quiet her.
-
-“What the devil’s the matter with you--have you gone crazy?” John
-whispered, shaking Billy fiercely. “Go home and behave yourself!”
-
-“Attend to your own business, John Graham; I’m attending to mine!” was
-Billy’s sullen answer. And without another word he led Mrs. Wilson away
-followed by his companions, while John gazed after him with increasing
-astonishment.
-
-In the confusion which followed Billy’s sudden challenge the Judge
-saw his chance. He sprang to his feet and moved to adjourn for dinner.
-Before Larkin could recover himself the motion was carried and the
-Convention adjourned.
-
-Butler turned to the Carpetbagger and said:
-
-“I wish to see you in my hotel immediately on a matter of the gravest
-importance.”
-
-“I haven’t time, Judge,” Larkin carelessly answered.
-
-“I’m in no mood to be trifled with,” answered the Judge.
-
-“It’s a waste of time, your Honour--you’re a back number. Why should I
-talk with you?”
-
-“There’s one reason big enough to interest you,” the Judge answered with
-sinister suggestion.
-
-Larkin fixed his opponent a moment with his piercing eyes and said with
-contempt:
-
-“I’ll join you in a moment.”
-
-The Judge beckoned to Suggs who had hovered near, and the detective
-handed him a package of documents from his inside pocket. The movement
-was not lost on Larkin who was watching his enemy with uneasiness.
-
-Suggs accompanied the Judge to his room at the hotel and awaited his
-call outside the door. Larkin looked at him with a scowl as he entered.
-
-The Judge adjusted his slouchy coat, shuffled his feet, and stroked his
-beard with deliberation as Larkin seated himself.
-
-“I’m going to ask you, Larkin,” he began, “to write out your resignation
-as Chairman of our State Executive Committee and withdraw from this
-race.”
-
-The Carpetbagger laughed aloud.
-
-“Well, you are an ass, you fawning, timeserving Scalawag--what do you
-take me for?”
-
-“For the criminal adventurer you are!” thundered the Judge.
-
-“I’ll not bandy words with you, Butler. I’ve got you now, just where I
-want you. Five minutes more of that Convention and you’ll be a memory as
-a politician. You never had a principle in your life. A professed leader
-of the Republican party in the South composed of Negroes, you loathe the
-very sight of a Negro. You profess to be a Southerner, yet your ear is
-always to the ground to hear the slightest whisper from the lowest breed
-of Yankee demagogues in the North. You lie to the Negro, you lie to
-the Southern white man, you lie to the Yankee. You’re a pusillanimous,
-office-seeking turncoat beneath the contempt of a man. Why did you send
-for me?”
-
-“To tell you that it’s time for you to move on, sir!” cried Butler with
-spluttering rage. “You Carpetbag vultures have winged your way into the
-South to tear from the loyal men of native birth the rewards of their
-long patriotic services. Go back to the slums and prison pens of the
-North where you belong!”
-
-“What do you mean?” Larkin broke in with sudden energy.
-
-“That you are a criminal adventurer, sir; that’s what I mean!”
-
-Larkin laughed again.
-
-“Is that all?”
-
-“And I have in my pocket the documents to prove that you have never
-acquired citizenship in the State of New York!”
-
-“True, but irrelevant. I am a citizen now of this state under the
-Reconstruction Acts, and I’m going to represent the old commonwealth in
-the next Senate while you sink once more into the obscurity your feeble
-intelligence has prepared for you. Is this all you have to say?”
-
-“No, sir, it’s not!” whispered the Judge hoarsely with triumphant
-malice. “I have a letter in my pocket from the warden of the prison in
-England where you served your time, enclosing your photograph.”
-
-With a sudden cry of anguish Larkin leaped the distance separating them,
-gripped Butler by the throat, hurled him back in his seat, and held
-him strangling, spluttering, squirming in mortal terror. In a moment he
-released him, sank to a chair and buried his face in his hands.
-
-“So! I am your master after all,” the Judge sneered, recovering from his
-terror.
-
-Larkin lifted his lion-like head a moment and looked at his opponent.
-
-“Yes, I give up. I’ll withdraw from the race if you’ll keep my secret.”
-
-“I’ll make no conditions with you sir; I mean to brand you a felon
-throughout the length and breadth of this land!”
-
-“Not if you’ve an ounce of manhood in you,” said the Carpetbagger with
-quiet dignity. “You can’t do it when I tell you the truth. Fifteen years
-ago I was an honoured minister of the gospel in Australia. An enemy of
-mine in England published against me an infamous slander. I returned
-to ask reparation. He not only refused to give it but insulted me by
-a dastardly blow in a public assembly. In a moment of insane rage I
-returned his blow with one which resulted in his death. Four months
-later I found myself, a man of culture, refinement and the highest
-order of social talents, a convict in prison garb serving a sentence for
-manslaughter. I emerged more dead than alive--it was late in life, but
-I lifted up my head, sought a new world and began all over again.
-Once more I’ve shown my power as a leader of men. It was born in me--a
-God-given birthright. My hair is white now with the frost of the grave;
-I’m alone and friendless. Put yourself in my place. It’s my last chance.
-You are twenty years younger. I ask your pity, your sympathy, your
-friendship. Come, Judge, you too are a soldier of fortune in conquered
-territory and have your own secrets. Fight me fair.”
-
-“I’ll fight you with every weapon in my power, fair or foul. You’re in
-my way; get out of it,” sneered the Judge.
-
-“You contemptible cur!” cried Larkin. “I could strangle you!”
-
-“No doubt,” sneered Butler. “If you dared!”
-
-“Take care, you cowardly dog!” leaped the threat from the lips of the
-Carpetbagger, with a sudden flash of incontrollable rage; and again his
-massive figure towered over the Judge’s slouching form. Butler’s
-shifting eyes blinked in terror as he spluttered:
-
-“I’ll keep your secret on one condition!”
-
-“What is it?” snapped Larkin.
-
-“You’re a man of genius. Use your talents for me, and we’ll be friends.”
-
-“You have told no one the facts you have discovered?”
-
-“No. Suggs knows only of the investigation as to your citizenship.”
-
-“I accept your terms,” was the quiet answer. The Convention ended in
-unexpected harmony, electing a solid Butler delegation. Larkin lingered
-in town for several days and, to the surprise and uneasiness of the
-Judge, stopped with Uncle Isaac in the little cottage by his gate.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII--THE REIGN OF FOLLY
-
-WITHIN two weeks Steve Hoyle’s new Klan was organised and in absolute
-control of the Piedmont Congressional District.
-
-John Graham saw that his defeat was a certainty and gave up the
-political fight in disgust. But he determined to prevent at all hazards
-the degradation of the Klan into an engine of personal vengeance
-and criminal folly. There was but one way to do it. He dreaded the
-undertaking, yet there was no help for it. He must again fight the devil
-with fire. The reign of terror inaugurated by the Black Union League had
-made necessary the Ku Klux Klan. There must be a power to hold in check
-Steve’s irresponsible gang.
-
-He immediately organised in each county a vigilance committee composed
-of the bravest and most reliable members of the old Klan who had refused
-to follow Steve. Over these men he sought to exercise only a moral
-influence as their former Commander-in-chief, save in his own county
-where his word was accepted as law by the surviving veterans of the
-regiment he had commanded in the Civil War.
-
-These men he instructed to watch the movements of Steve’s followers,
-learn in advance of their intended raids, break them up by moral suasion
-if possible; by force as a last resort.
-
-He had found the task a tremendous one. For the first time he realised
-the terrible meaning of the lawless power of the Klan. The secrecy of
-their movements under his own leadership had been perfect. Yet with his
-knowledge of their methods he had believed it would be comparatively.
-easy to defeat their plans. He found it next to impossible. In spite
-of the utmost vigilance on the part of his committees, the new Klan had
-inaugurated a reign of folly and terror unprecedented in the history of
-the whole Reconstruction saturnalia.
-
-They whipped scalawag politicians night after night and drove them from
-the county. They called on carpetbagger postmasters who immediately left
-for parts unknown. They whipped Negroes, young and old, for all sorts of
-wrongdoing, real or fancied, and finally began to regulate the general
-morals of the community. They whipped a rowdy for abusing his wife and
-on the same night tarred and feathered a white girl of low origin who
-lived in the outskirts of town and ran her from the county.
-
-The morning after this outrage occurred, John Graham walked into Steve’s
-law office, brushed by his clerks and boldly entered the inner room
-where his enemy was at work.
-
-Steve sprang to his feet and his hand instinctively sought the revolver
-in his hip pocket.
-
-“You needn’t be alarmed; I’m not ready for you yet,” said John, his eyes
-holding Steve’s with their steady light.
-
-“Well, I’m ready for you,” was the quick retort. “What do you want?”
-
-“Merely to give you a little advice this morning.”
-
-“When I need your advice, I’ll let you know.”
-
-John closed the door.
-
-“Your men are covering the name of the Ku Klux Klan with infamy,” John
-went on evenly. “If you have even the rudiments of common sense you must
-know that within a few weeks these fools will be beyond your control.”
-
-“I haven’t felt the need of your help as yet,” interrupted Steve.
-
-“No, but I’m generous. I volunteer to anticipate the needs of your weak
-intelligence.”
-
-“John Graham,” Steve broke in angrily, “if you have anything to say to
-me, say it, and get out of this room!”
-
-“I will say it, my boy, and--don’t--you--forget it!” John answered with
-quiet emphasis, taking a step closer to his rival. “I’m close on the
-track of the men who are at present terrorising this county. I’ll come
-up with them some night and there’ll be business for the coroner next
-day. Dare to permit another outrage of a personal character in this
-county and I’ll find your men if I drag the bottom of hell for them,
-and when I do, I’ll hang them to a tree in front of your door. And--mark
-you--if I fail to find them I’ll--hold--you--personally--responsible!”
-
-Before Steve could reply he turned on his heel, slammed the door and
-left.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII--THE MASQUERADERS
-
-IMMEDIATELY following the interview with Steve the character of the
-raids of the new Klan changed to harmless pranks and practical jokes on
-impudent Negroes, scalawags and carpetbaggers, and John Graham observed
-it with a sigh of relief. Some of these escapades he could have enjoyed
-himself--particularly a call they made on the Apostle of Sanctification.
-
-Uncle Isaac had greatly increased his prestige and following since
-the sensational speech he made in the County Convention and his public
-association with Larkin.
-
-Following up his victory over the seven devils in Aunt Julie Ann, he
-had begun a series of revival meetings in the Northern Methodist church,
-calling its members to come up still higher. With each night his fervour
-and eloquence had increased. On this particular evening he attained
-unheard-of heights of inspiration, and announced not only his sinless
-perfection and his apostolic call, but the more startling fact that he
-was in daily personal communication with Jehovah himself. Amid a chorus
-of “Amens” and “Glory hallelujahs” from the sisters he boldly declared:
-
-“Hear de Lawd’s messenger! I come straight from him. De Lawd come every
-day ter my house. I sees him wid my own eyes. De debbil he doan pester
-me no mo. I’se de Lawd’s sanctified one. I done wipe my weepin’ eyes an’
-gone up on high. Will ye come wid me breddren an’ sisters! I walk in de
-cool er de mawnin an’ de shank er de even’ wid de Lawd and de Lawd walks
-wid me. An’ I ain’t er skeered er nuttin in heaben above er hell below.”
-
-He had scarcely uttered the words when a white-robed ghost, fully ten
-feet high, walked solemnly down the aisle. There was a moment of awful
-silence. Isaac’s jaw dropped in speechless terror. A sister in the amen
-corner screamed, and the Apostle sprang through the window behind the
-pulpit without a word, carrying the sash with him. In a minute the
-church was empty and the revival of Sanctification came to an untimely
-end.
-
-It soon became the fashion for these merry masqueraders to call in
-groups on the pretty girls in town with the offer of their knightly
-protection. Frequently they spent the evening dancing and making merry,
-always in full disguise, guarding with the utmost care their identity.
-The mystery attending such visits, their secret signs and passwords,
-and the thrilling call of their whistles gave to these performances a
-peculiar atmosphere of romance and daring, and their visits came to be
-prized by the fair ones as tributes to their beauty and popularity.
-
-A sign of invitation was devised by order of the leader of the raiders
-and posted one night on the bulletin board of the post office. The girl
-who wished the honour of such a call had only to express it by walking
-through the main street to the post office with a scarlet bow of ribbon
-tied on her left arm, and on the night following, promptly at ten
-o’clock, the knights on their white-robed horses would call.
-
-Stella Butler had immediately become the most popular girl in
-Independence in spite of her father’s politics. Her beauty was
-resistless. Every boy on whom she chose to smile was at once her friend
-and champion. The old Graham house became the most popular meeting place
-of the youth and beauty of the town, and the only men not welcome there
-were its real owner and his pugnacious younger brother.
-
-Stella was fairly intoxicated with her social victory. Steve led in the
-devoted circle of her admirers, each day pressing his suit with humble
-and dogged persistence. She smiled in triumph at his abject surrender
-but continued to keep him at arm’s length, showering her favours on all
-who were worth while.
-
-She determined to crown her social leadership with a unique fancy dress
-ball by inviting the Klan masqueraders to dance with a select group of
-her girl friends at her home. The Klan itself was too deep a mystery for
-her to note the difference in the character of the raids since the night
-its gallant horsemen had cheered at her father’s gate. She only knew
-in a general way that the Klan was born in the unconquered and
-unconquerable spirit of the old Bourbon South, the South of her mother,
-the only South worth cultivating socially.
-
-So when the Judge’s beautiful daughter, radiant and smiling, walked down
-the main street of Independence with the scarlet sign of the Klan on her
-left arm, she paralysed the business of the town. Every clerk stopped
-work and took his stand at the door or window until she was out of
-sight.
-
-Her name was on every lip. If the raiders should accept her invitation,
-and appear at the old Graham mansion the evening following, the Judge
-would be in the anomalous position of a host who seeks the life of his
-guests. For the destruction of the Klan by exile, imprisonment and
-death had become the main plank in his political platform under Larkin’s
-guidance.
-
-Before Stella reached home the town was in a ferment of excitement to
-know whether the Judge had given his consent to this daring act. The
-older heads were sure that it was a child’s thoughtless whim and that
-Butler would promptly and vigorously repudiate it.
-
-John stood in the shadow by the window of his office and watched her
-pass in anguish. He saw in this invitation the complete triumph of the
-man he was coming to hate with deeper loathing than he had ever felt for
-her father. He was sure it was an inspiration of Steve Hoyle.
-
-He observed old Larkin talking earnestly to Isaac on the other side
-of the street, and began to regret that the regiment of United States
-troops had been removed on the Carpetbagger’s advice.
-
-Were they here, he would suggest to the Judge that they be stationed
-about his home to-morrow night and those masked fools be kept out. He
-resented such a masquerade, not only because it was a travesty of the
-tragic drama in which he had played a part, but because he felt a deep
-sense of foreboding over the possible outcome of the affair. However
-harmless the intentions of the leaders of such a prank, there was always
-the chance of a drunken fool among them.
-
-“My God,” he exclaimed with a shiver of dread, “what will happen if
-the Judge in an ugly stupid temper encounters one of those masked fools
-maddened by drink!”
-
-He sat down and hastily wrote a note of warning to Butler without a
-signature, tore it up in anger and threw it in his waste basket.
-
-“Bah! it’s nonsense!” he muttered in rage. “Her father is in no danger.
-The trouble is with me--I’m jealous, jealous, jealous! of the men who
-can see her. I want to dance with her myself. I’m mad with a passion I
-dare not breathe aloud.”
-
-Yet the longer he brooded over the thing, the keener became his sense of
-its dangers and the more oppressive the fear that it would result in a
-tragedy.
-
-He sat down and rewrote his warning to the Judge, crossed the street and
-dropped the letter in the post office.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX--A COUNTER STROKE
-
-WHEN John returned to’ his desk he found Dan Wiley standing in the
-middle of the room pulling his long black moustache with unusual energy.
-
-The young lawyer seated himself and motioned the mountaineer to a chair.
-
-“No time ter fool.”
-
-“Steve’s gang from up in the hills in my township is on the way ter
-Independence. They’re goin’ ter raid old Sam Nickaroshinski, the Jew
-storekeeper, and rob ’im ter-night.”
-
-“Nonsense, Dan, they haven’t got that low.”
-
-“Hit’s jest like I tell ye. They’re a gang of flightin’ drunken devils.
-They’ll do anything. I got a man to join ’em, an’ he gimme the
-whole plot. Steve Hoyle don’t know nothin’ about it no more than their
-township leader does.”
-
-“Did you bring your men?” John asked. “Yes, a half dozen. They ain’t but
-six er.”
-
-“What’s up?”
-
-“Hell’s afloat and the river’s a risin!”
-
-“Well?”
-
-“Them skunks comin’. Our fellers are lyin’ out in the woods at the
-spring where we met you the last time.”
-
-John leaped to his feet with a sudden resolution.
-
-“I’ll join you at eight o’clock to-night and we’ll give the gentlemen
-from the hills an unexpected reception.” He seized his hat and closed
-his office. As Dan turned to go he gave the low quick order:
-
-“Gags and ropes for six. Lay low and don’t let anybody know you’re in
-town.”
-
-“I understand,” said the mountaineer, with a grin.
-
-“John hurried home, and found to his annoyance that Mrs. Wilson had gone
-buggy riding with Billy and left the entire work of the house to Susie.
-
-“I hate to put more responsibility on your beautiful young shoulders,
-Miss Susie,” John said hurriedly, “but I must beg you to stop your work
-and make me a regalia for a little parade to-night--you understand--will
-you do it?”
-
-“With pleasure,” was the smiling answer. “I’ll forgive Mama her idiotic
-trip with Billy for this chance to serve you.” She looked tenderly into
-John’s eyes.
-
-Before sundown the costume was finished and fitted to the tall figure by
-Susie’s swift and gentle hands and the last scrap of the cloth gathered
-up and piled in her work-basket before the first boarder arrived. Supper
-was an hour late, but Susie was singing at her work when Mrs. Wilson and
-Billy returned after dark.
-
-Nickaroshinski’s cottage was situated on the edge of a deep forest two
-miles out of town. It was a well-known fact that the old Jew walked to
-and from his store every morning and evening alone. And it was popularly
-believed that he hoarded his money under the floor of his bedroom.
-
-Had any other man than Dan Wiley reported to John Graham such a
-projected raid, it would have been beyond his belief. The old Jew was
-on good terms with everybody. A refugee from Poland, his instinctive
-sympathies had always been with the oppressed people of the South, and
-to their cause he had faithfully given what influence he possessed.
-
-The idea of such an atrocity by men wearing the uniform of his Klan
-roused John to the highest pitch of indignation. He was determined to
-make an example of these scoundrels that would not be forgotten.
-
-The stars were shining brightly when he started with his men to the old
-Jew’s place.
-
-It was with a queer consciousness of the irony of fate that he galloped
-through the shadows to strike horsemen who were wearing the uniform of
-the mysterious order he had helped to create. The wind freshened and
-grew chill, heavy clouds obscuring the sky. The darkness became intense.
-
-He carefully placed his men in positions to guard every approach to the
-house, and walked to the door to warn the Jew of his danger and arrange
-for the capture of the raiders.
-
-A sudden crash and groan within told him only too plainly that the
-scoundrels were already inside.
-
-Gathering his men John closed in on the house. As he expected they had
-put out no pickets, never dreaming that they would be molested. They
-had bound Nickaroshinski, beaten him unmercifully and tortured him until
-they had secured his money and, not satisfied, had begun to smash things
-to pieces.
-
-Looking through the window John saw that their costumes were exactly
-like his own and that the six men had scattered through the house bent
-on plundering every nook and corner. Knowing that it would be impossible
-for them to distinguish their own men from his, he made at once his plan
-to capture the crowd without a struggle. Stationing his own six men at
-the front door, he took Dan Wiley and boldly entered the room where the
-leader stood covering the Jew with his revolver.
-
-Without a word they walked toward him in the dim light.
-
-Merely glancing at them the leader growled: “Finish up and let’s get
-away from here!”
-
-“All right,” John answered coming closer, “I’m getting in a hurry
-myself.”
-
-Before he knew what they meant, Dan pounced on him and pinioned his arms
-while John quickly covered his mouth and fixed the gag.
-
-It was but the work of a moment to tie the wretch and pass him out the
-door to the grim figures waiting. They repeated this performance in each
-room until all but two had been taken. These two were together. John
-suddenly blew his whistle giving the Klan signal “Follow me.” When they
-entered the room two revolvers were suddenly thrust under their noses.
-They surrendered without a struggle.
-
-John quickly released the old man, bound his wounds, restored his money
-and left with his prisoners.
-
-Each of them were given forty lashes and the next morning when Steve
-Hoyle woke he found six stripe-marked half-naked men gagged and bleeding
-dangling by their arms from the limbs of the trees on his lawn. Around
-the neck of each hung a placard: “A warning to the scoundrels who are
-disgracing the uniform of the Ku Klux Klan in this county.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X--THE STRENGTH OF THE WEAK
-
-STEVE HOYLE had cut down his men and hustled them out of town before
-eight o’clock, but the news rapidly spread and had thrown the people
-into a tremor of wonder as to the meaning of the events of the night.
-Evidently there had been a clash of forces within the ranks of the
-Invisible Empire. What did it mean?
-
-Steve had lost no time in explaining to the desperadoes from the hills
-what they wished to know, and they had left with deep muttered curses
-against their former Commander-in-chief.
-
-The outrage on Nickaroshinski had aroused the fiercest passions between
-the friends of John Graham and Steve Hoyle. Excited groups stood on
-every corner and it was with the utmost difficulty that John succeeded
-finally in dispersing them without a clash.
-
-At one o’clock Larkin called at the old Graham mansion and announced to
-Aunt Julie Ann his desire to see the Judge.
-
-“Ye can’t see ’im,” was her contemptuous answer.
-
-Larkin had captured Isaac, but his influence had not reached his wife.
-For any white man who stayed at a Negro’s house her contempt was beyond
-words. That the house happened to be her husband’s only aggravated the
-offence.
-
-“I must see him,” urged Larkin.
-
-“He’s in bed sick, I tell ye!”
-
-“But you had’nt told me,” protested the Carpetbagger.
-
-“Well I tells ye now. De Judge ain’t lif’ his head offen de piller
-ter day. De ghosts wuz here agin las’ night--an’ you’d better be a
-movin ‘fore Miss Stella find you here. She sick de dog on you.”
- Larkin took a threatening step toward her and said in low tones:
-
-“Shut your mouth, and tell the Judge I’m here to see him on important
-business. I’m not going out of this house until I do see him. Tell him
-so.”
-
-Aunt Julie Ann turned muttering and slowly climbed the stairs to
-Butler’s room.
-
-In a moment the Judge came down, hastily dressed in a faded slouchy
-dressing-gown and a pair of bedroom slippers.
-
-“Is it possible,” exclaimed Larkin, “that you know nothing of what’s
-happened here within the past twenty-four hours?”
-
-“I’ve been sick in bed. Haven’t left the house,” was the nervous reply.
-
-“Well, it’s time you knew at least what is going on in the house.”
-
-The Judge shivered and glanced up into the galleries.
-
-“What do you mean?” he feebly asked.
-
-Larkin rapidly sketched to him the events which had thrown the town into
-a ferment.
-
-“But what I called for,” observed the Carpetbagger, “was to enquire,
-as your political adviser, whether you really intend to permit your
-daughter to receive here to-night this gang of masked cutthroats as your
-guests?”
-
-The Judge rose trembling.
-
-“My daughter receive the Ku Klux Klan here to-night?” he gasped.
-
-“She has invited them, and in spite of the excitement it is rumoured
-that they will promptly appear in full costume at ten o’clock.”
-
-“Impossible, Larkin, impossible! They won’t dare such a thing. Besides,
-of course, my daughter will stop it.”
-
-“How can she stop it? Her invitation was by their sign of the scarlet
-bow. They have devised no signal to stop such a festival.”
-
-“She must find a way at once,” cried the Judge excitedly, “otherwise we
-must wire for troops.”
-
-“It’s too late.”
-
-“We’ll order a special if necessary. I’ll call my daughter at once.”
-
-Larkin rose as if to go.
-
-“Wait,” continued the Judge, “I wish you to be present.”
-
-He summoned Maggie, sent for Stella, and picked up his mail lying on the
-centre table, and opened it with fumbling nervous fingers while awaiting
-his daughter’s appearance.
-
-The Carpetbagger smiled contemptuously at his lack of good breeding, and
-studied the room while the Judge read his letters.
-
-“I see here some friend has written me a warning against the dangers of
-such a meeting,” cried Butler, his beady eyes dancing with excitement.
-“We must stop it, Larkin, we must stop it!”
-
-Maggie slowly descended the stairs.
-
-“Well, well, where’s your mistress?” spluttered the Judge.
-
-“Miss Stella say she busy tryin’ on a dress an’ she can’t come now.”
-
-Butler turned on Maggie with sudden fury.
-
-“Go back, you little black imp of the devil, and tell her to come down
-immediately! Immediately, I say!”
-
-“Yassah! Yassah!” Maggie panted. She turned back up the stairs jumping
-three steps at a time, and fell sprawling across the top landing. She
-reached Stella’s room gasping for breath.
-
-Stella turned leisurely from her mirror.
-
-“What on earth’s the matter, Maggie?”
-
-“De Jedge say ef you doan come dar dis minute he gwine ter come up here
-and slap yo head off!”
-
-“As bad as that, Maggie?”
-
-“Yassam. He flung a big book at me an’ hit me right in the head jes case
-I tell ’im what you say. Didn’t ye hear it?”
-
-Stella continued deliberately curling the ringlets about the edges of
-her raven hair.
-
-“Go back and tell him I’ll be down in a minute.”
-
-“Yassum. I spec he kill me dis time.”
-
-Stella finished her hair, sat down by the window and read a novel for
-ten minutes and then slowly descended the stairs.
-
-The Judge sat slouching low in his chair, and Larkin rose with the
-instinctive impulse of a gentleman on Stella’s appearance.
-
-The girl stared coldly at her father, noted his dressing-gown, turned
-hastily toward the stairs and began to ascend.
-
-“Excuse me,” she said to him with pointed insolence, “I thought you were
-waiting to receive me.”
-
-“Look here, my child, I’ve no time for silly nonsense!” the Judge
-exclaimed, adjusting the folds of his slouchy robe.
-
-“When you have completed your toilet,” she said with a sneering little
-smile, “I’ll come at once. Please let me know.”
-
-“Stella!” sternly called her father.
-
-The girl continued without turning her head and disappeared on the floor
-above.
-
-“A stickler for social forms, Larkin,” said the Judge petulantly,
-rising.
-
-“I see,” said the Carpetbagger with amusement. “I’ll have to humour her.
-Wait for me. We must stop it.”
-
-When at length the Judge returned and confronted Stella he was unnerved,
-while she stood staring at him with a hard glitter in her great brown
-eyes, complete mistress of every faculty she possessed.
-
-“My child,” began Butler, “Larkin tells me that you have invited the Ku
-Klux raiders to dance here to-night.”
-
-“I have,” was the cool answer.
-
-“But my dear, you should have consulted me.”
-
-“You made me the mistress of this house; why should I consult you about
-a harmless social gathering of my friends?”
-
-“The Klan is a secret order of assassins and desperadoes.”
-
-“Please father, don’t!” she interrupted. “Your politics disgust me.
-These boys are of the best families in town.”
-
-“How can you know this?” pleaded the Judge. “They come disguised. Not
-one of them has ever made himself known.”
-
-“Which makes the romance of such a visit all the deeper.”
-
-“And its dangers all the greater, my child. Mr. Larkin has come to warn
-me.”
-
-“I agree with your father, Miss Stella,” said Larkin with a grave bow.
-
-The girl tossed her head with contempt.
-
-“And I have in my hand a letter of warning from an unknown friend,”
- continued Butler.
-
-“But you are not really afraid?” cried the girl with scorn. “I refuse to
-believe my own father the contemptible coward your enemies have called
-you.”
-
-“Have you heard of the criminal outrages committed last night by those
-masked raiders?”
-
-“They do not interest me.”
-
-“You must remember, my dear, that I have sworn to send these men to the
-gallows.”
-
-“I can’t help your political bluster. I refuse to sacrifice my social
-career and insult my friends for your dirty politics.”
-
-“And you can not see that the presence of these masked men in this house
-would be a mortal insult to me?”
-
-“Certainly not. A crowd of gay masqueraders who come to do me honour.”
-
-“You must stop it, my child.”
-
-“It is impossible now. My friends are getting ready. I’ve hired a band.”
-
-“You refuse to respect my wishes?”
-
-“I refuse to make a fool of myself!”
-
-“Come, my dear, you must be reasonable. I know I’ve spoiled you. I’ve
-loved you too well. I’ve indulged every whim of your heart and allowed
-you to rule me, but you can’t do this absurd and dangerous thing.
-You forget that you are not only making a fool of me but that you are
-putting my life in jeopardy.”
-
-“I’ll assume the responsibility!” she broke in, drawing herself up with
-pride. “If you receive the slightest insult or a hair of your head is
-harmed I’ll give my life to avenge it.”
-
-“You persist?” asked her father with a scowl. “I do,” flashed the
-answer.
-
-The Judge rose, hesitated a moment and then said with stern
-determination:
-
-“Then for the first time in my life, I forbid you a thing on which you
-have set your heart. These masked men shall not enter my house!”
-
-Stella’s eyes flashed fire.
-
-“They shall come!” she cried.
-
-“Larkin,” said the Judge, turning to the Carpetbagger, “I shall have
-to ask you to go to the telegraph office and order the troops here on a
-special. Ask them to protect me to-night from these assassins.”
-
-Stella’s figure suddenly stiffened with incontrollable rage. She
-clenched her fists and sprang in front of her father screaming.
-
-“Don’t you dare insult me by applying such epithets to my friends! If
-you are my father, you are a poltroon and a coward!”
-
-“Stella, my darling!” gasped the Judge.
-
-“Don’t you call me darling! Don’t you dare to speak to me again! I’ll
-leave this house and blot your very name from my memory!”
-
-Butler staggered back in dumb amazement and Larkin watched with a
-curious smile playing about the corners of his piercing eyes.
-
-Stella stamped her foot, turned, and bounded up the stairs and into her
-room, slammed the door and began to scream.
-
-The Judge stood for a moment in speechless horror. He had never crossed
-her imperious will before and he was utterly unprepared for her mad
-outburst. He loved her with all the tenderness of which his low nature
-was capable, and had never seen a woman in hysterics. He had therefore
-no standard by which to measure how much of pure devil and how much of
-real suffering were mingled in her cries. Each piercing scream tore his
-heart. He turned helplessly to Larkin and asked: “What shall I do?”
-
-“Excuse me Judge, I can’t advise you in such a matter,” the Carpetbagger
-replied. “But I think you’ll have to summon a doctor.”
-
-“My God, is she in danger?” he asked, in a stupor of pain. “I’ll go up
-and see.”
-
-He shuffled up the stairs as quickly as possible, and hurried into her
-room without knocking.
-
-Stella sprang from the bed where she lay moaning, laughing and crying,
-and flew at him, stamping and screaming:
-
-“Don’t you come near me. Don’t you touch me! Don’t you speak to me! Get
-out of this room!”
-
-“But my dear,” stammered the Judge.
-
-“Get out of this room--get out of this room! or I’ll jump out of that
-window and kill myself!” She seized him by the arm, hustled and pushed
-him out of the door, slammed and locked it. Again she threw herself on
-the bed and burst into strangling groans.
-
-The Judge retreated to the hall below, his eyes filled with tears, his
-heart sick with terror. He dropped into a seat, covered his face with
-his hands and sat for a moment in stupid pain.
-
-Maggie suddenly plunged down the stairs yelling:
-
-“Goddermighty, ye better run fur de doctor quick--Miss Stella dying! She
-done choke ter death!”
-
-“I’ll bring the doctor,” said Larkin, rising quickly.
-
-“Run and bring Aunt Julie Ann!” whispered the Judge to Maggie.
-
-The maid met Aunt Julie Ann who had heard the commotion and the two
-hurried back to Stella’s room.
-
-When the doctor came she refused to see him, and he left in a rage. The
-Judge begged Larkin to stay until he could see his daughter.
-
-An hour later, propped up in bed with Maggie rubbing one hand and Aunt
-Julie Ann the other, she permitted her father to enter and receive her
-pardon. The Judge knelt by the bedside, kissed her hand and wet it with
-tears. His surrender was abject. He sent Larkin away and promised to be
-present at the ball and treat the whole thing as a schoolboys’ frolic.
-
-And then she smiled and kissed him.
-
-“If I’m only strong enough to dress by ten o’clock!” she cried,
-laughing.
-
-“Try to eat something, dear,” urged her father.
-
-She promised and asked Aunt Julie Ann to send her a little soup. She got
-the soup and with it a substantial meal.
-
-Still and catlike, Maggie watched her eat it down to the last crumb with
-quiet enjoyment. When the black maid picked up the tray she walled her
-eyes first at the empty dishes and then at her wonderful little mistress
-and softly giggled.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI--THROUGH THE SECRET PANEL
-
-AS THE hour approached for the masqueraders to appear at the Judge’s
-John Graham was drawn to the spot by an irresistible impulse. He stood
-in the shadows of the trees on the sidewalk and watched the little
-squadron of white and scarlet horsemen wheel into the gate past Isaac’s
-cottage, and gallop swiftly up to the front door of the old mansion.
-
-They had scarcely passed when Isaac suddenly stepped from the shrubbery
-through the open gateway and ran into him.
-
-The Apostle gasped in terror:
-
-“De Lawd, marse John, I thought you wuz one er dem ghostes--‘scuse me,
-sah, I’se er gettin’ away from here!”
-
-John made no reply, merely watching him until he disappeared.
-
-Again he turned toward the house. Every window was gleaming with light.
-The subdued strains of a string band came stealing through the trailing
-roses on the porch, and he fancied he could catch the odour of the
-flowers in their sweet notes. Scarcely knowing what he did, he strolled
-into the lawn and sank on a rustic bench with a groan. He could hear the
-gay banter of the masqueraders and the peals of girlish laughter with
-which their tomfoolery was being received.
-
-A mocking bird began singing in the tree above him, roused by the music
-of the band. Far off in the corner of the lawn in the clump of holly and
-cedars at the entrance of the vault a whippoorwill was making the ravine
-ring with the weird notes of his ghost-like call. The moon flooded the
-scene with silvery splendour. Crushed with a sense of loneliness and
-failure, he felt to-night that he would give all the wealth and honours
-of the earth for one touch of the hand of the girl whose laughter
-lingered and echoed in his heart. And again the feeling of impending
-disaster overwhelmed him.
-
-“Of course it’s nonsense!” he kept repeating to himself. “The disaster
-is within. I’m merely a wounded animal caught in a trap, bleeding and
-dying of thirst, and no one knows or cares, and I can’t cry for help.”
-
-He tried to rise and go. But something held him in a silent spell to
-the spot. He sat dreaming out each movement of the gay drama in progress
-within.
-
-Stella had welcomed her white-robed guests without the aid of a servant.
-No Negro could be hired for love or money to approach one of these
-ghostly figures. Maggie had hidden in the closet in her mistress’ room
-and Aunt Julie Ann had barred herself inside the kitchen and refused to
-answer a call.
-
-In spite of these little annoyances the beautiful young mistress of the
-Graham house, resplendent in her ball dress costume, was in her gayest
-mood.
-
-When the shrill whistles rang their summons at the door, she hastened to
-greet her mysterious guests.
-
-“And your name, Sir Knight?” she asked the leader with bantering
-laughter.
-
-“We are Ghouls! And come from beyond the river Styx, my lady!” solemnly
-answered the tall white figure.
-
-“Welcome shades of Darkness, welcome back to the world of joy and light,
-song and dance, life and love!” Stella cried, extending her hand.
-
-When they had tied their horses to the posts beside the wide driveway
-they slowly entered single file into the great hall. Stella, assisted by
-Susie Wilson, who had become her fast friend, greeted each of them with
-words of gay welcome.
-
-They were dressed in the regulation raider’s costume of the Klan. The
-white flowing ulsterlike robe came within three inches of the floor.
-A scarlet belt circled the waist, from either side of which hung heavy
-revolvers in leather holsters. A dagger was attached to the centre of
-the belt, and the scarlet-lined white cape thrown back on the shoulders
-revealed their militant trappings with startling distinctness. On each
-breast was wrought the emblem of the Invisible Empire, the scarlet
-circle, and in its centre a white cross. Spiked helmets of white cloth
-with flowing masks reached to the cape on each shoulder, completely
-covering the head and face. With red gauntlets to complete their
-costume, the disguise was absolute. The only visible part of the body
-was the eye, gleaming with a strange steady supernatural brilliance
-through the holes cut in the mask. It was a curious fact that all eyes
-looked alike in the shadows of these trappings at night. They were
-simply flashing points of living light with all traces of colour lost in
-the shadows.
-
-In spite of the fact that the girls felt they had nothing to fear from
-the white figures, it was with a tremor of excitement they each greeted
-the mysterious partners of their dance.
-
-Stella left them talking romantic nonsense of knights and tournaments,
-ghouls and ghosts in the hall and ran up to her father’s room.
-
-“Oh! Papa,” she cried with childish glee. “It’s such fun! They’re all
-here. You will come down and join the party as you promised?”
-
-“Yes, yes, dear, I’ll come, presently,” said the Judge with evident
-dread.
-
-Stella slipped her beautiful bare arm around his neck and her cheek
-rested against his, while the soft little fingers found his hand.
-
-“I’m awfully sorry I was so ugly to-day,” she said gently. “But I
-couldn’t help it. I didn’t know I had such a temper. I must have gotten
-it from you Dad.”
-
-“It’s all right, my darling, if you’ll never say such bitter things to
-me again--will you?” he asked tenderly, tears filling his eyes.
-
-“No, I’ll be good now, if you’ll forgive me?”
-
-Her father answered with a kiss. “You see, you’re all I have in the
-world, my little girlie. I’m not as strong as I used to be. I don’t
-think I’m going to live long.”
-
-“Rubbish! you’ve just got the blues. Shake them off and be young again
-to-night. Imagine you are a boy here with mother the sweetheart you’re
-trying to steal from the proud rich people who hate you--come, come!”
-
-The Judge smiled in spite of himself. Her mood was contagious. He
-stroked her hand gently.
-
-“I’ll be down right away. Run on and have a good time.”
-
-“All right, I’ll start the first dance and you’ll be there by the time
-it’s over and shake hands with your enemies. It will be so jolly!”
-
-Throwing him a kiss she returned to the hall below and led her guests
-into the big double parlours which had been fitted up for dancing. The
-French windows, opening as doors on the porches, were raised, and the
-band stationed outside near one of them.
-
-When the dance had begun the Judge, dressed in his usual broadcloth
-frock coat which hung in slouching lines from his drooping shoulders,
-slowly descended the stairs and stood embarrassed and hesitating in the
-hall a moment, and sat down by the centre table.
-
-A masquerader came in from the ball room for the fan his partner had
-left, and so soft was his footfall the Judge did not hear or see him
-until the tall white figure suddenly loomed above him to pick up the
-fan.
-
-The apparition was so startling the Judge’s nerves collapsed. He leaped
-to his feet with an inarticulate cry of terror, overturning his chair
-and started to bolt for the door.
-
-The masquerader smothered a laugh and said:
-
-“I beg your pardon, I only wanted the fan.” Butler stammered:
-
-“Ah--I--must have been dreaming--you--startled me!”
-
-He watched the white figure disappear, mopped the perspiration from
-his brow, called Aunt Julie Ann and ordered her to bring him a drink of
-whiskey. She refused to stir at first, but he threatened to discharge
-her, and she obeyed.
-
-When the Judge raised the glass to his lips his hand trembled so
-violently that he spilled some of the liquor on his clothes. He gulped
-it down and glanced nervously about the hall.
-
-He placed the glass back on the tray and Aunt Julie Ann, watching the
-parlour-door like a hawk, started back to the kitchen on a run.
-
-“Wait a moment,” cried the Judge, shuffling to his feet.
-
-“I ain’t gwine stay in here wid dem things in de house,” she answered,
-halting timidly in the shadows of the door leading into the dining-room.
-
-Butler walked to her side and said:
-
-“Tell Miss Stella I’m not feeling well--I’m going to bed.”
-
-He hesitated a moment. “You’ve said nothing to any one about this ghost
-business?”
-
-“Hush, man, hush! Don’t talk about dat now!” she whispered. “I tole dat
-ole whiteheaded Larkin--dat’s all.”
-
-“Well, I want to warn you, don’t mention it to another living soul. I’m
-beginning to suspect that we’ve been seeing old Major Graham himself!”
-
-“De Lawd er mussy, man, how he bin gittin’ in de house wid all de doors
-and windows locked an’ bolted?”
-
-“That’s a mystery I can’t fathom.”
-
-“No, ner nobody else. Hit’s his sperit I tells ye.”
-
-While they were talking thus in the alcove the oak panel under the
-stairs was softly opened and closed; old Major Graham, dressed with
-scrupulous care, thin and pale as a corpse, yet erect and dignified,
-walked slowly across the hall to the foot of the stairs. His lips were
-muttering inarticulate sounds and his wide staring eyes had the far-off
-look of the dreamer who lives, breathes and moves, yet sees nothing.
-
-Butler’s back was to the Major, and Aunt Julie Ann, hearing the
-footsteps, was first to see him. She staggered against the wall and
-gasped:
-
-“God, save us, dar he is now!”
-
-Butler glanced over his shoulder and backed against the huge figure of
-the cook, trembling.
-
-“Look--look!” he whispered. “It is old Graham. Watch his thin bony
-fingers grip the rail as he climbs the steps!”
-
-“Hit’s his livin’ ghost I tell ye!” persisted Aunt Julie Ann. “He’ll
-walk right out on de roof an’ step off’n de house des like he does every
-night--you won’t see’ ’im again.”
-
-“Get some more whiskey!” said the Judge. “I’ll go with you”--he added,
-following her into the dining room, mopping the perspiration from his
-brow.
-
-“I’ll go up there in a minute and find out the truth!”
-
-“Better keep outen dat attic I tells ye. Dey say dat de ghosts er de
-livin’ is wuss dan de dead.” They had scarcely passed from the hall when
-the oak panel again opened and a white masked figure peered through, and
-quickly entered.
-
-The dress was an exact duplicate of the masqueraders down to its
-minutest details, and only the closest observer would have noted the
-awkward way in which the figure moved as though not in the habit of
-walking in his disguise.
-
-He quickly glanced about the hall, listened a moment to the sounds of
-revelry in the ballroom, closed the door of the small hall leading into
-it, reopened the panel and signalled.
-
-In rapid succession eight more silent figures filed through the panel
-door. The leader whispered to his followers:
-
-“He’s in the dining room. Guard every entrance now but that.”
-
-In a moment a masked man stood guard at each door and the leader lowered
-the lamp on the table until only the dim outlines of the forms could
-be seen, and stepped back himself into the shadows of the alcove by the
-dining room door.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann returned to the kitchen, and the Judge, afraid to go
-upstairs, came back into the hall to enter the ballroom as he promised
-Stella.. As he passed through the door of the dining room the shrouded
-figure standing in the alcove quickly followed, cutting off this
-retreat.
-
-The Judge stopped, blinked his eyes around the dim hall and muttered:
-
-“Why, why, the lamp’s gone out!” He quickly crossed the space to the
-table and extended his hand to turn up the lamp.
-
-The figure behind him seized his arm and a guttural voice spoke through
-the mask:
-
-“There’s light enough for our work, Judge.”
-
-Butler staggered back in terror and glanced about him at the dim
-spectres closing around the table. With an effort he pulled himself
-together and stammered:
-
-“Why, of course, boys. I see! I see! You’re going to initiate me! give
-me the third degree first--I see--a good joke!”
-
-“You’ll find it a serious joke before you’re through,” replied the
-leader, gripping his dagger.
-
-The Judge could see the movement of his hand as he slowly drew the
-knife from its sheath, the blade glistening for an instant in the dim
-lamplight, but he still thought the boys were playing a prank on him.
-
-“Well, gentlemen, have your fun!” he cried with forced gaiety, “Have
-your way, I’m at your service. What is the penalty I must pay to-night
-for my many sins against the Klan?”
-
-“The penalty is your life,” said the mask with sullen menace in his
-tones, stepping closer, “unless you agree to leave this state to-morrow
-and never enter it again--will you go?”
-
-“So bad as that?” The Judge forced a laugh. “What else?”
-
-“You are not fooling with boys now!” sullenly said the towering white
-form. “Give me your answer, you d------d old sneaking coward! Will you
-go or do you prefer to die?”
-
-Butler, trembling now with mingled terror and rage, cried angrily:
-
-“Gentlemen, your joke is going too far!”
-
-“It’ll go farther,” was the quick reply, as the white figures closed in
-threateningly and the foremost man moved as if to raise his hand.
-
-“Enough of this! Get out of my house!” Butler suddenly shouted,
-snatching the mask from the leader’s head by a quick unexpected display
-of courage. A cry of horror and surprise leaped from his lips. The knife
-flashed, and was buried in his heart. He reeled, staggered, clutched a
-chair and sank with a groan to a sitting posture. His long awkward arms
-drooped and his head sank slowly on his breast.
-
-The leader, who had quickly replaced his helmet, bent over him a moment,
-sheathed his knife and said:
-
-“A good stroke--all right--quick now--open the doors and follow me.”
-
-The guard at the door leading into the ballroom opened it gently and
-the sweet strains of the music rang through the hall with startling
-distinctness, as the white-masked figures slowly disappeared through the
-panel under the stairs.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann who had heard the Judge’s cry and the sudden noise
-entered trembling.
-
-“Name er God what’s dis!” she cried. “De light gone out! De ghost done
-dat!”
-
-She turned up the lamp and saw the Judge sitting dead in the chair, the
-scarlet stain on his clean ruffled shirt holding her for a moment in
-speechless horror.
-
-Screaming at last, she rushed to the ballroom door and shouted:
-
-“De Lawd hab mussy! De ghost done kill de Judge--Stab ’im fro de heart!”
-
-The music stopped with a crash and the crowd rushed into the hall.
-
-[Illustration: 0157]
-
-Stella stared at the lifeless form, her beautiful face whiter than
-the dead, turned to the masqueraders huddled in a group, drew herself
-proudly erect, pointed to the door and said:
-
-“Go!”
-
-Silently and quickly they left, and as the last beat of their horses’
-hoofs died away in the distance she lifted her face from her father’s
-hand which she had covered with kisses, and groaned:
-
-“Forgive me--forgive me! I have but one aim in life now--God give me
-strength!”
-
-
-
-
-BOOK II--A WOMAN’S REVENGE
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I--STELLA’S RESOLUTION
-
-THE murder of Judge Butler created a profound sensation both in the
-state and the nation. The Northern press held the Ku Klux Klan guilty of
-this atrocious crime without question, and it was the last straw needed
-to start an avalanche of hostile legislation in Congress against the
-entire South.
-
-The famous Conspiracy Act was rushed through both houses of the National
-Legislature and signed by the President. It made membership in the
-secret order known as the Ku Klux Klan, or Invisible Empire, a felony,
-and provided for the trial of its members on the charge of treason,
-conspiracy and murder. The President was authorised to suspend the
-writ of _habeas corpus_ and proclaim martial law in any county of the
-Southern States, and use the army and navy to enforce his authority.
-
-The Attorney General promptly placed the county of Independence under
-military government, stationed two regiments of troops within its
-borders, and set to work with scores of detectives to find the guilty
-man.
-
-Two months passed without the slightest progress. Five thousand dollars
-reward was offered by the national authorities and a similar sum by the
-state. Not a trace of the man responsible for the deed could be found,
-though a price of ten thousand dollars was set thus on his head. A
-number of arrests had been made, but the evidence produced was of so
-flimsy a character that in each instance the prisoner could not be held.
-
-The longer the case was probed, the deeper became its insoluble aspects.
-The “Butler Murder Mystery,” as it was popularly known, provoked the
-widest public discussion, both in the state and national press, yet no
-explanation from any quarter could be found.
-
-The effects of the crime on the Ku Klux raiders was immediate. Not
-a trace of their existence was left. The enormity of the tragedy had
-evidently sobered the dare-devils who had found amusement or personal
-profit in its activities. It now became the fashion to denounce the Klan
-and demand its extermination.
-
-As the order had never had a spokesman, it had no defender. The demand
-for its suppression was universal. Yet no traitor had appeared among its
-ranks. The deepest curses of a race were reserved for the white lip that
-should betray its members. Whatever the leaders of public opinion might
-say, the masses of the people knew the necessity which had called
-this dreaded order into existence--the black threat of Negro dominion.
-Thousands of women and children knew its secrets and held them
-inviolate.
-
-On Stella Butler the death of her father had wrought a deep and
-remarkable change. The fun-loving, imperious, self-willed, spoiled child
-had suddenly become a serious woman. She had given every hour of her
-time assisting the authorities in their search for the murderer and had
-followed every possible clue with breathless hope.
-
-Two forces had driven her into a morbid interest in the crime, pride and
-remorse. In mere laughing banter she had promised her father if a single
-insult should be offered him, or a hair of his head harmed, she
-would give her life to avenge the deed. She had not dreamed of such a
-possibility. But now that the impossible had happened, she would make
-good her word to the dead. And she would make it good, not only because
-she had promised and her heart was sick with remorse for the part she
-had unconsciously played in the tragedy, but for a deeper personal
-reason--the consciousness of the insult to her pride which the crime had
-offered. The assassin had dared to strike her father dead in her home,
-in her very presence.
-
-Had the knife sought her own heart she would have felt less deeply the
-wound. Somewhere even by her side there stood amid the shadows of life
-a being who could thus insult her by ignoring her very existence! She
-resolved to make that man feel her power by paying the penalty with his
-own life. An element of pitiless cruelty in her character found for the
-first time its expression in a passionate thirst for the blood of this
-criminal.
-
-She had seen every effort to penetrate the mystery fail with increasing
-inward rage. Larkin, who had charge of the Judge’s campaign, had been
-aggressive and untiring for two weeks and then had given up and returned
-to his duties as Chairman of the State Executive Committee.
-
-The Attorney General announced his departure for Washington and ordered
-the withdrawal of the troops and detectives.
-
-Stella hastened to send her burning protest against his action. General
-Champion, who had been deeply moved by her beauty and evident suffering,
-called personally at the old Graham mansion for an interview. He
-received her indignant protests with the gravest courtesy.
-
-“Please don’t tell me, General,” she began bitterly, “that my father’s
-death is an apparently insoluble mystery. I am sick, sick, sick of
-hearing such rubbish! Eight weeks ago he was murdered in cold blood in
-this hall on the very spot where you are now sitting. It was not done by
-ghosts, it was not an accident, it was done by a living man. I refuse
-to recognise in it an act of Providence. I will not wear an emblem
-of mourning as long as this man breathes on earth. I have sworn it My
-father was in the service of his country attempting to enforce its laws.
-I have the right to demand that a rich and powerful government avenge
-his death. It is incredible that the coward who did this crime can not
-be caught and punished.”
-
-“Upon the other hand, my dear child,” said the General, “I assure you
-that the apprehension of this criminal is one of the most difficult
-tasks ever assigned the Department of Justice.”
-
-“And why, pray?”
-
-“Because in this climate the Invisible Empire is yet stronger than the
-visible----”
-
-“You believe then that the Klan committed the deed?” she asked
-
-“As sure of it as that I live. If we were dealing with the ordinary
-criminal, it would be easy. We are dealing with larger problems. Every
-clue we have found has proven false for this reason. The man really
-responsible stands at our elbow did we but know the truth.”
-
-“What do you mean?” Stella asked with sudden interest.
-
-“That your father’s death was ordered by an inner circle of the
-Invisible Empire. He was probably executed by an individual who did
-not even know his name. The occasion of the masquerade ball was simply
-utilised for the purpose. Unless we know the name of the Chief of the
-Klan in this state no progress can be made. This man has the power of
-life and death over his men. No such deed could have been committed
-without his order.”
-
-“And you are going to give up the search?” was the eager question.
-
-“For the present yes. It is a waste of time.”
-
-“And you have formed no idea as to who this Chief may be?” asked the big
-brown eyes, flashing with a new purpose.
-
-“I haven’t a scrap of evidence that can be used in an English-speaking
-court of justice--but I am morally certain that I know the man.”
-
-“And if you knew him by his own confession?”
-
-“I could send him to the gallows within thirty days.”
-
-“The man you suspect?”
-
-“John Graham!”
-
-Stella sprang to her feet, her face white with an emotion which stopped
-for a moment her very heart-beat.
-
-“Within a month I’ll tell you the truth”--she said with laboured breath.
-
-“Can you do it?”
-
-“Beyond the shadow of a doubt!” was her firm answer.
-
-The General seized her hand as he took his leave.
-
-“If you do, my child, you will destroy an empire mightier than the
-law of the land. I’ll place the entire resources of the Department of
-Justice at your command.”
-
-Stella’s brown eyes rested on her own beautiful reflection in the mirror
-as she slowly said:
-
-“Thank you, General, I have at present all the weapons I shall need.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II--WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING
-
-STELLA was putting the last touches to a perfect toilet before meeting
-Steve Hoyle who was waiting impatiently below. She had given him the
-sign for which he had long prayed, her permission for the formal renewal
-of his suit. They had remained friends on condition that he keep silent
-on the subject until she gave him permission to speak. She had done
-this in the most delicate way in the note of reply she had sent in the
-afternoon to his request for permission to call.
-
-She had determined to take Steve by storm to-night. The secret on which
-her heart was set she counted already within her grasp, yet she would
-leave no stone unturned, neglect no trick in all the known realm of
-woman’s art to make her victory absolute.
-
-Her refusal to put on black at her father’s funeral, or wear it since,
-and her declaration that his death was not the act of God but of the
-devil, had shocked the tradition-loving Southern people beyond measure.
-Maggie had lost no time in telling her their comments. She heard
-them with contempt and proceeded to shock her critics still worse by
-establishing herself permanently in the great lonely house with only
-Aunt Julie Ann as her guardian.
-
-Her whole being was fused into a single deathless purpose--to take the
-life of the man who had killed her father. She would stop at no means to
-accomplish this end, and she would treat with scorn every convention of
-society which might interfere.
-
-She slowly descended the winding stairs to-night before Steve’s
-enraptured gaze, dressed in pure white with full train. A single deep
-red rose was set in her black hair. Her arms were bare and their beauty
-was perfect--starting with the tiniest wrists and swelling into full
-voluptuous splendour above the dimpled elbows. She had a way of moving
-them when she walked which was modest yet subtle in sensuous suggestion.
-
-Steve watched her spellbound. She placed her hand in his with a tender
-smile, the brown eyes watching the effects of her beauty with quiet
-triumph.
-
-She allowed Steve to silently lead her to the old davenport under the
-stairs and take his seat by her side.
-
-“You meant what your letter implied?” he asked eagerly.
-
-“I did,” was the firm answer.
-
-“It seemed too good to be true, dear, yet I felt sure that you would
-need me in this crisis of your life.”
-
-“I do need you. I wonder if you will prove wanting when put to the
-test?”
-
-“Try me!” he boldly challenged.
-
-“You are sure that you love me with a love that will endure through good
-and evil, through life and death, through every test?”
-
-She leaned close, her eyes searching Steve’s soul.
-
-The man drew a deep breath and his hand grasped hers with fierce
-passion.
-
-“I love you beyond the power of words to tell--I worship you!” he cried,
-attempting instinctively to draw her into his arms.
-
-“Yes I know,” she answered, lifting her hand in warning, “you love me
-that way--I don’t say it displeases me--I have a soul and I have a
-body too. There’s something big, fierce, and strong in you, Steve, that
-always drew me--that draws me to you to-night--but I want to know if
-your love goes deeper than the body; if it’s big enough, true enough to
-dare anything in this world or the next for the woman you love?”
-
-“Yes!” he cried.
-
-“You love me better than money?”
-
-“Yes!”
-
-“Better than power?”
-
-“Yes!”
-
-“Better than your own life?”
-
-“Yes!” he whispered, crushing her hand in his.
-
-“Suppose I should put you to a test and you should fail?”
-
-“With your eyes calling me I’d dare the terrors of hell!”
-
-She took both his hands, fixed her eyes on his until their warm brown
-light enfolded him with tenderness:
-
-“Give me the name of the Chief of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina,”
- she whispered.
-
-Steve’s face went white, and he stammered:
-
-“Why--why--my dear--how--can--I? I don’t know him. It’s impossible!”
-
-“Nothing is impossible to the man who loves me if I desire it,” she
-answered, firmly holding Steve with her eyes dilated to extraordinary
-size under the tension of her deep emotion.
-
-He turned from her gaze, the cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
-
-“But, Stella, my dear, I’m not a member of the Klan.”
-
-She dropped his hand, sprang to her feet, and looked at him a moment.
-
-“You are lying!”
-
-“I swear I’m telling you the truth,” he cried, eagerly attempting to
-regain her hand.
-
-She turned from him with contempt. She saw too late that she had
-overplayed the part. She had been too eager, too sure. He was a greater
-coward than she had suspected.
-
-“But why should you ask such a thing of me?” he stammered.
-
-“You know why.”
-
-“I haven’t the remotest idea.”
-
-“Coward!” she hissed, turning suddenly. “You know that I wish to hang
-this man for the murder of my father.”
-
-“If the Government of the United States with its army and navy and its
-millions cannot find him--am I a coward because I tell you that I do not
-know his name?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“In God’s name why?” he pleaded.
-
-“I know that you are a member of the Klan.”
-
-“Upon my soul and honour I swear that I am not!”
-
-“Have you either soul or honour?”
-
-“I won’t quarrel with you, dear; you are overwrought and crushed by this
-tragedy. You don’t mean what you say.”
-
-“I do mean it!” she fiercely cried.
-
-“Then you’ll live to regret it,” he answered, recovering his composure.
-“I’ll do anything within human reason. You must not ask the impossible.”
-
-“Then you will help me to find this man?”
-
-“To the limit of my power.”
-
-“Why say to the limit of my power? I hate a man who fences, squirms and
-lies when face to face with a test of his manhood! Will you help me find
-this man? Yes or no?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“That’s better.”
-
-“But tell me,” he said, watching her with increasing reserve and
-cunning. “Whom do you suspect?”
-
-“John Graham.”
-
-Steve’s eyes flashed.
-
-“And what is your programme when you have established the fact?”
-
-“The Attorney General has promised to hang him within thirty days.”
-
-“With all due respect to the Attorney General--he can’t do it.”
-
-“Why not?”
-
-“We are living under conditions of revolution. No jury can be found who
-will convict him. There’s but one way.”
-
-“What do you mean?” Stella asked, lowering her voice.
-
-“That beyond a doubt John Graham inspired this crime.”
-
-“You believe it?” she broke in fiercely.
-
-“I’m sure of it. His hatred of the Judge had become a mania. He used the
-Klan as the cloak of his hired assassin.”
-
-“The Klan decreed his death,” said Stella sternly.
-
-“John Graham decreed it.”
-
-“What do you propose?” she asked, again coming close to Steve.
-
-“To have him executed by the Klan itself!”
-
-“And yet you are not a member?” she asked with a smile.
-
-“I am in touch with men who are.”
-
-“How could his execution be brought about?”
-
-“Ask him the question you put to me.”
-
-“And if he tells?”
-
-“He will forfeit his life.”
-
-Stella’s eyes rested a moment on the chair in which her father fell
-the night of his death. She turned and gazed into Steve’s face with
-a strange absent expression in her eyes as though they were seeing a
-picture which had etched itself in fire on her soul.
-
-“I’m going to cultivate Mr. Graham’s acquaintance,” she slowly said.
-“I’ll learn from his own lips if he is the leader of the Ku Klux Klan.”
-
-“And if you find that he is?”
-
-“I may hold you to your pledge!”
-
-“And on the day he is executed.”
-
-“I will marry you!”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III--THE TRAP IS SET
-
-THE next morning Steve Hoyle left town and Stella began at once to
-put into execution her plan to entrap John Graham in the meshes of her
-beauty and deliver him to justice. She felt instinctively that if this
-man with his intense and romantic nature ever yielded to the spell
-of her love, there could be no limit to which he would not go at her
-bidding. With equal certainty she realised that the task would be
-a delicate one--a task which might put to the test every power she
-possessed. Her whole being rose to the work with a thrill of keen, cruel
-interest--the interest of the primitive huntress on track of the rarest,
-wildest and most daring game.
-
-The first difficulty which apparently opened an impassable gulf between
-them was the suit which John Graham had begun to regain possession of
-the estate. The language in which his complaint had been drawn was the
-limit of bitter accusation permitted in a legal document--parts of it,
-indeed, the Court had ordered stricken from the record as scandalous and
-irrelevant.
-
-Stella’s eyes danced with excitement as she read in the morning’s
-paper the announcement of his withdrawal of this suit. The news was
-accompanied by a brief statement which might have been written as a
-personal apology to her for the language he had used.
-
-_“I beg leave to say to the public in withdrawing this action that
-I regret the overheated language in which the original complaint was
-expressed.”_
-
-Without a moment’s hesitation she seized her pen and wrote him an
-invitation to call. Her words revealed the deeply laid scheme on which
-her mind had seized in a flash of inspiration. She read and reread it
-carefully:
-
-_My dear Mr. Graham:_
-
-_Permit me to thank you for the manly words of retraction which you
-have used in this morning’s paper.-Your withdrawal of this suit and the
-generous manner in which it was done, removes the only barrier to our
-friendly acquaintance. I wish to renew it, and ask you to please accept
-at once the position of my personal attorney in the settlement of my
-father’s estate. Your influence in the courts of North Carolina, your
-eloquence and genius will, be of invaluable service to an orphan girl
-who needs the advice of one on whose integrity she can absolutely rely._
-
-_Trusting that you may honour me by answering this request in person at
-three o’clock this afternoon._
-
-_Sincerely,_
-
-_Stella Butler._
-
-John Graham could not believe his senses when he first read this letter.
-The boy had turned and gone without waiting for an answer and he sat
-stupefied by a whirl of conflicting emotions.
-
-He read it again, bent and kissed her name. He had never before seen
-her handwriting. He studied it with curious interest. Its deep lines
-revealed with startling distinctness traits of a remarkable character.
-It was full of long strokes of the pen with equal emphasis across, up
-and down. The letters were unevenly formed, showing the self-willed,
-imperious spirit that had refused to copy the lines set by another
-hand, and yet the effect was pleasing and held the eye in a continuous
-surprise at its sensational curves and dashes. Through every line he
-felt the throb of an intense nature, which seemed to sink into inaudible
-whispers of emotion in the queer little twists of the pen with which
-each sentence ended.
-
-He placed the note in an inner pocket. Had he received this invitation
-yesterday, he would have locked his doors, shouted and danced for joy at
-the opportunity to press her hand again and look into those deep brown
-eyes that haunted him waking or dreaming. Now it was a serious question.
-Within twenty-four hours he had received confirmation of two suspicions
-which had oppressed him since the night of Butler’s death--that his
-father might have committed the deed and that Billy was in the party of
-masqueraders.
-
-In either case, the stain of the Judge’s blood was on the house of
-Graham and the Angel of Death stood with drawn sword barring the way of
-his happiness. He would not seek the hand of Stella with the blood of
-her father on his own. He would accept the moral responsibility of his
-father’s act or that of his younger brother. He had reproached himself
-bitterly that he had neglected to know and teach his high-strung younger
-brother as he might. The mother dead, his father a hopeless mental
-invalid, Billy had grown up with no hand to guide his wayward fancy. It
-was not to be wondered at that he soon recognised no authority save that
-of his own will.
-
-Stella’s request had brought John face to face with the problems of his
-father and Billy. He must know the truth before he could answer that
-letter. Better to strangle the love that was fast swelling in his heart
-than wait until the hour when the call of love might drown the voice of
-honour.
-
-He left his office and went at once to his father’s room. The Major was
-dressed with his habitual care, his linen spotless, his boots carefully
-polished, his thin white hair brushed straight back from his high
-forehead. He was seated in his armchair, gently stroking with his
-chalk-white bony hand his delicate ghostly beard, while delivering to
-Alfred one of his interminable talks of the old life in the South. At
-times he forgot the war and the horrors which followed and reenacted the
-scenes of the past until his former slave, too full to bear more, would
-stop him tenderly, and get him to change the subject.
-
-“Leave us awhile, Alfred,” John said, on entering.
-
-“Yassah,” the old butler answered, bowing himself out with stately
-dignity.
-
-John closed the door and drew his chair close to the Major’s.
-
-“Father, I want to ask you something very particular,” he began.
-
-The old man smiled indulgently.
-
-“Well, out with it, you young rascal! You’ve been flying round her long
-enough. I knew it would come at last. So she’s got you, has she!
-Well, well, Jennie’s a fine girl, my boy; I danced at her father’s
-and mother’s wedding. I wish I had more to give you. You’ll have to be
-content with the lower plantation, and a dozen slaves to start with.”
-
-“Listen, father,” John urged, stopping him with a gentle pressure on his
-arm. “And try to remember. Have you encountered Butler lately?”
-
-“Change our butler!--what better butler do you want than Alfred? He’s an
-aristocrat to his finger tips. I wouldn’t think of reducing him from his
-present rank; what has he done to offend any one?”
-
-“I mean the Judge who took the house--I mean Judge Butler.”
-
-“Ah! A man of low origin and no principle, my son--a renegade who
-betrayed his people for thirty pieces of silver--silver stained with
-blood--a dirty, contemptible office-seeker. I wouldn’t lower myself by
-speaking to such a man.”
-
-“Yes, I know father,” John broke in, “but I’m trying to recall to your
-memory the visits you have made at night lately to the old home.”
-
-“Of course, I love the old home. I was born here. I brought my bride
-here. I’ll never leave it except for a better world.”
-
-John felt a lump rise in his throat and rose to go. It was useless.
-Besides, the thing was unthinkable. How could this feeble old man spring
-on one of Butler’s physique and stab him to death. He couldn’t, except
-in a moment of superhuman frenzy which sometimes comes to the insane.
-There was the thought which returned again and again to torment him!
-Aunt Julie Ann declared the ghost was seen to pass through the hall and
-go upstairs but a few moments before the tragedy. Yes, it was possible.
-
-John peered into his father’s restless eyes with a mad desire to lift
-the mysterious veil that obscured the world from his vision. The horror
-of the sickening tragedy strangled him and he turned, abruptly leaving
-the room.
-
-He sought Billy with a growing sense of helpless and bitter despair.
-Since the day of their brief quarrel which followed the demonstration
-before old Larkin, Billy had avoided John. Since Butler’s death they had
-scarcely spoken. The effect of this tragedy on his headstrong younger
-brother first led John to suspect his membership in the newly organised
-Klan under Steve’s leadership.
-
-John found him in his room reading.
-
-“Billy, I must have a serious talk with you,” the older brother began.
-
-“All right, sit down,” the boy answered, laying aside his book.
-
-“A youngster of eighteen who keeps to his room for days at a time and
-reads is either sick or has something on his mind.”
-
-“Which do you think?” Billy asked, looking vaguely out the window.
-
-“I’ll answer you by asking a question, and I want you to answer on the
-honour of a Graham. Are you a member of Steve Hoyle’s Klan?”
-
-“You have no right to ask that question,” was the hot reply.
-
-“Yes, I have,” John slowly said, “for two reasons. As the organiser
-of the original Ku Klux Klan in this state I hold myself in a measure
-responsible for its existence even in its lowest forms. But that’s not
-all, my boy, you’re my brother, and I love you.”
-
-Billy’s eyes blinked and he looked at the ceiling. He had never heard
-such an expression from John’s lips before.
-
-“I wish I’d slipped my arm around you and told you that long ago. I’ve
-always been proud of your high-strung, sensitive spirit, proud in my own
-heart that we were of the same blood, and I want to ask you to forgive
-me for seeing so little of you and being of so little help to you.”
-
-A sob caught the boy’s breath.
-
-“You’ll let me help you now?” John asked tenderly, extending his hand.
-
-Billy rose trembling, his eyes running over with tears, took a step
-toward the door, turned and threw himself into John’s arms, sobbing
-bitterly.
-
-The older brother held him close for a moment in silence, and slowly
-said at last:
-
-“Now tell me.”
-
-“I was at Judge Butler’s that night!”
-
-John sank to a chair with a groan.
-
-“My God! I knew it!”
-
-“But, of course, you know that I had nothing to do with any attack on a
-man in whose house I was a guest,” he went on rapidly. “The whole thing
-is a horrible mystery to us all. Every man in our crowd was in the
-ballroom dancing.”
-
-“How did you know that?” John interrupted sharply.
-
-“Because I counted them as they entered.”
-
-“_You_ counted them?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“Then you were in command of the crowd?” Billy hesitated a moment, and
-said:
-
-“Yes!”
-
-John drew a deep breath and turned his head away in anguish.
-
-“I could not resist the temptation to lead them. I wanted to see
-inside the old house again--you understand. I never dreamed of anything
-happening.”
-
-“None of the boys were drinking?”
-
-“No, and there wasn’t a fool among them--they were all my chums and
-friends in town.”
-
-“Then go at once and tell them that I say to put a thousand miles
-between them and this town in the next forty-eight hours--to Texas if
-possible.”
-
-“Why?” asked Billy with a touch of wounded pride.
-
-“There are a hundred reasons--one is enough. There’s a price on the head
-of the man who committed that crime.”
-
-“My men didn’t do it!”
-
-“Granted. But one of these fine days a white-livered traitor may crawl
-from your Klan and claim his reward of gold or office. You will be
-convicted in ten minutes.”
-
-Billy turned pale, and straightened his boyish figure.
-
-“Well, I’ll tell my men to go. I’ll not run.”
-
-“You can serve your men best by going. The bravest general always knows
-when to retreat.”
-
-“I’ll stand my ground.”
-
-“You must go. I can fight for you better with a thousand miles between
-us. I’ll play a trick on my Yankee friends this time. I’m going to send
-you North into the enemy’s country--to college.”
-
-Billy was trembling now with a new excitement. His heart was set on a
-college career and he hadn’t as yet hoped to find the way.
-
-“How will you do it?” he asked eagerly.
-
-“Old Nickaroshinski will take my note. I’ll borrow the money.”
-
-The boy smiled for the first time in a month.
-
-“Oh! John, you’ve taken a load off my soul.”
-
-John’s hand crushed the letter from Stella, which he was unconsciously
-grasping in his pocket.
-
-“And you’ve piled one on my soul under which I’ll stagger to the grave,”
- he cried within, outwardly answering with a smile and warm grip of the
-hand as he said:
-
-“Quick now, boy. Don’t lose a minute. There will be some heart-broken
-mothers in town tomorrow night. There’s but one choice: the plains of
-the West, or a prison pen.”
-
-“I’ll go at once,” Billy cried, seizing his hat and hastily leaving.
-
-Pale and haggard, John slowly returned to his office. He looked at his
-watch. It was five minutes to three. Stella was waiting to receive him.
-He could hear the low sweet tones of her voice greeting him, and see her
-great brown eyes smiling their welcome.
-
-But his mind was made up. Safety lay in flight. He wrote a brief reply
-to her letter.
-
-_My dear Miss Butler:_
-
-_I thank you for the honour you do me in the request you make. I regret
-that I cannot see my way clear at present to accept your offer. I
-have many reasons, and I beg you to believe that they are very serious
-ones--otherwise I would hasten to answer in person your call._
-
-_With sincere regrets,_
-
-_John Graham_
-
-Stella received the note with mingled surprise and rage, and immediately
-wired the Attorney General in the cipher code he had given her asking
-for the assistance for two months of the best detective the Secret
-Service could command.
-
-General Champion replied within two hours. “Mr. Ackerman leaves here
-to-night. He will report to you in Independence to-morrow.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV--ACKERMAN SECURES A PLEDGE
-
-
-ACKERMAN sent to Stella his letter of introduction from the Attorney
-General, stating that he would call the following day and report
-progress.
-
-General Champion’s letter had raised the highest hopes by the
-declaration that the young detective had developed a well defined and
-intelligent theory on which to conduct the prosecution of the case.
-
-Stella awaited his call impatiently. She had pictured the ideal
-detective of romance and could not conceal her amazement at his personal
-appearance when she extended her hand to greet him.
-
-His voice was soft and low as her own, his face wreathed in smiles--and
-such a face!--plump, rosy cheeked, young, fresh and boyish, save for
-the slightest touch of gray in the dark hair about his temples. His eye
-alone, to the close student of men, might have revealed his profession.
-It looked a steady blaze of light from beneath straight intellectual
-brows.
-
-“You had better understand at once, Miss Butler,” he began, “that I am
-a prosperous young business man from the North at present engaged in the
-organisation of cotton mills in the South.”
-
-Stella could not repress a smile, as she said:
-
-“I must say you look the part.”
-
-“I have engaged board at Mrs. Wilson’s and asked Mr. John Graham to act
-as my attorney in the organisation of a company in this county.”
-
-“I see,” she cried, for the first time catching the steady light of
-Ackerman’s eye.
-
-“I cannot be seen in conference with you. We will report to each other
-by letter. But we must clearly understand each other. Am I right that
-you mean to press this case to the bitter end, let the blow fall on whom
-it may?”
-
-“Certainly,” was the firm answer.
-
-“I learn from the Attorney General’s office that you are on the track of
-the man who is Commander-in-chief of the Klan in this state?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“Pardon another question. I must know if you are in dead earnest? I have
-found that women have little tenacity of purpose in such cases and as a
-rule cannot be depended on.”
-
-“I’ll show you that they are not all alike!” Stella broke in angrily.
-
-“Then may I ask that if you succeed in securing this name that you will
-place it in my hands without a moment’s delay?”
-
-“At once.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V--IN THE TOILS
-
-STELLA determined to make one more direct appeal to John Graham before
-resorting to indirect subterfuges for the purpose of meeting him.
-
-She wrote half a dozen letters and tore them up. They lacked simplicity.
-The only effective appeal to this man must disarm all suspicion of
-subtlety. It must be natural, sincere and ring true. She found it a
-very difficult thing to express in cold written words one thing and mean
-another, and yet preserve the ring of truth and sincerity. At last she
-wrote a letter which seemed to be effective. She read it over and over,
-and added to the paper the faintest touch of delicate perfume, an old
-extract of sweet pinks, which she had used the night of their meeting.
-She laid it aside and waited an hour to carefully read it again. It
-was too important to risk a failure. Should he once suspect an ulterior
-purpose of any kind her plan must end in utter defeat. She spent an hour
-walking through the lawn, returned and read again the letter.
-
-It seemed cold, stiff and artificial, and the touch of perfume obvious
-and vulgar. It lacked the magnetism of personality. She had no power
-to convey this as yet in words. She must see him face to face, hold him
-with the deep charm of her great eyes, and enfold him with the spell of
-her beauty.
-
-“I must see him,” she cried--“or I’ll fail! If I can only touch his
-hand, stand by his side and look into his face, I’ll win.”
-
-She walked to the window and stood thoughtful a moment. Suddenly her
-eyes lighted.
-
-“I’ll do it! I’ll go to his dingy office and ask for his services as any
-other client. Why not? His sign is a standing invitation to the world.
-How stupid of me to be wasting paper!”
-
-In five minutes she was on the way. Her dress was a simple girlish
-pattern of green dimity. A quaint bonnet of the period, flaring wide and
-high in front, its tiny circular crown tilted, with ribbon tied under
-her dainty chin, made a picture no artist could pass without a sigh.
-
-She stopped before the wrought-iron weatherbeaten sign which hung from
-the doorway leading up a flight of stairs to the young lawyer’s office.
-Her heart fluttered with a moment of uncertainty as she felt herself
-standing on the threshold of the most daring step of her life. The plain
-gold letters of the sign held her with a strange fascination:
-
-                   JOHN GRAHAM
-
-               ATTORNEY AND COUNSELLOR
-
-                        AT LAW
-
-She had never noticed this piece of plain black iron before, and yet
-somehow it seemed a part of the record of her deep inner life, and, as
-it moved, gently stirred by the soft breezes of a Southern day, creaking
-on the rod from which it hung, the sound thrilled her with a feeling
-of strange terror. She turned quickly away, her heart pounding with
-excitement, and began to retrace her steps.
-
-She walked a block, stopped, flushed red, frowned and turned on her
-heels.
-
-“I’ll not be a silly coward. I’ll not look back again until it’s done.”
-
-This time she walked firmly up the stairs and gently knocked on his
-door.
-
-John had just finished his business with Nickaroshinski.
-
-The old Jew had accepted his personal note unsecured by any endorsement
-for the money needed to send Billy north to college. He sat in brooding
-silence, idly holding between his fingers the paper on which he had
-recorded the memorandum of his new indebtedness. He was not worrying
-over his ability to pay--of that he felt sure. Butler had answered his
-suit by removing the order of his disbarment on Larkin’s advice the day
-of the County Convention. His practice gave promise of a comfortable
-living.
-
-It was Billy’s flight, which was arranged for the following day, that
-had focussed his thoughts on the miserable tragedy which had raised
-still another barrier between him and his possible approach to Stella.
-
-The knock on his door had not interrupted the train of his thought. He
-was looking through his window into the deep blue of the infinite skies,
-and linking in fancy the mysteries of their changing lights to those
-which flashed from the fathomless depths of the eyes of the woman he
-loved.
-
-He had mechanically answered the knock without moving and still sat
-wide-eyed and dreaming when the rustle of Stella’s dress and the echo of
-her soft footfall startled him.
-
-He turned in amazement, stared, suddenly sprang to his feet, his face
-flushed with excitement. Surely he was asleep--dreaming! Or had the
-picture in his soul suddenly stepped from the infinite into the flesh
-and blood of the finite in answer to the yearning call of his heart! A
-hundred wild thoughts swept his imagination in the brief moment before
-he could speak.
-
-“I fear I’ve startled you!” she said, drawing back with a timid gesture.
-
-“Why, why--it’s you--Miss Butler! I hadn’t dreamed of seeing you in this
-dingy office!”
-
-He stammered and hesitated, and continued to gaze at her in confusion.
-
-“May I sit down?” she asked softly.
-
-“I beg a thousand pardons,” he answered, springing across the room for a
-chair. He dumped a pile of law books from it--brushed the dust from the
-bottom and placed it before her.
-
-“Believe me,” he went on, “I was so astonished at seeing you, I thought
-I must have fallen asleep--you see it was too beautiful to be true--I
-thought it must be a dream.”
-
-“Well, there was nothing left but to humble myself and call on you--you
-refused to call on me.”
-
-“I can never tell you how sorry I was to have to write that note,” he
-said gravely.
-
-“I’m glad, for I refuse to take your letter as final. You said there
-were many and serious reasons why you could not act as my counsel. I’ve
-come to hear them.”
-
-“I assure you they are serious enough, Miss Butler. I fear it will not
-be possible for me to state them.”
-
-“Then I refuse to accept them,” she answered with a smile.
-
-John gazed at her, wondering if she could know what havoc her sweet
-appealing smile was playing with his resolutions.
-
-He tried to speak and couldn’t.
-
-Stella continued, her voice low and musical with childlike tenderness:
-
-“I know that my father was your political foe, but he had the
-profoundest respect for your ability and your high sense of honour.
-His death will doubtless remain one of the unexplained tragedies of the
-troubles through which the country is now passing.”
-
-She rose and slowly approached John’s chair, her great brown eyes
-blinding him with their light as she gently laid a white hand on his
-shoulder.
-
-He started at her touch.
-
-“Mr. Graham,” she said, with exquisite tenderness, “life is too short to
-cherish its bitter feuds.”
-
-“Yes,” he answered in a whisper barely audible.
-
-“I am utterly alone and distressed over business affairs I do not
-understand. I have implicit faith in you. I need your help and advice.
-Will you refuse me what you would grant without question to a stranger
-who would call at this office and ask?”
-
-John flushed and fumbled his hands nervously.
-
-“Come, you will accept, will you not?” She extended her hand. “Shall we
-be friends?”
-
-He trembled for a moment and his own hand resistlessly sought hers.
-
-“Yes!” he cried with deep emotion, unconsciously crushing her hand in
-his.
-
-“You will come to-morrow morning to the house and go over the papers
-with me?”
-
-“To-morrow afternoon,” he replied, as a momentary cloud shadowed his
-brow. “I have an important engagement for the morning.” And he thought
-of Billy with a pang.
-
-“Then to-morrow afternoon,” she cried, with a tender smile that lingered
-as a caress long after she had passed from the door.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI--THE TRAIN FOR THE NORTH
-
-ONE by one the boys engaged in the masquerade at the Judge’s the night
-of his death slipped out of Independence from various nearby stations
-and left for the West. An hour before the time for Billy’s train going
-North John went to his room for a chat before saying good-bye. Billy had
-begun to unpack his trunk.
-
-John seized his arm.
-
-“What’s this--what’s the matter?”
-
-“I’m not going!” he snapped.
-
-“Why not?”
-
-“I’ve found out that you may be put on trial for your life.”
-
-“Well, what’s that got to do with your education?”
-
-“You’re just packing me off to get me out of danger.”
-
-“Suppose I am?”
-
-“I’m not going to sneak out of trouble and leave you to stand for what
-I’ve done.”
-
-“I’m responsible, my boy.”
-
-“You’re not. You tried to keep me out of it. I got Steve Hoyle to take
-me in. I knew what I was doing. I was a headstrong fool.”
-
-“Because you’ve been a fool is no reason why you should keep it up.
-Don’t talk any more nonsense. Hurry--put your clothes back in that
-trunk--you must catch this train.”
-
-“No!” was the dogged answer.
-
-John put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
-
-“You must do it for me, Billy. I’m trying to make good my failure.
-I ought to have been both father and mother to you. I was neither--I
-didn’t know how--forgive me! I let you slip away. It seems to me now it
-would have been very easy for me to have taken you by the hand, and
-with a jolly word or two and a little pains and a little friendly
-comradeship, I could have kept you out of trouble. I’m heartsick over
-it, boy. You must let me atone in this way. You can do no good by
-staying. You’ll be in the way when trouble comes. You’ll promise me now,
-because I ask you--won’t you?”
-
-The boy choked back a sob.
-
-“I’ll go on one condition----”
-
-“Well?”
-
-“If you get in trouble about this thing, that you’ll let me know.”
-
-John grasped his hand:
-
-“I promise you.”
-
-Mrs. Wilson and Susie accompanied them to the station. As the train
-signalled to pull out Billy shook hands with Susie awkwardly and tried
-to take leave of her mother in the same way, but Mrs. Wilson broke down,
-threw her arms around his neck and sobbed:
-
-“Billy, darling, you’re my own sweet boy--I love you--I love you! You’ll
-write to me every week--won’t you?”
-
-Billy promised, disengaging himself in evident embarrassment and trying
-to hide his tears.
-
-Moved by a sudden impulse Susie smiled, drew Billy’s head down and
-kissed him.
-
-“For the high honour you once paid me. I shall expect great things of
-you, Billy.”
-
-As the train started, he gripped John’s hand:
-
-“Remember, we stand together. We are Grahams--I’ll hold you to your
-promise!”
-
-John saw Ackerman join Susie and caught the sudden flash of his keen
-eye.
-
-He touched his lip in sign of warning to Billy and waved his hand.
-
-“I’ll remember! Good luck!”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII--THE DAUGHTER OF EVE
-
-STELLA had piled on the big oblong oak table in the library the letters
-and legal documents relating to her father’s estate.
-
-She had determined to treat John Graham’s first visit as a purely
-business one, and make her approach to him by the more subtle way of
-child-like dependence on his help and advice.
-
-She wore on purpose the same simple green dimity dress in which she
-had called at his office. Each step in her plans must be taken with the
-utmost care. He had masked his feelings with an iron will and she could
-as yet form no conception of the impression she had made.
-
-Seated beside the table, idly turning the papers, she awaited his coming
-to-night with the keenest interest, every faculty of her being keyed to
-the highest pitch of power.
-
-A letter from Ackerman had aroused anew her curiosity over every detail
-of the murder of her father and had given her a definite purpose toward
-which to work during John’s visit. She studied carefully again the
-paragraph in which he said:
-
-_“I have made several important discoveries in the past twenty-four
-hours. (1) That old Isaac has left the county and is not holding a
-sanctification meeting as he told his wife. (2) That Larkin and your
-father had a violent quarrel on the day of the Convention. (3) That a
-dozen young men, one at a time, have left Independence recently. (4)
-And most important, that the tradition that there is a secret passage
-somewhere into the Graham house must be true. If you can confirm this
-fourth fact for me by its discovery my work will be greatly helped.”_
-
-Stella had quietly ransacked the house from cellar to attic in vain
-searching for this secret way. She had questioned Aunt Julie Ann without
-results, and had made up her mind to gain from John first this important
-fact.
-
-The brass knocker struck three sharp strokes on the front door. With a
-quick, cat-like movement she concealed Ackerman’s letter in her bosom,
-smoothed her dress, and as the young lawyer entered, rose and greeted
-him with a gracious smile.
-
-“I must thank you again for undertaking this work for me,” she said,
-taking his hand. “It is such a relief to feel that it is now in the
-hands of one who understands--one I can trust implicitly.”
-
-“It will be a pleasure if I can serve you,” he answered gravely.
-
-“I have the papers all spread out here ready for you.”
-
-“Pardon me, if I look about the room a moment,” John said with deep
-emotion. “You see I haven’t been in this room before for years. I spent
-many happy hours in it, in the old days.”
-
-“I hope this will not be the last time you will enter, now that we are
-going to be friends. When we have time you must take me all through
-in every nook and corner--show me all the secret closets and dark
-passageways and tell me its history.”
-
-“Yes, of course”--he answered with an absent look.
-
-“I don’t believe you were listening to what I said at all,” she
-exclaimed with mock anger. “A penny for your real thoughts!”
-
-“May I be bold enough to tell you just what I was thinking?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“I was thinking,” he said with a sober smile, “what a beautiful picture
-you make in this old oak panelled room. The delicate lines of your face
-seem at home here as though the master workman who carved the figure in
-that mantel had seen you in a vision while he was at work.”
-
-“What a dreamer you are!” she laughed.
-
-“And you are willing to trust me as a lawyer?”
-
-“Absolutely.”
-
-“Then I must prove myself worthy, mustn’t I?”
-
-“The papers are ready”--she said, bustling about the table and mixing
-the bundles in greater confusion with an attempt at arranging them in
-business order.
-
-John seated himself and began to examine them. She bent over his
-shoulder saying with a light laugh:
-
-“I’ll do my best to explain them--they are all Greek to me--but you’ll
-understand.”
-
-“I’m sure there will be no great difficulty.”
-
-He ran rapidly over the bundles and in half an hour had made memorandums
-of each division of the work before him. He took up one of the packages
-and began its careful reading, but the writing faded. He could hear
-Stella softly breathing as she bent near him and see the beautiful
-little hand resting on the table. He was seized with a mad impulse to
-grasp it and clasp her in his arms. He smiled and placed his hand on his
-forehead a moment lest she might see his confusion. He could endure it
-no longer. He must leave and regain control of himself.
-
-He tied the packages of papers together and rose.
-
-“You are going so soon?” she asked.
-
-“Yes, I’ll take them down to my office. It will require several hours to
-go over them.”
-
-“You will come again to-morrow?” she said softly.
-
-“I’ll report to you again to-morrow evening.”
-
-“I shall expect you at eight,” she said, extending her hand.
-
-He held it unconsciously for an instant, and wondered if she could feel
-the pounding of his heart.
-
-He came each evening for a week and spent two hours in the library with
-Stella until every letter and paper had been thoroughly examined. In
-a hundred little ways she had made him feel the power and charm of
-her personality; in no way so keenly, perhaps, as in the long silences
-during which she sat near with her great brown eyes watching him
-intently. He could feel their deep mysterious light in whatever
-direction he turned. In no other way could she have made so powerful an
-appeal to his imagination. To his poetic fancy, this capacity for silent
-comradeship in a girl so young revealed a depth of character which he
-had not suspected.
-
-The real depth of its meaning he could not dream. The moments of
-exultant triumph, of breathless suspense, of merciless cruelty with
-which she watched him slowly entering the trap she had set, were safely
-concealed beneath the childlike expression of her beautiful face.
-
-Each night he felt his resolution to allow no word of love to pass
-his lips harder and harder to keep. And each night she watched with
-increasing excitement his gradual approach to the brink of the precipice
-to which she silently beckoned.
-
-On the night of his final report when the work was finished, she looked
-at him intently and said: “Now, I’m going to hold you to your promise.”
-
-“And have I broken one?”
-
-“Only forgotten it, I think--you must go over the old house with
-me--every nook and corner. But before we start, come, you are tired,
-I’ve some refreshments for you.”
-
-She led the way into the dining room where she had prepared a dainty
-supper. Aunt Julie Ann in spotless white cap and apron, stood smiling
-her welcome. The table was lighted with a dozen wax candles set in two
-old silver candelabra which had belonged to the Graham family more
-than a hundred years, until they had fallen with the house and its
-furnishings into the Judge’s hands.
-
-Stella seated herself at one end of the table which had been shortened
-to its smallest size and placed John at the other. Her position, the
-lights and the effects of the picture in his imagination, she had
-carefully planned and rehearsed before his arrival. She meant to win
-to-night.
-
-Behind her stood the rich old mahogany sideboard of Colonial pattern,
-the Graham silver flashing in the quaint gold mirror which hung above
-it. In the mirror her own image was clearly reflected. The man opposite
-could look into her face and at the same time see in the shining silvery
-picture above the sideboard the black ringlets of curling hair at the
-back of her neck, as well as the exquisite lines of her figure.
-
-John gazed at her in silent wonder. Never had he seen a picture so
-appealing in its beauty to every sense of his being. He felt that she
-was born to sit at that table amid such surroundings.
-
-She lifted the teapot to fill his cup:
-
-“This little feast is to celebrate the completion of our work.”
-
-“And seal our friendship, may I hope?” he broke in with a smile.
-
-“Yes,” she answered in a whisper.
-
-These soft notes of her voice thrilled the man before her, and his
-whole being quivered in response to their call. He wondered if he could
-conceal the hunger with which he was looking into her eyes.
-
-He had always thought her the most beautiful being he had ever seen, but
-to-night for the first time she had dressed specially to receive him,
-and his imagination had not dreamed the picture--Her beauty fairly
-stunned him.
-
-Her dress was of filmy zephyr-like white chiffon, cut low to show the
-full lines of the neck and shoulders. Around the upper part of her
-beautiful bare arms, where they melted into the shoulders, was drawn a
-scarf of delicate lace. Where it crossed the waist line in V shape, was
-pinned an ivorytype miniature portrait of her proud mother, painted at
-her own age of twenty, which looked so strikingly like the living form
-above, it might have been taken for the image of a twin sister. A sash
-of pink ribbon encircled her figure. The skirt hung in full puffy lines
-draped over a number of under-skirts after the fashion of the period.
-The bottom of the skirt was finished with a border of lace on the top
-of which were set at intervals clusters of little pink roses wrought in
-silk.
-
-Her curly crown of black hair was parted in the middle and drawn low
-on the side of the face in two great waves and tied behind with a
-pink ribbon. The long ends were curled into four strands and thrown
-carelessly around her neck in front and hung to the waist. Her head was
-circled with a tiny wreath of the living pink roses from which the silk
-ones had been modelled. To John’s fancy this wreath against her black
-hair seemed the jewelled crown of a queen set in priceless rubies.
-
-She poured the tea with her bare arm uplifted in a fascinating pose,
-the right arm curved just enough to tilt the teapot and yet preserve the
-dimple at her elbow. In all his life he could not remember an arm like
-these--so graceful, so seductive each little movement, they seemed to
-possess a conscious soul of their own. Her whole being spoke the charm
-of the boundless vitality of youth just budding into perfect womanhood.
-Her delicate skin flashed its tints in harmony with every mood of
-thought in her voice. She had as a divine gift a sensitiveness of
-expression, so acute that it could be controlled by the fierce will
-which hid beneath the velvet surface. She could blush at will because
-her imagination was so vivid that she could direct its powers by a
-subtle process of auto-suggestion.
-
-John had not realised until he saw her eat how wonderful were the lines
-of her luscious lips. He felt that he could sit there forever and
-watch her dainty wrist and tapering fingers lift the cup. Her eyes
-were friendly to-night! They looked at him with dreamy tenderness, a
-childlike trust, and perfect faith.
-
-How could he live through the evening without telling her of his love!
-Yet he must keep silent. He felt with deep foreboding an approaching
-catastrophe which must soon overwhelm the men who had created an Empire
-whose power they could not control. That Empire had left a stain of
-blood on the floor of this house--a stain that must forever darken his
-own life and hers--and yet--how could he give her up?
-
-He rose from the table at her suggestion and followed her in a spell as
-she lifted a silver candlestick above her head and started to explore
-the house.
-
-He found his tongue at last and told her with boyish enthusiasm the
-legends of the old mansion, the associations of each room, and sketched
-with good-humoured criticism the peculiarities of his people. In the
-gallery of the observatory he showed her the spots from which the
-slightest sounds were echoed to the hall below, and explained the
-origin of many of the ghost stories which the Negroes believed with such
-implicit faith.
-
-Stella leaned over the railing and looked down into the hall at the
-chair in which her father had fallen the night of the dance, and a
-curious smile played about her lips.
-
-“And what are you smiling at?” he asked softly.
-
-Without the quiver of an eyelid, either in surprise or recognition of
-the fact that he had caught her in a moment off her guard, she replied:
-
-“I was just wondering if you ever believed in ghosts?”
-
-“Of course,” he laughed.
-
-“Really?”
-
-“Yes. When Aunt Julie Ann used to tell them to me at night in the
-nursery they were vivid and terrible realities.”
-
-“And you’ve laughed away all the romances of childhood now?”
-
-“No,” he answered firmly. “I halfway believe in ghosts still, and the
-old dreams of beauty and love, of honour and truth, seem to me more and
-more the only things in human life that have any value.”
-
-They had returned to the hall. Stella placed the candle on the table and
-sat down on the davenport. John followed her instinctively and seated
-himself by her side.
-
-Suddenly she placed her soft hand on his, exclaiming:
-
-“Oh! There’s one thing we’ve forgotten!” She felt him tremble at her
-touch.
-
-“What?”
-
-“The legend of the secret way--tell me about it--how it originated and
-all--of course, I know it is only a legend. Such things are only found
-in stories.”
-
-John looked at her, with a smile playing about the corners of his mouth.
-
-“You have ceased to believe in romance, ghosts and fairies?”
-
-“I’ll believe it if you tell me,” she said softly.
-
-John took her hand and lifted her from the lounge.
-
-“Have you faith enough to follow me through the dark secret way to-night
-if I can find it for you?”
-
-“Yes!” she whispered, leaning toward him trustingly.
-
-“Then I’m going to do what was never done before--show this secret way
-to one who does not answer to the name of Graham.”
-
-Stella’s bosom rose and fell with deep emotion as she turned her brown
-eyes on John.
-
-“But why not?” he continued. “The house is yours. And I’m haunted with
-the strange fancy that your spirit has lived here before.”
-
-“I have grown to love it,” she said hesitatingly, “in spite of the
-tragedy. It’s strange. I wonder at myself for it.”
-
-John turned toward the panel in the wainscoting whose location he knew
-so well, paused and said:
-
-“I’d better wait and let you change your dress. You’ll soil it against
-the damp narrow walls.”
-
-Stella’s eyes were sparkling now with excitement.
-
-“No matter. I can’t wait a minute. The mystery and romance will be worth
-a dress. Show me the way. I’ll follow.”
-
-“All right,” John answered, as he extended his hand and pressed the
-moulding behind which lay the spring. The panel flew open and a rush of
-cool air took Stella’s breath.
-
-“Heavens!” she exclaimed, clinging suddenly to John’s arm, “why, I had
-no idea it could open here just behind us in the hall!”
-
-He could feel her tremble.
-
-“There’s not the slightest danger--you need not be afraid,” he said,
-tenderly. “Wait, I’ll get the candle and go before you.”
-
-He took the candle from the centre table and entered the passage-way,
-closing the panel.
-
-“Wait, you must hold my hand,” Stella cried timidly.
-
-He took the soft little hand in his with a throb of joy and carefully
-led her down the tiny stairs into the basement, where the passage turned
-between two walls and again descended a half dozen steps to another door
-which led out of the house into the long straight way to the vault.
-
-Trembling with excitement, she clung in silence to his hand as they
-entered the long damp passage. He closed the door suddenly, the sound
-crashing through the narrow walls in a thousand startling echoes.
-
-Stella sprang into his arms, nestling close and whispered:
-
-“Mercy! what was that?”
-
-“Only the door,” he laughed.
-
-“It scared me nearly to death,” she faltered, slowly withdrawing from
-his sheltering protection while she skilfully managed to press her soft
-bare arm against his hand. She felt him tremble, his breath deepen and
-quicken at the touch of her flesh.
-
-“You’re sure there’s no danger?” she asked.
-
-“Not the slightest,” he replied cheerily. “Just one more little surprise
-and we are out in the moonlight on the lawn.”
-
-He led her clinging to his hand along the dark way, holding the
-flickering candle above her head, a hundred mad impulses of love surging
-through his brain.
-
-They stopped at the stoneset door leading into the tomb, and he handed
-her the candle, gently disengaging his other hand. He drew the heavy
-door back, Stella stepped through and he followed close behind her.
-
-She raised the candle high and looked about the vault. With a sudden
-cry, she staggered into his arms gasping:
-
-“Why,--we’re--in--the--vault!”
-
-The candle dropped from her hand and she threw her arm around John’s
-neck clinging to him frantically. Her hold relaxed and her head drooped
-against his breast. He clasped her tenderly for a moment and his lips
-instinctively touched the curling mass of her hair, as he cried in
-agony:
-
-“God help me--I’m lost!”
-
-She revived as quickly as she had collapsed and murmured:
-
-“I was about to faint--quick, let’s get out!”
-
-He led her through the iron grilled door into the moonlit shadows of the
-lawn.
-
-“Oh!” she cried with a gasp of relief. “What a wild experience! I hope I
-didn’t do anything very silly--did I?” she asked dreamily.
-
-“You did just what any little girl of your age might do under such
-conditions,” he replied, gazing at her with deep seriousness. “Come, let
-us find a seat on the lawn and I’ll tell you the story of the vault and
-the secret way.”
-
-He led her to the seat on which he had sunk in despair the night he
-came half-mad with pain to watch the masqueraders whirl past her lighted
-windows.
-
-The full moon wrapped the earth in the white mantle of Southern
-midsummer glory, and the night wind stirred, its breath laden with the
-rich perfume of every flower in full bloom. A katydid was singing a
-plaintive song in the tree above, and in the rose bushes near the porch
-a mocking-bird rehearsed in a burst of mad joy every love song of the
-feathered world.
-
-In low, rapid tones John told her the story of Robert Graham’s great
-love for his Huguenot grandmother and why he built the vault and secret
-way.
-
-She listened and furtively watched him struggling with his emotions.
-
-Suddenly he turned, looked tenderly into her eyes and took her hand.
-
-“After all, Miss Stella, what else matters on earth, when life has once
-been made glorious by a great, deathless love--such a love as that which
-has grown in my own heart for you.”
-
-Stella turned away to hide the flash of triumph with which her face was
-flushed.
-
-“Ah! don’t answer me now,” he rushed on. “I don’t ask it. I only beg the
-privilege of telling you--telling you how you have lifted my soul from
-the shadows of self and hate, and made life radiant and beautiful. I
-dare not hope that you love me yet--that you only hear me is enough.
-That I sit by your side and tell you is all I ask. My love is so deep,
-so full, so rich, so great, it is glory and life and strength within
-itself. I could die to-night and count my life a triumph, because I’ve
-seen you and loved you, and you have heard me. May I tell you all that
-is in my heart?”
-
-He leaned closer and pressed her hand gently.
-
-“Yes,” she whispered. “Why not?”
-
-“I dare not tell you why I pause to ask the question. I’ve sometimes
-thought that an impassable gulf yawned between us. To-night I’ve thrown
-such rubbish to the winds. There’s no gulf so wide, so deep and dark
-the heart of love may not leap it. Nothing matters save that I love you,
-that you smile and hear me!”
-
-“I am honoured in your love,” she answered gently.
-
-“Ah! you can never know how sweet it is to hear that from your dear
-lips. I cannot tell you the madness of the joy that fills me, when
-I realise that I have found in you all I’ve ever dreamed of beauty,
-tenderness and purity. All the songs of life that poets dream and find
-no words in which to sing, I feel within. If you should send me from
-your presence now, I’d laugh at Death for I have tasted Life! To win
-your love is all I ask of this world or the next--You will let me try?”
-
-“Yes,” said the low voice, as she placed her hand again in his.
-
-“Then I must go,” he said, rising and lifting her from the seat--“I’ve
-said enough to-night. I must go before I dare say too much and break the
-spell of joy that holds me.”
-
-At the door he asked.
-
-“I may come again to-morrow?”
-
-“Yes, at eight.”
-
-He bowed and kissed the tips of her fingers.
-
-“I may have something to say to you to-morrow,” she said seriously.
-
-“I shall count the minutes of every hour that separates us.”
-
-She watched the tall figure pass swiftly and joyously along the white
-gravelled moonlit walk, while a paean of fierce joy welled within her
-heart.
-
-“I’ve won--I’ve won, beyond the shadow of a doubt!” she cried,
-exultantly.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII--THE TRACKS AT THE DOOR
-
-WITHIN thirty minutes after Ackerman had received Stella’s message that
-she had found the secret entrance to the house he was waiting for her at
-the door of the vault as she had suggested.
-
-He had entered by the rear wagon road and passed into the shrubbery
-without attracting the attention of the servants.
-
-She showed him the way to the underground passage through the niche
-in the rear of the vault, and in ten minutes Ackerman entered the hall
-through the panel under the stairs.
-
-Stella, who had returned to the house across the lawn, watched the panel
-slowly open at his touch and her eyes gleamed with a cold, hard light as
-she saw reenacted in imagination the tragedy of her father’s death.
-
-The detective made an accurate diagram of the hall, measured carefully
-the distance of the secret door from the chair in which the Judge had
-been found, and reëxamined the ballroom and all its possible exits and
-entrances.
-
-Stella returned to the entrance of the vault and placed a padlock and
-chain on its iron door while Ackerman again entered the underground
-passage and spent two hours alone, making the most minute examinations
-and measurements of every track to be found at any point from the door
-of the vault to the panel in the wainscoting. The work of measurement
-was rendered easy by the accumulation of soft earth in the bottom of the
-underground way from the action of the water which had soaked through
-the brick ceiling and walls.
-
-He discovered the footprints of eleven different men besides the dainty
-mark of Stella’s little shoe made the night before.
-
-He returned to the hall and asked her permission to come from time to
-time and continue his study of the grounds.
-
-“Certainly,” she answered eagerly. “And your discoveries?”
-
-“Confirm so far my theory of the crime,” he answered quickly. “The
-assassins undoubtedly entered the house by this secret passage,
-committed the crime and passed quickly out without discovery. I did not
-know who was with you last night, but he has been there at least once
-before within the past few weeks.”
-
-“Is it possible!” Stella exclaimed.
-
-“I find,” he continued, “that he merely took a single step inside the
-door leading from the vault into the underground passage as if he were
-showing the way to others who traversed the entire length.”
-
-Stella’s red lips were suddenly pressed tight and Ackerman watched her
-keenly.
-
-“This may mean something or it may mean nothing. It all depends on what
-night he stepped inside the door.”
-
-“I see,” she said cautiously.
-
-“Other facts I have found are of significance,” he went on. “I have
-located Mr. Isaac A. Postle, and learned from him two startling things.
-First that he encountered John Graham at the gate on the night of the
-murder--collided with him, he declares, as he was running from the
-masked men who had just galloped past his cottage.”
-
-The girl smothered a cry.
-
-“He also says that later in the evening, just before the murder
-occurred, he passed by the front door and saw John Graham seated on a
-rustic bench in the shadows watching the house.”
-
-“It’s horrible--it’s horrible!” Stella murmured. “The two statements
-contradict each other. Uncle Isaac is lying at some point of his story.
-If he ran for his life from the masqueraders he certainly would not have
-returned to the house in thirty minutes while they were still there.
-Until I can find the motive for that lie his story must be taken with a
-large grain of salt. In the meantime if you can confirm for me his
-statement that Graham was here on that night you will do me a service.”
-
-“Within a week I’ll tell you,” she replied, the strange cold light
-flashing again from her eyes.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX--A TEST OF STRENGTH
-
-IN TAKING leave of Ackerman Stella went immediately to her room to
-select her dress and plan her campaign for John Graham’s reception in
-the evening.
-
-A feeling of reaction depressed her. The passionate warmth and
-tenderness of his love remained a haunting memory. A sense of loneliness
-crept into her heart. She began to see that she was playing a
-desperate game with the great stake of a human life as the issue. The
-consciousness of its possible tragedy began to be dimly felt. She sat
-staring idly at the gowns she had piled on the big tester bed without
-being able to make a selection.
-
-“I’ve begun a daring task,” she mused. “The wit and beauty of a girl of
-twenty against the iron will and personality of a man of genius. A man
-just entering his thirtieth year, who has looked Death in the face on
-the field of battle and dared defy the power of the Government that has
-crushed him. Can I win?”
-
-The closer she had drawn to John Graham in their intimate daily
-association the more impossible seemed the idea that such a man could
-have murdered her father or known of such a crime. And yet the closer
-each day drew the net of circumstantial evidence about him and the
-fiercer grew her determination to demand the life of the murderer.
-
-What had surprised her most of all in his character was the spirit of
-eternal youth within him--youth strong, fresh, buoyant and throbbing
-with poetic ideals. At first she had thought him sombre and morose, yet
-in his presence she could never imagine him more than twenty years of
-age. In many of his little ways and moods she found him more boy than
-man. And she must acknowledge the truth--she had begun to think of his
-possible death as a criminal with a pang of regret.
-
-She rose and studied her beautiful figure in her mirror until self and
-pride once more filled the universe.
-
-“Bah! What to me is the life of the man who struck my father dead at my
-feet! I’ll amuse myself by playing the game of love with him for a week,
-and then for the master-stroke. I’ll watch him as a cat a mouse, and
-when I’m ready, strike to kill. If he had no mercy, I shall have none.”
-
-John found her in a mood of elusive girlishness. When he begged her to
-remember her parting words, the half-pledged promise of a message for
-which he waited, she only laughed and fenced.
-
-She allowed him to call each afternoon and evening for a week until
-he was drunk with the joy of her presence--until the sense of personal
-intimacy and the growing consciousness of comradeship had made his will
-obedient to her slightest whim. It amused her to watch the growth of
-his powers of intuition, born of this daily life, which enabled him to
-anticipate her wishes.
-
-For the man, these days were as water to the lips of a thirsty dreamer.
-In the heart of the girl, who studied his every movement with deep
-sinister purpose, there had grown a cruel joy in the consciousness of
-the tyranny she wielded over a powerful human life.
-
-Toward the end of the week he began to beg her tenderly for a single
-word of love. At last she promised him an answer on the evening
-following, and forbade his afternoon call. She knew the effect of his
-longer absence would be to give her greater power. At last she was sure
-that the hour had struck toward which she had moved with such infinite
-pains, the hour of his complete surrender and his utter trust, when she
-had but to breathe her wish to know the guarded secrets of the Klan and
-they would be whispered into her ear without a moment’s hesitation.
-
-She had planned to lead him to the seat amid the shadows of the trees
-near the house from which Isaac said he had watched the dance the night
-of the tragedy, and if possible gain both important secrets at once.
-
-She again selected the low cut white chiffon she wore the night he had
-declared his love.
-
-Maggie’s keen eyes watched her dress with a care never shown before. The
-little black maid flashed her white teeth more than once behind her back
-as she observed the delicate yet sure art with which, by a touch here
-and there, her mistress managed to suggest with unusual daring the
-physical charms of her extraordinary beauty. When the task was finished
-and she surveyed her form in her mirror with a look of proud content,
-Maggie laughed:
-
-“You sho’ is trying ter kill ’im to-night!”
-
-“Maggie, how dare you suggest such a thing!”
-
-“De Laws a mussy, Miss Stella, I des mean dat you’se de purtiest thing
-in de whole worl’ an’ he gwine drap dead quick as he sees ye!”
-
-“That will do, Maggie,” she said severely.
-
-“Yassum.”
-
-But in spite of her severity, the mistress smiled at the maid, and
-Maggie burst into a fit of laughter. When at length it subsided, she
-stood with wide staring worshipful eyes gazing at Stella entranced.
-
-“Ef I could look lak dat, Miss Stella, I’d let ‘em bile me in ile, roast
-me on a red-hot stove and peel me!”
-
-“You are breaking the Ten Commandments, Maggie.”
-
-“Yassum, I’d bust a hundred commandments ef I could look lak you.”
-
-“I accept the compliment, if I can’t commend your morals.”
-
-“Yassum.”
-
-A sudden flash of lightning revealed the clouds of a rapidly approaching
-summer storm.
-
-Stella frowned.
-
-“It’s going to storm,” she said, fretfully,
-
-“Yassum, but he’ll come.”
-
-The mistress laughed in spite of herself.
-
-“I’m not worrying about his coming, Maggie.”
-
-“Nobum, you needn’t worry. He swim er river ef he couldn’t git here no
-odder way--dar he is now!”
-
-His familiar knock echoed through the hall and the maid hastened to open
-the door.
-
-When Stella stood before him, John seized both her hands and looked into
-her deep eyes with silent rapture.
-
-“How glorious you are to-night!” he whispered passionately.
-
-She made no answer save the sensitive smile of triumph which lighted her
-face and quivered through her form.
-
-“I meant to find a seat on the lawn to-night, but it’s going to rain.”
-
-“Yes, I ran, to get here first,” he cried with boyish enthusiasm--“It’s
-raining now, but the old davenport under the stairs is cosey on a rainy
-night.”
-
-She looked at the panel door and hesitated.
-
-“You’re not afraid of ghosts from below I hope?” he laughed.
-
-“No, I’ve locked the iron door,” she announced soberly, taking her seat
-by his side.
-
-With a vivid flash of lightning followed by a crash of thunder the storm
-broke, the big raindrops mixed with hail rattling furiously against the
-windows.
-
-Stella nestled closer to his side, and John turned his swarthy, eager
-face toward her.
-
-“Now, while the storm roars,” he whispered, “and shuts out the world,
-drawing us closer together--so close I feel that there is no world
-beyond the touch of your hand and the music of your voice--won’t you
-tell me what my heart is starving to hear?”
-
-“Do you realise what it means for a girl to say to a man, ‘I love you?’”
- she asked slowly.
-
-“I do,” was the quick answer.
-
-“In all its depths?”
-
-“Yes. It means the utter surrender of soul and body or it means
-nothing!”
-
-“And yet, you ask that I say it?”
-
-“I know that I’m not worthy, but Love has always dared to claim its own,
-soul crying to soul, mate calling to mate--I love you! I love you!
-Ah! The story is old as the throb of life, yet always new and full of
-wonder. I know it’s too much to ask, yet I dare to ask it.”
-
-“There should be no shadows between those who thus love, should there?”
- she asked with a far-away dreamy look as if his burning words had caught
-her spirit in their spell.
-
-“No,” he answered, solemnly. “A thousand times I’ve longed to tell you
-how tender was my sympathy for you in the tragedy that threw its shadow
-across your young life in this hall a few months ago.”
-
-“And yet you didn’t,” she said reproachfully, studying him keenly and
-furtively, with her head bowed as if in grief for the memory of her
-father.
-
-“How could I without hypocrisy? The Judge and I had been uncompromising
-enemies. Could I tear my heart open and let the vulgar world see the
-deep secret of my love for you?”
-
-“You loved me then?” she broke in with surprise.
-
-“From the moment you crossed this old hall the night I met you.”
-
-Loved me when you refused to answer my appeal in person the day I wrote
-you?”
-
-“I refused because I loved you.”
-
-She looked at him a moment with a feeling of sudden fear. For the first
-time she realised with a shock that her imperious will to master his
-life was not the only force at work. The shadowy figure of Fate stood
-grim and silent before her.
-
-“The man who wins my heart,” she said firmly, “can hold no
-reservations--he must be all mine, body and soul. He asks as much of me.
-I demand the same. Are you ready to place your life in my hands as I am
-asked to place mine in yours?”
-
-“Without reservation,” he answered.
-
-“I must be frank with you,” she said, turning her eyes appealingly on
-him. “Since the awful night I saw my father sitting dead in that chair
-with those masked figures, white, silent and terrible behind me, I have
-had a morbid curiosity mingled with terror for everything and everyone
-connected with the Klan. I have heard that you are a member?”
-
-John suddenly knelt before her and took her hand.
-
-“Here on my knees before you and before God--and when I am before you I
-am in the presence of God!--I call the spirit of the dead back on the
-wings of this storm to-night into this hall to witness when I swear to
-you that I am innocent of any knowledge of his death!”
-
-“And there shall be not one shadow between us?
-
-“Not one. Every secret of my life shall be laid bare before I’d dare
-claim you as my wife. I only beg to-night one word of love from your
-dear lips. You believe me when I swear to you, on my honour, my life, my
-love that I am innocent?”
-
-“Yes, I believe and trust you!”
-
-He bowed and kissed her fingers reverently.
-
-“And now you must show that you trust me before I speak,” she went on
-dreamily--“you are in reality the Chief of the Klan in North Carolina,
-are you not?”
-
-John’s hand trembled, his lips quivered, and a look of mortal anguish
-overspread his face.
-
-“Please don’t ask me that yet?” he begged. “You are afraid to trust me?”
- she said reproachfully.
-
-“I trust you implicitly,” he cried, pressing her hand, “but do not ask me
-now!”
-
-“The hands of Southern women made those white and scarlet costumes,” she
-persisted. “May I not share at least one of its secrets with them?”
-
-“Remember that conditions have changed!” he urged--“A price is set on
-the head of every member of the Klan. The South now swarms with
-spies--the Government is straining every nerve to learn the secrets of
-the order--have I the right even to breathe the name of the Klan while
-another’s life may hang on my word?”
-
-“I see,” she cried with scorn, rising. “The daughter of a murdered
-‘Scalawag’ judge may not be trusted as other loyal women of the proud
-old aristocratic South!”
-
-“Please, I beg of you----”
-
-“You may go!” she said proudly.
-
-And without another word she quickly turned, ascended the stairs and
-disappeared.
-
-John stood for a moment blind and dumb with pain, mechanically took his
-hat and slowly passed through the door and out into the black, raging
-storm.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X--BEHIND BOLTED DOORS
-
-JOHN GRAHAM fought his way home heedless of the storm’s blinding fury.
-The hurricane without was but a zephyr to the one which raged within
-his own soul. Again and again he asked himself the question why Stella
-should have demanded of him such a confession.
-
-He had instantly resented it. Perhaps he had scented danger. And yet it
-was preposterous to think the girl he worshipped could have desired this
-dangerous knowledge to be used against him.
-
-Ackerman in discussing his mill projects in the office during the
-afternoon had asked him a number of irritating questions about the Klan
-which he had skilfully parried. His mind was over-sensitive and sore
-perhaps from this annoyance. Ackerman could have nothing to do with
-Stella--they were not even passing acquaintances.
-
-From every point of view he tested the problem of her possible design
-to use this knowledge and found it preposterous. There was but one
-reasonable explanation. She had found with her keen woman’s intuition
-the one weak spot in his mental attitude toward her. Yes, it was true.
-He loved her with passionate devotion, but he had not fully trusted her.
-She had discovered it. Had she not thus revealed the true state of her
-own heart? She must love him. Otherwise this keen sensitiveness to his
-moods would not be possible. The thought was sweet in spite of his agony
-over their break. After all she was right, proud little queen of his
-heart, to demand his loyal faith! Should he yield to her this perilous
-secret of his own life? Would he thus endanger those with whom he had
-been associated in the daring task of saving the civilisation of the
-South in the blackest hour of her history?
-
-While the battle thus raged in his soul he reached his room, removed
-his drenched clothing and replaced them with dry ones. He walked to
-his window and looked out on the spluttering street lamp across the way
-struggling to hold its tiny flame against the storm and wondered why
-he had dressed again. He should have gone to bed. And then the dawning
-sense of loss and misery crushed him. He sank into a chair and watched
-the rain dash against the glass and stream down the sides of the window,
-his heart aching in dumb agony.
-
-“My God!” he cried at last, “I can’t live without her! She loves me, and
-I must win her!”
-
-The memory of her cold words as she ordered him from the house came
-crashing back into his heart with sinister echoes. Never had he seen a
-human being so transformed by anger--eyes that a moment before had held
-him enraptured with their tender light had flashed cold points of steel.
-Hands, soft and warm and full of velvet feeling, had closed in rage as
-the claws of a tigress!
-
-Suppose she refused to see him again? It was unthinkable. He seemed to
-have lived a century within the weeks since she had called him to her
-side. The life which had gone before grew dim. Four years of war and two
-years of daring secret revolution as a leader of the Invisible Empire
-faded from his consciousness. Only a great love remained, and those days
-by her side seemed to hold the full measure of his life.
-
-He undressed and went to bed, only to roll and toss hour after hour
-without sleep.
-
-He saw the first gray light of dawn with a sense of utter desolation.
-The rain had ceased an hour before. Swift flying clouds and swaying
-tree-tops heralded the coming of a clear, beautiful day. He determined
-to write at once and beg to see her. In a moment his mind was on fire
-with his passionate plea. As the sun rose, reflecting through scurrying
-clouds its scarlet and purple glory, he hastily dressed, sat down at
-his table and poured out his anguish in burning words of tenderness and
-love. He read it over with renewed hope. Never had he expressed himself
-so well. The letter was a living thing. No woman’s hand could touch it
-without feeling its vital power. An immortal soul beat within it.
-
-He had added the last line of a postscript begging her to name an early
-hour at which he might call, and sat in dull moody reverie unconscious
-of the flight of time.
-
-A gentle knock on his door roused him. He opened it and stared blankly
-at Susie’s gentle face.
-
-“I trust you’re not sick, Mr. John,” she said. “Everybody is through
-breakfast. I’ve kept yours warm.”
-
-“Thank you, Miss Susie. I’ve only a little headache. I won’t eat any
-breakfast. I’ve important work at the office. I’m going down at once.”
-
-As he passed her at the head of the stairs she said with a wistful look:
-
-“Mama says she heard you stirring all night. If I can help you, won’t
-you let me?”
-
-“Yes, little comrade, I will. I’ll let you know,” he answered, swinging
-quickly down the stairs and out the front door.
-
-He found a boy on the street and sent him to Stella with his letter. He
-stood at his office door and watched him until out of sight and counted
-the minutes until he reappeared. He had paid him a dime on dispatching
-the letter and promised to double it if he came back in a hurry. Fifteen
-minutes later he smiled as he saw the boy coming in a run, his swift
-bare feet making the dirt fly in the middle of the street.
-
-“I knew it! Of course, she will see me!” he exclaimed as he bounded up
-his stairs two rounds at a jump. He gave the astonished boy a quarter
-instead of another dime, hurried into his office, and slammed the door.
-He felt the weight of the letter with faint misgivings. It was large
-to have been written so quickly. Yet it was addressed with her own dear
-hand. He tore it open, and from his trembling fingers dropped his own
-letter with the seal unbroken. Not a line from her. Her meaning could
-not be misunderstood. She could have offered him no deeper insult. He
-sank to his seat with a groan and sat for an hour in a stupor of wounded
-pride. “I won’t accept such an answer from her!” he cried bitterly. “And
-I won’t stand on ceremony.”
-
-He walked down the street to the gate of the driveway of the Graham
-house, hoping he might find Aunt Julie Ann at her cottage. The door was
-closed and he could get no response to his knock. He looked longingly at
-the old house shining with its snow white doors and windows against the
-dark fresh green of the rain-soaked trees, and thought with a pang of
-his quarrel over its possession. What did houses matter if the heart was
-sick unto death! The humblest Negro cabin would be a palace if only her
-face would shine from the doorway!
-
-He felt himself drawn toward her with resistless force and before he
-realised what he was doing his hand was on the brass knocker and its
-echoes were ringing through the hall.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann shook her head as she ushered him in.
-
-“I wish ye hadn’t come, marse John,” she said sorrowfully.
-
-“Why not?”
-
-“She shut hersef up in de room an’ won’t let nobody come in. I creep
-up to de door, and hear her cryin’ sof’ an’ low. I knock an’ she didn’
-answer. I knock again an’ calls her sweet names an’ ax her please lemme
-do sumfin for her. She jump up an’ stamp her foot an’ say she kill me
-ef I doan’ leave her ’lone. I’se skeered of her, honey, she ain’t lak our
-folks. When de old Boy’s in her lak it is ter day she talks jes lak de
-Judge. When she laughs an’ plays an’ looks purty as an angel her voice
-jest like her Ma’s, low an’ sweet.”
-
-“Tell her I’m here and wish to see her”--John interrupted with
-impatience.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann shook her head again:
-
-“You better not honey!”
-
-“I must see her. Try!”
-
-John stood at the foot of the stairs nervously fumbling his hat while
-Aunt Julie Ann climbed to the floor and knocked on her door.
-
-He listened breathlessly for her answer. The key clicked in the lock and
-Stella opened it wide enough to be distinctly heard. Her voice rang cold
-and clear:
-
-“Tell Mr. Graham to leave this house instantly and never enter it
-again!”
-
-The door closed and the bolt flashed into its place again.
-
-John’s face flushed red, the colour slowly fading as his strong jaws
-snapped with new determination.
-
-“In spite of the devil, I’ll win her yet!”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI--A VOICE IN WARNING
-
-TWO days passed without a word of hope for John. On the third morning
-after his dismissal by Stella he sat pale and listless at breakfast,
-scarcely tasting his food, while Susie watched his drawn face with keen
-sympathetic eyes. An hour later she entered his office.
-
-“You promised to let me help you,” she said quietly. “I have come.”
-
-He looked at her a moment and wondered why he had never before seen her
-striking beauty. A tall figure with exquisite sylph like lines, a serene
-and perfectly moulded face with straight, thoughtful brows shadowing the
-tenderest gray-blue eyes, and a crown of luxuriant auburn blonde hair.
-
-He caught at once the sincere sympathy of her mood, as he pressed her
-hand.
-
-“I never saw you so beautiful, Miss Susie, or your face so sweet and
-restful.”
-
-She blushed and looked out the window.
-
-“I can’t tell you how I thank you for coming. I think we must have been
-brother and sister in some other world before this.”
-
-The corners of the girl’s lips twitched and she turned her tender eyes
-full on John’s.
-
-“You are in love with Stella?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“And she has rejected you?”
-
-“No, we have quarrelled and she refuses to see me or read my letters.”
-
-“She loves you?”
-
-“I’ve hoped so, I don’t know. She lets me feel it without words.”
-
-“We are friends, what can I do?”
-
-“See her and beg her for God’s sake to let me call, at least to read my
-letters. Will you go to-day?”
-
-“Immediately.”
-
-“Thank you,” he cried, again tenderly pressing her hand. “You must have
-loved too, Miss Susie.”
-
-“Perhaps I have,” was the soft reply. “Write your message and I’ll take
-it.”
-
-John seated himself and hastily wrote:
-
-_My dear Stella:_
-
-_From the bottom of a heart crushed with anguish I ask your pardon for
-my lack of faith. Your pride was right. Give me a chance and I will show
-you what the trust of perfect love means for me. I await from you the
-words of life or death._
-
-_John Graham_.
-
-Susie promised to return at once with her answer.
-
-She knocked at the door of the old Graham house with a strange conflict
-raging in her own breast. She hoped to succeed for the sake of the
-aching heart of the man she had left, and yet mingled with the fear of
-failure was the half-mad wish that Stella might reject his plea.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann’s face was troubled as she greeted Susie.
-
-“Tell Miss Stella, that I’m very sorry to learn of her illness and I
-trust she can see me a moment.”
-
-“Yassum, I tell her--but I’se feard she ain’t well enough.”
-
-Aunt Julie Ann returned immediately, smiling.
-
-“She say come right up to her room, Miss Susie.”
-
-Susie was shocked to note the change-in the beautiful young face lying
-still and pale against the white pillow.
-
-“I’m sorry to find you so ill!”
-
-“Yes, I suppose I have nerves,” she said, smiling wanly. “I didn’t know
-it before. I think some of them must have snapped--but I’m better now.
-I’ll get up this afternoon.”
-
-“I’ve something that will help you, if you will take it.”
-
-Stella’s brow clouded, and her eyes, wide and cold, assumed a sinister
-half-mad expression.
-
-“You have a message from Mr. Graham?”
-
-“How did you guess it?”
-
-“He has tried every other possible way. I wondered if he would stoop to
-this.”
-
-“Stoop!--what do you mean?”
-
-“To use you for such a purpose.”
-
-“And why not?”
-
-“You ask that of me?” The great brown eyes pierced Susie’s soul.
-
-“Certainly.”
-
-“Then it’s all right,” she said with a light laugh. “You must receive
-his message,” Susie said. “You’ve won the heart of the noblest man I
-have ever known--a great, beautiful, measureless love. Don’t turn away
-from it--you may not know its like again.”
-
-The full lips smiled curiously.
-
-“I’ve brought you a letter from him--you must read it.”
-
-Susie pressed the letter into Stella’s hand and turned away to the
-window. She heard the rattle of the paper as it was opened and refolded,
-and walked back to the bedside. Before she could ask Stella’s answer,
-her eye rested on a letter in Ackerman’s handwriting, lying open on
-the white covering. She started violently but managed to suppress an
-exclamation. Only that morning she had received herself a letter from
-the young Northerner declaring his love in simple, honest fashion. She
-couldn’t believe her eyes at first, but a second look convinced her
-of its reality. What puzzled her still more was to observe beside this
-letter a sheet of paper on which was drawn the diagram of the hall
-with the minute accuracy of an architect’s plan, with Ackerman’s notes
-interlining it.
-
-“What shall I say?” she stammered in confusion.
-
-Stella looked at her with a momentary start, smiled and answered:
-
-“Tell Mr. Graham I have received and read his letter. I’ll think it over
-this evening and reply to-morrow.”
-
-“Then I’ll go,” said Susie, taking her hand. “I’m so glad I saw you.”
-
-As she turned through the door her eye again was drawn irresistibly to
-Ackerman’s letter. She returned to John Graham’s office stunned by this
-puzzling discovery.
-
-John was bitterly disappointed in the message she brought. Her long
-stay had raised in him the highest hope. His own surrender had been so
-complete and generous, that he could not conceive it possible that she
-would debate in cold blood for twenty-four hours the question of her
-answer. It seemed heartless and utterly cruel. He rebelled in fierce
-futile protest. He did not try to conceal the bitterness of his
-disappointment from Susie, and was too selfishly occupied with his own
-grief to note the constraint in her manner as she hurried home from his
-office, even before he had found words in which to thank her for the
-delicate service she had rendered him.
-
-He sent for Alfred and got word to Aunt Julie Ann that he wished to see
-her at her cottage after supper. He knew that Alfred had taken advantage
-of Isaac’s long absence to renew his calls on his former love.
-
-When he arrived at nine o’clock Aunt Julie Ann had placed a pot of
-coffee and a plate of tea-cakes on a little table for him.
-
-“What’s de matter, honey?” she asked.
-
-“I’m in great trouble, Aunt Julie Ann.”
-
-“Well, Mammy’s baby knows who ter come to when he’s in trouble!” she
-said tenderly. She had always called him baby--this bronzed hero of
-battle fields. His thirty years meant nothing to her except increasing
-faith in his manhood. Since the day she first took his baby form in her
-arms she had watched him grow in body and spirit with a brooding mother
-pride.
-
-“You must talk to Miss Stella for me,” he said. “Get close to her Aunt
-Julie Ann, you’re a woman, and tell her all the good things you remember
-about me. You know better than I do--you understand? Make her smile
-again and get her to see me.”
-
-“Now, you set down dar sir, an’ drink dat coffee an’ tell me what you
-doin’ gwine roun’ here mopin’ an’ pinin’ yo’ life out all ’bout a gal
-don’t care two straws whedder you’se er livin’ er dyin’. I’d be shamed
-er myself, great big grown man lak you is, what fit froo de war an’
-everybody say gwine ter be de guvnor some day.”
-
-“Can’t you get her to see me, Aunt Julie Ann?” he interrupted,
-earnestly.
-
-“Drink dat coffee, an’ den I tell ye!”
-
-“It’s too hot for coffee--I’m not hungry--Tell me now.”
-
-“Drink it fur Mammy, boy--I wants de grouns. I’m gwine tell ye somefin
-when I looks in de cup. I seed a vision las’ night.”
-
-To humour her John drank the coffee in silence. She took the empty cup,
-studied its message, and looked into John’s face.
-
-“Yes, honey, hit’s des lak I see hit las’ night, an’ I warns ye! I see
-two purty gals--a fair one and a dark one. Bof lubs ye--but dey’s one
-er slippin up behind yer back wid a shinin’ knife in her hand. Her long
-black hair is hangin’ loose on her white shoulders an’ all twisted lak
-snakes. I see her hide de knife in her bosom an’ slip her arms roun’ yo
-neck. She kiss you an’ blindfold ye wid her curly hair an’ slip de knife
-from her bosom an’ stab you froo de heart! Mammy’s baby! Mammy’s baby!”
-
-The black woman’s voice sank to a weird whisper full of tears and ‘wild
-half-savage music as she seized John’s hand.
-
-“Don’t come to de house no mo,’ Marse John!” she pleaded.
-
-“And why not?” he asked sharply.
-
-“Case I look again in de vision an’ I see her face plain--an’ it wuz
-hers!”
-
-“Whose?”
-
-“Miss Stella, honey--I warns ye! she doan lub my baby--keep away from
-her!”
-
-“Rubbish, Aunt Julie Ann; you’ve been having a nightmare.”
-
-“I see it all, des ez plain ez I sees you now--I warns ye!”
-
-“I’ll risk it,” John laughed. “I’m hoping for good news
-to-morrow--please say your prayers for me to-night.”
-
-Yet in spite of his culture and the inheritance of centuries of
-knowledge, the voodoo message of his old nurse shrouded his spirit in
-deeper gloom. He walked home with a new sense of dread in his heart,
-wondering what answer she would send him to-morrow.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII--THE TRAP IS SPRUNG
-
-THE following morning when Stella, sitting up in bed, opened her mail
-and read Ackerman’s report, the last doubt of John Graham’s guilt was
-shattered.
-
-_“I have just learned,” Ackerman wrote, “that a number of men of
-notoriously desperate character from the foot of the mountains were in
-Independence on the day before the tragedy and that a man by the name of
-Dan Wiley, their leader, reported in person to John Graham’s office.”_
-
-Stella sprang from her bed and began hurriedly to dress.
-
-“Now God give me strength for the work I’m going to do!” she cried, with
-strangling rage. “To think that such a man should dare to speak to me of
-love--should dare to clasp my hand with the stain of my father’s blood
-yet fresh on his! I could kill him with my own hand--coward, dastard,
-sneak, assassin! I hate him--I hate him!”
-
-She threw herself on her bed again in a paroxysm of uncontrollable fury.
-She arose at length, calm, alert, her cheeks flushed with brilliant
-colour, her great eyes dilated wide and sparkling with courage.
-
-The knocker struck sharply and she remembered with a start that Steve
-Hoyle had returned on the midnight train and would call this morning.
-She heard Maggie show Steve into the library.
-
-Without waiting for her breakfast she hastened to meet him, and he
-plunged at once into the purpose of his call:
-
-“Has John Graham yet confessed his leadership?”
-
-“He will to-day,” was the quiet answer.
-
-“The fame of your desperate love affair has set the town agog,” Steve
-laughed triumphantly.
-
-“Doubtless,” she replied moodily.
-
-“I’ve everything arranged--the men are only waiting for the word.”
-
-“I prefer that the law take its course. I’m not ready to commit murder,”
- she said emphatically.
-
-“Nonsense! The law’s a farce--Deliver him to his own men to be judged
-by the Klan which has set itself above the State. If he is the leader of
-the Invisible Empire he holds his own High Court. Let his men decide his
-fate. It’s justice!”
-
-Stella hesitated a moment and slowly said:
-
-“When I learn from his own lips that he is the Chief of the Klan and
-find that there is no other way in which he can be made to pay the
-penalty of his crime, I’ll deliver him to his men.”
-
-“They’ll be ready to receive him.”
-
-“I shall know in twenty-four hours.”
-
-“I’ll await your word,” he answered eagerly, his eyes devouring her
-beauty.
-
-Steve hurriedly left and Stella seated herself at her desk to write her
-answer to John Graham. Two attempts she tore up. The third suited her.
-In the centre of a sheet of paper she wrote two words:
-
-_“Come--Stella.”_
-
-When John Graham received this note at eleven o’clock from the hands
-of her messenger, he felt before he broke the seal that it bore glad
-tidings.
-
-He tore it open and with a cry of joy, tried to read, and the tears
-blinded him. He crushed the note in his hand and bowed his head on his
-desk, his whole being convulsed with emotion which he could not control.
-He rose at length, walked to his window, opened the note again and gazed
-at it until he broke into a joyous laugh, repeating the words:
-
-_“Come--Stella.”_
-
-“The most wonderful letter I ever received,” he exclaimed. “The longest,
-the richest, the deepest--the answering call of my mate! In all nature
-there’s no such cry. From out the shadows of hell I lift my soul and
-answer, ‘My love, I come!’”
-
-In a moment he had forgotten every fear; and all the pain, blind and
-hideous, of the last three days was lost in a joy that lit the world
-with splendour.
-
-He called immediately on horseback and asked her to ride with him
-through a beautiful wooded road he had long wished to show her. Stella
-caught the echo of his horse’s hoofs with a shudder as he approached the
-house. She had not heard that sound on the gravelled roadway of the lawn
-since the night she listened to the distant echoes of the masqueraders
-as she stood beside the dead.
-
-She accepted his suggestion and hastily despatched a message to Ackerman
-asking that he await her return in her library at sundown as she
-intended to spend the afternoon in the country on important business.
-
-At three o’clock they galloped out of Independence toward the river.
-
-“My heart is too full now for speech,” he said, leaning toward her, his
-face radiant with happiness.
-
-“I understand.”
-
-“Just to be near you is all I ask for a while. It seems too good to be
-true. It has been a century since I saw you.”
-
-She remained silent. The only visible response, if any, was the
-quickening of her horse’s pace at the unconscious touch of the little
-spur concealed beneath her skirts.
-
-Her silence meant to him feelings too deep for words, and again his
-heart sang for joy.
-
-Four miles out of town they left the main highway and turned into the
-narrow crooked road which wound along the banks of a creek through the
-densest forest in the county.
-
-“I’m going to take you to ‘Inwood,’ General Gaston’s place. The house
-was burned by Sherman’s army, only the vine-covered ruins are standing
-now. It was the finest house ever built in the state, and many a gay
-party held high carnival there in the old days.”
-
-“I’ve heard my mother speak of it,” she answered soberly, glancing at
-him from the corner of her eye. “In fact, it was there at a picnic one
-day that my father proposed to his sweetheart and my mother accepted
-him, and planned their elopement. How strange that you should have
-chosen to bring me to this place to-day!”
-
-“You’ll understand it later,” he quickly responded.
-
-“I hope you don’t mean to kidnap me?”
-
-“It might be advisable in view of the events of the past three days,” he
-laughed.
-
-She glanced about her at the deep shadows of the great trees through
-which they had been passing for more than a mile and shot at him a
-sudden look of fear.
-
-“Let’s turn back,” she said, flushing and reining her horse to a stand.
-
-A look of pain clouded his face as he bent near.
-
-“Surely, dearest, you can trust the man who worships you! Come, we are
-only a few hundred yards from the gate.”
-
-“Then I’ll trust you that much further,” she said with a light laugh,
-spurring her horse forward.
-
-In a few minutes they passed through the ruined gate in the edge of the
-woods. The broken marble figures which once crowned the brick pillars
-lay beside the entrance among a mass of tangled blackberry briars. They
-had been pried from their places and hurled there by the bayonets of
-Sherman’s men and had not been touched since.
-
-The lawn, which once had spread its beautiful carpet of flowers and
-shrubbery in wide acres here in the heart of the ancient woods,
-had grown up in ugly broom straw and young pines, which were slowly
-strangling to death the more delicate forms of life. The dark fir trees,
-magnolia and holly, still flourished in luxury.
-
-Towering in solemn, serried line on a gentle eminence still stood the
-six great white Corinthian pillars of the front façade of the house.
-Behind them in dark background a row of Norwegian firs, fifty years old,
-marked the sky line. The afternoon sun cast the shadows of the trees
-across the fluted marble of two of the pillars, while the other four
-shimmered in the splendour of the sunlight.
-
-The capitals of the columns had fallen with the blazing ruins of the
-house, but the bases and tall beautiful fluted forms of each were yet
-perfect. The ivy which had grown on the sides of the stone steps had
-climbed in unbridled riot over one of them and hung in graceful festoons
-from the top.
-
-To Stella’s fancy they seemed grim white sentinels guarding the entrance
-to some vast empire of the dead.
-
-“How still and death-like everything is,” she said, with a timid glance
-about her. “We seem a thousand miles from life.”
-
-He took her hand.
-
-“When I stand by your side, in every silent space I hear the beating of
-the wings of angels.”
-
-“The wings of the angel of Death here, I should think!” she said in
-strange subdued tones, as her eyelids drooped and she looked away.
-
-“Away with such nonsense,” he cried, cheerily. “I’ve something to do
-before I dare to speak to you again of the love that is in my heart.”
-
-He led her behind the towering columns, and, at the rear of the ruins of
-the heavy brick walls, entered the basement by a stairway half covered
-with fallen débris.
-
-The floors of the first story which had been constructed of iron and
-cement foundations had remained unbroken. The basement, once entered
-below the ruins, was in a state of perfect preservation.
-
-They entered the immense kitchen whose walls had once echoed with the
-voices of swarms of indolent well-fed slaves.
-
-Stella looked about her in amazement, asking with a slight tremor in her
-voice:
-
-“Why have you brought me here?”
-
-“To place my life in your hands, joyously, without a single
-reservation,” he said with deep earnestness. “You are in the council
-chamber of the Invisible Empire. Here its High Court of Life and Death
-was held.”
-
-Stella’s breath quickened and she glanced at John with furtive eyes.
-
-“I should have told you frankly at first. You had the right to know
-before you gave your life into my keeping.”
-
-He led her to the big wrought-iron range and opened one of its ovens,
-revealing the form of an old-fashioned safe.
-
-Taking a huge key from his pocket, he opened the door and drew from it a
-package of papers.
-
-“I am going to show you, my love, what no woman’s eye ever saw before,
-the guarded secrets of the Invisible Empire, its signs, passwords,
-ritual and secret oath. In this act I now imperil no life save my own.”
-
-Stella’s tapering fingers trembled as she turned the pages nervously and
-read its brief formulas.
-
-“As Chief of the Klan I met here the leaders from each district.”
-
-“Then--you--are--the--Chief?” she slowly asked, bending low to hide her
-flushed face.
-
-“Yes, I was the only Chief the Empire ever had in the state,” he
-answered with a ring of boyish pride.
-
-“And you bowed to no law save your own?” she asked in low tones.
-
-“No.”
-
-“And you really did hold high courts of life and death?” she whispered.
-
-“Yes, we were the sole guardians of white civilisation. It was a
-necessity--the last resort of desperation.”
-
-“You tried men here in secret, sentenced them without a hearing,
-executed them at night without warning, mercy or appeal?”
-
-“It had to be--there was no other way. A million soldiers girded us with
-their bayonets. We had to strike under a mantle of darkness and terror,
-where the power of resistance was weakest, the blow unsuspected and
-discovery impossible.”
-
-“How terrible!” she interrupted with a shudder. “And yet,” she went on
-with a sudden flash of her eye, “its mystery and its daring fascinate
-me! Would you do something just to please a romantic fancy of mine?”
-
-“I have but one desire in life--to please your fancy,” he cried.
-
-“Come here with me again, day after to-morrow night, and dress in your
-costume as Chief of the High Court of the Klan. Bring some lanterns and
-we’ll light it up--it’s just a fancy of mine--will you do it?”
-
-“You’re not afraid to be here alone with me at night?”
-
-“Why should I? I love to do daring unconventional things. Besides, do we
-not belong to each other now?”
-
-“You do love me?” he whispered.
-
-“Do you doubt it?”
-
-“Kiss me!” he pleaded, bending closer.
-
-With a sudden shudder she drew away.
-
-“Not yet! you must be patient. I’ve a lot of silly notions. That’s one
-of them. I’ll learn, no doubt.”
-
-“I’ll try to teach you,” he laughed--“and be content to touch your hand
-until my desire shall be yours.”
-
-They rode swiftly home, John’s soul in a warm glow of happiness. Stella
-spoke scarcely a word, but her cheeks were flushed and about her deep
-brown eyes a curious smile was constantly playing.
-
-He left her at the door and as he pressed her hand softly said:
-
-“You scarcely spoke the whole way home--tell me what were you thinking
-about?”
-
-“I don’t know--perhaps dreaming of your terrible court--of a man being
-condemned to death without knowing it!”
-
-“Yet a smile was playing about your beautiful face?”
-
-Stella suddenly burst into half hysterical laughter:
-
-“Of course, how can you doubt that I was happy! I’ll tell you all my
-thoughts to-morrow night.”
-
-“Shall we go on horseback?”
-
-“Yes, but I wish to go alone; I’ll meet you there at dusk,” she replied
-with another strange laugh, waving her hand as he mounted his horse and
-galloped away.
-
-She closed the door and with quick nervous step, crossed the hall and
-passed into the library, confronting Ackerman.
-
-“John Graham is the Chief of the Ku Klux Klan--he has confessed to me!”
- she whispered excitedly. “I have arranged everything for his arrest day
-after to-morrow evening at their secret meeting place.”
-
-“Then our work is complete,” he said with a ring of triumph.
-
-“And his execution is a certainty?”
-
-“I haven’t the remotest idea that Graham himself can ever be convicted
-of the murder of Judge Butler--but your discovery is of tremendous
-importance.”
-
-“He--cannot--be--convicted!” Stella gasped.
-
-“No, but the Invisible Empire will be in ruins in forty-eight hours,”
- he replied, seizing his hat. “Excuse me now, I have work of the gravest
-importance to-night. Thanks for the promptness with which you have kept
-your promise.”
-
-Before Stella could speak he was gone. With a scowl on her beautiful
-brow, she called Maggie:
-
-“Tell Mr. Steve Hoyle I wish to see him here immediately.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII--FOR LOVE’S SAKE
-
-
-STEVE’S response to Stella’s call was prompt.
-
-He entered the library with heavy, firm step, a flush of triumph on his
-sleek handsome animal face.
-
-“He has betrayed the Klan to you?” he asked with eagerness.
-
-“Sit down,” she responded coolly, an accent of resentment rising in her
-voice. “Before I answer that important question, I’ve something I wish to
-ask you.”
-
-“Anything you like,” he answered suavely. “And I want the truth,” she
-continued, with increasing emphasis.
-
-“I’ll give it to you if it’s in my power.”
-
-“You haven’t done it always,” was the firm retort.
-
-“You wish to know about the men on whom I rely to execute justice on
-John Graham?”
-
-“Yes, who are they?”
-
-“Members of the Klan from the hills--innocent men on whom he wreaked his
-vengeance in the most brutal and inhuman manner without a trial.”
-
-“You are sure they are members of the Klan?”
-
-“Certainly.”
-
-“They will come to arrest and try him, dressed in the same costumes the
-men wore the night my father was killed?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“Have you hired these men to assassinate him?” she suddenly asked,
-piercing Steve with her great eyes.
-
-“My God, no!” he protested.
-
-“What will they do?”
-
-“Why, try him by his own laws, of course,” Steve answered vaguely.
-
-“What laws?”
-
-“The law of the Order which forbids an officer to abuse his power by
-using it for personal ends as he did in the murder of the Judge.”
-
-“Why have they not tried him before?”
-
-“The feeling against him was not strong enough.”
-
-“And now?”
-
-“If he has betrayed the Klan, by his own laws he can be torn limb from
-limb, so long as a shred of its power remains.”
-
-“He could not be put to death for telling the secrets of the Klan to the
-woman he loves?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“And he knows this?”
-
-“Of course.”
-
-“A big, glorious, beautiful thing, a love like that, isn’t it?” she
-cried with strange elation, tears flashing from her eyes.
-
-“From the woman’s point of view, perhaps it is--from that of the man
-whose life he puts in peril, hardly.”
-
-“But from the woman’s point of view! yes--and judged by her standard,
-cowards who hedge and lie and fear to do such things don’t measure very
-high beside him--do they? I’m afraid, Steve, your love is a weak thing.
-It would be a pity to kill a man who would dare death to please the
-fancy of the woman he loves--now, wouldn’t it?”
-
-“Such a man, for example, as he who sneaked under cover of the night
-and struck your father dead at your feet without a chance to defend
-himself,” Steve sneered.
-
-“Yes! That’s the hideous thought that strangles me!” she cried, her
-breast heaving with a tumult of emotion, her breath coming in gasps of
-passion.
-
-“You are going to falter and give up?” he asked indignantly.
-
-Stella ignored his question and said in even tones as though talking to
-herself:
-
-“I had intended to have the United States marshals arrest him dressed in
-the Klan costume at their meeting place.”
-
-“And now?” Steve broke in eagerly.
-
-“I don’t know what to do. I’ll be frank with you, Steve--I never
-expected to keep my promise to marry you--I never really expected to
-face such a choice. There are times when I like you. There’s evil in me,
-as there is in you--cruelty, pride, selfishness--I feel our kinship. But
-I don’t love you, and the closer I get to you the less I love you.”
-
-“You’ll learn to love me--I’ll wait,” he broke in.
-
-“The reason why I like you less and less,” she went on, “is that I
-feel other forces in me which are not evil--big, generous impulses, and
-aspirations for things beautiful and true and good that you have never
-felt and could never understand.”
-
-“Which some other man might develop,” he snapped. “Well, play the baby
-act then, and give it all up.”
-
-“No, I’ve made up my mind to have the life of the man who took my
-father’s. It’s the one supreme passion which dominates my soul and
-body.”
-
-“He has confessed to you then?” Steve cried breathlessly.
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“Where will the men meet you?”
-
-“At Inwood immediately after dark, day after to-morrow,” she answered
-firmly.
-
-“It’s too early. Nine o’clock is better. The men will have time for
-careful preparation.”
-
-“I’ll be with him in the basement. He will be in the Klan costume; I
-wish him arrested and tried in that.”
-
-“It shall be exactly as you wish,” said Steve, his eyes sparkling with
-triumph. “And your signal to the men?”
-
-“Will be a light in the window of the basement.”
-
-“I understand--Inwood--nine o’clock at night, day after to-morrow.”
-
-Stella’s answer was scarcely a whisper:
-
-“Yes.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV--THE JUDGMENT HALL OF FATE
-
-STELLA made excuses to John Graham for not being able to see him before
-their appointment to meet at Inwood, and on the afternoon of the day
-fixed rode out of town at four o’clock alone.
-
-Her unconventional ways had ceased to excite comment in Independence
-since her extraordinary conduct in refusing to wear mourning for her
-father. There could be no graver breach of the traditions of good
-society than this in the eyes of her neighbours, and so long as she
-remained within the pale of respectability any other feat she might
-perform would be of minor interest.
-
-She rode rapidly, her mind in a tumult of excitement over the daring act
-of revenge she meant to wreak to-night on the man who had wronged her
-beyond the power of human forgiveness. Singlehanded and alone she had
-mastered his will and brought him to her feet. Single-handed and alone
-she had decided the question of his life and death. And this afternoon
-she wished to ride alone to the place appointed for his judgment.
-
-In spite of her resolution to mete out the sternest justice to John
-Graham, the memory of his passionate words of love, the deep tenderness
-with which he had hovered about her, and the utter trust he had shown
-during their last meeting, began to torment her.
-
-Had they met under fair conditions she could have loved him. She began
-to see it clearly now. His sincerity, his fiery emotions, his romantic
-extravagances, the old-fashioned chivalry with which he worshipped
-her were very sweet. The complete and generous surrender he had made,
-placing his life absolutely in her hands, began to glow with poetry in
-her imagination.
-
-He had always possessed the faculty of drawing out the best that was
-in her. Somehow she had never been able to hate him as she ought in
-his presence. There was something contagious in the spirit of love with
-which his whole personality seemed to radiate. She had begun to feel at
-home with him as with no other man she had ever met.
-
-“Oh, dear, I’m sorry!” she sighed, as she entered the deep woods.
-Unconsciously she reined her horse to a stand, and was startled from her
-reverie by a tear rolling down her cheek and falling on her glove.
-“What a fool I am!” she cried in anger. “I’d better turn back now. I’m a
-chicken-hearted coward when put to the test. I’m scared out of my senses
-at the size of the task I’ve undertaken--that’s what’s the matter--I,
-who have boasted of my strength and shouted my triumph over a strong
-man’s conquest.”
-
-Another tear rolled down her cheek. She brushed it away with an angry
-stroke.
-
-“Suppose I find too late that I’m in love with him!” she exclaimed,
-helplessly.
-
-Her horse moved on without her urging or recognising it, so absorbed had
-she become in the battle raging within her heart.
-
-“What is love?” she mused aloud. “I wonder how it feels to really
-love?--Love him?--nonsense--I hate the very ground he walks on--the
-self-centered, proud, bigoted, narrow-minded fanatic! I’ve sworn to avenge
-my father’s death. I’ll do it. Let him come to-night to the judgment
-hall of his own making. I’ll prove myself a woman, and do my country a
-service when I hand him over to justice.”
-
-She touched her horse with the whip, and he bounded forward in a swift
-gallop, and in a few minutes she passed into the old lawn and saw the
-flash of the white ghost-like columns among the dark firs.
-
-Again she found herself recalling the silly extravagances of his talk as
-they entered the grounds two days before.
-
-“What was it he said about angels?” she mused with a smile. “Yes, I
-remember. Somehow I seem to remember them all!--‘When I stand by
-your side, in every silent space I hear the beating of the wings of
-angels’--and I liked it! what a fool a woman is! and tried to convince
-myself that I didn’t like it by adding, ‘the wings of the angel
-of death,’ only because I felt my hate grow weak under a silly
-compliment--well, I’m done with his maudlin love-making. It’s judgment
-day.”
-
-She dismounted, tied her horse, and wandered down the little crooked
-pathway to the famous spring at the foot of the hill where many a lover
-had lingered in days long past and poured out the old story that remains
-eternal in its youth. She wondered at the mad resolution of her mother,
-taken perhaps on this very spot twenty-five years ago, that had led her
-to break the bonds of blood, throw to the winds every tie of tenderness
-that bound her to the earth, and brave the scorn of her own proud world,
-all for the sake of the son of a poor white man--because she loved him!
-
-Why did people do such idiotic things? Why should a woman thus sink her
-soul and body in the fortunes of a man? She couldn’t understand it.
-
-“Surely this is the miracle of miracles of human life!” she murmured. “I
-wonder if John Graham was crazy when he said that night on the lawn:
-‘If you should send me from your presence now, I’d laugh at Death, for I
-have tasted Life!’ Why do I keep thinking of what he has said?--Perhaps
-because he may die to-night!”
-
-She sprang to her feet, clasped her hands nervously and began to
-cry--softly at first, and then with utter abandonment, sinking again to
-the ground and burying her face in her arm.
-
-“Oh, dear! oh, dear! I’m lonely and heartsick and afraid!” she sobbed. “I
-wish I had a friend to share my secret, advise and help me--yes, such
-a friend as he would be!--he’d know what I ought to do--and I know what
-he’d say, too--that I’m proud and cruel and selfish--that I’m doing a
-hideous, unnatural thing--well I’m not! the impulse for vengeance
-is God’s first law--I know it because I feel it, deep, instinctive,
-resistless!--and I’m going to do it! I’m going to do it!--I hate him! I
-hate him!”
-
-She rose and returned to the ruins, and sat down on the steps between
-the white columns. The sun was sinking through an ocean of filmy clouds,
-reflecting in rapid changes every colour ever dreamed in the soul of
-the artist. She watched in deep breathless reverence, until the sense of
-loneliness again overpowered her and she sprang up with restless energy
-exclaiming:
-
-“I meant to explore that room before he comes--I must do it.”
-
-She descended the steps and stopped before the dark entrance. It hadn’t
-seemed so dark the other day with him. It was earlier in the day of
-course. Why had she paused? The question angered her. She was afraid to
-go through the long dark corridor alone--that was the disgusting truth.
-
-She turned back to await his coming. What a foolish contradiction.
-She would wait for the protection of the wretch she meant to deliver
-to-night to--death!
-
-She returned with quick angry strides to the columns, and leaned against
-one of their friendly sides. In the gathering twilight they seemed human
-and sheltering in their protection. She wished he would come. A dozen
-times she looked toward the gate and thought she heard the beat of his
-horse’s hoof in the distance.
-
-Dusk settled into darkness and still he did not come. The moon rose and
-touched the tall pillars above with a magic glow of mellow light, and a
-whip-poor-will struck the first note of his thrilling song beneath the
-bush at her feet.
-
-With a shudder, she moved to the outer column and waited with increasing
-impatience and alarm. The wildest fears began to fill her fancy. Why had
-she dared this mad task alone? For some unaccountable reason she had not
-reckoned on being alone.
-
-Was it possible that she had been so illogical, so utterly bereft of
-reason that the idea of his companionship had filled her imagination?
-Surely she had not been such a fool! She knew Steve Hoyle would
-accompany those men, beyond a doubt, and join her after the affair was
-over, but she had not given Steve a thought. He had been but a cog in
-the wheel of things that had swiftly moved to the tragic crisis which
-she now faced for the first time. She looked at her watch in the bright
-moonlight and it was half past eight. What if he failed to come! Would
-she be glad or angry? The tumult of feeling had reached a point of
-intensity that paralysed her powers of reasoning--she didn’t know. A
-single sense remained, the consciousness of chilling loneliness.
-
-With a throb of joy she caught at last the quick hoof-beat of John’s
-horse sweeping through the gateway in a furious gallop.
-
-He leaped to the ground, and hurried to her side.
-
-“I’m awfully sorry!” he cried, seizing both her hands with eager
-tenderness. “A most unexpected thing occurred which delayed me thirty
-minutes. I’ll explain to you later. Come, I’m hungry to see your dear
-face in the light of these lanterns in that gloomy old room below. I’ve
-a thousand things to tell you. Life will be too short a time in which to
-tell it all. I hope you’ve been very lonely and hungry for me to come?”
-
-“I must confess, my heart began to fail me once or twice,” she said
-seriously, while he felt her hand trembling.
-
-He stooped to light a lantern, and she caught his arm.
-
-“Wait, not yet--the moon is shining brightly--we don’t need it.”
-
-“But you’ll stumble on those dark stairs in the corridor.”
-
-“No matter, wait,” she urged nervously; “I’ll hold your arm--you know
-the way.”
-
-“Yes, I know the way,” he laughed. “Come then, your slightest whim is
-law.”
-
-He drew her little hand through his arm and picking his steps carefully,
-led her down through the tangled debris and along the dark corridor
-without once stumbling, the timid figure clinging close to his side.
-
-“You see a revolutionist soon learns to find his way in the dark without
-a light,” he said, as they emerged into the kitchen whose wide space was
-lighted by the moonbeams streaming through the windows.
-
-He released her arm, placed the lantern and a bundle he carried on the
-top of the range, and said with a laugh:
-
-“Now, shall the actor make up for his part? I’ve the costume all ready.
-This is the palace of the queen to-night. I have been commanded to
-appear before her!”
-
-She gave no answer.
-
-He bent and kissed her hand and found it cold and trembling violently.
-
-“You feel the chill of this old basement,” he said with tender
-solicitude. “I’ll light the lantern at once.”
-
-She caught his hand.
-
-“No! No!--I--prefer it like this--the moonlight is enough.”
-
-“All right,” he answered gaily. “Shall I don my robes as ruler of the
-Invisible Empire to please the fancy of Your Majesty?”
-
-He opened the bundle and shook out the long white ulster-like disguise
-with its double cross of scarlet and gold.
-
-“Put it back--I’m not ready yet!” she gasped.
-
-“You’ll laugh and chat a while with the audience before the curtain goes
-up on the drama!--good! I’ve a lot to say. Sit here in the window while
-I tell you something.”
-
-He led her to the low casement of the window and seated her by his side.
-
-She sprang to her feet instantly, grasping at her heart, her breath
-coming in quick gasps:
-
-“What’s that!--Listen!”
-
-He took her hand soothingly:
-
-“Why, it’s only our horses neighing to each other.”
-
-“You’re sure?” she whispered.
-
-“Of course.”
-
-“I thought it was something else,” she faltered. “My poor little
-darling! This has been too much for your nerves--you should have allowed
-me to come with you.”
-
-“Yes, I’m afraid I did make a mistake!” she said in low strained tones.
-
-“Well, there’s nothing to be afraid of now--is there?” he said
-assuringly.
-
-“No! there’s nothing to be afraid of now--is there?” she laughed
-hysterically, and suddenly stopped with a suppressed scream.
-
-“My darling!” he exclaimed.
-
-“Listen! Listen! My God, what’s that?”
-
-“It’s nothing dear.”
-
-“It is! Listen! I hear them coming!”
-
-“Impossible, my child, we’re all here!” he laughed. “How could you guess
-there was anyone coming except you and me?”
-
-“Oh, dear, you don’t understand, and I can’t explain!” she went on
-frantically. She looked at her watch and couldn’t see.
-
-“Quick, strike a match and see what time it is--we can get away!” she
-whispered.
-
-He struck the match and saw her eyes gleaming with a strange madness.
-Stella blew the match out, seized his arm and drew him from the window.
-
-“Not there--by the window--over here in this corner.”
-
-“He struck another match and she masked its light from the window,
-staring with wide-set eyes at the hands of her watch.
-
-“It’s half past nine. It’s too late!” she said hopelessly.
-
-“Come, come, my darling, remember that I am by your side--nothing can
-harm you except the tongue of gossip, and you’ve shown your contempt for
-that. Sit down here again in the moonlight and let me tell you the story
-of my love.”
-
-He led her back to the window and she sank tremblingly by his side.
-
-“I’ve never had the chance to tell you,” he began, with low passionate
-tenderness, “what a wonderful thing your love has been in my life. The
-night I met you, I went to your house drunk, with murder in my heart,
-determined to use the lawless power I wielded to crush your father. I
-was about to leave with a threat to kill him on my lips. It was no idle
-threat then. I had entered the vault, pushed open its massive door,
-stepped inside and saw the way was open.”
-
-“The night you came first, you entered alone the secret way?” she
-interrupted.
-
-“Yes, I meant to use it if necessary.”
-
-“But you never did! You never did!” she whispered.
-
-“How could I, dearest! I saw your face that night for the first time,
-heard the low music of your voice, touched your hand, and I was a
-new man! Love, not hate, has ruled me since. I disbanded the Klan
-immediately and ordered my men never again to use its power.”
-
-“Disbanded the Klan!” she repeated with choking surprise.
-
-“Yes, and a dastard reorganised it as a local order to further his low
-ambitions. I’ve done my best to hold in check their crimes and follies.
-I warned your father of danger the night those fools came. In a madness
-of love, fear and jealous rage I came down to the house, sat there in
-dumb pain and watched your beautiful form whirl past the lighted window
-until I could endure it no longer.” Stella strangled a sob.
-
-“I’ve reproached myself a hundred times I didn’t prevent that masquerade
-by force. I might have done it. I had some faithful old soldiers from
-the foothills in town that day whom I had used to capture the scoundrels
-who committed the outrage on old Nicaroshinski.”
-
-“Hush! hush! before I scream!” Stella cried in anguish, placing her hand
-on his lips.
-
-Suddenly a white figure stood before the window and his whistle rang
-through the still night.
-
-Stella sprang to her feet gasping, with horror:
-
-“My God! they’ve come: I must save you! Hide! Hide and give me your
-revolver--they shall not take you--quick--quick--hide!”
-
-“But, my dear, there’s not the slightest danger. No man who wears that
-uniform will lift his hand against me--see, I’m going to answer his call
-with my own signal.”
-
-He lifted the whistle to his lips and she snatched it from his grasp.
-
-“Don’t! Don’t for God’s sake, don’t! you don’t
-understand--Oh!--John--darling--I love you! I love you!”
-
-She threw herself into his arms and kissed him, passionately sobbing.
-
-“I’ve tried to hate you, dear, but I couldn’t--I couldn’t--I know now
-I’ve loved you always! I must save you, God help me!”
-
-“Well, sir?” called a voice without.
-
-“It’s all right! Come in, boys!” he answered before Stella could stop
-him. She huddled in his arms paralysed for the moment with terror.
-
-“You must not!--they will kill you, dear!” she moaned in agony.
-
-“Nonsense, child, the boys have only a little surprise for us.”
-
-Their feet were already echoing in the corridor and their voices could
-be heard in whispers and low laughter.
-
-“Hide! please, for the love of God!” she gasped. With sudden fierce
-strength she pressed him into the shadows and stood panting before him,
-while the silent ghost-like figures ranged themselves solemnly around
-the room.
-
-“Stella, my dear, you must not suffer like this--there is no danger,
-these are all my men.”
-
-“Your men!--your men!” she cried, bewildered.
-
-“Yes, I brought them here to-night in full costume to make a little play
-complete for the fancy of a queen!”
-
-“My darling,” she sobbed, sinking in his arms.
-
-“We unexpectedly met some ugly customers from the hills we had seen once
-before. A little pitched battle delayed us thirty minutes, but none of
-our boys were hurt.”
-
-“Kiss me!” she whispered.
-
-A distant whistle rang through the woods and the picket outside
-answered.
-
-“What’s that?” Stella gasped.
-
-“He blew the signal, ‘message for the Chief’; he’s from town, I’m
-afraid,” John answered.
-
-A horse’s hoof echoed on the flagstones before the columns, and in a
-moment the picket rushed to the window.
-
-“Bad news, sir!”
-
-“What is it?” John asked quietly:
-
-“A regiment of United States cavalry slipped into town just after dark.”
-
-“I’ve been looking for it,” John broke in. “Well?”
-
-“A squadron has surrounded Mrs. Wilson’s boarding house to wait for
-you.”
-
-“Merciful God! what have I done!” Stella sobbed inaudibly.
-
-John touched her hand soothingly at the sound of her sob, bent low and
-whispered tenderly:
-
-“It’s all right--dearest--you love me!”
-
-
-
-
-BOOK III--PRISONER AND TRAITOR
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I--THE ARREST
-
-THE news of the arrival of the regiment of cavalry, and the swift
-silent way in which they had struck their first blow, brought to John
-Graham at once a sharp realisation of the danger of his men.
-
-Releasing Stella, he turned to the white figures gathered in an excited
-group and in short sharp accents said:
-
-“I thank you boys for your kindness in coming to the little masquerade
-we had prepared to celebrate the announcement of my engagement to the
-woman who is the queen of my heart. Sorry the Yanks have interrupted us.
-Get home as fast as your horses can carry you. Burn your costumes the
-minute you reach a safe place. Hide them under your saddles as usual
-until you can burn them. Leave one at a time and go home by unused roads
-if possible. And listen--every man of you who can, should leave the
-state in twenty-four hours and stay until the trouble blows over.”
-
-“What are you goin’ to do?” asked a tall masked figure.
-
-“Don’t worry, Dan. I’ll look out for myself. You boys do the same and do
-it quick.”
-
-“We’ll stan’ by you if ye give the word,” persisted Dan.
-
-John left Stella’s side, stepped to the men and growled:
-
-“I’ve given the word. Run, and run like hell!”
-
-“We don’t like the orders, Chief, but orders is orders--git boys!”
-
-The men quickly disappeared, and John took Stella’s hand:
-
-“Come, dearest, we must go.”
-
-“Yes,” she answered, timidly clinging to his arm and holding him back.
-
-“We must hurry,” he urged.
-
-“I won’t hurry,” she said with tender wilfulness.
-
-“When a woman won’t, she won’t,” John laughed.
-
-She gently stroked his hand and slowly slipped her arm in his as she
-allowed him to lead her out into the moonlight beside the white silent
-pillars.
-
-“Wait here until I bring the horses,” John said, gently disengaging his
-arm.
-
-Stella clung to him firmly.
-
-“No, don’t go yet. Why hurry? Let them wait. I wish to be alone with you
-for a while here on this beautiful spot. It’s all so new and wonderful.
-This knowing that I love and am loved! I’ve just begun to live the past
-hour. I’m afraid to go back to the world.”
-
-“I must face some stern realities to-night. But you love me. That’s
-the only thing of any importance. What do jails matter? They can only
-imprison the body--my soul will follow you, hover about you, laugh and
-cry with you day and night, waking or dreaming.”
-
-“They won’t put you in jail to-night, dear?” she asked, piteously.
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“Then you shall not give yourself up to them! You’ll let me have my own
-way now that you know that I love you, won’t you, John dear? There!
-I’ve called your name for the first time--haven’t I?--I love your
-name!--You’re not going to give up to them--are you?”
-
-“I see no other way, dearest.”
-
-“You told your men to fly. Our horses are fresh. We can put miles
-between us and these troops before day. I’ll go with you, just as I am
-in this riding habit--no matter--I’ll get a dress somewhere when you’re
-out of danger.”
-
-He slipped his arm about her, bent his tall form, and stopped her with a
-kiss.
-
-“How sweet to hear you talk this beautiful nonsense!”
-
-“I mean it,” she hurried on earnestly. “We must leave to-night, I don’t
-know what they may do to you. Something terrible--maybe--I can’t think
-of it! Something may happen to separate us. I want to feel your hand
-clasping mine like this forever!”
-
-He answered by crushing the little hand in his.
-
-“You won’t go back and let them arrest you, will you, John?” she
-pleaded, a sob catching her voice.
-
-He was silent and a smile played about his mouth.
-
-“Answer me, John dear! You must do as I say because life is too sweet
-and beautiful to lose it! You will leave if I go with you--won’t you?
-My whim you said should be your law. This is my whim, my heart’s desire.
-Get the horses now, and we’ll make them fly as far from Independence
-to-night as their heels can carry us! You’ll do this because I ask
-it--won’t you, darling?”
-
-The little head began to droop, the voice broke, and she lay sobbing in
-his arms.
-
-He held her close for a moment.
-
-“You know this is impossible, dear!”--he said tenderly.
-
-“Yes, I know!” she sobbed.
-
-“My business is to save others now.”
-
-“At least, you’ll go by the house and stay with me a little while?”
-
-“They’ll think I’m hiding.”
-
-“Who cares what they think? I can’t go home alone, can I?”
-
-“Of course, I’ll stop a moment. And now we must hurry.”
-
-He brought the horses and they galloped back to town in silence. Along
-a dark rough place of the road, they slowed down to a walk, and his hand
-sought hers.
-
-“What a strange ending to the most wonderful day of my life!” she
-suddenly cried with passionate tenderness.
-
-“Why strange?” he asked. “I never had a doubt that you would love me. It
-was written in the Book of Life.”
-
-“But I didn’t know it until to-night.”
-
-“Tell me, dear,” he pleaded; “what sudden flash revealed the truth?”
-
-“Don’t ask me!” she said with a shiver. “I’ll tell you some day.”
-
-“Why not now? This has been a wonderful day for me. I shall never live
-its like again. I heard for the first time the one woman I love, the
-only woman I ever loved, the one woman I shall love forever, speak the
-sweetest words that ever fell from human lips.”
-
-“I love you--I love you!” she softly repeated.
-
-“But tell me how you came to know it to-day?” he urged.
-
-“It’s a secret--one I fear that will give me many an hour of anguish.
-I’ll tell you, dear--but not now.
-
-“I’ll share it with you when you’ll let me.”
-
-“Not this one, John. I need to bear it alone to keep me humble, and
-sweeten with suffering and fear the bitter, selfish impulses that fight
-within me. Oh, I want to be good and tender and beautiful and true now!”
-
-“How full of strange moods you’ve been tonight!” he exclaimed.
-
-“Have I dear?”
-
-She caught his hand and pressed it tenderly.
-
-The lights of the town flashed in view from the hill.
-
-They galloped boldly down the main street and into the lawn. As they
-passed the cabin at the gate, Isaac’s face appeared a moment at the
-door.
-
-“I didn’t know old Isaac had returned?” John remarked.
-
-“Nor did I,” she replied; “he must have come with those troops.”
-
-A tremor caught her voice as she recalled that Ackerman was in
-communication with Isaac, and the cords she had been winding about the
-man by her side began slowly to tighten around her own throat.
-
-He tried to leave her at the door, but she drew him inside.
-
-“You can’t go yet.”
-
-“I must hurry, my love,” he protested. “Those men will think I’m a
-coward. I should have been at home when they called.”
-
-“Sh!”----
-
-She placed her hand over his lips, ignoring his plea.
-
-“I’ve a little experiment to make. My whim is law. Go stand there in the
-alcove with your hat in your hand fumbling it.”
-
-Laughing with girlish excitement she pressed him into the exact spot he
-stood the night she first met him, drew back, and gazed tenderly into
-his face, her big brown eyes dancing with the hysterical strain of the
-deep half-conscious fear for his safety which had begun to strangle her.
-
-“Have you forgotten the first scene in the drama of our life?” she
-asked, slowly approaching him with extended hand.
-
-He clasped it with a smile.
-
-“I shall not forget it if I live to be a hundred years old,” he said
-reverently.
-
-“And yet, you are trying to hurry away from me to-night again. Don’t you
-like the picture as well now?”
-
-“A thousand times better, dearest,” he cried. “The love that shines in
-your eyes will make radiant the darkest hour of life. I’ve nothing now
-to fear. Perfect love has cast out fear. My way’s a shining one whether
-it leads to a palace or a prison.”
-
-“Come into the dining room,” she whispered, leading him through the door
-and seating herself at the head of the table. “You remember the night we
-sat together here?”
-
-“Do I!”
-
-“Would you believe me if I told you that I tried to make you love me
-that night?”
-
-“You said you tried to hate me.”
-
-“But we can’t always do what we try--can we?” she asked wistfully.
-
-“You did that night I’m sure.”
-
-“And yet, I’m failing to-night!” she sobbed, unable to keep back the
-tears, “just when I’ve told you that I love you, and the joy and wonder
-of it all has begun to light the world. Before I’ve thought only of
-myself. To-night I’m thinking only of you, my sweetheart! Just as I’ve
-learned to speak your name I feel you slipping away from me--oh, John
-darling, what will they do to you? Tell me--tell me!”
-
-“They can only put me in jail to-night.”
-
-“But they shall not--they shall not!” she moaned, clinging close to him.
-“You shall not let them! You shall not leave this house except to fly
-with me.”
-
-Stella’s words choked into sudden silence at the shrill angry notes of
-Aunt Julie Ann’s voice ringing in the hall:
-
-“Git out er dis house, I tells ye, ‘fo I bus’ yo head open wid dis door
-weight.”
-
-“Mind your own business,” snapped the angry reply.
-
-“I’se mindin’ my own business. Git out dat door, an’ knock ‘fo yer come
-in! An’ I lets yer in when I gits ready--when my mistis say yer kin
-come!”
-
-“Faith, an’ I’ll slap ye head off ye shoulders, if ye don’t kape still,”
- growled the trooper.
-
-“What do you want in here, yer low-life sluefooted Yankee?”
-
-“If it’s just the same ter ye, I wants Mr. John Graham, me dusky
-maiden!”
-
-John suddenly released himself from Stella’s clinging form and stepped
-through the door into the hall.
-
-“I’m John Graham. What is It?”
-
-“You’re my prisoner, sir, ye’ll have to come with me!”
-
-“I’m ready.”
-
-The sergeant took a step toward John, drawing a pair of handcuffs from
-his pocket.
-
-Stella sprang between them, her eyes blazing with rage:
-
-“How dare you enter my house without my permission?”
-
-The sergeant stopped in sheer amazement at the fury of her outburst.
-Recovering himself with a smile he replied:
-
-“Axin yer pardon m’am, it may be rude, but hit ain’t writ in our book
-of etiquette ter knock at the front door when we’re huntin’ fer a man
-charged with murder.”
-
-“But he’s not guilty!” Stella stormed.
-
-“I believe ye, Miss--ye’d have an easy time with me. But I ain’t the
-Coort!”
-
-“Stella, dear,” John pleaded.
-
-“Leave this house!” Stella cried with fury.
-
-“Sure m’am, but yer friend comes wid me,” said the sergeant, taking
-another step toward John.
-
-“I tell you he’s not guilty! It’s all a mistake. I’ll explain to your
-commander in the morning.”
-
-John smiled in spite of himself.
-
-“Stella dear, this is nonsense. The sergeant is acting under orders. I
-must go at once.”
-
-“Ye see, m’am!” said the sergeant with a polite bow.
-
-“All right then, sergeant,” said Stella, suddenly changing her tone,
-“I’ll excuse you for your rudeness; I’ll go with you.”
-
-“You mustn’t, my love,” John protested.
-
-“Yes, I’m going with you, but I’ve had nothing to eat. We must have
-supper--it’s waiting. Aunt Julie Ann, show the sergeant downstairs and
-give him supper. Mr. Graham will be ready in half an hour, sergeant.”
-
-The trooper looked doubtfully at John and at Stella, smiling.
-
-“All right m’am. It’s agin my principles as a soldier to leave a good
-supper to spoil--an’, axin yer pardon agin, I’ll station one o’ me
-men at each door an’ window to make sure we wont lose any of our party
-durin’ the festivities. It’ll be more sociable like to feel that we’re
-all here.”
-
-The sergeant placed his men and followed Aunt Julie Ann to the kitchen.
-
-Stella drew John to the old davenport:
-
-“Quick, John darling, through the old secret way--the way of love----”
-
-“Dearest!” he said reproachfully.
-
-She extended her hand to press the spring in the panel.
-
-“Quick, the soldier at the door can’t see you. I’ll stand in front. Wait
-for me in the vault. I’ll let them search the house and when they go,
-I’ll join you and we can leave before daylight.”
-
-“I must face it. There’s no other way.”
-
-“Yes, yes, this way--the old sweet way of love! I can’t let them take
-you--you’re mine now--I love you--I love you!--John, dear, he has
-big ugly handcuffs. He was going to put them on you--didn’t you see
-him?”--her voice faltered.
-
-“Yes, I saw him.”
-
-“I can’t stand it, John, I can’t--oh, dear, you don’t understand, and I
-can’t explain--You love me?”
-
-“Better than life and deeper than death.”
-
-“And yet you refuse my heart’s desire?”
-
-“Only in this. I’m done with lawlessness. I’m not a coward. I’ve led a
-successful revolution. It had to be, and now with silent lips I’ll face
-my accusers.”
-
-A hot tear fell on his hand.
-
-“Come, dearest, you must help me,” he pleaded.
-
-“Yes, yes, I will,” she faltered, brushing the tears away. “Come then,
-we will have this one little supper together, shall we not?”
-
-“Yes. I want to look across that old table into your face again.”
-
-He chatted gaily through the supper and she sat silent, choking back the
-sobs, unable to eat.
-
-The sergeant bowed at the door:
-
-“Axin yer pardon m’am, but I must hurry now.” John rose and the trooper
-again drew his handcuffs, Stella watching him with wide-set eyes. “I’m
-sorry, sir, I’ll have to put ’em on.”
-
-“It’s all right, sergeant,” he answered.
-
-Stella sprang between them and placed a trembling little hand on the
-trooper’s.
-
-“Please, sergeant!”
-
-“Orders, m’am, I’m sorry.”
-
-“Please--for--my--sake--don’t. He’ll go with you. I tried to get him to
-fly with me, and he wouldn’t. You won’t put them on him--will you? For
-my sake?”
-
-Her voice sank to the softest music of tears. The sergeant hesitated a
-moment and said gruffly: “All right, for your sake, m’am, I won’t.”
-
-John stooped and kissed her. The door closed behind him and with a low
-piteous moan Stella sank to the floor, crying:
-
-“God have mercy on me!”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II--THROUGH PRISON BARS
-
-AN IMMENSE crowd had gathered at the hotel awaiting John’s arrival. The
-news of his arrest had stirred the town to feverish excitement.
-
-Without turning to the right or left, or answering a look of
-recognition, he marched between two soldiers through the mass of men
-and boys in the office and climbed the stairs to the rooms of the United
-States Commissioner who was waiting to receive him.
-
-The Commissioner handed him the warrant and he merely glanced at its
-title:
-
-               “THE UNITED STATES VERSUS JOHN GRAHAM
-
-                   CONSPIRACY AND MURDER”
-
-“I shall hold you without bail, Mr. Graham,” said the Commissioner.
-
-John merely nodded his head.
-
-“To the county jail, sergeant!”
-
-The soldiers turned and John descended the stairs, and again passed
-through the crowd, his head erect, his face an immovable mask.
-
-In fifteen minutes the heavy bolt shot into place and he was a prisoner
-awaiting trial for life, locked in a filthy cell of the common jail of
-the county of Independence.
-
-He had often been to this jail as a lawyer to interview prisoners whom
-he had defended at various times, but he had paid no attention to the
-building. The complaints of the discomforts of the jail he had always
-taken as a humorous contribution to life.
-
-He was amazed to discover that the place into which he had been suddenly
-thrust was an inner room opening into a corridor with no means of light
-or ventilation save the single iron-grilled door--a veritable hell-hole
-whose heat was so stifling and air so foul with disgusting odours he
-could scarcely breathe. By the rays of the little kerosene lamp which
-hung in the corridor, flickering, sputtering and stinking, he saw that
-there was not a trace of furniture in the room, not even a pile of straw
-on which to sleep. The floor had evidently not been swept in a year, the
-dust lay in piles, and the room had just been vacated by four perspiring
-Negro convicts who had been removed to the penitentiary to serve
-sentences for burglary, arson and murder.
-
-It was impossible to sit down, it was unthinkable to lie down, and so
-for five hours back and forth he walked the length of his cell like a
-caged panther.
-
-For the first hour his proud spirit was sustained by the enormity of the
-degradation thus heaped upon him. He felt sure that such treatment was
-given him for a purpose. He knew that all the prisoners of the county
-were not treated as swine. In his anger he paused once, determined to
-demand a chair or bed of some kind, and found that he could only make
-his wants known by yelling down two flights of stairs to the guard who
-stood at the outer door of the last floor. He could not thus humiliate
-himself.
-
-For the first time he realised what it meant to be deprived not only of
-the comforts but the common decencies of human life. In fierce anger he
-silently raved for two hours and then a strange calm came over his soul.
-His hands grasped the iron bars of the door and he stood as if in a
-trance while the unconscious minutes lengthened into hours. A beautiful
-face bent above him. Her voice, low and tender with the music of love,
-filled all space. The stifling cell vanished. He was in the open fields
-with her hand in his. He woke with a laugh, and caught the glint of
-the first beams of the rising sun stealing through the window of the
-corridor.
-
-[Illustration: 0295]
-
-A Negro boy brought his breakfast of corn bread and bacon in a dirty tin
-plate.
-
-John looked at it a minute with a curious smile: “No, thank you, my boy,
-I’ve just had my breakfast of ambrosia. I’ll take a chair, however, if
-the jailor can spare one!”
-
-“Yassah, I’ll tell ‘im when I goes down,” he replied. “But I spec dey
-ain’t none lef. We got lots er boarders now.”
-
-He placed the plate on the floor by the door, and grinned.
-
-“Dey wuz er young lady come ter see ye las’ night, sah, but dey wouldn’t
-let ’er in!”
-
-John smiled.
-
-“What time was it?”
-
-“Bout two er clock.”
-
-“Yes, I saw her,” John slowly said with a strange look in his deep-set
-eyes. “She came up and stayed with me until sunrise.”
-
-The Negro backed cautiously away muttering. “He got ‘em sho!” and darted
-down the steps. The fact that he was being kept in solitary confinement
-and refused communication of any kind with friend or counsel, roused
-every force of John Graham’s character.
-
-When the Attorney General who had come down from Washington called at
-ten o’clock he greeted him with a laugh through the bars of his door:
-
-“Excuse my lack of hospitality, General Champion,” he said; “I’d offer
-you a chair, but the hotel is crowded and we’re short of chairs just
-now.”
-
-“Haven’t you a chair or a bed in your cell?” he enquired, peering in.
-“It’s an outrage. Bring two chairs here at once!” he thundered to the
-attendant.
-
-“Mr. Graham,” said the General cordially, “I’ve hastened to you as
-a friend. I was a member of Congress with your uncle. We were warm
-personal friends. I’ve known several of your people, and always found
-them the salt of the earth.”
-
-“Thanks,” John interrupted, a smile playing about the corners of his
-eyes.
-
-“I wish to be of help to you if you will let me. It has long been known
-to the Department of Justice that you are the Chief of the Klan in North
-Carolina.”
-
-“I congratulate the Department of Justice on the attainment of such
-interesting knowledge,” John broke in.
-
-“Do you deny it?”
-
-“I’m not discussing it.”
-
-“You must know, Mr. Graham, that the organisation is doomed, and that
-you are in an extremely dangerous position. I trust you realise this?”
-
-“Quite warm last night, General!”
-
-“Come, come, young man, I’m your friend----”
-
-“It’s a pleasure to meet a friend; do you think it will rain?”
-
-“You are to be put on trial for your life----”
-
-“My idea is that we are in for a long dry spell, General.”
-
-“Tut, tut, my boy, come now, don’t try my temper with such nonsense.
-President Grant is not hostile to the South. He grieves over the
-necessity of the severe laws which he is now enforcing. His only desire
-is to pacify these disorders. The Klan must be stamped out. You have
-realised this--I know that you have led parties who have inflicted
-summary justice on some of the scoundrels who are operating in its
-disguises. Is not this a fact?”
-
-John laughed.
-
-“I know it,” affirmed the General.
-
-“Then why ask me?”
-
-“I know that you have tried to stamp out the disorders,” the General
-repeated. “Whatever the impulses which led a man of your high character
-into this lawless conspiracy, you have realised at last its dangerous
-character. You are in a position to render the South and the Nation an
-enormous service. Help me to restore law and order in the South and the
-Government will show its gratitude.”
-
-“You mean exactly?”
-
-“That you give me the information needed to wipe the Invisible Empire
-out of existence----”
-
-“And in return?”
-
-The General placed his hands on the bars and leaned close.
-
-“The President has promised me to immediately appoint you an Assistant
-Prosecuting Attorney, and in six months promote you to the high honour
-of a United States Circuit Judgeship.”
-
-John’s fist suddenly shot through the iron bars, struck the General in
-the mouth, and hurled him in a heap against the wall of the corridor, as
-he cried with rage:
-
-“D----n you! How dare you thus insult me?”
-
-The General picked up his broken glasses from the floor, wiped a drop of
-blood from his lip, shook his fist at the man who glared at him through
-the barred door, and shouted:
-
-“I’ll make you pay dearly for this!”
-
-John laughed in his face.
-
-“But you won’t make me that offer again, will you?”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III--A WOMAN’S WAY
-
-IT WAS one o’clock before Stella recovered from the first collapse of
-terror for the fate of her lover. And then the imperious will summoned
-every energy to the struggle for his liberty and life.
-
-She changed her riding habit and, taking Maggie, started at half past
-one in the morning to find Ackerman.
-
-She had gone half way to Mrs. Wilson’s before she recalled the startling
-fact that her relations to Ackerman were unknown, and the still more
-painful fact that all knowledge of her relations to the detective must
-now be concealed with the utmost care. She felt instinctively that if
-John Graham discovered her plan to entrap him into a confession and her
-betrayal of his generous trust in her love, he could not forgive it. She
-shivered at the thought of his anger and disgust.
-
-“We’ll go to the jail, Maggie,” she said, with sudden energy, “where is
-it?”
-
-“Right down de nex street, I show ye,” Maggie answered. “I been dar
-lots er times. I wuz down dar yistiddy ter see my uncle Joe start ter de
-penitentiary.”
-
-Stella shuddered, followed her down the side street, and knocked at the
-jail door.
-
-No one answered. She knocked again and again. Finally the jailor thrust
-his head from the window above, saw it was a woman, shut the sash with a
-bang and went back to bed.
-
-Stella looked at the grim walls with a sense of blind fury.
-
-“I’ll show that insolent lazy rascal to-morrow morning how to treat me,”
- she cried, as she turned and started home. When they reached the
-corner she stopped, looked back at the jail looming black, silent and
-threatening among the shadows, and her heart went out in an agony of
-piteous yearning to the man within its walls.
-
-Maggie pointed to the mass of trees behind the jail.
-
-“See dem trees dar behin’ de house?”
-
-Her mistress gave no answer, and the maid rattled on in awed whispers:
-
-“Dars where dey hang folks! Dey’s er high fence roun’ de yard, but ye
-can see over it from here. I stan’ right on dis corner an’ see ’em
-hang a man dar las’ year.”
-
-“Hush Maggie!” Stella sternly commanded.
-
-“Yassum.”
-
-Stella hurried home, and paced the floor of her room until morning.
-
-At eight o’clock, in answer to her urgent summons, Ackerman came.
-
-“You are sure no one saw you enter?” she asked nervously.
-
-“Yes, but why such caution now? Our work is done, and well done. I
-congratulate you on the skill with which you did your part.”
-
-“I had nothing to do with it. I’ve sent for you to have the whole thing
-stopped at once.”
-
-“You had nothing to do with it!” Ackerman exclaimed.
-
-“Absolutely nothing. I repudiate the whole affair.”
-
-“I came here to do this work at your own request,” he protested.
-
-“The arrest of Mr. Graham is an infamous outrage!”
-
-“What!”
-
-“An infamous outrage. I repeat it and demand his immediate release.”
-
-“Why, my dear young woman, it was on the information which you gave that
-I swore out the warrant for his arrest.”
-
-“It was you who swore out the warrant against him?” Stella fiercely
-cried. “Oh, I could kill you!”
-
-“You gave me the information.”
-
-“I did nothing of the kind,” she stormed. “It’s false--I deny it!”
-
-“On your statement to me that he had confessed that he was Chief of
-the Klan, I made the oath on which his warrant was based,” Ackerman
-maintained with warmth.
-
-“Then you swore a lie!” she hissed. “A lie--a lie!”
-
-Stella fell on the lounge and buried her face in her hands.
-
-Ackerman flushed and was silent. His keen eyes grew suddenly tender.
-He smiled, rose and stood by her side a moment, and when she looked up
-extended his hand.
-
-“I’m sorry for you, Miss Stella. I think I understand!”
-
-“Then you will know how to forgive my bitter and unjust words?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“Can’t you help me?” she asked piteously.
-
-“The situation is extremely delicate for me as it is dangerous for John
-Graham. The Government is determined to press these cases for conspiracy
-and murder. Personally I have never believed Graham guilty of the murder
-of the Judge.”
-
-“Of course he is innocent!”
-
-“I think I know the man who killed your father.”
-
-“And you will help me save John Graham?” she cried.
-
-“I’ll have a big job before me to complete my work before this trial.
-There’ll be plenty of witnesses to swear anything the Government wants,
-but I’ll do my best.”
-
-“Thank you.”
-
-With a cordial grasp of the hand Ackerman took his leave and Stella
-hastened to confer with the Attorney General.
-
-“I’ve come to demand the immediate release of Mr. Graham on the absurd
-charge that has been made against him,” she began impetuously.
-
-The General looked at her in astonishment. “Hoity toity! My dear Miss,
-not so fast.”
-
-“You began this at my request. I demand that it cease.”
-
-“Yes, yes, I see, but you have forgotten that greater issues are at
-stake than even the lives of two men.”
-
-“I’ll have nothing to do with the prosecution of an innocent man,
-General Champion.”
-
-“Even so, you have set in motion forces you can not control. The fate
-of Mr. Graham is fixed. He is the Chief of the Klan. He’s as sure of
-conviction as the fact that he is to be put on trial. I’ll see that he
-is tried and that all the resources of the Government are used to secure
-his conviction.”
-
-Stella’s beautiful face grew white and still.
-
-“You will make a special effort against him?” she faltered.
-
-“I will,” was the stern answer. “There was a way of escape. I offered it
-to him this morning in the most friendly and generous spirit. His answer
-was the gravest personal insult.”
-
-“May I see him at once?”
-
-“Certainly.”
-
-The General hastily wrote an order and Stella hurried to the jail.
-
-She determined to make a desperate appeal to induce him to compromise
-with the authorities and save his life.
-
-At the sight of the heavy iron bars of his door before which John stood
-smiling, she broke completely down, seized his extended hand, covered it
-with kisses and sobbed bitterly.
-
-“Come, come, my beautiful one, this is not like you! I’ve counted on
-your brave spirit to win this fight. Not another tear. Courage and
-laughter in our souls, defiance, scorn, contempt for our enemies! See,
-they have made me quite comfortable within the past hour. I tried to
-knock the Attorney General down, and lo, they rewarded me with a cot and
-a chair!”
-
-“You knocked General Champion down?” Stella gasped in amazement.
-
-“I did my best under difficulties. Think of it, my dear! He offered
-me an office for the betrayal of my people! I couldn’t kill him. I was
-behind the bars, but I shall always thank God that he stood close enough
-for my fist to reach his mouth.”
-
-John broke into a joyous laugh. His spirit was contagious. Stella looked
-at him with wonder until a smile stole through the clouds that shadowed
-her own brow.
-
-“How beautiful you are this morning, dearest!” he cried exultantly.
-
-She brushed the tears from her eyes.
-
-“I tried to see you last night at two o’clock,” she softly said.
-
-“And succeeded, my love,” he interrupted smiling. “You came up and stood
-there and talked to me just as you are now. You told me to be of good
-cheer--that you loved me. That you hated a sneak and a coward and a
-traitor. That you had rather see me cold in death than stoop to a low
-dishonourable deed, even for all the honours of earth. And I lifted up
-my head in courage. I forgot jails and handcuffs, courts and trials. You
-took me by the hand and led me away into green fields through the deep
-woods beside beautiful waters. All night hand in hand we roamed through
-the mystic world of Love--the only world of realities--I was angry with
-the sun for waking me!”
-
-“My darling, I’m not worthy of such love,” Stella cried, pressing his
-hand. “What can I do to help you?”
-
-“Keep on loving me--that’s the main thing!--incidentally consult a
-lawyer--the best you can find--tell him that I’m going to fight, fight,
-fight to the last ditch my own cause and the cause of my people! Keep
-out of old Champion’s way. He carries a bribe in one hand, a death
-warrant in the other. Don’t let him know your plans. Don’t let him know
-that you love me.”
-
-Stella lifted her head with sudden resolution.
-
-“I’ll get the best lawyer in America. I’ll mortgage the house for the
-money.”
-
-“My little heroine!” he exclaimed with pride.
-
-“I’ll go at once.”
-
-Through the iron bars she pressed her lips and hurried to the telegraph
-office with the light of new courage shining in her eyes.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV--THE HON. STEPHEN HOYLE
-
-STEVE HOYLE was confined to his room with a bullet hole through the
-flesh of his right arm the day following the meeting at Inwood.
-
-He wrote Stella a letter informing her that John Graham had hired a gang
-of thugs to attempt his assassination on the night he was to meet her,
-that he had been desperately wounded in her service, and begged that she
-call at once.
-
-Stella sent him a reply that cut deeper than the bullet from John’s
-revolver. It was very brief. Steve read it with muttered curses:
-
-_Mr. Stephen Hoyle,_
-
-_I have long suspected that you were a liar. Last night you proved
-yourself a coward. Our acquaintance has ended._
-
-_Stella Butler._
-
-Steve paced his room in a speechless rage for an hour, dressed to call
-on her and demand an interview, and suddenly changed his mind at the
-sight of a squad of troops hurrying past his door.
-
-The arrest of John Graham had brought him to the verge of collapse. He
-trembled at the thought that his turn might come next, and feared to put
-his head out the door.
-
-When ten minutes later the soldiers who had passed suddenly appeared at
-every exit of his house and loudly knocked for entrance, he dropped into
-a chair shivering with abject terror.
-
-When arrested he turned his heavy white face toward the sergeant
-piteously.
-
-“I beg of you, officer, allow me to stay here under guard. I am
-desperately wounded, by an accident.”
-
-“You’ll have to go to jail,” the trooper snapped.
-
-“But, my dear man, I can’t. I can’t walk,” he gasped with laboured
-breath. “Just let me stay here under arrest until I can arrange with the
-authorities to give bail.”
-
-“Ye’ll have ter fix that at headquarters--come on,” he answered gruffly,
-seizing Steve and lifting him to his feet.
-
-The heavy form collapsed and he sank in a heap on the floor.
-
-The sergeant looked at him a moment with contempt, turned to his men and
-said:
-
-“Keep him under guard till I report.”
-
-The moment he had gone, Steve revived and crawled in bed, his teeth
-chattering with a nervous chill. The soldiers sat down and laughed in
-his face, and cracked jokes about the bravery of men who could ride well
-at night but sometimes fainted in the daylight.
-
-The Attorney General had ordered Steve’s arrest on a shrewd guess which
-Ackerman had made on hearing of the strange fight between two groups of
-horsemen in the country at dusk the night before. The detective had
-seen the doctor leaving Hoyle’s house and learned at once that Steve was
-wounded.
-
-In attempting to serve the warrant on John Graham he had found that he
-had ridden into the country alone in the direction taken by Steve Hoyle.
-Ackerman had long suspected Steve of complicity in the movements of
-the Klan, and knowing the deadly enmity between the two men had at once
-reached the conclusion that a feud within the ranks of its members could
-alone account for the situation.
-
-“Arrest Hoyle,” he urged on Champion; “threaten him with immediate
-conviction for conspiracy and murder and see what happens.”
-
-The Attorney General had taken his advice, and on receiving the report
-of Steve’s “illness” from the sergeant, went immediately to see him.
-
-Steve was profuse in his expressions of cordiality.
-
-“I’m sorry, General Champion,” he said, with loud friendliness, “that my
-father and mother are in the North at present. They spend a great deal
-of their time up there among you good Yankees. The fact is they are
-specially fond of you. My father, you know, was a secret Union man
-during the war and has always voted your ticket since, though for social
-reasons he don’t say much about it down here.”
-
-Steve winked and laughed feebly.
-
-“Is it so?” asked the General.
-
-“Yes, of course,” Steve hurried on, “and I want to ask you as a personal
-favour to my father, if not to me, to accept my bail for £10,000. The
-whole thing, I assure you, is an absurd mistake. My father and I can
-convince you of this on his return.”
-
-The General pursed his lips and watched Steve shrewdly for a moment.
-
-“I’m sorry I can’t accommodate you, Mr. Hoyle. We cannot accept bail
-in cases of this kind. You must realise at once that you are in a very
-dangerous position. Beyond a doubt your life is in peril.”
-
-Steve attempted to laugh but choked with terror, saying feebly:
-
-“Oh, not so bad as that, General. I’m a lawyer myself you know. I can
-only be tried on a charge of murder before a state judge and jury. You
-have no right to put a man on trial for his life here.”
-
-“Right or no right, young man, we are going to do it under the Act of
-Congress. We’ve got the power. The army is here. The Supreme Court may
-decide the Act unconstitutional later.”
-
-“I assure you, General, the charge against me is a monstrous falsehood,”
- Steve protested vigorously.
-
-“And yet, my boy, the men have found in the search of this house a full
-Ku Klux regalia for man and horse. Sergeant, bring that thing in!”
-
-The trooper stepped in the door and held up before Steve’s astonished
-gaze the costume which he had taken under his saddle the night before on
-his trip to meet Stella.
-
-Steve sat up in bed trembling and perspiring.
-
-“Why, yes, of course,” he stammered. “That has been here for some time.
-I’ve made no attempt to conceal it. It was given me by a client of mine
-who was a member. I’m keeping it as a curiosity.”
-
-“A dangerous curiosity to keep about your house in these times, sir,”
- said the General sternly. “Let’s come to the point. Do you wish to
-keep out of jail or do you wish to test the power of the United States
-Government to put you on trial for your life?”
-
-“I want to keep out of jail,” was the quick answer.
-
-“That’s sensible. Then face the facts. My detective has watched you for
-three months. I can convict you of murder.”
-
-Steve fumbled his hands nervously while the General paused and gazed
-steadily at his wavering eyes.
-
-“Now, I’ve a generous proposition to make you.”
-
-“Yes?--yes?” Steve gasped.
-
-“One that will give you an opportunity to prove yourself a patriot and a
-hero--a patriot because you will render your country a great service--a
-hero because you must brave the scorn of every white man and woman whose
-opinion is worth anything to you. Will you consider it?”
-
-“Yes,” Steve answered.
-
-“Give me the information needed to destroy the Invisible Empire and I
-will not only release you from custody; I will make you my assistant and
-ultimately secure your promotion to a judgeship. Your answer?”
-
-“I’ll do it, General, I’ll do it!” Steve cried, while the maudlin tears
-of a coward’s relief from mortal fear coursed down his fat cheeks. “I’ll
-stand by you and help save our country by restoring law and order.”
-
-The General thanked and congratulated him, again called him a patriot
-and hero and sent for his stenographer. For four hours he was closeted
-with Steve.
-
-At dusk the soldiers moved with sure tread in every county in Piedmont
-Carolina, and before the sun rose the blow had fallen swift, relentless,
-terrible!
-
-The Klan leaders in every county were behind the bars.
-
-More than five hundred arrests were made in the county of Independence.
-Around the jail, and half a dozen improvised prisons, throngs of
-sadfaced wives, mothers, sisters and sweethearts stood silently weeping.
-
-The next morning Champion wired the President asking that the Honourable
-Stephen Hoyle be appointed acting Assistant United States District
-Attorney, and his request was granted.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V--ACKERMAN CORNERED
-
-THE arrest of John Graham precipitated a crisis between Ackerman and
-Susie Wilson which was as unexpected as it was embarrassing to the
-handsome young detective.
-
-From the moment she had seen his letter on Stella’s bed she had watched
-the young Northerner with the keenest suspicions.
-
-The following day he pressed his love with straightforward earnestness.
-
-She answered with an evasive smile.
-
-“I appreciate the honour you pay me, Mr. Ackerman, but I’m not in love
-with you. I hope we shall always be friends. If your love endures it may
-win mine in the end--if you persist.”
-
-“I have your permission to persist?”
-
-“Certainly,” she answered frankly. “I love to be loved.”
-
-“All right,” he said with a boyish laugh. “I’m going to build my house
-in the fall.”
-
-On the day following John Graham’s arrest she saw Ackerman emerge from
-the hotel in earnest consultation with the Attorney General. To her the
-prosecuting officer of the United States at that moment meant all that
-was vile and hateful in the tyranny under which the South had groaned
-since the dawn of her memory.
-
-The moment she saw Ackerman with this man, his very name became to her
-accursed. Her keen intuition at once linked the letter to Stella with
-the murder of the Judge and the prosecution of the Klan. She was sure
-that Ackerman had been playing the hypocrite and was at heart an enemy
-of the South. She determined not only to cut his acquaintance but put
-him out of her mother’s house.
-
-When the young detective received a written notice from Susie to vacate
-his room immediately, he took it to be a practical joke and asked to see
-her. She sent word by the servant that unless he moved during the day
-his trunk would be thrown on the sidewalk.
-
-Ackerman left in answer to a summons from the Attorney General’s office,
-still puzzling his brain over the meaning of the joke. He was sure that
-she could not possibly know of his oath against John Graham which was a
-secret of the Department of Justice. He was equally sure that she could
-not suspect his real business in Independence. He meant to win her love
-first. He didn’t care what she thought of his profession afterwards.
-
-When he returned to Mrs. Wilson’s for supper he was struck dumb by the
-sight of his trunk lying on the sidewalk outside the gate.
-
-Without a word he picked it up, carried it back upstairs and threw it on
-the floor with a bang in front of the room that had been his.
-
-He sat down on it and refused to stir until Susie answered in person his
-demand for an interview.
-
-To avoid a scene she finally consented to meet him in the parlour.
-
-Susie’s gray eyes were cold and her tall figure rigid.
-
-“In violation of every law that should govern the conduct of a gentleman
-you have forced yourself into my presence Mr. Ackerman. I trust our
-interview may be very brief.”
-
-“In violation of every law of Southern hospitality, to say nothing of
-the rules which should govern the temper of a lady, you have thrown
-me out of your house without rhyme or reason. And before I go I
-respectfully but firmly ask, why?”
-
-“You have pretended to be a friend of our people I find that you are an
-enemy--a sneak and a hypocrite.”
-
-Ackerman’s cheeks blushed redder than usual; he bit his lips and finally
-burst into laughter.
-
-“Is that all?”
-
-Susie rose with dignity.
-
-“It’s quite enough for my mother and myself.”
-
-“But it’s not enough for me, Miss Susie. My defence against your unjust
-suspicions is perfect. I will make it if necessary. I trust it will not
-be necessary.”
-
-“You might include in your defence an explanation of why you were
-corresponding with Stella Butler while you were writing love to me?”
-
-“Who said that I wrote to Miss Butler?”
-
-“I say it. I saw your letter in her room the day you declared your love
-for me.”
-
-Ackerman was cornered. He must confess and betray Stella’s secret or
-keep silent and wreck his own hopes. His decision was instantly made.
-
-“Miss Susie, you’ve got me. I give up. I’m not a sneak--but I am a
-hypocrite by profession.”
-
-“You confess it?” Susie cried with scorn. “Yes,” he whispered. “I am
-a trusted detective of the United States Secret Service. I am not the
-enemy of your people. On the other hand, I have learned to love and
-sympathise with them. Perhaps my love for you has given me that point
-of view. Anyway, I’ve taken it. I am simply here as an officer on duty
-under command of his superior.”
-
-Susie’s face softened. She saw at once her mistake.
-
-“And your duty led you into correspondence with Miss Butler?5’
-
-“I regret to be compelled to answer, but it did.”
-
-“She has aided in your work?”
-
-“Yes. I reported to her by order of the Chief on arrival, and have been
-in constant communication with her at every step since.”
-
-“Up to the hour of John Graham’s arrest?” Susie asked breathlessly.
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“Oh, the little fiend! I could strangle her!” the girl cried.
-
-“I’m sorry to have to betray this confidence. But you have forced me.”
-
-“And you are pressing the charge of murder against John Graham?”
-
-“On the other hand, I am not. If my plans succeed, I’ll explode a
-bombshell in the court room the day he faces the jury.”
-
-Susie extended her hand.
-
-“I beg your pardon for my rudeness. Alfred will put your trunk back
-immediately, if you will stay.”
-
-Ackerman mounted to his room and unpacked his trunk, humming a love song
-while Susie put on her hat and left with swift firm step to find Stella
-Butler.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI--THROUGH DEEP WATERS
-
-STELLA had hurried to the jail with a bouquet of flowers earlier than
-usual, accompanied by Maggie who carried a dainty breakfast. She wished
-to be the first to tell John Graham of the blow which had fallen on his
-people. She had forgotten that the jail in which he lay had been jammed
-with prisoners during the night. Four of his friends were crowded into
-the cell in which he was confined.
-
-Her heart sank at the sight of the pitiful crowds of weeping women who
-stood at the jail door, some of them with sick babies in their arms.
-
-A little tow-headed boy sat on the steps, with his lips quivering and
-the big tears slowly rolling down his cheeks. She recognised him as the
-one she saw in front of her house the night of the Klan’s first parade.
-
-She bent over him and took his hand:
-
-“What’s the matter?”
-
-The boy’s breast heaved and he choked, unable to answer, bent his
-sunburnt head on Stella’s hand and burst into strangling tears.
-
-She stroked his hair, and at length he sobbed:
-
-“They’ve got my big brother in here--locked--up--in--a--cage! They’re
-going to kill him, and he ain’t got nobody but me to help him. I ain’t
-nothing but a little boy. I can’t get no money, and I can’t do nothing.
-Oh, me! oh, me!”
-
-He bowed again and sobbed as though his heart would break.
-
-Stella slipped her arm around his neck and placed a rose in his hand.
-
-“Hush dear, I’ll be your friend and his. I’ve got money. I’ll help
-you--give the rose to your brother and come to see me.”
-
-“Will you, Miss?” he cried, leaping up with joy. “Make’em let me go in
-with you and I’ll tell him!”
-
-Stella took him by the hand and led him into the jail.
-
-When the jailor frowned at the boy, she said with a smile:
-
-“He’s a little friend of mine. He’ll go in with me.”
-
-The boy nestled close to her side and gripped her hand tightly. When
-they reached the first corridor, he sprang to a grated door and seized
-his brother’s hand. As she passed on Stella heard him say joyously:
-
-“It’ll be all right, Jim, don’t worry. She’s a goin’ to help us. She
-told me so. She’s rich--she’ll get us a lawyer.”
-
-Stella climbed the stairs to John’s door with a great voiceless fear in
-her soul. The thought of his discovery of her betrayal stopped the very
-beat of her heart.
-
-To her surprise she found him strangely calm.
-
-“It’s sweet of you to come so early,” he said with a smile.
-
-“Love makes one’s feet swift, doesn’t it?” she answered softly.
-
-“And beautiful!” he cried. “I’m going to make you happier by giving you
-more work. Don’t bring me anything more to eat or any more flowers until
-you’ve made the other fellows comfortable. I’m all right, but a lot of
-the poor boys who have just come have broken down. Oh, God, if I could
-have gotten my hands on the throat of the traitor last night!”
-
-Never had she seen a more terrible look on a human face. Stella gazed at
-his convulsed features fascinated with fear.
-
-“You’ll help the boys, won’t you, dear, for my sake?” he asked suddenly.
-“Susie Wilson and her mother will join you.”
-
-Stella answered with a start:
-
-“Why--of course, John. I’ll go at once.”
-
-“And dear!” he called as she turned quickly.
-
-“The lawyer whom you engage for me must take all their cases. I’ll stand
-or fall with my people.”
-
-“Yes, I understand.”
-
-Stella hurried home with her soul in a tumult of conflicting purposes.
-She felt it yet too dangerous to confess the dual rôle she had played;
-yet with each hour’s startling events the agony of fear lest he discover
-her betrayal became more and more intense.
-
-One thing she could do at once. She would make the cause of his men her
-own, she would make her ministry of love so tender and unselfish, her
-sacrifices so generous he must hear her plea when the awful moment of
-her confession should come.
-
-She had just given Aunt Julie Ann orders to prepare three meals each day
-for every man in jail with John, and was about to start for the garden
-to cut more flowers, when Maggie ushered Susie Wilson into the hall.
-
-“I’m so glad you’ve come,” Stella cried. “I was just going to ask you
-and your mother to help us make those men comfortable who have been put
-in jail. Mr. Graham was sure you would join me.”
-
-Susie stared at Stella for a moment and slowly said:
-
-“Is it possible!”
-
-“Why, what’s the matter?” Stella asked. “Won’t you sit down?”
-
-“I prefer to stand, thank you, and to come straight to the point,” Susie
-answered with quiet emphasis. “May I ask you some questions?”
-
-Stella flushed and her first impulse was to show her questioner to the
-door, but she felt the dangerous menace in Susie’s tone and knew that
-she had suspected at least part of the truth. It was necessary to fence.
-
-“Why, as many as you like,” she replied with a light laugh.
-
-“You have told John Graham that you love him?”
-
-“Your question is an impertinence. It’s none of your business.”
-
-“I have made it my business.”
-
-“Then the sooner you recover your self-respect the better,” Stella
-sneered.
-
-“What do you mean?” Susie’s gray eyes danced with anger.
-
-“That you are desperately and hopelessly in love with John Graham
-yourself, and that you haven’t pride and character enough to hold up
-your head before his indifference, and his patronising contempt. I have
-won him, and you come with cheap insults for the woman he loves.”
-
-Susie’s eyes grew dim.
-
-“Your accusation is infamously false,” she cried with choking emotion.
-
-“You deny that you love him?” Stella flashed.
-
-“I glory in it--if you will know!” Susie cried in dreamy tenderness.
-“I’ve always loved him with a girl’s blind worship of the hero of her
-dreams. And I shall cherish every gentle word that he has ever spoken to
-me. The impulse which brought me here wasn’t the vulgar desire to insult
-the woman he loves. I came to save his life.”
-
-Stella sprang to her feet, her face scarlet, her breath coming in quick
-gasps of anger.
-
-“What do you mean?”
-
-“I’ll tell you if you answer my questions. Do you dare tell me that you
-love him?”
-
-Stella drew herself up proudly.
-
-“You have no right to ask that question. But I answer it. I do love him
-and I have told him.”
-
-Susie confronted her with flashing eyes.
-
-“Then you have deceived him!”
-
-“How dare you thus insult me in my house,” Stella cried with flaming
-cheeks.
-
-“I’ll leave your house and never enter it again. You can also rest
-assured that John Graham’s foot will never again cross this threshold
-when I have told him the truth.”
-
-“When--you--have--told--him--the--truth!” Stella gasped. “What truth?”
-
-“That you have betrayed him and his people to his enemies.”
-
-“It’s false! It’s false!” Stella panted. “You lie. You lie, because you
-hate me! You hate me because you love him. Tell him if you dare. He
-will laugh in your face! Try it--try it--I dare you!” Her voice rose and
-fell, quivering and breaking in hoarse whispers of passion.
-
-Susie stood quietly and coldly staring at her with lips upturned in
-scorn.
-
-“If he doubts my word, Mr. Ackerman’s will be sufficient.”
-
-“Ackerman!” Stella moaned, staggering to the table.
-
-“Mr. Ackerman of the Secret Service who came here in answer to your
-call.”
-
-“He--has--told--you?”
-
-“Yes, and I know the whole black hideous truth. I know that you hate
-John Graham, that you have used your devil’s beauty to entrap and betray
-him.”
-
-“I swear that I love him!” Stella groaned as she sank to a chair.
-
-“As you’ve sworn to him no doubt while you lured him to his ruin. I hate
-you--I hate you--and I could strangle you!”
-
-The tall lithe form trembling with fury towered above Stella’s shivering
-little figure.
-
-“Susie, you are mistaken,” she faltered. “Come into the library a moment
-and I’ll convince you that you are wrong.”
-
-She seized Susie’s hand and led her into the library, sinking again into
-a chair.
-
-“See, here is a mortgage for ten thousand dollars on this house which
-I’ve prepared to raise the money for two great lawyers from the North
-who are coming to defend him.”
-
-“From the North?”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“You mean to convict him,” Susie cried. “Another shrewd trick you are
-playing. Your lawyers will gain his confidence, learn his secrets,
-betray and send him to his death. But, I’ll warn him!”
-
-“Susie, you can’t believe this of me! The pledging of this house is the
-first great act of selfsacrifice of my life. The joy of it has been a
-sweet revelation to me. You must hear me when I tell you that I love him
-with passionate devotion. I’d give my life for him if I could!”
-
-“And yet you brought Ackerman here and hounded him for three months
-until at last he lies in a filthy jail with the shadow of death over
-him--and you call this love?”
-
-The tall form again towered in rage above the shrinking figure.
-
-“Wait! I must tell you all, Susie. You know but half the truth. Listen
-dear, I did try to avenge my father’s death. I believed John Graham
-guilty. I did lure him on to love me only to find that I loved him! I
-tried to hate him and couldn’t. I’ve betrayed only his name to Ackerman.
-I could tear my tongue out for it. If he learns of it, he will turn from
-me and hate me! Susie darling, I’ve been proud and vain and wilful. Now
-I’m a poor little girl alone, friendless and lost. You’re stronger than
-I am. Have pity on me. Be a mother to me--I’m lonely and heart-sick. You
-know what it is to love. If he turns from me now before I can atone for
-the wrong I have done him, I can’t live. You--believe--me--now--dear?”
-
-Susie’s eyes filled with tears.
-
-“Yes, I believe you now.”
-
-Stella’s head sank on the table and her form shook with sobs.
-
-Susie gently stroked the curling black hair, and said:
-
-“I’ll help you. We’ll work together to save his life.”
-
-In a moment they were sobbing in each other’s arms.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII--THE PRISONER AT THE BAR
-
-WHEN the day of trial dawned, Stella had succeeded in securing the
-services of two of the greatest lawyers in America, Reverdy Johnson of
-Maryland, Attorney General in the Cabinet of President Taylor, and Henry
-Stanbery of Ohio, Attorney General in the Cabinet of Andrew Johnson.
-
-The Government was represented by the finest legal talent its vast
-resources and power could command.
-
-For eleven days, before two presiding judges of the United States
-Circuit Court, the fierce battle of legal giants raged. The great
-lawyers for the defence fought every inch of ground with dogged
-tenacity.
-
-Stella watched from day to day with breathless intensity as she sat by
-John Graham’s side.
-
-It soon became plain that the Court had constituted itself a partisan
-political tribunal for the purpose, not of administering justice, but of
-crushing the enemies of the party in power.
-
-Every decision was against the prisoner, though, in deference to the
-distinguished character of the lawyers for the defence, they were
-allowed to argue each point. The profound and accurate learning with
-which they reviewed the Constitutional law of the Republic was a liberal
-education to the shallow little partisans who sat on the judge’s bench
-before them. But their eloquence and learning fell on the ears of men
-whose decisions were already made.
-
-In violation of the rights of the prisoner under the constitutions of
-the state and nation the indictment for murder was ordered to immediate
-trial.
-
-From the moment the actual proceedings of the trial began, the
-Government had no delay or difficulty.
-
-With sinking heart Stella saw the disgraceful travesty of justice draw
-each moment the cords of death closer about the form of the man she
-loved.
-
-The jury corruptly chosen for this case marked the lowest tide mud to
-which the administration of justice ever sank in our history. A white
-freeman, a man of culture and heroic mould, whose fathers created the
-American Republic, was arraigned to plead for his life before a jury
-composed of one dirty, ignorant white scalawag and eleven coal-black
-Negroes! The white man was not made its foreman, a Negro teamster was
-chosen.
-
-Steve Hoyle became at once the presiding genius of the prosecution. The
-court room was thronged with liars, perjurers and sycophants who hung
-about his fat figure with obsequious deference. Old Larkin, who came
-from the Capitol to assist the prosecution, sat constantly by Steve’s
-side.
-
-John Graham watched Steve with cold deadly hate, but he had warned his
-men under no conceivable circumstances to lift a hand in resistance
-either to constituted authority, or to give the traitor his deserts.
-A pall of helpless grief and fear hung over every decent white man who
-witnessed the High Court of Justice of the Anglo-Saxon race suddenly
-transformed into a Negro minstrel farce on which hung their liberty and
-life.
-
-The star witness of the prosecution was Uncle Isaac A. Postle. He took
-his seat before the jury, grinning and nodding at two of his dusky
-friends among them with calm assurance.
-
-Isaac was allowed to tell a marvellous rambling story of Ku Klux
-outrages--stories which he had heard from Larkin--about whose truth
-he could possibly know nothing. In vain the lawyers for the defence
-objected. The court overruled every objection and allowed the Apostle
-free scope to his vivid imagination.
-
-Reverdy Johnson, the distinguished ex-Attorney General of the United
-States who stood before the judges protesting with dignity, bowed to the
-Bench and sat down in disgust with the quiet remark:
-
-“We shall offer no further objection to anything that may be said in
-this Court.”
-
-He had scarcely taken his seat when Ackerman moved his chair behind him
-and began to whisper.
-
-The District Attorney watched the detective in astonishment, while Hoyle
-and Larkin bent their heads together in excited conference.
-
-Susie looked at Stella, smiled and blushed.
-
-Isaac finally came to specific charges against John Graham.
-
-“Now tell the court what you know about John Graham’s connection
-with the murder of Judge Butler,” said Steve, who was conducting his
-examination.
-
-“Yassah, I knows all ’bout it, sah. Mr. John Graham de very man dat
-kill de jedge wid his own han’. I see ’im when he do it. Dey come
-slippin’ up back er de house, an’ creep in froo de winder while de odder
-folks wuz in de ballroom dancin’. Dey wuz eight un ’em--yassah. Dey
-slip up an’ grab de jedge an’ hol’ ’im while Mr. John Graham stick a
-knife right in his heart----yassah. I wuz lookin’ right at ’im froo de
-winder when he done it. When he kill ’im, dey all mix up wid de odder
-Ku Kluxes what wuz dancin’, an’ go way ter-gedder.”
-
-“Take the witness,” said Steve with a wave of his hand.
-
-“How did you know it was Mr. Graham?” asked General Johnson.
-
-“I seed ’im wid my own eyes.”
-
-“He wore a complete disguise, did he not?”
-
-“Yassah, but I seed ’im all de same.”
-
-“You could see through the mask?”
-
-“I seed ’im--I done tole ye!”
-
-“Answer my question,” sternly commanded the lawyer. “Could you see his
-face through the mask?”
-
-“Nasah.”
-
-“Then how did you recognise him?”
-
-“He tuck it off ter scratch his head, sah, an’ I see his face. I knowed
-it wuz him all de time fo’ I see his face.”
-
-Ackerman whispered to the lawyer.
-
-“Did you tell Mr. Ackerman, Uncle Isaac, that, as you started to run
-away from the masqueraders that night, you saw John Graham at your
-gate--ran into him?”
-
-“Nasah, I nebber say no sech thing!” Isaac shouted, glaring and shaking
-his head at Ackerman.
-
-“Didn’t you tell the same gentleman that later in the evening you saw
-John Graham seated on a rustic near the house watching it from the
-outside?”
-
-“Nasah! dat I didn’t!”
-
-“Do you know that if you swear a lie----”
-
-“I ain’t swar no lie!” Isaac interrupted with religious fervour.
-“I’se de Lord’s Sanctified One, sah. I ain’t done no sin since I got
-sanctification. Yassah, praise God!”
-
-“Don’t you know,” repeated the lawyer, “that if you swear to a lie on
-that witness stand you can be sent to the penitentiary for perjury?”
-
-“I knows dey ain’t gwine sen’ me dar--I knows dat,” Isaac said with a
-grin, and his Negro acquaintances in the jury box laughed.
-
-The lawyer changed his line of questions. “You say you saw John Graham
-strike the death-blow?”
-
-“Yassah, I see ’im wid dese very eyes.”
-
-“Were you close enough to hear what was said?”
-
-“Yassah, I wuz right dar by de open winder.”
-
-“What did he say?”
-
-“Des ez he raise de knife he say, ‘I got you now, you d---- Black
-Radical ‘Publican!’”
-
-“You swear that you heard him say that he killed the Judge because he
-was a Republican?”
-
-“Yassah! dat’s what de Ku Kluxes kill ’em all fur, sah!”
-
-Larkin shuffled uneasily, bent again in conference with Steve who rose
-immediately and asked for an adjournment of two hours.
-
-When the Court reassembled and Isaac took his seat in the witness chair,
-Aunt Julie Ann’s huge form suddenly appeared in the doorway with her
-hand resting confidingly on Alfred’s arm. They walked inside the railing
-of the bar and took seats assigned to them behind John Graham’s counsel.
-Aunt Julie Ann handed Ackerman a pair of Isaac’s old shoes. He measured
-them quickly on a diagram which he drew from his pocket.
-
-Isaac watched Aunt Julie Ann and Alfred with mouth opened in wonder,
-rage and growing fear.
-
-He rose and bowed to the judges.
-
-“I gotter ax de cote ter perteck me, gemmens,” he said falteringly.
-
-“What do you mean?” asked a judge.
-
-“Dat nigger Alfred dar tryin’ ter steal my wife from me, sah!”
-
-Alfred grinned, and patted Aunt Julie Ann’s hand and whispered: “Doan
-min’ de low-live rascal, honey!”
-
-“Yassah, an’ my wife come here tryin’ ter timidate me, sah. She jes
-fetch er par er my ole shoes inter dis cote. She’s a cunjer ‘oman, sah.
-I try ter sanctify her, but she won’t stay sanctified. She got a kink er
-my hair las’ night and wrap it up in a piece er paper and put it under
-de cote house do’ step, an’ she say dat ef I walk over dat into dis
-house ter-day an’ jestify ergin Marse John Graham she fling er spell
-over me. I ax de cote fer perfection, sah. I axes de Sheriff ter take
-dat bunch er hair from under dem steps fo’ I say annuder word!”
-
-“Silence, sir, and proceed with your testimony,” said the Judge.
-
-Aunt Julie Ann fanned her fat face, smiled at Stella and Susie and
-quietly slipped her hand in Alfred’s.
-
-Isaac dropped into his chair limp and crestfallen. In a sort of dazed
-trance he kept his eye fixed on Alfred’s face grinning in triumph.
-
-John’s lawyer pounced on him in sudden sharp accents.
-
-“Is this a pair of your shoes, Isaac?”
-
-“Yassah,” was the listless answer.
-
-“You wore these shoes the night the Judge was killed, didn’t you?”
-
-“Yassah.”
-
-“You’re sure of it?”
-
-“Yassah. Dem’s my ole ones. I got a new pair now.”
-
-The lawyer stepped close and in threatening tones asked:
-
-“Will you explain to this Court what your shoes were doing making tracks
-in the soft mud of the underground passage from the family vault of the
-Graham house the night of this murder?”
-
-Isaac’s jaw dropped, he drew his red bandanna handkerchief and mopped
-his brow.
-
-A hum of excitement ran over the court room, and an officer cried:
-
-“Silence!”
-
-Isaac continued to mop his brow and fumble at his handkerchief while he
-gazed at the lawyer in a helpless stupor.
-
-“Answer my question, sir!” the towering figure thundered into his face.
-
-“I doan know what yer means, sah,” he faltered.
-
-“Yes you do. There were nine other men with you. Who were they?”
-
-“I dunno, sah!”
-
-Larkin whispered excitedly to Steve, who shook his head and gazed at
-Isaac in amazement.
-
-“Were they masked so that you couldn’t see their faces?”
-
-Isaac looked appealingly to the judges and whimpered:
-
-“I doan know what dey er talkin’ ‘bout, sah.”
-
-“You must answer the questions,” said the Judge.
-
-The lawyer glared at Isaac whose shifting eyes sought Larkin.
-
-“Think it over a minute, Isaac,” the lawyer continued; “in the meantime
-examine that knife.”
-
-He drew from its case a long, keen hunting-knife, and handed it to the
-witness who was now trembling from head to foot.
-
-“Did you ever see that knife before?”
-
-Isaac hesitated and finally answered:
-
-“Yassah, I sold it ter Mr. Ackerman.”
-
-“Where did you get it?”
-
-Larkin suddenly cleared his throat with a deep guttural sound like the
-growl of an infuriated animal.
-
-The lawyer looked at him with annoyance and the officer again shouted:
-
-“Silence!”
-
-“I foun’ it, sah,” he answered evasively.
-
-“Now, Isaac, you want to be very careful how you answer my next
-question.”
-
-The lawyer took the knife from the Negro’s hand and felt of its point.
-
-“You will notice that a tiny piece is broken off the tip of this blade.
-I hold in my hand the little bit of steel which exactly fits there. It
-was found embedded in a bone in Judge Butler’s body. This is the knife
-that struck the death-blow. Did you own that knife the night of the
-murder? Answer me!”
-
-Isaac fumbled his handkerchief again and looked about the room
-helplessly.
-
-Larkin rose carelessly and started from the court room. Ackerman,
-watching him keenly, sprang to his side.
-
-“Don’t leave, Larkin, we want you as a witness in a moment,” he
-whispered.
-
-“I’ll return immediately,” the Carpetbagger replied, increasing his
-haste.
-
-“Wait!” Ackerman commanded.
-
-Larkin quickened his pace and the detective seized his arm.
-
-The Carpetbagger threw him off with sudden fury and plunged toward the
-door.
-
-With the spring of a tiger, Ackerman leaped on him. A brief fierce
-fight, and he was dragged panting back before the astonished Court,
-while every man in the room sprang to his feet and pressed around the
-struggling men.
-
-“What’s the meaning of this disorder?” thundered the presiding Judge.
-
-“With apologies to the Court for the interruption I beg leave to present
-the murderer of Judge Butler--I ask a warrant for his arrest,” Ackerman
-demanded.
-
-A wave of horror swept the crowd of Larkin’s friends.
-
-“The man is a crazy liar, your Honours,” protested Larkin. “And he has
-proven himself a renegade and a scoundrel in this court room to-day. I
-protest against this outrage.”
-
-“I’ll prove my charge to the Court--every link in the chain of evidence
-is now complete,” was the cool answer.
-
-With the court room in an uproar, Larkin was arrested and placed between
-Ackerman and a deputy, and the trial resumed.
-
-A brief conference between the District Attorney and Isaac preceded the
-first question asked by John’s counsel after the disturbance.
-
-“Now, Isaac,” the lawyer began suavely, “the District Attorney has just
-promised to spare your life on condition that you tell us the truth, the
-whole truth, and nothing but the truth--let’s have it.”
-
-“Yassah,” the Apostle responded in humble accents. “Mr. Larkin, he tell
-me ter say what I did, sah.”
-
-Larkin’s head dropped and his keen eyes furtively sought the door.
-
-“Who gave you that knife?”
-
-A moment of breathless suspense rippled the crowded court room and every
-head was bent forward.
-
-“Mr. Larkin gimme de knife! We’se been powful good friends, sah. I show
-him de under-groun’ way fum de tomb inter de house. I’se de only black
-man dat know it--my daddy help dig it--yassah. Mr. Larkin de fust man I
-ebber tell dat I know ’bout it. He say he want ter beat de Ku Kluxes.
-He say he make’em smoke dat night, an’ he git eight men an’ dress up jes
-lak ‘em, an’ I show him de way ter git in froo de panel in de hall. He
-fool me. I didn’t know he gwine ter kill de jedge, sah, er I wouldn’t er
-let ’em in, nosah. I doan’ believe in killin’ nobody. He tell me ter
-git outen de county an’ I stay till de soldiers come back. Yassah, an’
-dat’s de whole troof!”
-
-Ackerman motioned the sergeant, a pair of handcuffs clicked on Larkin’s
-wrists, and the great white head sank on his breast.
-
-Stella gazed at his pathetic figure with a strange feeling of pity and
-wonder, while her hand sought John Graham’s and pressed it tenderly.
-
-The count of murder was dropped, but the charge of conspiracy was
-pressed with merciless ferocity. A procession of hired liars ascended
-the witness stand and in rapid succession perjured themselves by
-swearing that they had recognised the prisoner on various raids made by
-the Klan in the county.
-
-The jury was out fifteen minutes.
-
-When they returned John Graham, in whose veins flowed the blood of
-a race of world-conquering men, entitled to a trial by a jury of his
-peers, rose with quiet dignity and heard the verdict of his condemnation
-fall from the thick protruding lips of a flat-nosed Negro:
-
-“We finds de prisoner guilty!”
-
-“So say you all gentlemen?” asked the clerk.
-
-And in response each black spindle-shanked juror shambled to his feet
-and answered:
-
-“Guilty!”
-
-The last name called was the little white Scalawag’s, whose weak voice
-squeaked an echo:
-
-“Guilty.”
-
-The Judge imposed a fine of one thousand dollars and sentenced John
-Graham to five years imprisonment at hard labour in the United States
-penitentiary at Albany, New York.
-
-A low moan from Stella, and her head sank in voiceless anguish.
-
-To the brave and the proud there are visions darker than death.
-
-John Graham saw this as he was led from the court room back to jail--the
-vision of the hideous leprous shame of a convict’s suit of stripes!
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII--THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS
-
-EVERY delicacy which love could devise and her money buy Stella
-lavished on John and his friends. Each day added to the list of men who
-returned to jail condemned to the infamy of a convict’s pen at Albany.
-
-When the deep-muttered curses against Steve Hoyle for the betrayal of
-his men reached John’s ears, he sent through Stella his sternest orders
-and his tenderest entreaties to Dan Wiley to prevent violence. Dan had
-successfully eluded every effort to arrest him. John knew that he was
-hiding in the mountains with the men he had commanded armed to
-the teeth, and he lived in constant dread of the news of Steve’s
-assassination, even under the noses of the United States troops.
-
-A single burst of sunlight came to brighten for Stella the gloom of
-the day before John’s departure for Albany. She succeeded in liberating
-“Jim,” the big brother of her little tow-headed friend. Her interest
-in the boy had been noted, and she received the usual mysterious
-message--that money placed at the right spot would prevent any witness
-from identifying Jim. She found the right spot promptly and paid the
-bribe of two hundred and fifty dollars without a question as to the
-ethics involved. Jim was discharged, and when he walked out a free man a
-little tow-headed boy lay sobbing out his joy on her breast.
-
-“I’m goin’ to work for you, if you’ll let me,” he cried through his
-tears.
-
-“Why, I thought you said you couldn’t do anything that day we met?” she
-laughed.
-
-“Oh, I’m awful smart,” he boasted--“I can tote fresh water, carry
-all your notes to your sweetheart--and I’m great diggin’ worms ter go
-fishin’--I know right where to find ’em!”
-
-She sent him away with a kiss and a promise to let him come and show her
-what he could do.
-
-As she entered the jail with John’s dinner, the jailor, whose friendship
-she had won by the liberal use of money and skilful flattery, whispered
-to her:
-
-“Come in here a minute, Miss, I want to show you something.”
-
-She followed him into his room and started with horror at the sight of a
-dirty suit of convict’s stripes spread out on a chair.
-
-Stella’s face blanched.
-
-“They are for him?” she gasped.
-
-“Yessum, an’ if ye’ll excuse me fer sayin’ it, I think it’s a d------
-shame.”
-
-“They have no right to put this outrage on him before his people,” she
-cried.
-
-“No’m, they haint got no right, but they’re goin’ ter do it to-morrow
-mornin’ just the same. They’re goin’ ter take him all the way ter Albany
-in that suit.”
-
-“Who’s doing this?” she asked with rising wrath.
-
-“Steve Hoyle, m’am. He’s fixin’ to have a big gang er niggers and low
-white trash here in the mornin’ ter hoot and yell and make fun of him
-all the way to the train, an’ I thought I’d tell ye.”
-
-“Thank you,” she answered warmly, her big brown eyes beginning to flash
-fire.
-
-“Ye know ef I’d step out, that suit o’ clothes might be foun’ missin’.
-It ain’t mine. I’ll swear to that. I don’t know anybody that owns it, er
-wants it.”
-
-“I understand. Wrap it up, please. I can’t touch it.”
-
-Stella shuddered and watched the jailor with wide-staring eyes as he
-picked up the suit, wrapped it in a piece of brown paper and laid it
-back on the chair.
-
-“I got to go--there’s somebody knockin’ at the door--course, I won’t
-know what’s become er the d---- thing.”
-
-He left her with a grin, and Stella seized the bundle, hurried home
-and burned it. On the way she stopped at a hardware store and made
-a mysterious purchase which she carefully concealed, and there was
-a dangerous light in her eyes as she placed this package beside the
-travelling dress which she had laid out to wear on the train with John.
-
-The jailor passed Stella in the hall but looked the other way as he
-hurried forward with two soldiers who had called to see John Graham.
-They were dressed in the regulation blue suits of the army. The jailor,
-trusting implicitly their uniforms, allowed them to go up unaccompanied
-to John’s door.
-
-So complete was the disguise that at first the condemned man gazed
-through the bars with indifference at his callers.
-
-The taller of the two suddenly thrust his face close and whispered:
-
-“God, man, don’t ye know me?”
-
-John started.
-
-“Dan--Billy--what does this mean!”
-
-Dan put his finger on his lips.
-
-“Everything’s all right. Billy’s been up in the mountains with me at my
-summer resort.”
-
-“I wrote you, Billy, not to come!” John scowled.
-
-“I’m not going to see this infamy puton you----”
-
-“It’s all fixed, Chief,” Dan broke in, drawing a new sledge hammer from
-his pocket, and slipping the handle from his sleeve.
-
-With a loud cough to mask the sound he thrust the handle into its place.
-
-“You’re both crazy!” John said with anger.
-
-“It’s as easy as failin’ off a log,” Dan urged. “Billy’ll smash the
-lock, I’ll gag and tie the jailor. I’ve got the fastest horse in the
-county waitin’ fer ye at the corner. Git thirty minutes start, an’ there
-ain’t cavalry enough this side er hell to stop ye. When ye get ter my
-house, ye’ll be in God’s country. The boys are there waitin’ fer ye.”
- Dan handed the hammer to Billy.
-
-“Put that hammer down!” John commanded sternly.
-
-“I won’t--you’ve got to go with us.”
-
-“Do as I tell you, or I’ll call the jailor,” John said with a frown.
-
-“For God’s sake, come with us!” Billy pleaded. “Steve Hoyle’s going to
-have a crowd of Negroes here to laugh and jeer at you to-morrow as you
-come out. I tell you I can’t stand it!”
-
-John’s face suddenly paled.
-
-“You can stand it if I can, Billy! Get out of this, both of you, before
-you’re arrested--quick now. I won’t have it. Come here, Dan!”
-
-John called to the mountaineer who had turned away.
-
-“Give me your hand.”
-
-Dan thrust his hand through the bars and John grasped it.
-
-“Are you a friend of mine?”
-
-“Ain’t I a showin’ ye.”
-
-“Take Billy home and take care of him until I return--will you do it?”
-
-“Yes--but I don’t like this givin’ up a fight when I’ve won it.”
-
-“And one thing more, Dan, old boy, before I let your hand go, you’ve got
-to promise me not to kill Steve Hoyle.”
-
-“Who said I was goin’ to do it?”
-
-“I say it.”
-
-“He ain’t fit ter live.”
-
-“Yes, but somehow God lets a lot of such trash cumber the earth. We’d
-better not try any more interference with his plans.”
-
-Dan hesitated, struggling with deep passion, drew a handkerchief and
-blew his nose.
-
-“Ye’re putty hard on me, Chief, I was goin’ ter call by Steve’s house
-and finish both jobs to-day, but orders is orders. I’ll take ’em
-from you. I won’t take ’em from nobody else. Goodbye, take care er
-yourself.”
-
-Billy pressed his brother’s hand, silently turned and left with Dan.
-
-When the last echo of their steps had died away
-
-John Graham stared through the iron bars for half an hour and saw only
-the vision of a mob of yelling, laughing Negroes and behind them the
-fat, white cowardly face of Steve Hoyle.
-
-He sank to the chair with a groan:
-
-“O God, if it be possible let this cup pass from me!”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX--THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
-
-WHEN Steve Hoyle discovered next morning that the suit of stripes which
-he had secured at enormous expense in bribery and hush money had been
-lost he was furious. The jailor laughed at his idle threats and cursed
-him roundly when accused of making way with the suit.
-
-Steve left in a rage to drum up a larger crowd to hoot and yell at the
-man he hated.
-
-Stella pressed her way through the throng of Negroes into the jail,
-carrying an enormous bouquet of roses in one hand and in the other a
-basket of delicate flowers threaded into long beautiful garlands.
-
-John determined to save her from the scene of his humiliation.
-
-“You must not go through the streets with me to the train, my dear,” he
-said tenderly. “Go down in a carriage and join me at the station.”
-
-“I will if they let you ride with me,” she firmly answered.
-
-“Impossible. They’ve given special orders that I shall walk.”
-
-“Then I’ll walk with you,” she said with a smile.
-
-John’s face clouded with pain.
-
-“Please, dearest, for my sake?”
-
-“It’s for your sake I’m going with you.”
-
-“They may say something to hurt you,” he pleaded.
-
-“I don’t think they will,” she said as the fire suddenly flashed from
-her brown eyes.
-
-“But they will, my love, they will. It’s hard enough for me. They
-mustn’t hurt you--I can hear them out there now--that black mob--waiting
-to hoot and yell--please, don’t go with me!”
-
-Stella left his cell door, stepped to the window and looked out. Steve
-Hoyle was passing along the lines of Negroes ranged on either side of
-the walk, instructing them what to say. He had massed around the door a
-mob of two hundred to follow his lead the moment John appeared.
-
-“Watch me,” he said, “and I’ll give you the signal. I want you to let
-him have it square in the face when I raise my hand. I’ll stand on
-the doorstep. I want a laugh first from five hundred black throats--on
-old-fashioned nigger laugh, long, deep and loud! It’ll be a funny sight,
-I promise you that.”
-
-“We watch ye,” answered a big buck Negro with a grin.
-
-Stella heard the click of the lock of John’s cell with a start and
-turned to find the deputy marshal standing with a pair of handcuffs.
-
-“We are ready,” he said.
-
-John stepped into the corridor, and extended his hands. The deputy
-snapped the steel on his wrists, and Stella drew the garlands of flowers
-from the basket.
-
-“You don’t mind the flowers--do you officer? I’m going with you.”
-
-“Certainly not, m’am,” he replied.
-
-John saw that protest was useless, but he gazed at the garlands with
-amazement.
-
-“What on earth are you going to do, my dear?”
-
-“Just a little trick of love,” was the laughing answer.
-
-She wound the flowers around each handcuff, placed in John’s hand the
-enormous bouquet of roses, and not a trace of steel could be seen.
-
-“You can carry them for me,” she said, hurrying on before him.
-
-Stella passed suddenly through the jail door to the little brick landing
-of the steps on which Steve Hoyle stood to give his signal.
-
-Steve started in surprise at her appearance, stammered and flushed, and
-a murmur of uncertainty ran through the crowd.
-
-In a moment the traitor had recovered himself, and glancing at Stella
-with a sneer of triumph, he shouted to his henchmen:
-
-“Say what you please, boys--don’t mind the ladies!”
-
-Stella turned her eyes, gleaming with a deadly purpose, straight on
-Steve, and a revolver flashed from her hand into his face. He dodged,
-trembled, and crouched against the wall, while she sternly said:
-
-“Now lift your hand or open your mouth, you contemptible sneak and
-coward!”
-
-A cry of terror swept the dark crowd, and scores broke and fled.
-
-As John appeared in the doorway, Stella turned to the Negroes and in
-ringing tones cried:
-
-“I dare one of you black loafers to offer a single insult to the man
-whose love I hold dearer than my life. I’ll kill you as I would a dog.”
-
-Revolver in hand, with stern set face and flaming eyes she opened the
-way through which John Graham passed in silence.
-
-At the station a crowd of friends gathered and cheered his departure.
-
-Old Nicaroshinski slipped a hundred dollars in his hand and whispered in
-broken voice:
-
-“Don’t--don’t you vorry, me poy, ve’ll puild a monumendt to you in de
-public squvare yedt!”
-
-Stella was allowed to sit by his side in the car, and as the train
-started John looked at her a moment through dimmed eyes, and slowly
-said: “The glory of this hour has more than paid for all the pain and
-all the shame a thousand lives could hold!”
-
-And then in low soft accents broken with sobs she confessed to him the
-story of her love and at the end with trembling lips asked:
-
-“But you can’t hate me for it now, can you, my darling?”
-
-For an answer he bent and tenderly kissed her hand, while she felt
-rather than heard the low passionate words: “I love you--I love you--I
-love you!”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X--UNDER BRIGHT SKIES--AN EPILOGUE
-
-TIME slowly healed the poisoned wounds left by the fierce struggles
-of Reconstruction. John Graham’s case was never decided by the Supreme
-Court of the United States. Before the day arrived for the test of
-its appeal to the great tribunal which is the last bulwark of American
-liberties, he was hastily pardoned, and every man with him who
-languished in prison pens for similar political offences. The little
-politicians who had forced through Congress the venomous Conspiracy Acts
-in violation of the Constitution of the Republic did not dare to allow
-the Supreme Court the opportunity to overwhelm them with infamy.
-
-The years have brought magic changes to the people of Independence. The
-growing city has ploughed a new street through the old Graham house and
-a dozen beautiful homes stand on the site of its wide lawn.
-
-Poetic justice demanded that Steve Hoyle should pay the penalty of his
-treachery. But Time plays many a joke on Justice. The Honourable Stephen
-Hoyle is now one of our fattest, most solemn and most dignified judges
-of the Federal Courts.
-
-Ackerman’s long talks on imaginary cotton mills had one important
-result. They planted in John Graham’s imagination the seeds of fortune.
-On his return from prison he quit the practice of law and began the
-manufacture of cotton goods. To please his wife he bought Inwood, whose
-wide acres of forest extend to the river. Here the Graham Brothers’
-mills are located.
-
-The Inwood mansion he restored on its original foundations, rebuilding
-it of native marble behind the stately old Corinthian pillars around one
-of which the ivy is yet allowed to hang in graceful festoons.
-
-Ackerman, who is the Superintendent of the mills, lives but a stone’s
-throw from Inwood, and every day Susie’s and Stella’s children play
-together on the great lawn that still lies hidden in the heart of the
-ancient woods.
-
-THE END
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Traitor, by Thomas Dixon, Jr.
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