diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/50899-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50899-8.txt | 11314 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 11314 deletions
diff --git a/old/50899-8.txt b/old/50899-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 46eb17a..0000000 --- a/old/50899-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11314 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mam' Linda, by Will N. Harben - -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: Mam' Linda - -Author: Will N. Harben - -Illustrator: F. B. Masters - -Release Date: January 11, 2016 [EBook #50899] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAM' LINDA *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - - - - -MAM' LINDA - -By Will N. Harben - -Illustrated by F. B. Masters - -1907 - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -[Illustration: 9017] - -N the rear of the long store, at a round table under a hanging-lamp with -a tin shade, four young men sat playing poker. The floor of that portion -of the room was raised several feet higher than that of the front, and -between the two short flights of steps was the inclining door leading -to the cellar, which was damp and dark and used only for the storage of -salt, syrup, sugar, hardware, and general rubbish. - -Near the front door the store-keeper, James Blackburn, a portly, bearded -man of forty-five, sat chatting with Carson Dwight, a young lawyer of -the town. - -"I don't want any of you boys to think that I'm complaining," the elder -man was saying. "I've been young myself; in fact, as you know, I go the -gaits too, considering that I'm tied down by a family and have a -living to make. I love to have the gang around--I _swear_ I do, though -sometimes I declare it looks like this old shebang is more of a place of -amusement than a business house in good standing." - -"Oh, I know we hang around here too much," Carson Dwight replied; "and -you ought to kick us out, the last one of us." - -"Oh, it isn't so bad at night like this, when trade's over, but it -is sort o' embarrassing during the day. Why, what do you think? A -Bradstreet commercial reporter was in the other day to get a statement -of my standing, and while he was here Keith Gordon--look at him now, -the scamp! holding his cards over his head; that's a bluff. I'll bet he -hasn't got a ten-spot. While that agent was here Keith and a lot more of -your gang were back there on the platform dancing a hoe-down. The -dust was so thick you couldn't see the windows. The reporter looked -surprised, but he didn't say anything. I told him I thought I'd be able -to pay for all I bought in market, and that I had no idea how much I was -worth. I haven't invoiced my stock in ten years. When I run low I manage -to replenish somehow, and so it goes on from year to year." - -"Well, I am going to talk to the boys," Dwight said. "They are taking -advantage of your goodnature. The whole truth is they consider you one -of them, Jim. Marrying didn't change you. You are as full of devilment -as any of the rest, and they know it, and love to hang around you." - -"Well, I reckon that's a fact," Blackburn answered, "and I believe -I'd rather you wouldn't mention it. I think a sight of the gang, and -I wouldn't hurt their feelings for the world. After all, what does -it matter? Life is short, and if Trundle & Hodgson are getting more -mountain custom than I am, I'll bet I get the biggest slice of life. -They'll die rich, but, like as not, friendless. By-the-way, I see your -partner coming across the street. I forgot to tell you; he was looking -for you a few minutes ago. You had a streak of luck when you joined -issues with him; Bill Gamer's a rough sort o' chap, but he is by all -odds the brainiest lawyer in Georgia to-day." - -At this juncture a man of medium stature, with a massive head crowned by -a shock of reddish hair, a smooth-shaven, freckled face, and small feet -and hands stood in the doorway. He wore a long black broadcloth coat, -a waistcoat of the same material, and baggy gray trousers. The exposed -portion of his shirt-front and the lapels of his coat were stained by -tobacco juice. - -"I've been up to the den, over to the Club, and the Lord only knows -where else looking for you," he said to his partner, as he advanced, -leaned against a showcase on the counter, and stretched out his arms -behind him. - -"Work for us, eh?" Carson smiled. - -"No; since when have you ever done a lick after dark?" was the dry -reply. "I've come to give you a piece of advice, and I'm glad Blackburn -is here to join me. The truth is, Dan Willis is in town. He is full and -loaded for bear. He's down at the wagon-yard with a gang of his mountain -pals. Some meddling person--no doubt your beautiful political opponent -Wiggin--has told him what you said about the part he took in the mob -that raided! negro town." - -"Well, he doesn't deny it, does he?" Dwight asked, his eyes flashing. - -"I don't know whether he does or not," said Gamer. "But I know he's the -most reckless and dangerous man in the county, and when he is drunk he -will halt at nothing. I thought I'd advise you to avoid him." - -"Avoid him? You mean to say"--Dwight stood up in his anger--"that I, a -free-born American citizen, must sneak around in my own home to avoid -a man that puts on a white mask and sheet and with fifty others like -himself steals into town and nearly thrashes the life out of a lot of -banjo-picking negroes? Most of them were good-for-nothing, lazy scamps, -but they were born that way, and there was one in the bunch that I know -was harmless. Oh yes, I got mad about it, and I talked plainly, I know, -but I couldn't help it." - -"You _could_ have helped it," Gamer said, testily; "and you ought to -have protected your own interests better than to give Wiggin such a -strong pull over you. If you are elected it will be by the aid of that -very mob and their kin and friends. We may be able to smooth it all -over, but if you have an open row with Dan Willis to-night, the cause of -it will spread like wildfire, and bum votes for you in wads and bunches. -Good God, man, the idea of giving Wiggin a torch like that to wave in -the face of your constituency--you, a _town_ man, standing up for the -black criminal brutes that are plotting to pull down the white race! I -say that's the way Wiggin and Dan Willis would interpret your platform." - -"I can't help it," Dwight repeated, more calmly, though his voice -shook with suppressed feeling as he went on. "If I lose all I hope for -politically--and this seems like the best chance I'll ever have to get -to the legislature--I'll stand by my convictions. We must have law -and order among ourselves if we expect to teach such things to poor, -half-witted black people. I was mad that night. You know that I love the -South. Its blood is my blood. Three of my mother's brothers and two of -my father's died fighting for the 'Lost Cause,' and my father was under -fire from the beginning of the war to the end. In fact, it is my love -for the South, and all that is good and pure and noble in it, that made -my blood boil that night. I saw a part of it you didn't see." - -"What was that?" Garner asked. - -"It was a clear moonlight night," Dwight went on. "I was sitting at the -window of my room at home, looking out over Major Warren's yard, when -the first screams and shouts came from the negro quarter. I suspected -what it was, for I'd heard of the threats the mountaineers had made -against that part of town, but I wasn't prepared for what I actually -saw. The cottage of old Uncle Lewis and Mammy Linda is just behind the -Major's house, you know, and in plain view of my window. I saw the -old pair come to the door and run out into the yard, and then I heard -Linda's voice. 'It's my child!' she screamed. 'They are killing him!' -Uncle Lewis tried to quiet her, but she stood there wringing her hands -and sobbing and praying. The Major raised the window of his room and -looked out, and I heard him ask what was wrong. Uncle Lewis tried to -explain, but his voice could not be heard above his wife's cries. A few -minutes later Pete came running down the street. They had let him -go. His clothes were torn to strips and his back was livid with great -whelks. He had no sooner reached the old folks than he keeled over in a -faint. The Major came down, and he and I bent over the boy and finally -restored him to consciousness. Major Warren was the maddest man I ever -saw, and a mob a hundred strong couldn't have touched the negro and left -him alive." - -"I know, that was all bad enough," Garner admitted, "but antagonizing -those men now won't better the matter and may do you more political -damage than you'll get over in a lifetime. You can't be a politician -and a preacher both; they don't go together. You can't dispute that -the negro quarter of this town was a disgrace to a civilized community -before the White Caps raided it. Look at it now. There never was such a -change. It is as quiet as a Philadelphia graveyard." - -"It's the way they went about it that made me mad," Carson Dwight -retorted. "Besides, I know that boy. He is as harmless as a kitten, and -he only hung around those dives because he loved to sing and dance with -the rest. I _did_ get mad; I'm mad yet. My people never lashed their -slaves when they were in bondage; why should I stand by and see them -beaten now by men who never owned negroes and never loved or understood -them? Before the war a white man would stand up and protect his slaves; -why shouldn't he now take up for at least the most faithful of their -descendants?" - -"That's it," Blackburn spoke up, admiringly. "You are a chip off of the -old block, Carson. Your daddy would have shot any man who tried to whip -one of his negroes. You can't help the way you feel; but I agree with -Bill here, you can't get the support of mountain people if you don't, at -least, _pretend_ to see things their way.", - -"Well, I can't see _this_ thing their way," fumed Dwight; "and I'm not -going to try. When I saw that old black man and woman that awful night -with their very heart-strings torn and bleeding, and remembered -that they had been kind to my mother when she was at the point of -death--sitting by her bedside all night long as patiently as blocks of -stone, and shedding tears of joy at the break of day when the doctor -said the crisis had passed--when I think of that and admit that I -stand by with folded hands and see their only child beaten till he -is insensible, my blood boils with utter shame. It has burned a great -lesson into my brain, and that is that we have got to have law and order -among ourselves if we expect to keep the good opinion of the world at -large." - -"I understand Pete would have got off much easier if he hadn't fought -them like a tiger," said Blackburn. "They say--" - -"And why _shouldn't_ he have fought?" Carson asked, quickly. "The nearer -the brute creation a man is the more he'll fight. A tame dog will fight -if you drive him into a corner and strike him hard enough." - -"Well, you busted up our game," joined in Keith Gordon, who had left -the table in the rear and now came forward, accompanied by another young -man, Wade Tingle, the editor of the _Headlight_. "Wade and I both agree, -Carson, that you've got to handle Dan Willis cautiously. We are backing -you tooth and toe-nail in this campaign, but you'll tie our hands if you -antagonize the mountain element. Wiggin knows that, and he is working it -for all it's worth." - -"That's right, old man," the editor joined in, earnestly. "I may as well -be plain with you. I'm making a big issue out of my support of you, but -if you make the country people mad they will stop taking my paper. I -can't live without their patronage, and I simply can't back you if you -don't stick to _me_." - -"I wasn't raising a row," the young candidate said. "But Garner came to -me just now, actually advising me to avoid that dirty scoundrel. I won't -dodge any blustering bully who is going about threatening what he will -do to me when he meets me face to face. I want your support, but I can't -buy it that way." - -"Well," Garner said, grimly, more to the others than to his partner, -"there will be a row right here inside of ten minutes. I see that now. -Willis has heard certain things Carson has said about the part he took -in that raid, and he is looking for trouble. Carson isn't in the mood to -take back anything, and a fool can see how it will end." - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -[Illustration: 9025] - -EITH GORDON and Tingle motioned to Garner, and the three stepped out on -the sidewalk leaving Blackburn and the candidate together. The street -was quite deserted. Only a few of the ramshackle street lights were -burning, though the night was cloudy, the location of the stores, -barbershop, hotel, and post-office being indicated by the oblong patches -of light on the ground in front of them. - -"You'll never be able to move him," Keith Gordon said, stroking his -blond mustache nervously. "The truth is, he's terribly worked up over -it. Between us three, boys, Carson never loved but one woman in his -life, and she's Helen Warren. Mam' Linda is her old nurse, and Carson -knows when she comes home and hears of Pete's trouble it is going to -hurt her awfully. Helen has a good, kind heart, and she loves Linda as -if they were the same flesh and blood. If Carson meets Willis to-night -he'll kill him or get killed. Say, boys, he's too fine a fellow for that -sort of thing right on the eve of his election. What the devil can we -do?" - -"Oh, I see; there's a woman at the bottom of it," Garner said, -cynically. "I'm not surprised at the way he's acting now, but I thought -that case was over with. Why, I heard she was engaged to a man down -where she's visiting." - -"She really may be," Gordon admitted, "but Carson is ready to fight -her battles, anyway. I honestly think she turned him down when he was -rolling so high with her brother, just before his death a year ago, but -that didn't alter his feelings towards her." - -Garner grunted as he thrust his hand deep into his breast-pocket for -his plug of tobacco and began to twist off a corner of it. "The most -maddening thing on earth," he said, "is to have a close friend who is a -darned fool. I'm tired of the whole business. Old Dwight is out of all -patience with Carson for the reckless way he has been living, but the -old man is really carried away with pride over the boy's political -chances. He had that sort of ambition himself in his early life, and he -likes to see his son go in for it. He was powerfully tickled the -other day when I told him Carson was going in on the biggest wave of -popularity that ever bore a human chip, but he will cuss a blue streak -when the returns come in, for I tell you, boys, if Carson has a row with -Dan Willis to-night over this negro business, it will knock him higher -than a kite." - -"Do you know whether Carson has anything to shoot with?" Tingle asked, -thoughtfully. - -"Oh yes, I saw the bulge of it under his coat just now," Garner -answered, still angrily, "and if the two come together it will be -raining lead for a while in the old town." - -"I was just thinking about his sick mother," Keith Gordon remarked. -"My sister told me the other day that Mrs. Dwight was in such a low -condition that any sudden shock would be apt to kill her. A thing like -this would upset her terribly--that is, if there is really any shooting. -Don't you suppose if we were to remind Carson of her condition that he -might agree to go home?" - -"No, you don't know him as well as I do," Garner said, firmly. "It would -only make him madder. The more reasons we give him for avoiding Willis -the more stubborn he'll be. I guess we'll have to let him sit there and -make a target of himself." - -Just then a tall mountaineer, under a broad-brimmed soft hat, wearing a -cotton checked shirt and jean trousers passed through the light of -the entrance to the hotel near by and slouched through the intervening -darkness towards them. - -"It's Pole Baker," said Keith. "He's a rough-and-ready supporter of -Carson's. Say, hold on, Pole!" - -"Hold on yourself; what's up?" the mountaineer asked, with a laugh. -"Plottin' agin the whites?" - -"We want to ask you if you've seen Dan Willis to-night," Garner -questioned. - -"Have I?" Baker grunted. "That's exactly why I'm lookin' fer you town -dudes instead o' goin' on out home where I belong. I'm as sober as an -empty keg, but I git charged with bein' in the Darley calaboose every -time I don't answer the old lady's roll-call at bed-time. You bet Willis -is loaded fer bear, and he's got some bad men with him down at the -wagon-yard. Wiggin has filled 'em up with a lot o' stuff about what -Carson said concernin' the White Cap raid t'other night. I thought I'd -sorter put you fellers on, so you could keep our man out o' the way -till their liquor wears off. Besides, I'm here to tell you, Bill Garner, -that's a nasty card Wiggin's set afloat in the mountains. He says a -regular gang of blue-bloods has been organized here to take up fer town -coons agin the pore whites in the country. We might crush such a report -in time, you know, but we'll never kill it if thar's a fight over it -to-night." - -"That's the trouble," the others said, in a breath. - -"Wait one minute--you stay right here," Baker said, and he went and -stood in front of the store door and looked in for a moment; then he -came back. "I thought maybe he'd let us all talk sense to 'im, but you -can't put reason into a man like that any easier than you can dip up -melted butter with a hot awl. I can't see any chance unless you fellers -will leave it entirely to me." - -"Leave it to you?" Garner exclaimed. "What could you do?" - -"I don't know whether I could do a blessed thing or not, boys, but the -dam thing is so desperate that I'm willin' to try. You see, I never talk -my politics--if I do, I talk it on t'other side to see what I kin pick -up to advantage. The truth is, I think them skunks consider me a Wiggin -man, and I'd like to git a whack at 'em. Maybe I can git 'em to leave -town. Abe Johnson is the leader of 'em, and he never gets too drunk to -have some natural caution." - -"Well, it certainly couldn't do any harm for you to try, Pole," said -Tingle. - -"Well, I'll go down to the wagon-yard and see if they are still hanging -about." - -As he approached the place in question, which was an open space about -one hundred yards square surrounded by a high fence, at the lower end -of the main street, Pole stood in the broad gateway and surveyed the -numerous camp-fires which gleamed out from the darkness. He finally -descried a group of men around a fire between two white-hooded wagons -to the wheels of which were haltered several horses. As Pole advanced -towards them, paying cheerful greetings to various men and women around -the different fires he had to pass, he recognized Dan Willis, Abe -Johnson, and several others. - -A quart whiskey flask, nearly empty, stood on the ground in the light -of the fire round which the men were seated. As he approached they -all looked up and nodded and muttered careless greetings. It seemed to -suggest a movement on the part of Dan Willis, a tall man of thirty-five -or thirty-six years of age, who wore long, matted hair and had bushy -eyebrows and a sweeping mustache, for, taking up the flask, he rose -and dropped it into his coat-pocket and spoke to the two men who sat on -either side of Abe Johnson. - -"Come on," he growled, "I want to talk to you. I don't care whether you -join us or not, Abe." - -"Well, I'm out of it," replied Johnson. "I've talked to you fellows till -I'm sick. You are too darned full to have any sense." - -Willis and the two men walked off together and stood behind one of the -wagons. Their voices, muffled by the effects of whiskey, came back to -the ears of the remaining two. - -"Goin' out home to-night, Abe?" Baker asked, carelessly. - -"I want to, but I don't like to leave that damned fool here in the -condition he's in. He'll either commit murder or git his blasted head -shot off." - -"That's exactly what _I_ was thinking about," said Pole, sitting down -on the ground carelessly and drawing his knees up in the embrace of his -strong arms. "Look here, Abe, me'n you hain't to say quite as intimate -as own brothers born of the same mammy, but I hain't got nothin' agin -you of a personal nature." - -"Oh, I reckon that's all right," the other said, stroking his round, -smooth-shaven face with a dogged sweep of his brawny hand. "That's all -right, Pole." - -"Well, my family knowed yore family long through the war," Abe. "My -daddy was with yourn at the front, an' our mothers swapped sugar an' -coffee in them hard times, an', Abe, I'm here to tell you I sorter -hate to see an unsuspectin' neighbor like you walk blind into serious -trouble, great big trouble, Abe--trouble of the sort that would make a -man's wife an' childern lie awake many and many a night." - -"What the hell you mean?" Johnson asked, picking up his ears. - -"Why, it's this here devilment that's brewin' betwixt Dan an' Carson -Dwight." - -[Illustration: 0031] - -"Well, what's that got to do with _me?_" Johnson asked, in surly -surprise. - -"Well, it's jest this, Abe," Pole leaned back till his feet rose from -the ground, and he twisted his neck as his eyes followed the three men -who, with their heads close together, had moved a little farther away. -"Maybe you don't know it, Abe, but I used to be in the government -revenue service, and in one way and another that's neither here nor -there I sometimes drop onto underground information, an' I want to give -you a valuable tip. I want to start you to thinkin'. You'll admit, I -reckon, that if them two men meet to-night thar will be apt to be blood -shed." - -Johnson stared over the camp-fire sullenly. "If Carson Dwight hain't had -the sense to git out o' town thar will be, an' plenty of it," he said, -with a dry chuckle. - -"Well, thar's the difficulty," said Pole. "He hain't left town, an' -what's wuss than that, his friends hain't been able to budge 'im from his -seat in Blackburn's store, whar Dan couldn't miss 'im ef he was stalkin' -about blindfolded. He's heard threats, and he's as mad a man as ever -pulled hair." - -"Well, what the devil--" - -"Hold on, Abe. Now, I'll tell you whar _you_ come in. My underground -information is that the Grand Jury is hard at work to git the facts -about that White Cap raid. The whole thing--name of leader and members -of the gang has been kept close so far, but--" - -"Well"--the half-defiant look in the face of Johnson gave way to one of -growing alarm--"well!" he repeated, but went no further. - -"It's this way, Abe--an' I'm here as a friend, I reckon. You know as -well as I do that if thar is blood shed to-night it will git into court, -and a lots about the White Cap raid, and matters even further back, will -be pulled into the light." - -Pole's words had made a marked impression on the man to whom they had -been so adroitly directed. Johnson leaned forward nervously. "So you -think--" But he hung fire again. - -"Huh, I think you'd better git Dan Willis out o' this town, Abe, an' -inside o' five minutes, ef you can do it." - -Johnson drew a breath of evident relief. "I can do it, Pole, and I'll -act by your advice," he said. "Thar's only one thing on earth that would -turn Dan towards home, but I happen to know what that is. He's b'ilin' -hot, but he ain't any more anxious to stir up the Grand Jury than some -of the rest of us. I'll go talk to 'im." - -As Johnson moved away, Pole Baker rose and slouched off in the darkness -in the direction of the straggling lights along the main street. At the -gate he paused and waited, his eyes on the wagons and camp-fire he had -just left. Presently he noticed something and chuckled. The horses, with -clanking trace-chains, passed between him and the fire--they were being -led round to be hitched to the wagons. Pole chuckled again. "I'm not -sech a dern fool as I look," he said, "Well, I had to lie some and act -a part that sorter went agin the grain, but my scheme worked. If I -ever git to hell I reckon it will be through tryin' to do right--in the -main." - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -[Illustration: 9035] - -HE wide avenue which ran north and south and cut the town of Darley -into halves held the best and oldest residences. One side of the street -caught the full rays of the morning sun and the other the slanting red -beams of the afternoon. For so small a town, it was a well-graded and -well-kept thoroughfare. Strips of grass lay like ribbons between the -sidewalks and the roadway, and at the triangular spaces created by -the intersection of certain streets there were rusty iron fences built -primarily to protect diminutive fountains which had long since ceased to -play. In one of these little parks, in the heart of the town, as it -was in the hearts of the inhabitants, stood a monument erected to "The -Confederate Dead," a well-modelled, life-size figure of a Southern -private wrought in stone in faraway Italy. Had it been correctly placed -on its pedestal?--that was the question anxiously asked by reverent -passers-by, for the cloaked and knapsacked figure, which time was -turning gray, stood with its back to the enemy's country. - -"Yes, it is right," some would say, "for the soldier is represented as -being on night picket-duty in Northern territory, and his thoughts and -eyes are with his dear ones at home and the country he is defending." - -Henry Dwight, the wealthy sire of the aggressive young man with whom the -foregoing chapters have principally dealt, lived in one of the moss and -ivy grown houses on the eastern side of the avenue. It was a red brick -structure two and a half stories high, with a colonial veranda, and had -a square, white-windowed cupola as the apex of the slanting roof. There -was a semicircular drive, which entered the grounds at one corner in the -front and swept gracefully past the door. The central and smaller -front gate, for the use of pedestrians, with its imitation stone posts, -spanned by a white crescent, was reached from the house by a -gravelled walk bordered by boxwood. On the right and left were rustic -summerhouses, grape arbors and parterres containing roses and other -flowers, all of which were well cared for by an old colored gardener. - -Henry Dwight was a grain and cotton merchant, money-lender, and the -president and chief stockholder of the Darley Cotton Mills, whose great -brick buildings and cottages for employés stood a mile or so to the -west of the town. This morning, having written his daily letters, he was -strolling in his grounds smoking a cigar. To any one who knew him well -it would have been plain that his mind was disturbed. - -Adjoining the Dwight homestead there was another ancestral house equally -as spacious and stand-. ing in quite as extensive, if more neglected, -grounds. It was here that Major Warren lived, and it happened that he, -too, was on his lawn just beyond the ramshackle intervening fence, the -gate of which had fallen from its hinges and been taken away. - -The Major was a short, slight old gentleman, quite a contrast to the -John Bull type of his lusty, side-whiskered neighbor. He wore a dingy -brown wig, and as he pottered about, raising a rose from the earth with -his gold-headed ebony stick, or stooped to uproot an encroaching weed, -his furtive glance was often levelled on old Dwight. - -"I declare I really might as well," he muttered, undecidedly. "What's -the use making up your mind to a thing and letting it go for no sensible -reason. He's taking a wrong view of it. I can tell that by the way he -puffs at his cigar. Yes, I'll do it." - -The Major passed through the gateway and slowly drew near his -preoccupied neighbor. - -"Good-morning, Henry," he said, as Dwight looked up. "If I'm any judge -of your twists and turns, you are not yet in a thoroughly good-humor." - -"Good-humor? No, sir, I'm _not_ in a good-humor. How could I be when -that young scamp, the only heir to my name and effects--" - -Dwight's spleen rose and choked out his words, and, red in the face, he -stood panting, unable to go further. - -"Well, it seems to me, while he's not _my_ son," the Major began, "that -you are--are--well, rather overbearing--I might say unforgiving. He's -been sowing wild oats, but, really, if I am any judge of young men, he -is on a fair road to--to genuine manhood." - -"Road to nothing," spluttered Dwight. "I gave him that big farm to -see what he could do in its management. Never expected him to work a -lick--just wanted to see if he could keep it on a paying basis, but it -was an investment of dead capital. Then he took up the law. He did a -little better at that along with Bill Garner to lean on, but that never -amounted to anything worth mentioning. Then he went into politics." - -"And I heard you say yourself, Henry," the Major ventured, gently, -"that you believed he was actually cut out for a future statesman." - -"Yes, and like the fool that I was I hoped for it. I was so glad to see -him really interested in politics that I laid awake at night thinking -of his success. I heard of his popularity on every hand. Men came to me, -and women, too, telling me they loved him and were going to work for -him against that jack-leg lawyer Wiggin, and put him into office with -a majority that would ring all over the State; and they meant it, I -reckon. But what did he do? In his stubborn, bull-headed way he abused -those mountain men who took the law into their hands for the public -good, and turned hundreds of them against him; and all for a nigger--a -lazy, trifling nigger boy!" - -"Well, you see," Major Warren began, lamely, "Carson and I saw Pete the -night he was whipped so severely and we took pity on him. They played -together when they were boys, as boys all over the South do, you know, -and then he saw Mam' Linda break down over it and saw old Lewis crying -for the first time in the old man's life. I was mad, Henry, myself, and -you would have been if you had been there. I could have fought the men -who did it, so I understand how Carson felt, and when he made the remark -Wiggin is using to such deadly injury to his prospects my heart warmed -to the boy. If he doesn't succeed as a politician it will be because he -is too genuine for a tricky career of that sort. His friends are trying -to get him to make some statement that will reinstate him with the -mountain people who sympathized with the White Caps, but he simply won't -do it." - -"Won't do it! I reckon not!" Dwight blurted out. "Didn't the young idiot -wait in Blackburn's store for Dan Willis to come and shoot the top of -his head off? He sat there till past midnight, and wouldn't move an inch -till actual proof was brought to him that Willis had left town. Oh, -I'm no fool! I know a thing or two. I've watched him and your daughter -together. That's at the bottom of it. She sat down on him before she -went off to Augusta, but her refusal didn't alter him. He knows Helen -thinks a lot of her old negro mammy, and in her absence he simply took -up her cause and is fighting mad about it--so mad that he is blind to -his political ruin. That's what a man will do for a woman. They say -she's about to become engaged down there. I hope she is, and that Carson -will have pride enough when he hears of it to let another man do her -fighting, and one with nothing to lose by it." - -"She hasn't written me a thing about any engagement," the Major -answered, with some animation; "but my sister highly approves of the -match and writes that it may come about. Mr. Sanders is a well-to-do, -honorable man of good birth and education: Helen never seemed to get -over her brother's sad death. She loved poor Albert more than she ever -did me or any one else." - -"And I always thought that it was Carson's association with your son in -his dissipation that turned Helen against him. For all I know, she may -have thought Carson actually led Albert on and was partly the cause of -his sad end." - -"She may have looked at it that way," the Major said, musingly. They had -now reached the porch in the rear of the house and they went together -into the wide hall. A colored maid with a red bandanna tied like a -turban round her head was dusting the walnut railing of the stairs. -Passing through the hall, the old gentlemen turned into the library, -a great square room with wide windows and tall, gilt-framed pier-glass -mirrors. - -"Yes, I'm sure that's what turned her against him," Dwight continued, -"and that is where, between you and Helen, I get mixed up. Why do you -always take up for the scamp? It looks to me like you'd resent the way -he acted with your son after the boy's terrible end." - -"There is a good deal more in the matter, Henry, than I ever told you -about." Major Warren's voice faltered. "To be plain, that is my secret -trouble. I reckon if Helen was to discover the actual truth--_all of -it_--she would never feel the same towards me. I think maybe I ought to -tell you. It certainly will explain why I am so much interested in your -boy." They sat down, the owner of the house in a reclining-chair at an -oblong, carved mahogany table covered with books and papers, the visitor -on a lounge near by. - -"Well, it always has seemed odd to me," old Dwight said. "I couldn't -exactly believe you wanted to bring him and Helen together, after your -experience with that sort of man under your own roof." - -"It is this way," said the Major, awkwardly. "To begin with, I am sure, -from all I've picked up, that it was not your son that was leading -mine on to dissipation, but just the other way. He's dead and gone, but -Albert was always ready for a prank of any sort. Henry, I want to talk -to you about it because it seems to me you are in the same position in -regard to Carson that I was in regard to my poor boy, and I've prayed -a thousand times for pardon for what I did in anger and haste. Henry, -listen to me. If ever a man made a vital mistake I did, and I'll bear -the weight of it to my grave. You know how I worried over. Albert's -drinking and his general conduct. Time after time he made promises that -he would turn over a new leaf only to break them. Well, it was on the -last trip--the fatal one to New York, where he had gone and thrown away -so much money. I wrote him a severe letter, and in answer to it I got a -pathetic one, saying he was sick and tired of the way he was doing and -begging me to try him once more and send him money to pay his way home. -It was the same old sort of promise and I didn't have faith in him. I -was unfair, unjust to my only son. I wrote and refused, telling him that -I could not trust him any more. Hell inspired that letter, Henry--the -devil whispered to me that I'd been indulgent to the poor boy's injury. -Then came the news. When he was found dead in a small room on the top -floor of that squalid hotel--dead by his own hand--my letter lay open -beside him." - -"Well, well, you couldn't help it!" Dwight said, most awkwardly, and he -crossed his short, fat legs anew and reached for an open box of cigars. -"You were trying to do your duty as you saw it, and to the best of your -ability." - -"Yes, but my method, Henry, resulted in misery and grief to me and Helen -that can never be cured. You see, it is because of that awful mistake -that I take such an interest in Carson. I love him because Albert loved -him, and because sometimes it seems to me that you are most too quick -to condemn him. Oh, he's different! Carson has changed wonderfully since -Albert died. He doesn't drink to excess now, and Garner says he has quit -playing cards, having only one aim, and that to win this political -race--to win it to please you, Henry." - -"Win it!" Dwight sniffed. "He's already as dead as a salt mackerel--laid -out stiff and stark by his own bull-headed stupidity. I've always talked -down drinking and card-playing, but I have known some men to succeed in -life who had such habits in moderation; but you nor I nor no one else -ever saw a blockhead succeed at anything. I tell you he'll never make -a successful politician. Wiggin will beat the hind sights off of him. -Wiggin is simply making capital of the fool's inability to control his -temper and sympathies. Wiggin would have let that mob thrash his own -father and mother rather than antagonize them and lose their votes. He -knows Carson comes of fighting stock, and he will continue to egg Dan -Willis and others on, knowing that every resentful word from Carson will -make enemies for him by the score." - -"Oh, I can see that, too!" the Major sighed; "but, to save me, I can't -help admiring the boy. He thinks the White Caps did wrong that night -and he simply can't pretend otherwise. It is the principle of the thing, -Henry. He is an unusual sort of candidate, and his stand may ruin his -chances, but I--I glory in his firmness. I must say g me to try him once -more and send him money to pay his way home. It was the same old sort of -promise and I didn't have faith in him. I was unfair, unjust to my only -son. I wrote and refused, telling him that I could not trust him any -more. Hell inspired that letter, Henry--the devil whispered to me that -I'd been indulgent to the poor boy's injury. Then came the news. When he -was found dead in a small room on the top floor of that squalid hotel-- -dead by his own hand--my letter lay open beside him." - -"Well, well, you couldn't help it!" Dwight said, most awkwardly, and he -crossed his short, fat legs anew and reached for an open box of cigars. -"You were trying to do your duty as you saw it, and to the best of your -ability." - -"Yes, but my method, Henry, resulted in misery and grief to me and Helen -that can never be cured. You see, it is because of that awful mistake -that I take such an interest in Carson. I love him because Albert loved -him, and because sometimes it seems to me that you are most too quick to -condemn him. Oh, he's different! Carson has changed wonderfully since -Albert died. He doesn't drink to excess now, and Garner says he has quit -playing cards, having only one aim, and that to win this political race- --to win it to please you, Henry." - -"Win it!" Dwight sniffed. "He's already as dead as a salt mackerel--laid -out stiff and stark by his own bull-headed stupidity. I've always talked -down drinking and card-playing, but I have known some men to succeed in -life who had such habits in moderation; but you nor I nor no one else -ever saw a blockhead succeed at anything. I tell you he'll never make a -successful politician. Wiggin will beat the hind sights off of him. -Wiggin is simply making capital of the fool's inability to control his -temper and sympathies. Wiggin would have let that mob thrash his own -father and mother rather than antagonize them and lose their votes. He -knows Carson comes of fighting stock, and he will continue to egg Dan -Willis and others on, knowing that every resentful word from Carson will -make enemies for him by the score." - -"Oh, I can see that, too!" the Major sighed; "but, to save me, I can't -help admiring the boy. He thinks the White Caps did wrong that night and -he simply can't pretend otherwise. It is the principle of the thing, -Henry. He is an unusual sort of candidate, and his stand may ruin his -chances, but I--I glory in his firmness. I must say that." - -"Oh yes, that's the trouble with you sentimental people," Dwight fumed. -"Between you and the boy's doting mother, the Lord only knows where -he'll land. I've overlooked a lot in him in the hope that he'd put this -election through, but I shall let him go his own way now. It has come -to a pretty pass if I have to see my son beaten to the dust by a man of -Wiggin's stamp because of that long-legged negro boy of yours who would -have been better long ago if he had been soundly thrashed." - -When his visitor had gone Dwight dropped his unfinished cigar into the -grate and went slowly upstairs to his wife's room. At a small-paned -window overlooking the flower-garden, on a couch supported in a -reclining position by several puffy pillows, was Mrs. Dwight. She was -well past middle-age and of extremely delicate physique. Her hair was -snowy white, her skin thin to transparency, her veins full and blue. - -"That was Major Warren, wasn't it?" she asked, in a soft, sweet voice, -as she put down the magazine she had been reading. - -"Yes," Dwight answered, as he went to a little desk in one corner of the -room and took a paper from a pigeon-hole and put it into his pocket. - -"How did he happen to come over so early?" the lady pursued. - -"Because he wanted to, I reckon," Dwight started out, impatiently, and -then a note of caution came into his voice as he remembered the warning -of the family physician against causing the patient even the slightest -worry. "Warren hasn't a blessed thing to do, you know, from mom till -night. So when he strikes a busy man he is apt to hang on to him and -talk in his long-winded way about any subject that takes possession of -his brain. He's great on showing men how to manage their own affairs. It -takes an idle man to do that. If that man hadn't had money left to him -he would now be begging his bread from door to door." - -"Somehow I fancied it was about Carson," Mrs. Dwight sighed. - -"There you go!" her husband said, with as much grace of evasion as lay -in his sturdy compound. "Lying there from day to day, you seem to have -contracted Warren's complaint. You think nobody can drop in even for a -minute without coming about your boy--your boy! Some day, if you live -long enough, you may discover that the universe was not created solely -for your son, nor made just to revolve around him either." - -"Yes, I suppose I _do_ worry about Carson a great deal," the invalid -admitted; "but you haven't told me right out that the Major was _not_ -speaking of him." - -The old man's face was the playground of conflcting impulses. He grew -red with anger and his lips trembled on the very verge of an outburst, -but he controlled himself. In fact, his irritability calmed down as he -suddenly saw a loop-hole through which to escape her questioning. - -"The truth is," he said, "Warren was talking about Albert's death. He -talked quite a while about it. He almost broke down." - -"Well, I'm so worried about Carson's campaign that I imagine all sorts -of trouble," Mrs. Dwight sighed. "I lay awake nearly all of last night -thinking about one little thing. When he was in his room dressing the -other day, I heard something fall to the floor. Hilda had taken him some -hot water for shaving, and when she came back she told me he had dropped -his revolver out of his pocket. You know till then I had had no idea he -carried one, and while it may be necessary at times, the idea is very -disagreeable." - -"You needn't let _that_ bother you," Dwight said, as he took his hat to -go down to his office at his warehouse. "Nearly all the young men carry -them because they think it looks smart. Most of them would run like a -scared dog if they saw one pointed at them even in fun." - -"Well, I hope my boy will never have any use for one," the invalid said. -"He is not of a quarrelsome nature. It takes a good deal to make him -angry, but when he gets so he is not easily controlled." - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -[Illustration: 9046] - -HE young men in Carson Dwight's set had an odd sort of lounging-place. -It was Keith Gordon's room above his father's bank in an old building -which had withstood the shot and shell of the Civil War. "The Den," as -it was called by its numerous hap-hazard occupants, was reached from -the street on the outside by a narrow flight of worm-eaten and rickety -stairs and a perilous little balcony or passage that clung to the -brick wall, twenty feet from the ground, along the full length of the -building. It was here in one of the four beds that Keith slept, when -there was room for him. After a big dance or a match game of baseball, -when there were impecunious visitors from neighboring towns left over -for various and sundry reasons, Keith had to seek the sanctimonious -solitude of his father's home or go to the hotel. - -The den was about twenty-five feet square. It was not as luxurious as -such bachelor quarters went in Augusta, Savannah, or even Atlanta, -but it answered the purpose of "the gang" which made use of it. Keith -frankly declared that he had overhauled and replenished it for the last -time. He said that it was absolutely impossible to keep washbasins and -pitchers, when they were hurled out of the windows for pure amusement of -men who didn't care whether they washed or not. As for the laundry bill, -he happened to know that it was larger than that of the Johnston House -or the boarding department of the Darley Female College. He said, too, -that he had warned the gang for the last time that the room would be -closed if any more clog-dancing were indulged in. He said his father -complained that the plastering was dropping down on his desk below, -and sensible men ought to know that a thing like that could not go on -forever. - -The rules concerning the payment for drinks were certainly lax. No -accounts were kept of any man's indebtedness. Any member of the gang was -at liberty to stow away a flask of any size in the bureau or wash-stand -drawer, or under the mattresses or pillows of his or anybody else's bed, -where Skelt, the negro who swept the room, and loved stimulants could -not find it. - -Bill Garner, as brainy as he was, while he was always welcome at his -father's house in the country, a mile from town, seemed to love the -company of this noisy set. Through the day it was said of him that he -could read and saturate himself with more law than any man in the State, -but at night his recreation was a cheap cigar, his old bulging carpet -slippers, a cosey chair in Keith's room, and--who would think it?--the -most thrilling Indian dime novel on the market. He could quote the -French, German, Italian, and Spanish classics by the page in a strange -musical accent he had acquired without the aid of a master or any sort -of intercourse with native foreigners. He knew and loved all things -pertaining to great literature--said he had a natural ear for Wagner's -music, had comprehended Edwin Booth's finest work, knew a good picture -when he saw it; and yet he had to have his dime novel. In it he found -mental rest and relaxation that was supplied by nothing else. His -bedfellow was Bob Smith, the genial, dapper, ever daintily clad clerk at -the Johnston House. Garner said he liked to sleep with Bob because Bob -never--sleeping or waking--took anything out of him mentally. Besides -dressing to perfection, Bob played rag-time on the guitar and sang the -favorite coon songs of the day. His duties at the hotel were far from -arduous, and so the gang usually looked to him to arrange dances and -collect toll for expenses. And Bob was not without his actual monetary -value, as the proprietor of the hotel had long since discovered, for -when Bob arranged a dance it meant that various socially inclined -drummers of good birth and standing would, at a hint or a telegram from -the clerk, "lay over" at Darley for one night anyway. - -If Bob had any quality that disturbed the surface of his uniform -equanimity it was his excessive pride in Carson Dwight's friendship. -He interlarded his talk with what Carson had said or done, and Carson's -candidacy for the Legislature had become his paramount ambition. Indeed, -it may as well be stated that the rest of the gang had espoused Dwight's -political cause with equal enthusiasm. - -It was the Sunday morning following the night Pole Baker had prevented -the meeting between Dwight and Dan Willis, and most of the habitual -loungers were present waiting for Skelt to black their boots, and -deploring the turn of affairs which looked so bad for their favorite. -Wade Tingle was shaving at one of the windows before a mirror in a -cracked mahogany frame, when they all recognized Carson's step on the -balcony and a moment later Dwight stood in the doorway. - -"Hello, boys, how goes it?" he asked. - -"Oh, right side up, old man," Tingle replied, as he began to rub the -lather into his face with his hand to soften his week-old beard before -shaving. "How's the race?" - -"It's all right, I guess," Dwight said, wearily, as he came in and sat -down in a vacant chair against the wall. "How goes it in the mountains? -I understand you've been over there." - -"Yes, trying to rake in some ads, stir up my local correspondents, -and take subscriptions. As to your progress, old man, I'm sorry to say -Wiggin's given it a sort of black eye. There was a meeting of farmers -over in the tenth, at Miller's Spring. I was blamed sorry you were -not there. Wiggin made a speech. It was a corker--viewed as campaign -material solely. That chap's failed at the law, but he's the sharpest, -most unprincipled manipulator of men's emotions I ever ran across. He -showed you up as Sam Jones does the ring-tailed monster of the cloven -foot." - -"What Carson said about the Willis and Johnson mob was his theme, of -course?" said Garner, above the dog-eared pages of his thriller. - -"That and ten thousand things Carson never dreamed of," returned Tingle. -"Here's the way it went. The meeting was held under a bush-arbor to -keep the sun off, and the farmers had their wives and children out for -a picnic. A long-faced parson led in prayer, some of the old maids piped -up with a song that would have ripped slits in your musical tympanum, -Garner, and then a raw-boned ploughman in a hickory shirt and one -gallus introduced the guest of honor. How they could have overlooked the -editor-in-chief and proprietor of the greatest agricultural weekly in -north Georgia and picked out that skunk was a riddle to me." - -"Well, what did he say?" Garner asked, as sharply as if he were -cross-examining a non-committal witness of importance. - -"What did he say?" Tingle laughed, as he wiped the lather from his face -with a ragged towel and stood with it in his hand. "He began by saying -that he had gone into the race to win, and that he was going to the -Legislature as sure as the sun was on its way down in this country and -on its way up in China. He said it was a scientific certainty, as easily -demonstrated as two and two make four. Those hardy, horny-handed men -before him that day were not going to the polls and vote for a town dude -who parted his hair in the middle, wore spike-toed shoes that glittered -like a new dash-board, and was the ringleader of the rowdiest set of -young card-players and whiskey-drinkers that ever blackened the morals -of a mining-camp. He said that about the gang, boys, and I didn't have a -thing to shoot with. In fact, I had to sit there and take in more." - -"What did he say about his _platform?_" Garner asked, with a heavy -frown; "that's what I want to get at. You never can hurt a politician -by circulating the report that he drinks--that's what half of 'em vote -for." - -"Oh, his platform seemed to be chiefly that he was out to save the -common people from the eternal disgrace of voting for a man like Dwight. -He certainly piled it on thick and heavy. It would have made Carson's -own mother slink away in shame. Carson, Wiggin said, had loved niggers -since he was knee high to a duck, and had always contended that a negro -owned by the aristocracy of the South was ahead of the white, razor-back -stock in the mountains who had never had that advantage. Carson was up -in arms against the White Caps that had come to Darley and whipped those -lazy coons, and was going to prosecute every man in the bunch to the -full extent of the United States law. If he got into the Legislature he -intended to pass laws to make it a penitentiary offence for a white man -to shove a black buck off the sidewalk. 'But he's not going to take his -seat in the Capitol of Georgia,' Wiggins said, with a yell--'if Carson -Dwight went to Atlanta it would _not_ be on a free pass.' And, boys, -that crowd yelled till the dry leaves overhead clapped an encore. The -men yelled and the women and children yelled." - -"He's a contemptible puppy!" Dwight said, angrily. - -"Yes, but he's a slick politician among men of that sort," said Tingle. -"He certainly knows how to talk and stir up strife." - -"And I suppose you sat there like a bump on a log, and listened to all -that without opening your mouth!" Keith Gordon spoke up from his bed, -where he lay in his bath-robe smoking over the remains of the breakfast -Skelt had brought from the hotel on a big black tray. - -"Well, I _did_--get up," Tingle answered, with a manly flush. - -"Oh, you _did!_" Garner leaned forward with interest. - -"Well, I'm glad you happened to be on hand, for your paper has -considerable influence over there." - -"Yes, I got up. I waved my hands up and down like a buzzard rising, -to keep the crowd still till I could think of something to say; but, -Carson, old man, you know what an idiot I used to be in college debates. -I could get through fairly well on anything they would let me write down -and read off, but it was the impromptu thing that always rattled me. -I was as mad as hell when I rose, but all those staring eyes calmed me -wonderfully. I reckon I stood there fully half a minute swallowing--" - -"You damned fool!" Garner exclaimed, in high disgust. - -"Yes, that's exactly what I was," Tingle admitted. "I stood there -gasping like a catfish enjoying his first excursion in open air. It was -deathly still. I've heard it said that dying men notice the smallest -things about them. I remember I saw the horses and mules haltered -out under the trees with their hay and fodder under their noses--the -dinner-baskets all in a cluster at the spring guarded by a negro woman. -Then what do you think? Old Jeff Condon spoke up. - -"'Lead us in prayer, brother,' he said, in reverential tones, and since -I was born I never heard so much laughing." - -"You certainly _did_ play into Wiggin's hands," growled the disgruntled -Garner. "That's exactly what a glib-tongued skunk like him would want." - -"Well, it gave me a minute to try to get my wind, anyway," said Tingle, -still red in the face, "but I wasn't equal to a mob of baseball rooters -like that. I started in to deny some of Wiggin's charges when another -smart Alec spoke up and said: 'Hold on! tell us about the time you and -your candidate started home from a ball at Catoosa Springs in a buggy, -and were so drunk that the horse took you to the house of a man who used -to own him sixteen miles from where you wanted to go. Of course, you -all know, boys, that was a big exaggeration, but I had no idea it was -generally known. Anyway, I thought the crowd would laugh their heads -off. I reckon it was the way I looked. I felt as if every man, woman, -and child there had mashed a bad egg on me and was chuckling over their -marksmanship. I ended up by getting mad, and I saw by Wiggin's grin that -he liked that. I managed to say a few things in denial, and then Wiggin -got up and roasted me and my paper to a turn. He said that in supporting -Dwight editorially the _Headlight_ was giving sanction to Dwight's ideas -in favor of the negro and against honest white people, and that every -man there who had any family or State pride ought to stop taking -the dirty sheet; and, bless your life, some of them did cancel their -subscriptions when they met me after the speaking; but I'm going to -keep on mailing it, anyway. It will be like sending free tracts to the -heathen, but it may bear fruit." - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -[Illustration: 9054] - -ALF an hour later all the young men had left the room except Garner -and Dwight. Garner still wore the frown brought to his broad brow by -Tingle's recital. - -"I've set my heart on putting this thing through," he said; "and while -it looks kind of shaky, I haven't lost all hope yet. Of course, your -reckless remarks about the White Caps have considerably damaged us in -the mountains, but we may live it down. It may die a natural death if -you and Dan Willis don't meet and plug away at each other and set the -talk afloat again. I reckon he'll keep out of your way when he's sober, -anyway." - -"I am not running after him," Carson returned. "I simply said what I -thought and Wiggin made the most of it." - -Garner was silent for several minutes, then he folded his dime novel and -bent it across his knee, and when he finally spoke Dwight thought he -had never seen a graver look on the strong face. He had seen it full -of emotional tears when Garner was at the height of earnest appeal to a -jury in a murder case; he had seen it dark with the fury of unjust legal -defeat, but now there was a strange feminine whiteness at the corners of -the big facile mouth, a queer twitching of the lips. - -"I've made up my mind to tell you a secret," he said, falteringly. "I've -come near it several times and backed out. It's a subject I don't know -how to handle. It's about a woman, Carson. You know I'm not a ladies' -man. I don't call on women; I don't take them buggy-riding; I don't -dance with them, or even know how to fire soft things at them like you -and Keith, but I've had my experience." - -"It certainly is a surprise to me," Dwight said, sympathetically, and -then in the shadow of Garner's seriousness he found himself unable to -make further comment. - -"I reckon you'll lose all respect for me for thinking there was a ghost -of a chance in that particular quarter," Garner pursued, without meeting -his companion's eye. "But, Carson, my boy, there is a certain woman -that every man who knows her has loved or is still loving. Keith's crazy -about her, though he has given up all hope as I did long ago, and even -poor Bob Smith thinks he's in luck if she will only listen to one of his -new songs or let him do her some favor. We all love her, Carson, because -she is so sweet and kind to us--" - -"You mean--" Dwight interrupted, impulsively, and then lapsed into -silence, an awkward flush rising to his brow. - -"Yes, I mean Helen Warren, old man. As I say, I had never thought of a -woman that way in my life. We were thrown together once at a house-party -at Hilburn's farm--well, I simply went daft. She never refused to -walk with me when I asked her, and seemed specially interested in my -profession. I didn't know it at the time, but I have since discovered -that she has that sweet way with every man, rich or poor, married or -single. Well, to make a long story short, I proposed to her. The whole -thing is stamped on my brain as with a branding-iron. We had taken a -long walk that morning and were seated under a big beech-tree near a -spring. She kept asking about my profession, her face beaming, and it -all went to my head. I knew that I was the ugliest man in the State, -that I had no style about me, and knew nothing about being nice to women -of her sort; but her interest in everything pertaining to the law made -me think, you know, that she admired that kind of thing. I went wild. As -I told her how I felt I actually cried. Think of it--I was silly enough -to blubber like a baby! I can't describe what happened. She was shocked -and pained beyond description. She had never dreamed that I felt that -way. I ended by asking her to try to forget it all, and we had a long, -awful walk to the house." - -"That _was_ tough," Carson Dwight said, a queer expression on his face. - -"Well, I've told it to you for a special reason," Garner said, with a -big, trembling sigh. "Carson, I am a close observer, and I afterwards -made up my mind that I knew why she had led me on to talk so much about -the law and my work in particular." - -"Oh, you found that out!" Carson said, almost absently. - -"Yes, my boy, it was about the time you and I were thinking of going in -together. It was all on your account." - -Carson stared straight at Garner. "_My_ account? Oh no!" - -"Yes, on your account. I've kept it from you all this time. I'm your -friend now in full--to the very bone, but at that time I felt too sore -to tell you. I'd lost all I cared for on earth, but I simply had too -much of primitive man left in me to let you know how well you stood. My -God, Carson, about that time I used to sit at my desk behind some old -book pretending to read, but just looking at you as you sat at work -wondering how it would feel to have what was yours. Then I watched you -both together; you seemed actually made for each other, an ideal couple. -Then came your--she refused you." - -"I know, I know, but why talk about it, Garner?" Carson had risen and -stood in the doorway in the rays of the morning sun. There was silence -for a moment. The church bells were ringing and negroes and whites were -passing along the street below. - -"It may be good for me to speak of it and be done with it, or it may -not," said Garner; "but this is what I was coming to. I've said it was -a long time before I could tell you that she was once--I don't know how -she is now, but she was at one time in love with you." - -"Oh no, no, she was never that!" Dwight said. "We were great friends, -but she never cared that much for me or for any one." - -"Well, it was a long time before I could say what I thought about -that, and I have only just now taken another step in self-renunciation. -Carson, I can now say that you didn't have a fair deal, and that I have -reached a point in which I want to see you get it. I think I know why -she refused you." - -"You do?" Dwight said, pale and excited, as he came away from the door -and leaned heavily against the wall near his friend. - -"Yes, it was this way. I've studied it all out. She loved Albert as few -women love their brothers, and his grim end was an almost unbearable -shock. After his death, you know it leaked out that you had been -Albert's constant companion through his dissipation, almost, in fact, up -to the very end. She couldn't reconcile herself to your part, innocent -as it was, in the tragedy, and it simply killed the feeling she had for -you. I suppose it is natural to a character as strong as hers." - -"I've always feared that--that was the reason," said Dwight, -falteringly, as he went back to the door and looked out. There was a -droop of utter dejection on him and his face seemed to have aged. -"Garner," he said, suddenly, "there is no use denying anything. You have -admitted your love for her, why should I deny mine? I never cared for -any other woman and I never shall." - -"That's right, but you didn't get a fair deal, all the same," said -Garner. "She's never looked for any sort of justification in your -conduct; her poor brother's death stands like a draped wall between you, -but I know you were not as black as you were painted. Carson, all the -time you were keeping pace with Albert Warren you were blind to the gulf -ahead of him and were simply glorying in his friendship--_because he was -her brother_. Ah, I know that feeling!" - -Carson was silent, while Garner's gray eyes rested on him for a moment -full of conviction, and then he nodded. "Yes, I think that was it. It -was my ruination, but I could not get away from the fascination of -his companionship. He fairly worshipped her and used to talk of her -constantly when we were together, and he--he sometimes told me things -she kept back. He knew how I felt. I told him. Through him I seemed to -be closer to her. But when the news came that he was dead, and when -I met her at the funeral at the church, and caught her eye, I saw her -shrink back in abhorrence. She wouldn't go out with me ever again after -that, and was never exactly the same." - -"That was two years ago, my boy," Garner said, significantly, "and your -character has changed. You are a better, firmer man. In fact, it seems -to me that your change dates from Albert Warren's death. But now I'm -coming to the thing that prompted me to say all this. I met Major Warren -in the post-office this morning. He was greatly excited. Carson, she -has just written him that she is coming home for a long stay and the old -gentleman is simply wild with delight." - -"Oh, she's coming, then!" Dwight exclaimed, in surprise. - -"Yes, and Keith and Bob and the rest of her adorers will go crazy over -the news and want to celebrate it. I didn't tell them. I wanted you to -know it first. There is one other thing. You know you can't tell whether -there is anything in an idle report, but the gossips say she has perhaps -met her fate down there. I've even heard his name--one Earle Sanders, a -well-to-do cotton merchant of good standing in the business world. But -I'll never believe she's engaged to him till the cards are out." - -"I really think it may be true," Carson Dwight said, a firm, set -expression about his lips. "I've heard of him. He's a man of fine -character and intellect. Yes, it may be true, Garner." - -"Well," and Garner drew himself up and folded his arms, "if it should -happen to be so, Carson, there would be only one thing to do, and that -would be to grin and bear it." - -"Yes, that would be the only thing," Dwight made answer. "She has a -right to happiness, and it would have been wrong for her to have tied -herself to me, when I was what I was, and when I am still as great a -failure as I am." - -He turned suddenly out onto the passage, and Garner heard his resounding -tread as he walked away. - -"Poor old chap," Garner mused, as he leaned forward and looked at the -threadbare toes of his slippers, "if he weathers this storm he'll make -a man right--if not, he'll go down with the great majority, the motley -throng meant for God only knows what purpose." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -[Illustration: 9061] - -HE Warren homestead was in a turmoil of excitement over Helen's return. -The ex-slaves of the family for miles around had assembled to celebrate -the occasion in quite the ante-bellum fashion. The men and grown boys -sat about the front lawn and on the steps of the long veranda and talked -of the day Helen was born, of her childhood, of her beauty and numerous -conquests, away from them, and of the bare possibility of her deigning -to accept the hand of some one of her powerful and wealthy suitors. - -In her own chamber, a great square room with many windows, Helen, tall, -graceful, with light-brown eyes and almost golden hair, was receiving -the women and girls. She had brought a present suitable for each of -them, as they knew she would, and the general rejoicing was equal to -that of an old-time Georgia Christmas. - -"You are all here," Helen smiled, as she looked about the room, "except -Mam' Linda. Is she not well?" - -"Yessum, she's well as common," Jennie, a yellow house-maid, said, "as -well as she been since Pete had dat scrimmage wid de White Caps. Missie, -you gwine notice er gre't change in Mam' Lindy. Since dat turrible -night, while she seem strong in de body, she looks powerful weak in -de face en sperit. Unc' Lewis is worried about 'er. She des set in er -cottage do' en rock back an' fo'th all day long. You done heard 'bout dat -lambastin', 'ain't you, Missie?" - -"Yes, my father wrote me about it," Helen replied, an expression of -sympathetic pain on her well-featured face, "but he didn't tell me that -mammy was taking it so hard." - -"He was tryin' ter keep you fum worryin'," Jennie said, observantly. -"Marster knowed how much sto' you set by yo' old mammy. He was de -maddest man you ever laid eyes on dat night, but he couldn't do nothin', -fer it was all over, en dem white trash done skedaddle back whar dey -come fum.". - -"And was Pete so much to blame?" Helen asked, her voice shaking. - -"Blame fer de company he been keepin', Missie--dat's all; but what you -gwine ter do wid er strappin' young nigger growin' up? It des like it -was in de old day fo' de war. De niggers had to have deir places ter -meet an' cut up shines. Dey been done too much of it at Ike Bowen's. De -white folks dat lived round dar couldn't sleep at night. It was one long -shindig or a fist-cuff scrap fum supper till daylight." - -"Well, I wish Mam' Linda would come to see me," Helen said. "I'm anxious -about her. If she isn't here soon I'll go to her." - -"She's comin' right on, Missie," another negro girl said, "but she tol' -Unc' Lewis she was gwine ter wait till we all cleared out. She say you -her baby, en she ain't gwine ter be bothered wid so many, when she see -you de fust time after so long." - -"That's exactly like her," Helen smiled. "Well, you all must go now, -and, Jennie, tell her I am dying to see her." - -The room was soon cleared of its chattering and laughing throng, and -Linda, supported by her husband, a stalwart mulatto, came from her -cottage behind the house and went up to Helen's room. She was short, -rather portly, about half white, and for that reason had a remarkably -intelligent face which bore the marks of a strong character. Entering -the room, after sharply enjoining her husband to wait for her in the -hall, she went straight up to Helen and laid her hand on the young -lady's head. - -"So I got my baby back once mo'," she said, tenderly. - -"Yes, I couldn't stay away, Mammy," Helen said, with an indulgent smile. -"After all, home is the sweetest place on earth--but you mustn't stand -up; get a chair." - -The old woman obeyed, slowly placing the chair near that of her mistress -and sitting down. "I'm glad you got back, honey," she said. "I loves all -my white folks, but you is my baby, en I never could talk to de rest of -um lak I kin ter you. Oh, honey, yo' old mammy has had lots en lots er -trouble!" - -"I know, Mammy, father wrote me about it, and I've heard more since I -got here. I know how you love Pete." - -Linda folded her arms on her breast and leaned forward till her elbows -rested on her knees. Helen saw a wave of emotion shake her whole body -as she straightened up and faced her with eyes that seemed melting in -grief. "Honey," she said, "folks said when de law come en give we all -freedom dat de good day was at hand. It was ter be a time er plenty en -joy fer black folks; but, honey, never while I was er slave did I had -ter suffer what I'm goin' thoo now. In de old time marster looked after -us; de lash never was laid on de back er one o' his niggers. No white -pusson never dared to hit one of us, en yit now in dis day er glorious -freedom, er whole gang of um come in de dead er night en tied my child -wid ropes en tuck turn about lashin' 'im. Honey, sometimes I think dey -ain't no Gawd fer a pusson wid one single streak er black blood in 'im. -Ef dey is er Gawd fer sech es me, why do He let me pass thoo what been -put on me? I heard dat boy's cryin' half er mile, honey, en stood in de -flo' er my house en couldn't move, listenin' en listenin' ter his -screams en dat lash failin' on 'im. Den dey let 'im loose en he come -runnin' erlong de street ter find me--ter find his mammy, honey--his -mammy who couldn't do nothin' fer 'im. En dar right at my feet he fell -over in er faint. I thought he was dead en never would open his eyes -ergin." - -"And I wasn't here to comfort you!" Helen said, in a tearful tone of -self-reproach. "You were alone through it all." - -"No, I wasn't, honey. Thank de Lawd, dar is some er de right kind er -white folks left. Marse Carson Dwight heard it all fum his room en come -over. He raised Pete up en tuck 'im in an' laid 'im on de baid. He tuck 'im -up in his arms, honey, young marster did, en set to work to bring 'im to. -An' after de po' boy was easy en ersleep en de doctor gone off, Marse -Carson come ter me en tuck my hand. 'Mam' Lindy,' he said, es pale as ef -he'd been sick er long time, 'dis night's work has give me some'n' ter -think erbout. De best white men in de Souf won't stan' fer dis. Sech -things cayn't go on forever. Ef I go to de Legislature I'll see dat dey -gwine ter pass laws ter pertect you faithful old folks." - -"Carson said that?" Helen's voice was husky, her glance averted. - -"Yes, en he was dead in earnest, honey; he wasn't des talkin' ter -comfort me. I know, kase I done hear suppen else dat happened since -den." - -"What was that?" Helen asked. - -"Why, dey say dat Marse Carson went straight down-town en tried ter find -somebody dat was in de mob. He heard Dan Willis was among 'em--you know -who he is, honey. He's er bad, desp'rate moonshine man. Well, Marse -Carson spoke his mind about 'im, an' dared 'im out in de open. Unc' -Lewis said Mr. Garner an' all Marse Carson's friends tried to stop - 'im, kase it would go dead agin 'im in his 'lection, but Marse Carson -wouldn't take back er word, en was so mad he couldn't hold in. En dat -another hard thing to bear, honey," Linda went on. "Des think, Marse -Carson cayn't even try to help er po' old woman lak me widout ruinin' -his own chances." - -"Is it as serious as that?" Helen asked, with deep concern. - -"Yes, honey, he never kin win his race lessen he act diffunt. Dey say -dat man Wiggin is laughin' fit ter kill hisse'f over de way he got de -upper hold. I told Marse Carson des t'other day he mustn't do dat way, -but he laughed in my face in de sweet way he always did have. 'Ef dey -vote ergin me fer dat, Mam' Lindy,' he say, 'deir votes won't be worth -much.' Marse Carson is sho got high principle, honey. His pa think he -ain't worth much, but _he's_ all right. You mark my words, he's gwine -ter make a gre't big man--he gwine ter do dat kase he's got er tender -heart in 'im, an ain't afeard of anything dat walk on de yeath. He may -lose dis one 'lection, but he'll not stop. I know young white men, thoo -en thoo, en I never y it seen er better one." - -[Illustration: 0067] - -"Have you--have you seen him recently?" Helen asked, surprised at the -catch in her voice. - -"Oh yes, honey," the old woman said, plaintively; "seem lak he know how -I'm sufferin', en he been comin' over often en talkin' ter me'n Lewis. -Seem lak he's so sad, honey, here late. Ain't you seed 'im yit, honey?" - -"No, he hasn't been over," Helen replied, rather awkwardly. "He will -come, though; he and I are good friends." - -"You gwine find 'im changed er lot, honey," the old woman said. "Do you -know, I don't believe he ever got over Marse Albert's death. He warn't -ter blame 'bout dat, honey, dough I do believe he feel dat way. Seem lak -we never kin fetch up Marse Albert's name widout Marse Carson git sad. -One night here late when Lewis was talkin' 'bout when yo' pa went off -en fetched young master home, Marse Carson hung his head en say: 'Mam' -Lindy, I wish dat time could be go over ergin. I would act so diffunt. -I never seed whar all dem scrapes was leadin' to. But it learned me a -lesson, Mam' Lindy.'" - -"That's it," Helen said, bitterly, as if to herself; "he survived. He -has profited by the calamity, but my poor, dear brother--" She went no -further, for her voice broke and her eyes filled with tears. - -"Don't think erbout dat, honey," old Linda said, consolingly. "You got -yo' one great trouble lak I has, but you is at home wid we all now, en -you must not be sad." - -"I don't intend to be, Mammy," Helen said, wiping her eyes on her -handkerchief. "We are going to try to do something to keep Pete out of -trouble. Father thinks it is his associates that are to blame. We must -try in future to keep him away from bad company." - -"Dat what I want ter do, honey," the old woman said, "en ef I des had -somewhar ter send 'im so he could be away fum dis town I'd be powerful -glad." - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -[Illustration: 9070] - -Helen anticipated, the young ladies of the town, her most intimate -friends and former school-mates, came in a body that afternoon to see -her. The reception formally opened in the great parlor down-stairs, -but it was not many minutes before they all found themselves in Helen's -chamber fluttering about and chattering like doves in their spring -plumage. - -"There's no use putting it off longer," Ida Tarpley, Helen's cousin, -laughed; "they are all bent on seeing your _things_, and they will -simply spend the night here if you don't get them out." - -"Oh, I think that would look so vain and silly in me," Helen protested, -her color rising. "I don't like to exhibit my wardrobe as if I were a -dressmaker, or a society woman who is hard up and trying to dispose of -them." - -"The idea of your not doing it, dear," Mary King, a little blonde, said, -"when not one of us has seen a decent dress or hat since the summer -visitors went away last fall." - -"Leave it to me," Ida Tarpley laughed. "You girls get off the bed. I -want something to lay them on. If it were only evening I'd make her -put on that gown she wore at the Governor's ball. You remember what the -_Constitution's_ society reporter said about it. He said it was a poet's -dream. If I ever get one it will be _in_ a dream. You must really wear -it to your dance, Helen." - -"_My_ dance?" Helen said, in surprise. - -"Oh, I hope I'm not telling secrets," Ida said; "but I met Keith Gordon -and Bob Smith in town as I came on. They had a list and were taking -subscriptions from all the young men. They had already enough put down -to buy a house and lot. They say they are going to give you the swellest -dance that was eyer heard of. Bob said that it simply had to surpass -anything you'd been to in Augusta or Atlanta. Expense is not to be -considered. The finest band in Chattanooga has already been engaged; -the refreshments are to be brought from there by a caterer and a dozen -expert waiters. A carload of flowers have been ordered. It is to open -with a grand march." Ida swung her hands and body comically to and fro -as if in the cake walk, and bowed low. "Nobody is to be allowed to dance -with you who hasn't an evening suit on, and _then_ only once. They are -all crazy about you, Helen. I never could understand it. I've tried to -copy the look you have in the eyes hundreds of times, but it won't have -the slightest effect." - -"There's only one explanation of it," Miss Wimberley, another girl, -remarked; "it is simply because she really likes them all." - -"Well, I really do, as for that," Helen said; "and I think it is awfully -nice of them to give me such a dance. It's enough to turn a girl's head. -Well, if Ida really is going to pull out my things, I'll go down-stairs -and make you a lemonade." - -Later in the afternoon the young ladies had all gone except Ida Tarpley, -who lingered with Helen on the veranda. - -"I'm glad the girls didn't have the bad taste to embarrass you by -questioning you about Mr. Sanders," Ida said. "Of course, it is all over -town. Uncle spoke of the possibility of it to some one and that put -it afloat. I'm anxious to see him, Helen. I know he must be -nice--everything, in fact, that a man ought to be, for you always had -high ideals." - -Helen flushed almost angrily, and she drew herself erect and stood quite -rigid, looking at her cousin. - -"Ida," she said, "I don't like what you have just said." - -"Oh, dearest, I'm sorry, but I thought--" - -"That's the trouble about a small town," Helen went on. "People take -such liberties with you, and about the most delicate things. Down in -Augusta my friends never would think of saying I was actually engaged -to a man till it was announced. But here at home it is in every mouth -before they have even seen the gentleman in question." - -"But you really have been receiving constant attentions from Mr. Sanders -for more than a year, haven't you, dear?" Miss Tarpley asked, blandly. - -"Yes, but what of that?" Helen retorted. "He and I are splendid friends. -He has been very kind and thoughtful of my comfort, and I like him. He -is noble, sincere, and good. He extended the sweetest sympathy to me -when I went down there under my great grief, and I never can forget it, -but, nevertheless, Ida, I have not promised to marry him." - -"Oh, I see, it is not actually settled yet," Miss Tarpley said. "Well, -I'm glad. I'm very, very glad." - -"You are glad?" Helen said, wonderingly. - -"Yes, I am. I'm glad because I don't want you to go away off down there -and marry a stranger to us. I really hope something will break it up. I -know Mr. Sanders must be awfully fond of you--any man would be who had -a ghost of a chance of winning you--and I know your aunt has been doing -all in her power to bring the match about--but I understand you, dear, -and I am afraid you would not be happy." - -"Why do you say that so--so positively?" Helen asked, coldly. - -"Because," Ida said, impulsively, "I don't believe a girl of your -disposition ever could love in the right way more than once, and--" - -"And what?" Helen demanded, her proud lips compressed, her eyes flashing -defiantly. - -"Well, I may be wrong, dear," Miss Tarpley went on, "but if you were not -actually in love before you went to Augusta, you were very near it." - -"How absurd!" Helen exclaimed, with a little angry toss of her head. - -"Do you remember the night our set drove out to the Henderson party? I -went with Mr. Garner and Carson Dwight took you? Oh, Helen, I met you -and Carson walking together in the moonlight that evening under the -apple-trees in the old meadow, and if ever a pair of human beings really -loved each other you two must have done so that night. I saw it in his -happy, triumphant face, and in the fact, Helen dear, that you allowed -him to be with you so much, when you knew other admirers were waiting to -see you." - -Helen looked down; her face was clouded over, her proud lip twitched. - -"Ida," she said, tremulously, "I don't want you ever again to mention -Carson Dwight's name to me in--in that way. You have no right to." - -"Yes, I have," Ida protested, firmly. "I have the right as a loyal -friend to the best, most suffering, and noblest young man I ever knew. I -read you like a book, dear. You really cared very, very much for Carson -once, but after your great loss you never thought the same of him -again." - -"No, nor I never shall," Helen said, firmly. "I admire him and shall -treat him as a good friend when we meet, but that will be the end of it. -Whether I cared for him or not, as girls care for young men, is neither -here nor there. It is over with." - -"And all simply because he was a little wild at the time your poor -brother--" - -"Stop!" Helen said; "don't argue the matter. I can only now associate -him with the darkest hour of my life. I'm tempted to tell you something, -Ida," and Helen bowed her head for a moment, and then went on in an -unsteady voice. "When my poor brother's trunk was brought home, it was -my duty to put the things it contained in order. There I found some -letters to him, and one dated only two days before Albert's death was -from--from Carson Dwight. I read only a portion of it, but it revealed a -page in poor Albert's life that I had never read--never dreamed could be -possible." - -"But Carson," Ida Tarpley exclaimed; "what did _he_ have to do with -that?" - -Helen swallowed the lump in her throat, and with a cold, steely gleam in -her eyes she said, bitterly: "He could have held out his hand with the -superior strength you think he has and drawn the poor boy back from the -brink, but he didn't. The words he wrote about it were light, flippant, -and heartless. He treated the whole awful situation as a joke, as if--as -if he _himself_ were familiar with such unmentionable things." - -"Ah, I begin to understand it all now!" Ida sighed. "That letter, -coupled with Cousin Albert's awful death, was such a terrible shock that -you cannot feel the same towards Carson. But oh, Helen, you would pity -him if you knew him now as I do. He has never altered in his feelings -towards you. In fact, it seems to me that he loves you even more deeply -than ever. And, dear, if you had seen his patient efforts to make a -better man of himself you'd not harbor such thoughts against him. You -will understand Carson some day, but it may then be too late. I don't -believe a woman ever has a real sweetheart but once. You may marry the -man your aunt wants you to take, but your heart will some day turn back -to the other. You will remember, too, and bitterly, that you condemned -him for a youthful fault which you ought to have pardoned." - -"Do you think so, Ida?" Helen asked, her soft, brown eyes averted. - -"Yes, and you'll remember, too, that while his other friends were trying -to help him stick to his resolutions you turned against him. He's going -to make a great and good man, Helen. I've known that for some time. He -is having his troubles, but even they will help him to be stronger -in the end. His greatest trial is going on right now, while folks are -saying that you are going to marry another man. Pshaw! you may say what -you like about Mr. Sanders' good qualities, but I know I shall not -like him," concluded Ida, with a smile, as she turned to go. "He is a -usurper, and I'm dead against him." - -Helen remained on the veranda after her cousin had left till the -twilight gathered about her. She was about to go in, as it was near -tea-time, when she heard a grumbling voice down the street and saw old -Uncle Lewis returning from town, driving his son, the troublesome Peter, -before him. - -"You go right thoo dat gate on back ter dat house, you black imp er -'straction!" he thundered, "er I'll tek er boa'd en lambast de life -out'n you. Here it is night-time en you ain't chop no stove-wood fer -de big house kitchen, en been lyin' roun' dem cotton wagons raisin' mo' -rows wid dem mountain white men." - -"What's the matter, Uncle Lewis?" Helen asked, as the boy sulkily passed -round the corner of the house and the old man, out of breath, paused at -the steps. - -"Oh, Missy, you don't know what me'n' Mam' Lindy got to bear up under. We -don't know how ter manage dat boy. Lindy right now is out'n 'er head -wid worry. Buck Black come tol' us 'bout an hour ago dat Pete en some mo' -triflin' niggers was down at de warehouse sassin' some mountain white -men. Buck heard Pete say dat Johnson en his gang couldn't whip him ergin -dout gittin' in trouble, en dey was in er inch of er big row when de -marshal busted it up. Buck ain't no fool, fer a black man, Missy, en -he told me'n' Lindy ef we don't manage ter git Pete out'n de company he -keeps dat dem white men will sho string 'im up." - -"Yes, something has to be done, that's plain," said Helen, -sympathetically. "I know Mam' Linda must be worrying, and I'll go down -to see her this evening. It doesn't seem to me that a town like this is -best for a boy like Pete. I'll speak to father about it, Uncle Lewis. It -won't do to have Mammy bothered like this. It will kill her. She is not -strong enough to stand it." - -"Oh, Missy," the old man said, "I wish you would try ter do some'n'. -Me'n' Lindy is sho at de end er our rope." - -"Well, I promise you I'll do all I can, Uncle Lewis," Helen said, and, -much relieved, the old negro trudged homeward. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -[Illustration: 9078] - -LOCAL institution in which "the gang" was more or less interested was -known as the "Darley Club." It occupied the entire upper floor of -a considerable building on the main street, and had been organized, -primarily, by the older married men of the town to give the young men of -the best families a better meeting-place than the bar-rooms and offices -of the hotels. At first the older men looked in occasionally to see that -the rather rigid rules of the institution were being kept. But men of -middle-age and past, who have comfortable firesides, are not fond of -the noisy gatherings of their original prototypes, and the Club was -soon left to the management of the permanent president, Mr. Wade Tingle, -editor of the _Headlight_. - -Wade endeavored, to the best of his genial nature, to enforce all rules, -collect all dues, and impose all fines, but he wasn't really the man for -the place. He accepted what cash was handed to him, trying to remember -the names of the payers and amounts as he wrote his editorials, -political notes, and social gossip, ending up at the end of each month -with no money at all to pay the rent or the wages of the negro factotum. -However, there was always an outlet from this embarrassment, for -Wade had only to draw a long face as he met some of the well-to-do -stay-at-homes and say that "club expenses were somehow running short," -and without question the shortage was made up. Wade had tried to be -officially stern, too, on occasion. Once when Keith Gordon had violated -what Wade termed club discipline, not to say club etiquette, Wade -threatened to be severe. But it happened to be a point upon which there -was a division of opinion, and Keith also belonged to "the gang." It had -happened this way: Keith had a certain corner in the Club reading-room -where he was wont to write his letters of an evening, and coming down -after supper one night he discovered that the attendant had locked the -door and gone off to supper. Keith was justly angry. He stood at the -door for a few minutes, and then, being something of an athlete, he -stepped back, made a run the width of the sidewalk, and broke the lock, -left the door hanging on a single hinge, and went up and calmly wrote -his letters. As has been intimated, Wade took a serious view of this -violation of club dignity, his main contention being that Keith ought -to have the lock repaired and the hinge replaced. However, Keith just -as firmly stood on his rights, his contention being that a member of the -Club in good standing could not be withheld from his rights by the mere -carelessness of a negro or a twenty-five cent cast-iron lock. So it was -that, in commemoration of the incident, the door remained without the -lock and hinge for many a day. - -It was in this building that the grand ball in honor of Helen Warren's -home-coming was to be given. During the entire preceding day Bob Smith -and Keith Gordon worked like happy slaves. The floor had been roughened -by roller-skating, and a carpenter with plane and sand-paper was -smoothing it, Bob giving it its finishing touch by whittling sperm -candles over it and rubbing in the shavings with the soles of his shoes -as he pirouetted about, his right arm curved around an imaginary waist. -The billiard-tables were pushed back against the wall, the ladies' -dressing-rooms thoroughly scoured and put in order, and the lamps -cleaned and trimmed. Keith had brought down from his home some -fine oil-paintings, and these were hung appropriately. But Keith's -_chef-d'ouvre_ of arrangement and decoration was a happy inspiration, -and he was enjoining it on the initiated ones to keep it as a surprise -for Helen. He had once heard her say that her favorite flower was the -wild daisy, and as they were now in bloom, and grew in profusion in the -fields around the town, Keith had ordered several wagon-loads of them -gathered, and now the walls of the ballroom were fairly covered with -them. Graceful festoons of the flowers hung from the ceiling, draped -the doorways, and rose in beautiful mounds on the white-clothed -refreshment-tables. - -As a special favor he admitted Carson Dwight in at the carefully guarded -door at dusk on the evening of the ball, first drawing down the blinds -and lighting the candles and lamps that his chum might have the full -benefit of the scene as it would strike Helen on her arrival. - -"Isn't that simply superb?" he asked. "Do you reckon they gave her -anything prettier while she was down there? I don't believe it, Carson. -I think this is the dandiest room a girl ever tripped a toe in." - -"Yes, it's all right," Dwight said, admiringly. "It is really great, and -she will appreciate it keenly. She is that way." - -"I think so myself," said Keith. "I've been nervous all day, though, old -man. I've been watching every train." - -"Afraid the band wouldn't come?" asked Dwight. - -"No, those coons can be depended on; they will be down in full force -with the best figure-caller in the South. No, I was afraid, though, that -Helen might have written to that Augusta chump, and that he would come -up. That certainly would give the thing cold feet." - -"Ah!" Carson exclaimed; "I see." - -"The dear girl wouldn't rub it in on us to that extent, old man," Keith -said. "I know it now. She really may be engaged to him, and she may not, -but she knows how we feel, and it's bully of her not to invite him. It -would really have been a wet blanket to the whole business. We'd have -to treat him decently, as a visitor, you know, but I'd rather have taken -castor-oil for my part of it. All the gang except you were over to see -her Sunday afternoon; why didn't you go?" - -"Oh, you know I live only next door, with an open gate between, and -I thought I'd better give my place to you fellows who don't have my -opportunity. I've already seen her. In fact, she ran over to see my -mother yesterday." - -The ball was in full swing when Carson arrived that night. The street in -front of the club was crowded with carriages, buggies, and livery-stable -"hacks." The introductory grand march was in progress, and when Carson -went to the improvised dressing-room in charge of Skelt to check his -hat he found Garner standing before a mirror tugging at the lapels of an -evening coat and trying to adjust a necktie which kept climbing higher -than it should. Darley was just at the point in its post-bellum struggle -where evening dress for men was a thing more of the luxurious past than -the stern present, and Dwight readily saw that his partner had persuaded -himself for once to don borrowed plumage. - -"What's the matter?" Carson asked, as he thrust his hat-check into the -pocket of his immaculate white waistcoat. - -"Oh, the damn thing don't fit!" said Garner, in high disgust. "I know -now that my father has a hump, or did have when he ordered this suit for -his wedding-trip. The tailor who designed this _costeem de swaray_ tried -to help him out, but he has transferred the hump to me by other means -than heredity. Look how the back of it sticks out from my neck!" - -"That's because you twist your body to see it in the glass," said -Carson, consolingly. "It's not so bad when you stand straight." - -"It's a case of not seeing others as they see you, eh?" Garner said, -better satisfied. "I haven't taken a chew of tobacco to-night. I -wouldn't splotch this shirt for the world. I couldn't spit farther than -an inch with this collar on, anyway. She's holding the reel for me. I -can't dance anything else, but I can go through that pretty well if I -get at the end and watch the others. You'd better hurry up and see -her card. There is a swell gang coming on the ten-o'clock train from -Atlanta, and they all know her." - -It was during the interval following the third number on the programme -that Carson met Helen promenading with Keith and offered her his arm. - -"Oh, isn't it simply superb?" she said, when Keith had bowed -himself away and they had joined the other strollers round the big, -flower-perfumed room. "Carson, really I actually cried for joy just now -in the dressing-room. I declare I never want to go away from home again. -I'll never have such devoted friends as these." - -"It is nice of you to look at it that way, Helen," he said, "after the -gay time you have had in Augusta and other cities." - -"At least it is honest and sincere here at home," she answered, -"while down there it is--well, full of strife, social competition, and -jealousies. I really; got homesick and simply had to come back." - -"We are simply delighted to have you again," he said, almost fearing to -look upon her, for in her exquisite evening gown and the proud poise of -her head she seemed more beautiful and imperious, and farther removed -from his hopes than he had thought her even in the darkest hours of her -first refusal to condone his fatal offence. - -She was looking straight into his eyes with a thoughtful, questioning -stare, when she said: "They all seem the same, Carson, except you. Bob -Smith, Keith, and even Mr. Garner are just like I left them, but somehow -you are altered. You look so much older, so much more serious. Is it -politics that is weighing you down--making you worry?" - -"Well," he laughed, evasively, "politics is not exactly the easiest game -in the world, and the bare fear that I may not succeed, after all, is -enough to make a fellow of my temperament worry. It seems to be my last -throw of the dice, Helen. My father will lose all faith in me if this -does not go through." - -"Yes, I know it is serious," the girl said. "Keith and Mr. Garner -have talked to me about it. They say they have never seen you so much -absorbed in anything before. You really must win, Carson--you simply -must!" - -"But this is no time to talk over sordid politics," he said, with a -smile. "This is your party and it must be made delightful." - -"Oh, I have my worries, too," she said, gravely. "I felt a queer twinge -of conscience to-night when all the servants came to see me before I -left home. They were all so happy except Mam' Linda. She tried to act -like the rest, but, Carson, her trouble about that worthless boy is -actually killing the dear old woman. She has her pride, too, and it -has been wounded to the quick. She was always proud of the fact that my -father never had whipped one of his slaves. I've heard her boast of it a -hundred times; and now that she no longer belongs to us in reality, and -her only child was beaten so cruelly, she simply can't get over it." - -"I knew she felt that way," Dwight said, sympathetically. - -Helen's hand tightened unconsciously on his arm as they were passing -by the corner containing the orchestra. "Do you know," she said, "Mam' -Linda told me that of all the people who had been to see her since -then that you had been the kindest, most thoughtful, the most helpful? -Carson, that was very, very sweet of you." - -"I was only electioneering," he said, with a flush. "I was after Uncle -Lewis's vote and Mam' Linda's influence." - -"No, you were not," Helen declared. "It was pure, unadulterated -unselfishness on your part. You were sorry for her and for Uncle Lewis -and even Pete, who certainly needed punishment of some sort for the way -he's been conducting himself. Yes, it was only your good heart. I know -that, for several persons have told me you have even gone so far as to -let the affair hamper you in your political career. Oh, I know all about -what your opponent is saying, and I know mountain people well enough to -know you have given him a powerful weapon. They are terribly wrought -up over the race troubles, and it would be easy enough for them to -misunderstand your exact feeling. Oh, Carson, you must not let even Mam' -Linda's trouble stand between you and your high aim. Taking up her cause -will perhaps not do a bit of good, for no one person can solve so vital -a problem as that is, and your agitation of it may wreck your last -hope." - -"I've promised to keep my mouth shut, if Dan Willis and men of his -sort will not stay right at my heels with their threats. My campaign -managers--the gang, who hold a daily caucus at the den and lay down -my rules of conduct--have exacted that much from me on the penalty of -letting me go by the board if I disobey." - -"The dear boys!" Helen exclaimed. "I like every one of them, they are so -loyal to you. The close friendship of you all for one another is simply -beautiful." - -"Coming back to the inevitable Pete," Dwight remarked, a few minutes -later. "I've been watching him since he was whipped, and I know he is in -great danger of getting even more deeply into trouble. He has a stupidly -resentful disposition, as many of his race have, and he is going around -making surly threats about Johnson, Wiggin, and others. If he keeps that -up and they get hold of it he will certainly get into serious trouble." - -"My father was speaking of that to-night," Helen said. "And he was -thinking if there were any way of getting the boy away from his idle -town associates that it might prevent trouble and ease Mam' Linda's -mind." - -"I was thinking of that the other day when I saw Uncle Lewis searching -for him among the idle negroes," said Carson; "and I have an idea." - -"Oh, you have? What is it?" Helen asked, eagerly. - -"Why, Pete always has seemed to like me and take my advice, and as there -is, plenty of work on my farm for such a hand as he is I could give him -a good place and wages over there where he'd be practically removed from -his present associates." - -"Splendid, splendid!" Helen cried; "and will you do it?" - -"Why, certainly, and right away," Carson answered. "If you will have -Mam' Linda send him down to me in the morning I'll give him some -instructions and a good sharp talk, and I'll make my overseer at the -farm put him to work." - -"Oh, it is splendid!" Helen declared. "It will be such good news for -Mam' Linda. She'd rather have him work for you than any one in the -world." - -"There comes Wade to claim his dance," Dwight said, suddenly; "and I -must be off." - -"Where are you going?" she asked, almost regretfully. - -"To the office to work on political business--dozens and dozens of -letters to answer. Then I'm coming back for my waltz with you. I -sha'n't fail." And as he put on his hat and threaded his way through the -whirling mass of dancers down to the street, he recalled with something -of a shock that not once in their talk had he even _thought_ of his -rival. He slowed up in the darkness and leaned against a wall. There -was a strange sinking of his heart as he faced the grim reality that -stretched out drearily before him. She was, no doubt, to be the wife of -another man. He had lost her. She was not for him, though there in -the glare of the ballroom, amid the sensuous strains of music, in the -perfume of the flowers dying in her service, she had seemed as close to -him in heart, soul, and sympathy as the night he and she-- - -He had reached his office, a little one-story brick building in the row -of lawyers' offices on the side street leading from the post-office to -the courthouse, and he unlocked the door and went in and lighted the -little murky lamp on his desk and pulled down a package of unanswered -letters. - -Yes, he must work--work with that awful pain in his breast, the dry, -tightening sensation in his throat, the maddening vision of her dazzling -beauty and grace and sweetness before him. He dipped his pen, drew the -paper towards him, and began to write: "My dear Sir,--In receiving the -cordial assurances of your support in the campaign before me, I desire -to thank you most heartily and to--" - -He laid the pen down and leaned back. "I can't do it, at least not -to-night," he said. "Not while she is there looking like that and with -my waltz to come, and yet it must be done. I've lost her, and I am only -making it harder to bear. Yes, I must work--work!" - -The pen went into the ink again. On the still night air came the strains -of music, the mellow, sing-song voice of the figure-caller in the -"square" dance, the whir and patter of many feet. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -[Illustration: 9089] - -EAVING Carson Dwight, Wade Tingle, and Bob Smith chatting about the ball -in the den the next morning, Garner went to the office, bit off a chew -of tobacco, and plunged into work with a vigor which indicated that -he was almost ashamed of his departure from his beaten track into the -unusual fields of social gayety. He still wore the upright collar and -white necktie of the night before, but the hitherto carefully guarded -expanse of shirt-front was already in imminent danger of losing all that -had once recommended it as a presentable garment. - -With his small hand well spread over the page of the book he was -consulting, he had become oblivious to his surroundings when suddenly a -man stood in the doorway. He was tall and gaunt and wore a broad-brimmed -hat, a cotton checked shirt, jean trousers supported by a raw-hide belt, -and a pair of tall boots which, as he stood fiercely eying Garner, he -angrily lashed with his riding-whip. It was Dan Willis. His face was -slightly flushed from drink, and his eyes had the glare even his best -friends had learned to tear and tried to avoid. - -"Whar's that that dude pardner o' yourn?" he asked. - -"Oh, you mean Dwight!" Garner had had too much experience in the -handling of men to change countenance over any sudden turn of affairs, -either for or against his interests, and he had, also, acquired -admirable skill in most effective temporizing. "Why, let me see, Dan," -he went on, after he had paused for fully a moment, carefully inspected -the lines he was reading, frowned as if not quite satisfied therewith, -and then slowly turned down a leaf. "Let me think. Oh, you want to see -Carson! Sit down; take a chair." - -"I don't want to set down!" Willis thundered. "I want to see that damned -dude, and I want to see him right off." - -"Oh, that's it!" said Garner. "You are in a _hurry!_" And then, from the -rigid setting of his jaw, it was plain that the lawyer had decided on -the best mode of handling the specimen glowering down upon him. "Oh yes, -I remember now, Willis, that you were loaded up a few nights ago looking -for that chap. Now, advice is cheap--that is, the sort I'm going to give -you. Under ordinary circumstances I'd charge a fee for it. My advice to -you is to straddle that horse of yours and get out of this town. You are -looking for trouble--great, big, far-reaching trouble." - -"You hit the nail that pop, Bill Garner," the mountaineer snorted. "I'm -expectin' to git trouble, or _give_ trouble, an' I hain't goin' to lose -time nuther. This settlement was due several days ago, but got put off." - -"Look here, Willis"--Garner stood up facing him--"you may not be a fool, -but you are acting powerfully like one. You are letting that measly -little candidate for the legislature make a cat's-paw of you. That's -what you're doing. He knows, if he can get up a shooting-scrap between -you and my pardner over that negro-whipping business, it will turn a few -mountain votes his way. If you get shot, Wiggin will have more charges -to make; and if Carson was to get the worst of it, the boy would be -clean out of the skunk's way. You and Wiggin are both in bad business." - -"Well, that's _my_ lookout!" the mountaineer growled, beside himself in -rage. "Carson Dwight said I was with Johnson the night the gang came in -and whipped them coons, and--" - -"Well, you _were_," said Garner, as suddenly as if he were browbeating a -witness. "What's the use to lie about it?" - -"Lie--you say I--?" - -"I said I didn't _want_ you to lie about it," said Garner, calmly. "I -know half the mob, and respect most of them. I have an idea that some of -my own kinsfolk was along that night. They thought they were doing right -and acting in the best interests of the community. That's neither here -nor there. The men that were licked were negroes, and most of them bad -ones at that, but when a big, strapping man of your stamp comes with -blood in his eye and a hunk of metal on his hip, looking for the son -of an old Confederate soldier, who is a Democratic candidate for the -legislature, and a good all-round white citizen, why, I say that is the -time to call a halt, and to call it out loud! I happen to know a few of -the grand jury, and if there is trouble of a serious nature in this town -to-day, I can personally testify to enough deliberation in your voice -and eye this morning to jerk your neck out of joint." - -"What the hell do I care for you or your law?" Dan Willis snorted. "It's -what that damned dude said about _me_ that he's got to swallow, and if -he's in this town I'll find him. A fellow told me if he wasn't here he'd -be in Keith Gordon's room. I don't know whar that is, but I kin find -out." Turning abruptly, Willis strode out into the street again. - -"The devil certainly is to pay now," Garner said, with his deepest frown -as he closed the law-book, thrust it back into its dusty niche in his -bookcase, and put on his hat. "Carson is still up there with those boys, -and that fellow may find him any minute. Carson won't take back a thing. -He's as mad about the business as Willis is. I wonder if I can possibly -manage to keep them apart." - -On his way to the den he met Pole Baker standing on the corner of the -street by a load of wood, which Pole had brought in to sell. Hurriedly, -Garner explained the situation, ending by asking the farmer if he could -see any way of getting Willis out of town. - -"I couldn't work him myself," Baker said, "fer the dern skunk hain't any -more use fer me than I have fer him, but I reckon I kin put some of his -pals onto the job." - -"Well, go ahead, Pole," Garner urged. "I'll run up to the room and try -to detain Carson. For all you do, don't let Willis come up there." - -Garner found the young men still in the den chatting about the ball and -Carson's campaign. - -Wade Tingle sat at the table with several sheets of paper before him, -upon which, in a big, reporter's hand, he had been writing a glowing -account of "the greatest social event" in the history of the town. - -"I've got a corking write-up, Bill," he said, enthusiastically. "I've -just been reading it to the gang. It is immense. Miss Helen sent me a -full memorandum of what the girls wore, and, for a green hand, I think I -have dressed 'em up all right." - -"The only criticism I made on it, Garner," spoke up Keith from his bed -in the corner, where he lay fully dressed, "is that Wade has ended all -of Helen's descriptions by adding, 'and diamonds.' I'll swear I'm -no critic of style in writing, but that eternal 'and diamonds, and -diamonds, and diamonds,' at the end of every paragraph, sounds so -monotonous that it gets funny. He even had Miss Sally Ware's plain black -outfit tipped off with 'and diamonds.'" - -"Well, I look at it this way, Bill," Wade said, earnestly, as Garner sat -down, "Of course, the girls who had them on would not like to see them -left out, for they are nice things to have, and, on the other hand, -those who were short in that direction would feel sorter out of it." - -"I think if he had just written 'jewels' once in awhile," Keith said, -"it would sound all right, and leave something to the imagination." - -"That might help," Garner said, his troubled glance on Carson's rather -grave face; "but see that you don't write it 'jewelry.'" - -"Well, I'll accept the amendment," Wade said, as he began to scratch -his manuscript and rewrite. - -Carson Dwight stood up. "Did you leave the office open?" he asked -Garner. "I've got to shape up that Holcolm deed and consult the -records." - -"Let it go for a while. I want to look it over first," Garner said, -rather suddenly. "Sit down. I want to talk to you about the--the race. -You've got a ticklish proposition before you, old boy, and I'd like to -see you put it through." - -"Hear, hear!" cried Keith, sitting up on the edge of his bed. "Balls and -what girls wear belong to the regular run of life, but when the chief -of the gang is about to be beaten by a scoundrel who will hesitate at -nothing, it's time to be wide awake." - -"That's it," said Garner, his brow ruffled, his ear open to sounds -without, his uneasy eyes on the group around him. And for several -minutes he held them where they sat, listening to his wise and observant -views of the matter in hand. Suddenly, while he was in the midst of a -remark, a foot-fall sounded on the long passage without. It was heavy, -loud, and striding. Garner paused, rose, went to the bureau, and from -the top drawer took out a revolver he always kept either there or in his -desk at the office. There was a firm whiteness about his lips which was -new to his friends. - -"Carson," he said, "have you got your gun?" and he stood staring at the -doorway. - -A shadow fell on the floor; a man entered. It was Pole Baker, and he -looked around him in surprise, his inquiring stare on Garner's unwonted -mien and revolver. - -"Oh, it's you!" Garner exclaimed. "Ah, I thought--" - -"Yes, I come to tell you that--" Baker hesitated, as if uncertain -whether he was betraying confidence, and then catching Garner's warning -glance, he said, non-committally: "Say, Bill, that feller you and me was -talkin' about has jest gone home. I reckon you won't get yore money out -of him to-day." - -"Oh, well, it was a small matter, anyway, Pole," Garner said, in a tone -of appreciative relief, as he put the revolver back in the drawer and -closed it. "I'll mention it to him the next time he's in town." - -"Say, what was the matter with you just now, Garner?" Wade Tingle asked -over the top of his manuscript. "I thought you were going to ask Carson -to fight a duel." - -But with his hand on Dwight's arm Garner was moving to the door. "Come -on, lot's get to work," he said, with a deep breath and a grateful side -glance at Baker. - -In front of the office one of Carson's farm wagons drawn by a pair of -mules was standing. Tom Hill-yer, Carson's overseer and general manager, -sat on the seat, and behind him stood Pete Warren, ready for his stay in -the country. - -"Miss Helen's made quick work of it, I see," Carson remarked. "She's -determined to get that rascal out of temptation." - -"You ought to give him a sharp talking to," said Garner. "He's got -entirely too much lip for his own good. Skelt told me this morning that -if Pete doesn't dry up some of that gang will hang him before he is a -month older. He doesn't know any better, and means nothing by it, but he -has already made open threats against Johnson and Willis. You understand -those men well enough to know that in such times as these a negro can't -do that with impunity." - -"I agree with you, and I'll stop and speak to him now." - -When Carson came in and sat down at his desk, a few moments later, -Garner looked across at him and smiled. - -"You certainly let him off easy," he said. "I could have thrown a -Christmas turkey down the scamp's throat through that grin of his. I saw -you run your hand in your pocket and knew he was bleeding you." - -"Oh, well, I reckon I'm a failure at that sort of thing," Dwight -admitted, with a sheepish smile. "I started in by saying that he must -not be so foolhardy as to make open threats against any of those men, -and he said: 'Looky here, Marse Carson, dem white rapscallions cut -gashes in my body deep enough ter plant corn in, an' I ain't gwine ter -love 'em fer it. _You_ wouldn't, you know you wouldn't.'" - -"And he had you there," Garner said, grimly. "Well, they may say what -they please up North about our great problem, but nothing but time and -the good Lord can solve it. You and I can tell that negro to keep his -mouth shut from sunup till sun-down, but I happen to know that he had a -remote white ancestor that was the proudest, hardest fighter that ever -swung a sword. Some of the rampant agitators say that deportation is -the only solution. Huh! if you deported a lot of full-blood blacks along -with such chaps as this one, it would be only a short time before the -yellow ones would have the rest in bondage, and so history would be -going backward instead of forward. I guess it's going forward right now -if we only had the patience to see it that way." - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -[Illustration: 9098] - -|NE beautiful morning near the first of June, as Carson was strolling on -the upper veranda at home, waiting for the breakfast-bell, Keith Gordon -came by on his horse on his way to town. - -"Heard the news?" he called out, as he reined in at the gate and leaned -on the neck of his mount. - -"No; what's up?" Carson asked, and as he spoke he saw Helen Warren -emerge from the front door of her father's house and step down among the -dew-wet rose-bushes that bordered the brick walk. - -"Horrible enough in all reason," Keith replied. "There's been a -cold-blooded murder over near your farm. Abe Johnson, who led that mob, -you know, and his wife were killed by some negro with an axe. The whole -country is up in arms and crazy with excitement." - -"Wait, I'll come right down," Carson said, and he disappeared into -the house. And when he came out a moment later he found Helen on the -sidewalk talking to Keith, and from her grave face he knew she had -overheard what had been said. - -"Isn't it awful?" she said to Carson, as he came out at the gate. "Of -course, it is the continuation of the trouble here in town." - -"How do they know a negro did it?" Carson asked, obeying the natural -tendency of a lawyer to get at the facts. - -"It seems," answered Gordon, "that Mrs. Johnson lived barely long enough -after the neighbors got there to say that it was done by a mulatto, as -well as she could see in the darkness. In their fury, the people are -roughly handling every yellow negro in the neighborhood. They say the -darkies are all hiding out in the woods and mountains." - -Then the conversation paused, for old Uncle Lewis, who was at work with -a pair of garden-sheafs behind some rose-bushes close by, uttered a -groan and, wide-eyed and startled, came towards them. - -"It's awful, awful, awful!" they heard him say. "Oh, my Gawd, have -mercy!" - -"Why, Uncle Lewis, what's the matter?" Helen asked, in sudden concern -and wonder over his manner and tone. - -"Oh, missy, missy!" he groaned, as he shook his head despondently. "My -boy over dar 'mongst 'em right now. Oh, my Lawd! I know what dem white -folks gwine ter say fust thing, kase Pete didn't had no mo' sense 'an -ter--" - -"Stop, Lewis!" Carson said, sharply. "Don't be the first to implicate -your own son in a matter as serious as this is." - -"I ain't, marster!" the old man groaned, "but I know dem white folks -done it 'fo' dis." - -"I'm afraid you are right, Lewis," Keith said, sympathetically. "He may -be absolutely innocent, but, since his trouble with that mob, Pete has -really talked too much. Well, I must be going." - -As Keith was riding away, old Lewis, muttering softly to himself and -groaning, turned towards the house. - -"Where are you going?" Helen called out, as she still lingered beside -Carson. - -"I'm gwine try to keep Linda fum hearin' it right now," he said. "Ef -Pete git in it, missy, it gwine ter kill yo' old mammy." - -"I'm afraid it will," Helen said. "Do what you can, Uncle Lewis. I'll -be down to see her in a moment." As the old man tottered away, Helen -looked up and caught Carson's troubled glance. - -"I wish I were a man," she said. - -"Why?" he inquired. - -"Because I'd take a strong stand here in the South for law and order -at any cost. We have a good example in this very thing of what our -condition means. Pete may be innocent, and no doubt is, for I don't -believe he would do a thing like that no matter what the provocation, -and yet he hasn't any sort of chance to prove it." - -"You are right," Carson said. "At such a time they would lynch him, if -for nothing else than that he had dared to threaten the murdered man." - -"Poor, poor old mammy!" sighed Helen. "Oh, it is awful to think of what -she will suffer if--if--Carson, do you really think Pete is in actual -danger?" Dwight hesitated for a moment, and then he met her stare -frankly. - -"We may as well face the truth and be done with it," he said. "No negro -will be safe over there now, and Pete, I am sorry to say, least of all." - -"If he is guilty he may run away," she said, shortsightedly. - -"If he's guilty we don't _want_ him to get away," Carson said, firmly. -"But I really don't think he had anything to do with it." - -Helen sighed. They had stepped back to the open gate, and there they -paused side by side. "How discouraging life is!" she said. "Carson, in -planning to get Pete over there, you and I were acting on our purest, -noblest impulses, and yet the outcome of our efforts may be the gravest -disaster." - -"Yes, it seems that way," he responded, gloomily; "but we must try to -look on the bright side and hope for the best." - -On parting with Helen, Carson went into the big, old-fashioned -dining-room, and after hurriedly drinking a cup of coffee he went down -to his office. Along the main thoroughfare, on the street comers, and in -front of the stores he found little groups of men with grave faces, all -discussing the tragedy. More than once in passing he heard Pete's name -mentioned, and for fear of being questioned as to what he thought about -it he hurried on. Garner was an early riser, and he found him at his -desk writing letters. - -"Well, from all accounts," Garner said, "your man Friday seems to be in -a ticklish place over there, innocent or not--that is, if he hasn't had -the sense to skip out." - -"Somehow, I don't think Pete is guilty," Carson said, as he sank into -his big chair. "He's not that stamp of negro." - -"Well, I haven't made up my mind on that score," the other remarked. "Up -to the time he left here he seemed really harmless enough, but we don't -know what may have taken place since then between him and Johnson. Funny -we didn't think of the danger of sticking match to tinder like that. I -admit I was in favor of sending him. Miss Helen was so pleased over it, -too. I met her the other day at the post-office and she was telling me, -with absolute delight, that Pete was doing well over there, working like -an old-time cornfield darky, and behaving himself. Now, I suppose, she -will be terribly upset." - -Carson sighed. "We blame the mountain people, in times of excitement, -for acting rashly, and yet right here in this quiet town half the -citizens have already made up their minds that Pete committed the crime. -Think of it, Garner!" - -"Well, you see, it's pretty hard to imagine who _else_ did it," Garner -declared. - -"I don't agree with you," disputed Carson, warmly; "when there are half -a dozen negroes who were whipped just as Pete was and who have -horrible characters. There's Sam Dudlow, the worst negro I ever saw, -an ex-convict, and as full of devilment as an egg is of meat. I saw his -scowling face the next day after he was whipped, and I never want to see -it again. I'd hate to meet him in the dark, unarmed. He wasn't making -open threats, as Pete was, but I'll bet he would have handled Johnson -or Willis roughly if he had met either of them alone and got the -advantage." - -"Well, we are not trying the case," Garner said, dryly; "if we are, -I don't know where the fees are to come from. Getting money out of an -imaginary case is too much like a lawyer's first year under the shadow -of his shingle." - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -[Illustration: 9103] - -IMMEDIATELY on parting with Carson, Helen went down to Linda's cottage. -Lewis was leaning over the little, low fence talking to a negro, who -walked on as she drew near. - -"Where is Mam' Linda?" she asked, guardedly. "In de house, missy," Lewis -answered, pulling off his old slouch hat and wadding it tightly in his -fingers. "She 'ain't heard nothin' yit. Jim was des tellin' me er whole -string er talk folks was havin' down on de street; but I told 'im not -to let 'er hear it. Oh, missy, it gwine ter kill 'er. She cayn't stan' it. -Des no longer 'n las' night she was settin' in dat do' talkin' 'bout -how happy she was to hear Pete was doin' so well over on Marse Carson's -place. She said she never would forget young marster's kindness to er -old nigger'oman, en now"--the old man spread out his hands in apathetic -gesture before him--"now you see what it come to!" - -"But nothing serious has really happened to Pete yet," Helen had started -to say, when the old man stopped her. - -"Hush, honey, she comin'!" - -There was a sound of a footstep in the cottage. Linda appeared in -the doorway, and with a clouded face and disturbed manner invited her -mistress into the cottage, placing a chair for the young lady, and -dusting the bottom of it with her apron. - -"How do you feel this morning, mammy?" Helen asked, as she sat down. - -"I'm well emough in my _body_, honey"--the old woman's face was -averted--"but dat ain't all ter a pusson in dis life. Ef des my body -was all I had, I wouldn't be so bad off, but it's my _mind_, honey. I'm -worried 'bout dat boy ergin. I had bad dreams las' night, en thoo 'em -all he seemed ter be in some trouble. Den when I woke dis mawnin' en -tried ter think 'twas only des er dream, I ain't satisfied wid de way all -of um act. Lewis look quar out'n de eyes, en everybody dat pass erlong -hatter stop en lead Lewis off down de fence ter talk. I ain't no fool, -honey! I notice things when dey ain't natcherl. Den here you come 'fo' -yo' breakfust-time. I've watched you, chile, sence you was in de cradle -en know every bat er yo' sweet eyes. Oh, honey"--Linda suddenly sat down -and covered her face with her hands, pressing them firmly in--"honey," -she muttered, "suppen's done gone wrong. I've knowed it all dis mawnin' -en I'm actually afeard ter ax youall ter tell me. I--can't think of but -one thing, I'm so muddled up, en dat is dat my boy done thowed up his -work en gone away off somers wid bad company; en yit, honey"---she -now rocked herself back and forth as if in torture and finished with a -steady stare into Helen's face--"dat cayn't be it. Dat ain't bad ernough -ter mek Lewis act like he is, en--en--well, honey, you might es well -come out wid it. I've had trouble, en I kin have mo'." - -Helen sat pale and undecided, unable to formulate any adequate plan of -procedure. At this juncture Lewis leaned in the doorway, and, as his -wife's back was towards him, he could not see her face. - -"I want ter step down-town er minute, Lindy," he said. "I'll be right -back. I des want ter go ter de sto'. We're out er coffee, en--" - -Linda suddenly turned her dark, agonized face upon him. "You are not -goin' till you tell me what is gone wrong wid my child," she said. -"What de matter wid Pete, Lewis?" - -The old man's surprised glance wavered between his Wife's face and -Helen's. "Why, Lindy, who say--" he feebly began. - -But she stopped him with a gesture at once impatient and full of fear. -"Tell me!" she said, firmly--"tell me!" - -Lewis shambled into the cottage and stood over her, a magnificent -specimen of the manhood of his race. Helen's eyes were blinded by tears -she could hot restrain. - -"'Tain't tiothiri', Lindy, 'pon my word 'tain't nothin' but dis," he -said, gently. "Dar's been trouble over near Marse Carson's farm, but not -one soul is done say Pete was in it--_not one soul_." - -"What sort o' trouble?" Linda pursued. - -"Er man en his wife was killed over dar in baid last night." - -"What man en woman?" Linda asked, her mouth falling open in suspense, -her thick lip hanging. - -"Abe Johnson en his wife." - -Linda leaned forward, her hands locked like things of iron between her -knees. "Who done it, Lewis?--who killed um?" she gasped. - -"Nobody knows dat yit, Lindy. Mrs. Johnson lived er little while after -de neighbors come, en she said it was er--she said it was er yaller -nigger, en--en--" He went no further, being at the end of his diplomacy, -and simply stood before her helplessly twisting his hat in his hands. -The room was very still. Helen wondered if her own heart had stopped -beating, so tense and strained was her emotion. Linda sat bent forward -for a moment; they saw her raise her hands to her head, press them there -convulsively, and then she groaned. - -"Miz Johnson say it was a yaller nigger!" she moaned. "Oh, my Gawd!" - -"Yes, but what dat, 'oman?" Lewis demanded in assumed sharpness of tone. -"Dar's oodlin's en oodlin's er yaller niggers over dar." - -"Dey ain't none of 'em been whipped by de daid man, 'cepin' my boy." -Linda was now staring straight at him. "None of 'em never made no -threats but Pete. Dey'll kill 'im--" She shuddered and her voice -fell away into a prolonged sob. "You hear me? Dey'll hang my po' baby -boy--hang 'im--_hang_ 'im!" - -Linda suddenly rose to her full height and stood glowering upon them, -her face dark and full of passion and grief combined. She raised her -hands and held them straight upward. - -"I want ter curse Gawd!" she cried. "You hear me? I ain't done nothin' -ter deserve dis here thing I've been er patient slave of white folks, en -my mammy an' daddy was 'fo' me. I've acted right en done my duty ter dem -what owned me, en--en now I face dis. I hear my onliest child beggin' -fer um to spare 'im en listen ter 'im. I hear 'im beggin' ter see his -old mammy 'fo' dey kill 'im. I see 'em drag-gin' 'im off wid er rope -roun'--" With a shriek the woman fell face downward on the floor. As if -under the influence of a terrible nightmare, Helen bent over her. She -was insensible. Without a word, Lewis lifted her in his arms and bore -her to a bed in the corner. - -"Dis gwine ter kill yo' old mammy, honey," he gulped. "She ain't never -gwine ter git up fum under it--never in dis world." - -But Helen, with womanly presence of mind, had dampened her handkerchief -in some water and was gently stroking the dark face with it. After a -moment Linda drew a deep, lingering breath and opened her eyes. - -"Lewis," was her first thought, "go try en find out all you kin. I'm -gwine lie here en pray Gawd ter be merciful. I said I'd curse 'Im, but -I won't. He my mainstay. I _got_ ter trust 'Im. Ef He fail me I'm lost. -Oh, honey, yo' old mammy never axed you many favors; stay here wid 'er en -pray--pray wid all yo' might ter let dis cup pass. Oh, Gawd, don't -let 'em!--_don't_ let 'em! De po' boy didn't do it. He wouldn't harm a -kitten. He talked too much, case he was smartin' under his whippin', but -dat was all!" - -Motioning to Lewis to leave them alone, Helen sat down on the edge of -the bed and put her arm round Linda's shoulders, but the old woman rose -and went to the door and closed it, then she came back and stood by -Helen in the half-darkness that now filled the room. - -"I want you ter git down here by my baid en pray fer me, honey," she -said. "Seem ter me lak de Lawd always have listen ter white folks mo' -den de black, anyway, en I want you ter beg 'Im ter spare po' li'l' -foolish Pete des dis time--_des dis once_." Kneeling by the bed, Helen -covered her wet face with her hands. Linda knelt beside her, and Helen -prayed aloud, her clear, sweet voice ringing through the still room. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -[Illustration: 9109] - -N Carson Dwight's farm, as the place was not particularly well kept, -the negro hands lived in dismantled log-cabins scattered here and there -about the fields, or in the edge of the woods surrounding the place. In -one of these, at the overseer's suggestion, Pete had installed himself, -his household effects consisting only of a straw mattress thrown on the -puncheon floor and a few cooking utensils for use over the big fireplace -of the mud-and-log chimney. - -Here he was sleeping on the night of the tragedy which had stirred the -country-side into a white heat of race hatred. He had spent the first -half of the night at a negro dance, two miles away, at a farm, and -was much elated by finding that he had attracted marked attention and -feminine favor, which was due to the fact that he was looked upon by the -country blacks as something out of the usual run--a town darky with a -glib tongue and many other accomplishments, and a negro, too, as Pete -assured them, who stood high in the favor of his master, whose name -carried weight wherever it was mentioned. - -Shortly after dawn Pete was still sleeping soundly, as was his habit -after a night of pleasure, when his door was rudely shaken. - -"Pete Warren! Pete Warren!" a voice called out sharply. "Wake up in dar; -wake up, I tell you!" - -There was no response--no sound came from within the cabin except the -deep respiration of the sleeper. The door was shaken again, and then, -as it was not locked, and slightly ajar, the little old negro man on the -outside pushed the shutter open and entered, stalking across the floor -to where Pete lay. - -"Wake up here, you fool!" he said, as he bent and shook Pete roughly. -"Wake up, ef you know what good fer you." - -Pete turned over; his snoring broke into little gasps. He opened his -eyes, stared inquiringly for an instant, and then his eyelids began to -close drowsily. - -"Looky here!" He was roughly handled again by the black hand on his -shoulder. "You young fool, you dance all night till you cayn't keep yo' -eyes open in de day-time, but ef you don't git er move on you en light -out er dis cabin you'll dance yo' last jig wid nothin' under yo' feet -but wind. It'll be er game er frog in de middle en you be de frog." - -"What dat?--what dat you givin' me, Uncle Richmond?" Pete was now awake -and sitting bolt upright on the mattress. - -"Huh, I come ter tell you, boy, dat you 'bout ter git in trouble, en, -fer all I know, de biggest you ever had in all yo' bo'n days." - -"Huh, you say I is, Uncle Richmond?" Pete exclaimed, incredulously. -"What wrong wid me?" - -The old man stepped back till he could look through the cabin door over -the fields upon which the first streaks of daylight were falling in -grayish, misty splotches. - -"Pete," he said, "somebody done slip in Abe Johnson's house en brain him -en his wife wid er axe." - -"Huh, you don't say!" Pete stared in sleepy astonishment. "When dat -happen, Uncle Richmond?" - -"Las' night, er towards mawnin'," the old man said. "Ham Black come -en toi' me. He say we better all hide out; it gwine ter be de -biggestm 'cite-ment ever heard of in dese mountains; but, Pete, _you_ de -main one ter look out--you, you!" - -"Me! Huh, what you say dat fer, Uncle Rich'?" - -"'Ca'se dey gwine ter look fer you de fus one, Pete. You sho is been -talkin' too much out yo' mouf 'bout dat whippin' Johnson done give you -en Sam Dudlow, en de res' um in town dat night. Ham tol' me ter come -warn you ter hide out, en dat quick. Ham say he know in reason you -didn't do it, 'ca'se, he say, yo' bark is wuss'n yo' bite. Ham say he -bet 'twas done by some nigger dat didn't talk so much. Ham say he mighty -nigh sho Sam Dudlow done it, 'ca'se Sam met Abe Johnson in de big road -yisterday en Johnson cussed 'im en lashed at 'im wid er whip. Ham say -dat nigger come on ter de sto' lookin' lak er devil in men's clothes. -But he didn't say nothin' even den. Look lak he was des lyin' low bidin' -his time." - -Pete got up and began to dress himself with the unimaginative disregard -for danger that is characteristic of his race. - -"I bet, myse'f, Sam done it," he said, reflectively. - -"He's er bad yaller nigger, Uncle Richmond, en ever since Johnson en Dan -Willis larruped we-all, he's been sulkin' en growlin'. But es you say, -Uncle Rich', he didn't talk out open. He lay low." - -"Dat don't mek no diffunce, boy," the old black man went on, earnestly; -"you git out'n here in er hurry en mek er break fer dem woods. Even den -I doubt ef dat gwine ter save yo' skin,'ca'se Dan Willis got er pair er -blood-hounds dat kin smell nigger tracks thoo er ten-inch snow." - -"Huh, I say, Uncle Richmond, you don't know me," Pete said. "You don't -know me, ef you 'low I'm gwine ter run fum dese white men. I 'ain't -been nigh dat Abe Johnson's house--not even cross his line er fence. I -promised Marse Carson Dwight not ter go nigh 'im, en--en I promised 'im -ter let up on my gab out here, en I done dat, too. No, suh, Unc' Rich', -you git somebody else ter run yo' foot-race. I'm gwine ter cook my -breakfust lak I always do en den go out ter my sprouts dat hatter be -grubbed. I got my task ter do, rain er shine." - -"Look here, boy," the old man's blue-black eyes gleamed as he stared at -Pete. "I know yo' mammy en daddy, en I like um. Dey good black folks er -de ol' stripe, en always was friendly ter me, en I don't like ter see -you in dis mess. I tell you, I'm er old man. I know how white men act -in er case like dis--dey don't have one bit er pity er reason. Dey will -kill you sho. Dey'd er been here 'fo' dis, but dey gittin' together. -Listen! Hear dem hawns en yellin'?--dat at Wilson's sto'. Dey will be -here soon. I don't want ter stan' here en argue wid you. I 'ain't had -nothin' ter do wid it, but dey would saddle some of it onto me ef dey -found out I come here ter warn you. Hurry up, boy." - -"I ain't gwine ter do it, Uncle Rich'," Pete declared, firmly, and with -a grave face. "You are er old man, but you ain't givin' me good advice. -Ef I run, dey would say I was guilty sho', en den, es you say, de dogs -could track me down, anyway." - -The boy's logic seemed unassailable. The piercing, beadlike eyes of the -old man flickered. "Well," he said, "I done all I could. I'm gwine move -on. Even now, dey may know I come here at dis early time, en mix me -up in it. Good-bye. I hope fer Mammy Lindy's sake dat dey will let you -off--I do sho." - -Left alone, Pete went out to the edge of the wood behind his cabin and -gathered up some sticks, leaves, and pieces of bark that had fallen from -the decaying boughs of the trees, and brought them into the cabin and -deposited them on the broad stone hearth. Then he uncovered the coals -he had the night before buried in the ashes, and made a fire for the -preparation of his simple breakfast. He had a sharp sense of animal -hunger, which was due to his long walk to and from the dance and the -fact that he was bodily sound and vigorous. He took as much fresh-ground -corn-meal as his hands would hold from a tow bag in a corner of the room -and put it into a tin pan. To this he added a cup of water and a bit of -salt, stirring it with his hand till it was well mixed. He then deftly -formed it into a pone, and, wrapping it in a clean husk of corn, he -deposited it in the hot ashes, covering it well with live coals. Then he -made his coffee, being careful that the water in the pot did not rise -as high as the point near the spout where the vessel leaked. Next he -unwrapped a strip of "streak o' lean streak o' fat" bacon, and with -his pocket-knife sliced some of it into a frying-pan already hot. These -things accomplished, he had only to wait a few minutes for the heat to -do its work, and he stepped back and stood in the doorway. - -Far across the meadow, now under the slanting rays of the sun, he saw -old Uncle Richmond, bowlegged and short, waddling along through the dewy -grass and weeds, his head bowed, his long arms swinging at his sides. - -"Huh!" was Pete's slow comment, "so somebody done already settled Abe -Johnson's hash. I know in reason it was Sam Dudlow, en I reckon ef dat -rampacious gang er white men lays hands on 'im--ef dey lays hands on - 'im--" He was recalling certain details of the recent riots in Atlanta, -and an unconscious shudder passed over him. "Well," he continued to -reflect, "Abe Johnson was a hard man on black folks, but his wife was -er downright good 'oman. Ever'body say she was, en she _was_. It was a -gre't pity ter kill her dat way, but I reckon Sam was afeard she'd -tell it on 'im en had ter kill um bofe. Yes, Miz Johnson was er good -'oman--good ter niggers. She fed lots of 'em behind dat man's back, en -wished 'em well; en now, po', po' 'oman!" - -Pete went back to the fireplace and with the blade of his knife turned -the curling white and brown strips of bacon, and with the toe of his -coarse, worn shoe pushed fresher coals against his coffee-pot. Then for -a moment he stood gravely looking at the fire. - -"Well," he mused, with a shrugging of his shoulders. "I wish des _one -thing_, I wish Marse Carson was here. He wouldn't let 'em tech me. He's -de best en smartest lawyer in Georgia, en he would tell 'em what er lot -er fools dey was ter say I done it, when I was right dar'n my baid. My! -dat bacon smell good! I wish I had er few fresh hen aigs ter drap in dat -brown grease. Huh! it make my mouf water." - -There was no table in the room, and so when he had taken up his -breakfast he sat down on the floor and ate it with supreme relish. -Through all the meal, however, in spite of the arguments he was mentally -producing, there were far under the crust of his being certain elemental -promptings towards fear and self-preservation. - -"Well, dar's one thing," he mused. "Marse Hillyer done laid me out my -task ter do in de old fiel' en I ain't ergoin' to shirk it,'ca'se Marse -Carson gwine ter ax 'im, when he go in town, how I'm gittin' on, en I -wants er good repo't. No, I ain't goin' ter shirk it, ef all de dogs en -white men in de county come yelpin' on de hunt for Sam Dudlow." - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -[Illustration: 9116] - -IS breakfast over, Pete shouldered his grubbing-hoe, an implement shaped -like an adze, and made his way through the dewy undergrowth of the wood -to an open field an eighth of a mile from his cabin. There he set to -work on what was considered by farmers the hardest labor connected with -the cultivation of the soil. It consisted of partly digging and partly -pulling out by the roots the stout young bushes which infested the -neglected old fields. - -Pete was hard at work in the corner of a ten-rail worm-fence, when, -hearing a sound in the wood, which sloped down from a rocky hill -quite near him, he saw a farmer, who lived in the neighborhood, pause -suddenly, even in a startled manner, and stare steadily at him. - -"Oh!" Pete heard him exclaim; "why, you are Carson Dwight's new man, -ain't you, from Darley?" - -"Yes, suh, dat me," the negro replied. "Mr. Hillyer, de overseer fer -my boss, set me on dis yer job. I want ter clean it up ter de branch by -Sadday." - -"Huh!" The man approached nearer, eying the negro closely from head to -foot, his glance resting longer on Pete's hip-pocket than anywhere else. -"Huh! I heard down at the store just now that you'd left--throwed up -your job, I mean--an' gone clean off." - -"No, I hain't throwed up no job," the negro said, his slow intelligence -groping for the possible cause of such a report. "I been right here -since my boss sent me over, en I'm gwine stay lessen he sen' fer me -ter tek care o' his hosses in town. I reckon you heard er Marse Carson -Dwight's fine drivin' stock." The farmer pulled his long brown beard, -his eyes still on Pete's face; it was as if he had not caught the boy's -last remark. - -"They said down at the store that you left last night, after--that you -went off last night. A man said he seed you at the nigger blow-out on -Hilton's farm about one o'clock, and that after it was over you turned -towards--I don't know--I'm just tellin' you what they said down at the -store." - -"I _was_ at dat shindig," Pete said. "I walked fum here dar en back -ergin." - -"Huh, well"--the farmer's face took on a shrewd expression--"I must -move on. I'm lookin' fer a brown cow with a white tail, an' blaze on 'er -face." As the man disappeared in the wood, Pete was conscious of a -sense of vague uneasiness which somehow seemed to be a sort of augmented -recurrence of the feeling left by the warning of his early visitor. - -"Dat white man certainly act curi's," Pete mused, as he leaned on -the handle of his hoe and stared at the spot where the farmer had -disappeared in the woods. "I'll bet my hat he been thinkin', lak Uncle -Rich' said dey would, dat I had er hand in dat bloody business. Po' -Miz Johnson--I reckon dey layin' 'er out now. She certney was good. I -remember how she tol' me at de spring de day I come here ter try en be a -good, steady boy en not mek dem white men pounce on me ergin. Po' 'oman! -Seem lak er gre't pity. I reckon Abe Johnson got what was comin' ter - 'im, but it look lak even Sam Dudlow wouldn't er struck dat good'oman -down. Maybe he thought he had ter--maybe she cornered 'im; but I dunno; -he's er tough nigger--de toughest I ever run ercross, en I've seed er -lots um." - -Pete leaned on the fence, wiped his perspiring brow with his bare hand, -snapped his fingers like a whip to rid them of the drops of sweat, and -allowed his thoughts to merge into the darker view of the situation. He -was really not much afraid. Under grave danger, a negro has not so great -a concern over death as a white man, because he is not endowed with -sufficient intelligence to grasp its full import, and yet to-day Pete -was feeling unusual qualms of unrest. - -"Dar's one thing sho," he finally concluded; "dat white man looked -powerful funny when he seed me, en he said he heard I'd run off. I'll -bet my hat he's makin' a bee-line fer dat sto' ter tell 'em whar I is -right now. I wish one thing. I wish Marse Carson was here; he'd sen' 'em - 'bout deir business mighty quick." - -With a shrug of indecision, the boy set to work. His back happened to be -turned towards the store, barely visible over the swelling ground in the -distance, and so he failed to note the rapid approach across the meadow -of two men till they were close upon him. One was Jeff Braider, the -sheriff of the county, a stalwart man of forty, in high top-boots, a -leather belt holding a-long revolver, a broad-brimmed hat, and coarse -gray suit; his companion was a hastily deputized citizen armed with a -double-barrelled shot-gun. - -"Put down that hoe, Pete!" the sheriff commanded, sharply, as the negro -turned with it in his hand. "Put it down, I say! Drop it!" - -"What I gwine put it down for?" the negro asked, in characteristic tone. -"Huh! I got ter do my work." - -"Drop it, and don't begin to give me your jaw," the sheriff said. -"You've got to come on with us. You are under arrest." - -"What you 'rest me fer?" Pete asked, still doggedly. - -"You are accused of killing the Johnsons last night, and if you didn't -do it, I'm here to say you are in the tightest hole an innocent man ever -got in. King and I are going to do our level best to put you in safety -in the Gilmore jail so you can be tried fairly by law, but we've got to -get a move on us. The whole section is up in arms, and we'll have hard -work dodging 'em. Come on. I won't rope you, but if you start to run -we'll shoot you down like a rabbit, so don't try that on." - -"My Gawd, Mr. Braider, I didn't kill dem folks!" Pete said, pleadingly. -"I don't know a thing about it." - -"Well, whether you did or not, they say you threatened to do it, and -your life won't be worth a hill of beans if you stay here. The only -thing to do is to get you to the Gilmore jail. We may make it through -the mountains if we are careful, but we've got to git horses. We can -borrow some from Jabe Parsons down the road, if he hasn't gone crazy -like all the rest. Come on." - -"I tell you, Mr. Braider, I don't know er thing 'bout dis," Pete said; -"but it looks ter me lak mebby Sam Dudlow--" - -"Don't make any statement to me," the officer said, humanely enough in -his rough way. "You are accused of a dirty job, Pete, and it will take -a dang good lawyer to save you from the halter, even if we save you from -this mob; but talkin' to me won't do no good. Me'n King here couldn't -protect you from them men if they once saw you. I tell you, young man, -all hell has broke loose. For twenty miles around no black skin will -be safe, much less yours. Innocent or guilty, you've certainly shot off -your mouth. Come on." - -Without further protest, Pete dropped his hoe and went with them. -Doggedly, and with an overpowering and surly sense of injury, he -slouched along between the two men. - -A quarter of a mile down a narrow, private road, which was traversed -without meeting any one, they came to Parsons' farm-house, a one-story -frame building with a porch in front, and a roof that sloped back to -a crude lean-to shed in the rear. A wagon stood under the spreading -branches of a big beech, and near by a bent-tongued harrow, weighted -down by a heap of stones, a chicken-coop, an old beehive, and a -ramshackle buggy. No one was in sight. No living thing stirred about the -place, save the turkeys and ducks and a solitary peacock strutting -about in the front yard, where rows of half-buried stones from the -mountain-sides formed the jagged borders of a gravel walk from the fence -to the steps. - -The sheriff drew the gate open and, according to rural etiquette, -hallooed lustily. After a pause the sound of some one moving in the -house reached their ears. A window-curtain was drawn aside, and later a -woman stood in the doorway and advanced wonderingly to the edge of the -porch. She was portly, red of complexion, about middle-aged, and dressed -in checked gingham, the predominating color of which was blue. - -"Well, I'll be switched!" she ejaculated; "what do you-uns want?" - -"Want to see Jabe, Mrs. Parsons; is he about?" - -"He's over in his hay-field, or was a minute ago. What you want with -him?" - -"We've got to borrow some hosses," the sheriff answered. "We want -three--one fer each. We're goin' to try to dodge them blood-thirsty -mobs, Mrs. Parsons, an' put this feller in jail, whar he'll be safe." - -"_That_ boy?" The woman came down the steps, rolling her sleeves up. -"Why, that boy didn't kill them folks. I know that boy, he's the son of -old Mammy Linda and Uncle Lewis Warren. Now, look here, Jeff Braider, -don't you and Bill King go and make eternal fools o' yourselves. That -boy didn't no more do that nasty work than I did. It ain't _in_ 'im. He -hain't that look. I know niggers as well as you or anybody else." - -"No, I _didn't_ do it, Mrs. Parsons," the prisoner affirmed. "I didn't! -I didn't!" - -"I know you didn't," said the woman. "Wasn't I standin' here in the door -this mornin' and saw him git up an' go out to git his wood and cook his -breakfast? Then I seed 'im shoulder his grubbin'-hoe and go to the field -to work. You officers may think you know it all, but no nigger ain't -agoin' to stay around like that after killin' a man an' woman in cold -blood. The nigger that did that job was some scamp that's fur from the -spot by this time, and not a boy fetched up among good white folks like -this one was, with the best old mammy and daddy that ever had kinky -heads." - -"But witnesses say he threatened Abe Johnson a month ago," argued -Braider. "I have to do my duty, Mrs. Parsons. There never would be any -justice if we overlooked a thing as pointed as that is." - -"Threatened 'im?" the woman cried; "well, what does that prove? A nigger -will talk back an' act surly on his death-bed if he's mad. That's all -the way they have of defendin' theirselves. If Pete hadn't talked some -after the lashin' he got from them men, thar'd 'a' been some'n' wrong -with him. Now, you let 'im loose. As shore as you start off with that -boy, he'll be lynched. The fact that you've got 'im in tow will be all -them crazy men want. You couldn't get two miles in any direction from -here without bein' stopped; they are as thick as fleas on all sides, an' -every road is under watch." - -"I'm sorry I can't take yore advice, Mrs. Parsons," Braider said, almost -out of patience. "I've got my duty to perform, an' I know what it is a -sight better than you do." - -"If you start off with that boy his blood will be on yore head," the -woman said, firmly. "Left alone, and advised to hide opt till this -excitement is over, he might stand a chance to save his neck; but with -you--why, you mought as well stand still and yell to that crazy gang to -come on." - -"Well, we've got to git horses to go on with, and yours are the -nearest." - -"Huh! you won't ride no harmless nigger to the scaffold on _my_ stock," -the woman said, sharply. "I know whar my duty lies. A woman with a -thimbleful of brains don't have to listen to a long string of testimony -to know a murderer when she sees one; that boy's as harmless as a baby -and you are trying your level best to have him mobbed." - -"Well, right is on my side, and I can take the horses if I see fit in -the furtherance of law an' order," said Braider. "If Jabe was here he'd -tell me to go ahead, an' so I'll have to do it anyway. Bill, you stay -here on guard an' I'll bridle the horses an' lead 'em out." - -A queer look, half of anger, half of definite purpose, settled on the -strong, rugged face of the woman, as she saw the sheriff stalk off to -the barn-yard gate, enter it, and let it close after him. - -"Bill King," she said, drawing nearer the man left in charge of the -bewildered prisoner, who now for the first time under the words of his -defender had sensed his real danger--"Bill King, you hain't agoin' to -lead that poor boy right to his death this way--you don't look like that -sort of a man." She suddenly swept her furtive eyes over the barn-yard, -evidently noting that the sheriff was now in the stable. "No, you -hain't--for I hain't agoin' to _let_ you!" And suddenly, without warning -even to the slightest change of facial expression, she grasped the end -of the shot-gun the man held, and whirled him round Like a top. - -"Run, boy!" she cried. "Run for the woods, and God be with you!" For an -instant Pete stood as if rooted to the spot, and then, as swift of foot -as a young Indian, he turned and darted through the gate and round the -farm-house, leaving the woman and King struggling for the possession of -the gun. It fell to the ground, but she grasped King around the waist -and clung to him with the tenacity of a bull-dog. - -"Good God, Mrs. Parsons," he panted, writhing in her grasp, "let me -loose!" - -There was a smothered oath from the barn-yard, and, revolver in hand, -the sheriff ran out. - -"What the hell!--which way did he go?" he gasped. - -But King, still in the tight embrace of his assailant, seemed too badly -upset to reply. And it was not till Braider had torn her locked hands -loose that King could stammer out, "Round the house--into the woods!" - -"An' we couldn't catch 'im to save us from--" Braider said. "Madam, I'll -handle you for this! I'll push this case against you to the full limit -of the law!" - -"You'll do nothin' of the kind," the woman said, "unless you want to -make yourself the laughin'-stock of the whole community. In doin' what -I done I acted fer all the good women of this country; an' when you -run ag'in we'll beat you at the polls. Law an' order's one thing, -but officers helpin' mobs do their dirty work is another. If the boy -deserves a trial he deserves it, but he'd not 'a' stood one chance in -ten million in your charge, _an' you know it_." - -At this juncture a man emerged from the close-growing bushes across the -road, a look of astonishment on his face. It was Jabe Parsons. "What's -wrong here?" he cried, excitedly. - -"Oh, nothin' much," Braider answered, with a white sneer of fury. "We -stopped here with Pete Warren to borrow your horses to git 'im over the -mountain to the Gilmore jail, an' your good woman grabbed Bill's gun -while I was in the stable an' deliberately turned the nigger loose." - -"Great God! what's the matter with you?" Parsons thundered at his wife, -who, red-faced and defiant, stood rubbing a small bruised spot on her -wrist. - -"Nothin's the matter with me," she retorted, "except I've got more sense -than you men have. I know that boy didn't kill them folks, an' I didn't -intend to see you-all lynch 'im." - -"Well, I know he did!" Parsons yelled. "But he'll be caught before -night, anyway. He can't hide in them woods from hounds like they've got -down the road." - -"Your wife 'lowed he'd be safer in the woods than in the Gilmore jail," -Braider said, with another sneer. - -"Well, he _would_. As for that," Parsons retorted, "if you think that -army headed by the dead woman's daddy an' brothers would halt at a puny -bird-cage like that jail, you don't know mountain men. They'd smash the -damn thing like an egg-shell. I reckon a sheriff has to _pretend_ to act -fer the law, whether he earns his salary or not. Well, I'll go down the -road an' tell 'em whar to look. Thar'll be a picnic som 'er's nigh here -in a powerful short while. We've got men enough to surround that whole -mountain." - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -[Illustration: 9127] - -HE following night was a cloudless, moonlit one, and restlessly and -heart-sore Helen walked the upper floor of the veranda, her eyes -constantly bent on the street leading past Dwight's on to the centre of -the town. The greater part of the day she had spent with Linda, trying -to pacify her and rouse the hope that Pete would not be implicated in -the trouble in the mountains. Helen had gone down to Carson's office -about noon, feeling vaguely that he could advise her better than any one -else in the grave situation. She had found Garner seated at his desk, -bent over a law-book, a studious expression on his face. Seeing her in -the doorway, he sprang up gallantly and proffered a rickety chair, from -which he had hastily dumped a pile of old newspapers. - -"Is Carson in?" she asked, sitting down. - -"Oh no, he's gone over to the farm," Garner said. "I couldn't hold him -here after he heard of the trouble. You see, Miss Helen, he thinks, -from a few things picked up, that Pete is likely to be suspected and be -roughly handled, and, you know, as he was partly the cause of the boy's -going there, he naturally would feel--" - -"I was the _real_ cause of it," the girl broke in, with a sigh and a -troubled face. "We both thought it was for the best, and if it results -in Pete's death I shall never forgive myself." - -"Oh, I wouldn't look at it that way," Garner said. "You were both acting -for what you thought was right. As I say, I tried my best to keep Carson -from going over there to-day, but he would go. We almost had an open -rupture over it. You see, Miss Helen, I have set my head on seeing him -in the legislature, and he is eternally doing things that kill votes. -There is not a thing in the category of political offences as fatal as -this very thing. He's already taken Pete's part and abused the men -who whipped him, and now that the boy is suspected of retaliating and -killing the Johnsons, why, the people will--well, I wouldn't be one bit -surprised to see them jump on Carson himself. Men infuriated like that -haven't any more sense than mad dogs, and they won't stand for a white -man opposing them. But, of course, you know why Carson is acting so -recklessly." - -"I do? What do you mean, Mr. Garner?" - -The lawyer smiled, wiped his facile mouth with his small white hand, and -said, teasingly: "Why, you are at the bottom of it. Carson wants to save -the boy simply because you are indirectly interested in him. That's the -whole thing in a nutshell. He's been as mad as a wet hen ever since they -whipped Pete, because he was the son of your old mammy, and now that the -boy's in actual peril Carson has gone clean daft. Well, it's reported -among the gossips about town that you turned him down, Miss Helen--like -you did some of the balance of us presumptuous chaps that didn't know -enough to keep our hearts where they belonged--but you sat on the best -man in the bunch when you did it. It's me that's doing this talking." - -Helen sat silent and pale for a moment, unable to formulate a reply to -his outspoken remark. Presently she said, evasively: "Then you think -both of them are in actual danger?" - -"Well, Pete hasn't one chance in a million," Garner said, gently. "There -is no use trying to hide that fact; and if Carson should happen to run -across Dan Willis--well, one or the other would have to drop. Carson -is in a dangerous mood. He believes as firmly in Pete's innocence as he -does in his own, and if Dan Willis dared to threaten him, as he's likely -to do when they meet, why, Carson would defend himself." - -Helen drew her veil down over her eyes and Garner could see that she was -quivering from head to foot. - -"Oh, it's awful--awful!" he heard her say, softly. Then she rose and -moved to the open door, where she stood as if undecided what step to -take. "Is there no way to get any--any news?" she asked, tremulously. - -"None now," he told her. "In times of excitement over in the mountains, -few people come into town; they all want to stay at home and see it -through." - -She stepped out on the sidewalk, and he followed her, gallantly holding -his hat in his hand. Scarcely a soul was in sight. The town seemed -deserted. - -"Madam, rumor," Garner said, with a smile, "reports that your friend Mr. -Sanders, from Augusta, is coming up for a visit." - -"Yes, I had a letter from him this morning," Helen said, in a dignified -tone. "My father must have spoken of it. It will be Mr. Sanders' first -visit to Darley, and he will find us terribly upset. If I knew how to -reach him I'd ask him to wait a few days till this uncertainty is -over, but he is on his way here--is, in fact, stopping somewhere in -Atlanta--and intends to come on up to-morrow or the next day. Does--does -Carson--has he heard of Mr. Sanders' coming?" - -"Oh yes, it was sprung on him this morning for a deadly purpose," Garner -said, with a significant smile. "The whole gang--Keith, Wade, and Bob -Smith--were in here trying to keep him from going to the farm. They had -tried everything they could think of to stop him, and as a last resort -set in to teasing. Keith told him Sanders would sit in the parlor -and say sweet things to you while Carson was trying to liberate the -ex-slaves of your family at the risk of bone and sinew. Keith -said Carson was showing the finest proof of fidelity that was ever -given--fidelity to _the man in the parlor_." - -"Keith ought to have been ashamed of himself," Helen said, with her -first show of vexation. "And what did Carson say?" - -"The poor chap took it all in a good-humor," Garner said. "In fact, he -was so much wrought up over Pete's predicament that he hardly heard what -they were saying." - -"You really think Carson is in danger, too?" Helen continued, after a -moment's silence. - -"If he meets Dan Willis, yes," said Garner. "If he opposes the mob, -yes again. Dan Willis has already succeeded in creating a lot of -unpopularity for him in that quarter, and the mere sight of Carson at -such a time would be like a torch to a dry hay-stack." - -So Helen had gone home and spent the afternoon and evening in real -torture of suspense, and now, as she walked the veranda floor alone with -a realization of the grim possibilities of the case drawn sharply before -her mental vision, she was all but praying aloud for Carson's safe -return, and anxiously keeping her gaze on the moonlit street below. -Suddenly her attention was drawn to the walk in front of the Dwight -house. Some one was walking back and forth in a nervous manner, the -intermittent flare of a cigar flashing out above the shrubbery like the -glow of a lightning-bug. Could it be--had Carson returned and entered -by the less frequently used gate in the rear? For several minutes she -watched the figure as it strode back and forth with never-ceasing tread, -and then, fairly consumed with the desire to set her doubts at rest, she -went down into the garden at the side of the house, softly approached -the open gate between the two homesteads, and called out: "Carson, is -that you?" - -The figure paused and turned, the fire of the cigar described a red -half-circle against the dark background, but no one spoke. Then, as she -waited at the gate, her heart in her mouth, the smoker came towards her. -It was old Henry Dwight. He wore no hat nor coat, the night being warm, -and one of his fat thumbs was under his broad suspender. - -"No, it's not him, Miss Helen," he said, rather gruffly. "He hasn't got -back yet. I've had my hands full since supper. My wife is in a bad way. -She has been worrying awfully since twelve o'clock, when Carson didn't -turn up to dinner as usual. She's guessed what he went to the farm for, -and she's as badly upset as old Linda is over that trifling Pete. I -thought I had enough trouble before the war over _my_ niggers, but here, -forty years later, _yours_ are upsetting things even worse. I only wish -the men that fought to free the black scamps had some part of the burden -to bear." - -"It really is awful," Helen responded; "and so Mrs. Dwight is upset by -it?" - -"Oh yes, we had the doctor to come, and he gave some slight dose or -other, but he said the main thing was to get Carson back and let -her know for sure that he was safe and sound. I sent a man out there -lickety-split on the fastest horse I have, and he ought to have got back -two hours ago. That's what I'm out here for. I know she's not going to -let me rest till her mind is at ease." - -"Do you really think any actual harm could have come to Carson?" Helen -inquired, anxiously. - -"It could come to anybody who has the knack my boy has for eternally -rubbing folks the wrong way," the old man retorted from the depths of -his irritation; "but, Lord, my young lady, _you_ are at the bottom of -it!" - -"I? Oh, Mr. Dwight, don't say that!" Helen pleaded. - -"Well, I'm only telling you the _truth_," said Dwight, throwing his -cigar away and putting, both thumbs under his suspenders. "You know that -as well as I do. He sees how you are bothered about your old mammy, and -he has simply taken up your cause. It's just what I'd 'a' done at his -age. I reckon I'd 'a' fought till I dropped in my tracks for a girl -I--but from all accounts you and Carson couldn't agree, or rather _you_ -couldn't. He seems to be agreeing now and staking his life and political -chances on it. Well, I don't blame him. It never run in the Dwight -blood to love more than once, an' then it was always for the pick of the -flock. Well, you are the pick in this town, an' I wouldn't feel like he -was my boy if he stepped down and out as easy as some do these days. I -met him on his way to the farm and tried to shame him out of the trip. -I joined the others in teasing him about that Augusta fellow, who can -do his courting by long-distance methods in an easy seat at his -writing-desk, while up-country chaps are doing the rough work for -nothing, but it didn't feaze 'im. He tossed his stubborn head, got -pretty red in the face, and said he was trying to help old Linda and -Lewis out, and that he know well enough you didn't care a cent for him." - -Helen had grown hot and cold by turns, and she now found herself unable -to make any adequate response to such personal allusions. - -"Huh, I see I got you teased, too!" Dwight said, with a short, staccato -laugh. "Oh, well, you mustn't mind me. I'll go in and see if my wife is -asleep, and if she is I'll go to bed myself." - -Helen, deeply depressed, and beset with many conflicting emotions, -turned back to the veranda, and, instead of going up to her room, she -reclined in a hammock stretched between two of the huge, fluted columns. -She had been there perhaps half an hour when her heart almost stopped -pulsating as she caught, the dull beat of horses' hoofs up the street. -Rising, she saw a horseman rein in at the gate at Dwight's. It was -Carson; she knew that by the way he dismounted and threw the rein over -the gate-post. - -"Carson!" she called out. "Oh, Carson, I want to see you!" - -He heard, and came along the sidewalk to meet her at the gate where -she now stood. What had come over him? There was an utter droop of -despondent weariness upon him, and then as he drew near she saw that his -face was pale and haggard. For a moment he stood, his hand on the gate -she was holding open, and only stared. - -"Oh, what has happened?" she cried. "I've been waiting for you. We -haven't heard a word." - -In a tired, husky voice, for he had made many a speech through the -day, he told her of Pete's escape. "He's still hiding somewhere in the -mountains," he said. - -"Oh, then he may get away after all!" she cried. - -Dwight said nothing, seeming to avoid her great, staring, anxious eyes. -She laid her hand almost unconsciously on his arm. - -"Don't you think he has a chance, Carson?" she repeated--"a bare -chance?" - -"The whole mountain is surrounded, and they are beating the woods, -covering every inch of the ground," he said. "It is now only a question -of time. They will wait till daybreak, and then continue till they have -found him. How is Mam' Linda?" - -"Nearly dead," Helen answered, under her breath. - -"And my mother?" he said. - -"She is only worried," Helen told him. "Your father thinks she will be -all right as soon as she is assured of your return." - -"Only worried? Why, he sent me word she was nearly dead," Carson said, -with a feeble flare of indignation. "I wanted to stay, to be there to -make one final effort to convince them, but when the message reached me, -and things were at a standstill anyway, I came home, and now, even if I -started back to-night, I'd likely be too late. He tricked me--my father -tricked me!" - -"And you yourself? Did you meet that--Dan Willis?" Helen asked. He -stared at her hesitatingly for an instant, and then said: "I happened -not to. He was very active in the chase and seemed always to be -somewhere else. He killed all my efforts." Carson leaned heavily against -the white paling fence as he continued. "As soon as I'd talk a crowd -of men into my way of thinking, he'd come along and fire them with fury -again. He told them I was only making a grandstand play for the negro -vote, and they swallowed it. They swallowed it and jeered and hissed me -as I went along. Garner is right. I've killed every chance I ever had -with those people. But I don't care." - -Helen sighed. "Oh, Carson, you did it all because--because I felt as I -did about Pete. I know that was it." - -He made no denial as he stood awkwardly avoiding her eyes. - -"I shall never, never forgive myself," she said, in pained accents. "Mr. -Garner and all your friends say that your election was the one thing you -held desirable, the one thing that would--would thoroughly reinstate you -in your father's confidence, and yet I--I--oh, Carson I _did_ want you -to win! I wanted it--wanted it--wanted it!" - -"Oh, well, don't bother about that," he said, and she saw that he was -trying to hide his own disappointment. "I admit I started into this -because--because I knew how keenly you felt for Linda, but to-day, -Helen, as I rode from mad throng to mad throng of those good men with -their dishevelled hair and bloodshot eyes, their very souls bent to -that trail, that pitiful trail of revenge, I began to feel that I was -fighting for a great principle, a principle that you had planted within -me. I gloried in it for its own sake, and because it had its birth in -your sweet sympathy and love for the unfortunate. I could never have -experienced it but for you." - -"But you failed," Helen almost sobbed. "You failed." - -"Yes, utterly. What I've done amounted to nothing more than irritating -them. Those men, many of whom I love and admire, were wounded to their -hearts, and I was only keeping their sores open with my fine-spun -theories of human justice. They will learn their lesson slowly, but -_they will learn it_. When they have caught and lynched poor, stupid -Pete, they may learn later that he was innocent, and then they will -realize what I was trying to keep them from doing. They will be friendly -to me then, but Wiggin will be in office." - -"Yes, my father thinks this thing is going to defeat you." Helen sighed. -"And, Carson, it's killing me to think that I am the prime cause of it. -If I'd had a man's head I'd have known that your effort could accomplish -nothing, and I'd have been like Mr. Garner and the others, and asked -you not to mix up in it; but I couldn't help myself. Mam' Linda has your -name on her lips with every breath. She thinks the sun rises and sets in -you, and that you only have to give an order to have it obeyed." - -"That's the pity of it," Carson said, with a sigh. - -At this juncture there was the sound of a window-sash sliding upward, -and old Dwight put out his head. - -"Come on in!" he called out. "Your mother is awake and absolutely -refuses to believe you haven't a dozen bullet-holes in you." - -"All right, father, I'm coming," Carson said, and impulsively he held -out his hand and clasped Helen's in a steady, sympathetic pressure. - -"Now, you go to bed, little girl," he said, more tenderly than he -realized. In fact, it was a term he had used only once before, long -before her brother's death. "Pardon me," he pleaded; "I didn't know what -I was saying. I--I was worried over seeing you look so tired, and--and I -spoke without thinking." - -"You can say it whenever you wish, Carson," she said. "As if I could get -angry at you after--after--" But she did not finish, for with her hand -still warmly clasping his fingers, she was listening to a distant sound. -It was a restless human tread on a resounding floor. - -"It's Mam' Linda," Helen said. "She walks like that night and day. -I must go to her and--tell her you are back, but oh, how _can_ I? -Good-night, Carson. Ill never forget what you have done--never!" - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -[Illustration: 9139] - -FTER an almost sleepless night, spent for the greater part in despondent -reflections over his failure in the things to which he had directed -his hopes and energies, Carson rose about seven o'clock, went into his -mother's room to ask how she had rested through the night, and then -descended, to breakfast. It was eight o'clock when he arrived at the -office. Garner was there in a cloud of dust, sweeping a pile of torn -papers into the already filled fireplace. - -"I'm going to touch a match to this the first rainy day--if I think of -it," he said. "It's liable to set the roof on fire when it's dry as it -is now." - -"Any news from the mountains?" Carson asked, as he sat down at his desk. - -"Yes; Pole Baker was in here just now." Garner leaned his broom-handle -against the mantel-piece, and stood critically eying his partner's worn -face and dejected mien. "He said the mob, or mobs, for there are twenty -factions of them, had certainly hemmed Pete in. He was hiding somewhere -on Elk Knob, and they hadn't then located him. Pole left there long -before day and said they had already set in afresh. I reckon it will be -over soon. He told me to keep you here if I had to swear out a writ of -dangerous lunacy against you. He says you have not only killed your own -political chances, but that you couldn't save the boy if you were the -daddy of every man in the chase. They've smelled blood and they want to -taste it." - -"You needn't worry about me," Carson said, dejectedly. "I realize how -helpless I was yesterday, and am still. There was only one thing that -might have been done if we had acted quickly, and that was to telegraph -the Governor for troops." - -"But you wouldn't sanction that; you know you wouldn't," said Garner. -"You know every mother's son of those white men is acting according to -the purest dictates of his inner soul. They think they are right. They -believe in law, and while I am a member of the bar, by Heaven! I say -to you that our whole legal system is rotten to the core. Politics will -clear a criminal at the drop of a hat. A dozen voters can jerk a man -from life imprisonment to the streets of this town by a single telegram. -No, you know those sturdy men over there think they are right, and you -would not be the cause of armed men shooting them down like rabbits in a -fence corner." - -"No, they think they are right," Carson said. "And they were my friends -till this came up. Any mail?" - -"I haven't been to the post-office. I wish you'd go. You need exercise; -you are off color--you are as yellow as a new saddle. Drop this thing. -The Lord Himself can't make water run up-hill. Quit thinking about it." - -Carson went out into the quiet street and walked along to the -post-office. At the intersection of the streets near the Johnston -House, on any ordinary day, a dozen drays and hacks in the care of -negro drivers would have been seen, and on the drays and about the hacks -stood, as a rule, many idle negro men and boys; but this morning the -spot was significantly vacant. At the negro barber-shop, kept by Buck -Black, a mulatto of marked dignity and intelligence for one of his race, -only the black barbers might be seen, and they were not lounging about -the door, but stood at their chairs, their faces grave, their tongues -unusually silent. They might be asking themselves questions as to the -possible extent of the fires of race-hatred just now raging--if the -capture and death of Pete Warren would quench the conflagration, or -if it would roll on towards them like the licking flames of a burning -prairie--they might, I say, ask _themselves_ such questions, but to the -patrons of their trade they kept discreet silence. And no white man who -went near them that day would ask them what they believed or what they -felt, for the blacks are not a people who give much thought even to -their own social problems. They had leaned for many generations upon -white guidance, and, with childlike, hereditary instinct, they were -leaning still. - -Finding no letters of importance in the little glass-faced and numbered -box at the post-office, Carson, sick at heart and utterly discouraged, -went up to the Club. Here, idly knocking the balls about on a -billiard-table, a cigar in his mouth, was Keith Gordon. - -"Want to play a game of pool?" he asked. - -"Not this morning, old man," Carson answered. - -"Well, I don't either," said Keith. "I went to the bank and tried to add -up some figures for the old man, but my thinker wouldn't work. It's out -of whack. That blasted nigger Pete is the prime cause of my being upset. -I came by Major Warren's this morning. Sister feels awfully sorry -for Mam' Linda, and asked me to take her a jar of jelly. You know old -colored people love little attentions like that from white people, when -they are sick or in trouble. Well"--Keith held up his hands, the palms -outward--"I don't want any more in mine. I've been to death-bed scenes, -funerals, wrecks on railroads, and all sorts of horrors, but that was -simply too much. It simply beggars description--to see that old woman -bowed there in her door like a dumb brute with its tongue tied to a -stake. It made me ashamed of myself, though, for not at least trying -to do something. I glory in you, old man. You failed, but you _tried_. -By-the-way, that's the only comfort Mam' Linda has had--the only thing. -Helen was there, the dear girl--and to think her visit home has to be -like this!--she was there trying to soothe the old woman, but nothing -that was said could produce anything but that awful groaning of hers -till Lewis said something about your going over there yesterday, and -that stirred her up. She rose in her chair and walked to the gate and -folded her big arms across her breast. - -"'I thank God young marster felt fer me dat way,' she said. 'He's -de best young man on de face o' de earth. I'll go down ter my grave -blessing 'im fer dis. He's got er _soul_ in 'im. He knows how old Mammy -Lindy feels en he was tryin' ter help her, God bless 'im! He couldn't do -nothin', but he tried--he tried, dough everybody was holdin' 'im back en -sayin' it would spile his 'lection. Well, if it _do_ harm 'im, it will -show dat Gawd done turn ergin white en black bofe.' I came away," Keith -finished, after a pause, in which Carson said nothing. "I couldn't stand -it. Helen was crying like a child, her face wet with tears, and she -wasn't trying to hide it. I was looking for some one to come every -minute with the final news, and I didn't want to face that. Good God, -old man, what are we coming to? Historians, Northern ones, seem to think -the days of slavery were benighted, but God knows such things as this -never happened then. Now, did it?" - -"No; it's terrible," Carson agreed, and he stepped to a window and -looked out over the roofs of the near-by stores to the wagon-yard -beyond. - -"Well, the great and only, the truly accepted one," Keith went on, in -a lighter tone, "the man who did us all up brown, Mr. Earle Sanders, of -Augusta, has unwittingly chosen a gloomy date for his visit. He's here, -installed in the bridal-chamber of the Hotel de Johnston. Helen got a -note from him just as I was leaving. On my soul, old man--maybe it's -because I want to see it that way--but, really, it didn't seem to me -that she looked exactly elated, you know, like I imagined she would, -from the way the local gossips pile it on. You know, the idea struck me -that maybe she is not _really engaged_, after all." - -"She is worried; she is not herself to-day," Carson said, coldly, though -in truth his blood was surging hotly through his veins. It had come -at last. The man who was to rob him of all he cared for in life was at -hand. Turning from Keith, he pretended to be looking over some of -the dog-eared magazines in the reading-room, and then feeling an -overwhelming desire to be alone with the dull pain in his breast, he -waved a careless signal to Keith and went down to the street. In front -of the hotel stood a pair of sleek, restive bays harnessed to a new -top-buggy. They were held by the owner of the best livery-stable in the -town, a rough ex-mountaineer. - -"Say, Carson," the man called out, proudly, "you'll have to git up early -in the morning to produce a better yoke of thorough-breds than these. -Never been driven over these roads before. I didn't intend to let 'em -out fer public use right now, but a big, rich fellow from Augusta is -here sparkin', and he wanted the best I had and wouldn't touch anything -else. Money wasn't any object. He turned up his nose at all my other -stock. Gee! look at them trim legs and thighs--a dead match as two -black-eyed peas." - -"Yes, they are all right." Carson walked on and went into Blackburn's -store, for no other reason than that he wanted to avoid meeting people -and discussing the trouble Pete Warren was in, or hearing further -comments on the stranger's visit. He might have chosen a better retreat, -however, for in a group at the window nearest the hotel he found -Blackburn, Garner, Bob Smith, and Wade Tingle, all peering stealthily -out through the dingy glass at the team Carson had just inspected. - -"He'll be out in a minute," Wade was saying, in an undertone. "Quit -pushing me, Bob! They say he's got dead loads of money." - -"You bet he has," Bob declared; "he had a wad of it in big bills large -enough to stuff a sofa-pillow with. Ike, the porter, who trucked his -trunk up, said he got a dollar tip. The head waiter is expecting to buy -a farm after he leaves. Gee! there he comes! Say, Garner, _you_ ought to -know; is that a brandy-and-soda complexion?" - -"No, he doesn't drink a drop," answered Garner. "Well, he looks all -right, as well as I can see through this immaculate window with my eyes -full of spiderwebs. My, what clothes! Say, Bob, is that style of derby -the thing now? It looks like an inverted milk-bucket. Come here, Carson, -and take a peep at the conqueror. If Keith were here we'd have a -quomm. By George, there's Keith now! He's watching at the window of the -barber-shop. Call him over, Blackburn. Let's have him here; we need more -pall-bearers." - -"Seems to me you boys are the corpses," Blackburn jested. "I'd be -ashamed to let a clothing-store dummy like that beat me to the tank." - -Carson had heard enough. In his mood and frame of mind their open -frivolity cut him to the quick. Going out, unnoticed by the others, he -went to his office. In the little, dusty consultation-room in the rear -there was an old leather couch. On this he threw himself. There had been -moments in his life when he had worn the crown of misery, notably the day -Albert Warren was buried, when, on approaching Helen to offer her his -sympathies, she had turned from him with a shudder. That had been a -gloomy hour, but _this_--he covered his face with his hands and lay -still. On that day a faint hope had vaguely fluttered within him--a hope -of reformation; a hope of making a worthy place for himself in life -and of ultimately winning her favor and forgiveness. But now it was all -over. He had actually seen with his own eyes the man who was to be her -husband. He was sure now that the report was true. The visit at such a -grave crisis confirmed all that had been said. Helen had telegraphed him -of her trouble, and Sanders had made all haste to reach her side. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -[Illustration: 9147] - -EHIND the dashing bays the newcomer drove down to Warren's. On the -seat beside him sat a negro boy sent from the livery-stable to hold the -horses. Sanders was dressed in the height of fashion, was young, of the -blond type, and considered handsome. A better figure no man need have -desired. The people living in the Warren neighborhood, who peered -curiously out of windows, not having Dwight's affairs at heart, indulged -in small wonder over the report that Helen was about to accept such a -specimen of city manhood in preference to Carson or any of "the home -boys." - -Alighting at the front gate, Sanders went to the door and rang. He was -admitted by a colored maid and shown into the quaint old parlor with its -tall, gilt-framed, pier-glass mirrors and carved mahogany furniture. -The wide front, lace-curtained windows, which opened on a level with -the veranda floor, let in a cooling breeze which was most agreeable in -contrast to the beating heat out-of-doors. - -He had only a few minutes to wait, for Helen had just returned from -a visit to Linda's cottage and was in the library across the hall. -He heard her coming and stood up, flushing expectantly, an eager -light flashing in his eyes. - -"I am taking you by surprise," he said, as he grasped her extended hand -and held it for an instant. - -"Well, you know you told me when I left," Helen said, "that it would -be impossible for you to get away from business till after the first of -next month, so I naturally supposed--" - -"The trouble was"--he laughed as he stood courteously waiting for her to -sit before doing so himself--"the trouble was that I didn't know myself -then as I do now. I thought I could wait like any sensible man of my -age, but I simply couldn't, Helen. After you left, the town was simply -unbearable. I seemed not to want to go anywhere but to the places to -which we went together, and there I suffered a regular agony of the -blues. The truth is, I'm killing two birds with one stone. We were about -to send our lawyer to Chattanooga to settle up a legal matter there, and -I persuaded my partner to let me do it. So you see, after all, I shall -not be wholly idle. I can run up there from here and back, I believe, in -the same day." - -"Yes, it is not far," Helen answered. "We often go up there to do -shopping." - -"I'm going to confess something else," Sanders said, flushing slightly. -"Helen, you may not forgive me for it, but I've been uneasy." - -"Uneasy?" Helen leaned as far back in her chair as she could, for he had -bent forward till his wide, hungry eyes were close to hers. - -"Yes, I've fought the feeling every day and night since you left. At -times my very common-sense would seem to conquer and I'd feel a little -better about it, but it would only be a short time till I'd be down in -the dregs again." - -"Why, what is the matter?" Helen asked, half fearfully. - -"It was your letters, Helen," he said, his handsome face very grave as -he leaned towards her. - -"My letters? Why, I wrote as often--even often-er--than I promised," the -girl said. - -"Oh, don't think me over-exacting," Sanders implored her with eyes and -voice. "I know you did all you agreed to do, but somehow--well, you -know you seemed so much like one of us down there that I had become -accustomed to thinking of you as almost belonging to Augusta; but your -letters showed how very dear Darley and its people are to you, and I was -obliged to--well, face the grim fact that we have a strong rival here in -the mountains." - -"I thought you knew that I adore my old home," she said, simply. - -"Oh yes, I know--most people do--but, Helen, the letter you wrote about -the dance your friends--your 'boys,' as you used to call them--gave you -at that quaint club, why, it is simply a piece of literature. I've read -it over and over time after time." - -"Oh, I only wrote as I felt, out of a full heart," the girl said. -"When you meet them, and know them as I do, you will not wonder at my -fidelity--at my enthusiasm over that particular tribute." - -Sanders laughed. "Well, I suppose I am simply jealous--jealous not alone -for myself, but for Augusta. Why, you can't imagine how you are missed. -A party of the old crowd went around to your aunt's as usual the -Wednesday following your departure, but we were so blue we could hardly -talk to one another. Helen, the spirit of our old gatherings was gone. -Your aunt actually cried, and your uncle really drank too much brandy -and soda." - -"Well, you mustn't think I don't miss them all," Helen said, deeply -touched. "I think of them every day. It was only that I had been away -so long that it was glorious to get back home--to my real home again. I -love it down there; it is beautiful; you were all so lovely to me, but -this here is different." - -"That's what I felt in reading your letters," Sanders said. "A tone of -restful content and happiness was in every line you wrote. Somehow, -I wanted you, in my selfish heart, to be homesick for us so that you -would"--the visitor drew a deep breath--"be all the more likely to--to -consent to live there, you know, _some day_, permanently." Helen made -no reply, and Sanders, flushing deeply, wisely turned the subject, as he -rose and went to a window and drew the curtain aside. - -"Do you see those horses?" he asked, with a smile. "I brought them -thinking I might prevail on you to take a drive with me this morning. I -have set my heart on seeing some of the country around the town, and I -want to do it with you. I hope you can go." - -"Oh, not to-day! I couldn't think of it to-day!" Helen cried, -impulsively. - -"Not to-day?" he said, crestfallen. - -"No. Haven't you heard about Mam' Linda's awful trouble?" - -"Oh, that is _her_ son!" Sanders said. "I heard something of it at the -hotel. I see. She really must be troubled." - -"It is a wonder it hasn't killed her," Helen answered. "I have never -seen a human being under such frightful torture." - -"And can nothing be done?" Sanders asked. "I'd really like to be of -use--to help, you know, in _some_ way." - -"There is nothing to be done--nothing that _can_ be done," Helen said. -"She knows that, and is simply waiting for the end." - -"It's too bad," Sanders remarked, awkwardly. "Might I go to see her?" - -"I think you'd better not," said the girl. "I don't believe she would -care to see any but very old friends. I used to think I could comfort -her, but even I fail now. She is insensible to anything but that -one haunting horror. She has tried a dozen times to go over to the -mountains, but my father and Uncle Lewis have prevented it. That mob, -angry as they are, might really kill her, for she would fight for her -young like a tigress, and people wrought up like those are mad enough to -do anything." - -"And some people think the negro may not really be guilty, do they not?" -Sanders asked. - -"I am sure he is not," Helen sighed. "I feel it; I know it." - -There was the sound of a closing gate, and Helen looked out. - -"It is my father," she said. "Perhaps he has heard something." - -Leaving her guest, she went out to the steps. "Whose turn-out?" the -Major asked, with admiring curiosity, indicating the horses and buggy. - -"Mr. Sanders has come," she said, simply. "He's in the parlor. Is there -any news?" - -"Nothing." The old man removed his hat and wiped his perspiring brow. -"Nothing except that Carson Dwight has gone over there on a fast horse. -Linda sent him a message, begging him to make one more effort, and he -went. All his friends tried to stop him, but he dashed out of town like -a madman. He won't accomplish a thing, and it may cost him his life, -but he's the right sort, daughter. He's got a heart in him as big as -all out-of-doors. Blackburn told him Dan Willis was over there, a raging -demon in human shape, but it only made Carson the more determined. His -father saw him and ordered him back, and was speechless with fury when -Carson simply waved his hand and rode on. Go back to the parlor. I'll -join you in a minute." - -"Have you heard anything?" Sanders asked, as Helen re-entered the room -and stood white and distraught before him. - -She hesitated, her shifting glance on the floor, and then she stared at -him almost as one in a dream. "He has heard nothing except--except that -Carson Dwight has gone over there. He has gone. Mam' Linda begged him to -make one other effort and he couldn't resist her. She--she was good to -his mother and to him when he was a child, and he feels grateful. She -thinks he is the only one that can help. She told me last night that she -believed in him as she once believed in God. He can do nothing, but he -knew it would comfort her for him to try." - -"This Mr. Dwight is one of your--your old friends, is he not?" - -Sanders' face was the playground of conflicting emotions as he stood -staring at her. - -"Yes," Helen answered; "one of my best and truest." - -"He has undertaken a dangerous thing, has he not?" Sanders managed to -say. - -"Dangerous?" Helen shuddered. "He has an enemy there who is now -seeking his life. They are sure to meet. They have already quarrelled, -and--_about this very thing_." - -She sat down in the chair she had just left and Sanders stood near her. -There was a voice in the hall. It was the Major ordering a servant to -bring in mint julep, and the next moment he was in the parlor hospitably -introducing himself to the visitor. - -Seeing her opportunity, Helen rose and left them together. She went up -to her room, with heavy, dragging footsteps, and stood at the window -overlooking the Dwight garden and lawn. - -Carson knew that Sanders was in town, she told herself, in gloomy -self-reproach. He knew his rival was with her, and right now as the poor -boy was speeding on to--his death, he thought Sanders was making love to -her. Helen bit her quivering lip and clinched her fingers. "Poor boy!" -she thought, almost with a sob, "he deserves better treatment than -that." - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -[Illustration: 9154] - -N his escape from the sheriff and his deputy, Pete Warren ran with the -speed of a deer-hound through the near-by woods. Thinking his pursuers -were close behind him, he did not stop even to listen to their -footsteps. Through dell and fen, up hill and down, over rocks and -through tangled undergrowth he forged his way, his tongue lolling from -the corner of his gaping mouth. The thorns and briers had tom gashes in -his cheeks, neck, and hands, and left his clothing in strips. The wild -glare of a hunted beast was in his eyes. The land was gradually sloping -upward. He was getting upon the mountain. For a moment the distraught -creature paused, bent his ear to listen and try to decide, rationally, -calmly, which was the better plan, to hide in the caverns and craggy -recesses of the frowning heights above or speed onward over more level -ground. For a moment the drumlike pounding of his heart was all -the sound he heard, and then the blast of a hunter's horn broke -the stillness, not two hundred yards away, and was thrown back in -reverberating echoes from the mountain-side. This was followed by -a far-off answering shout, the report of a signal-gun, and then the -mellow, terrifying baying of blood-hounds fell upon his ears. Pete stood -erect, his knees quivering. No thought of prayer passed through his -brain. Prayer, to his mind, was only a series of empty vocal sounds -heard chiefly in churches where black men and women stood or knelt in -their best clothes, and certainly not for emergencies like this, where -granite heavens were closing upon stony earth and he was caught between. - -Suddenly bending lower, and fresher for the second wind he had got, -he sped onward again, choosing the valley rather than the steeper -mountain-side. Shouts, gun reports, horn-blasts, and the baying of the -hounds now followed him. Presently he came to a clear mountain creek -about twenty feet wide and not deeper anywhere than his waist, and in -many places barely covering the slimy brown stones over which it flowed. -Here, as if by inspiration, came the remembrance of some story he had -heard about a pursued negro managing to elude the scent of blood-hounds -by taking to water, and into the icy stream Pete plunged, and, slipping, -stumbling, falling, he made his way onward. - -But his reason told him this slow method really would not benefit him, -for his pursuers would soon catch up and see him from the banks. He had -waded up the stream about a quarter of a mile, when he came to a spot -where the stout branches of a sturdy leaning beech hung down within his -reach. The idea which came to him was worthy of a white man's brain, -for, pulling on the bough and finding it firm, he decided upon the -original plan of getting out of the water there, where his trail would -be lost to sight or scent, and climbing into the dense foliage above. -His pursuers might not think to look upward at exactly that spot, and -the hounds, bent on catching the scent from the ground where he landed, -would speed onward, farther and farther away. At all events it was worth -the trial. - -With quivering hands he drew the bough down till its leaves sank under -the water. It bore his weight well and from it he climbed to the -massive trunk and higher upward, till, in a fork of the tree, he rested, -noticing, with a throb of relief, that the bough had righted itself and -hung as before above the surface of the stream. On came the dogs; he -could not hear them now, for, intent upon their work, they made no -sound, but the hoarse, maddened voices of men under their guidance -reached his ears. The swish through the undergrowth, the patter, as of -rain on dry leaves, as their claws hurled the ground behind them, the -snuffing and sneezing--_that was the hounds_. Closer and closer Pete -hugged the tree, hardly breathing, fearing now that the water dripping -from his clothing or the bruised leaves of the bough might betray his -presence. But the hounds, one on either side of the stream, their noses -to the earth, dashed on. Pete caught only a gleam of their sleek, dim -coats and they were gone. Behind them, panting, followed a dozen men. -In his fear of being seen, Pete dared not even look at their inflamed -faces. With closed eyes pressed against his wet coat-sleeve, he clung to -his place, a hunted thing, neither fish, fowl, nor beast, and yet, like -them all, a creature of the wilderness, endowed with the instinct of -self-preservation. - -"They will run 'im down!" he heard a man say. "Them dogs never have -failed. The black devil thought he'd throw 'em off by taking to water. -He didn't know we had one for each bank." - -On ran the men, the sound of their progress becoming less and less -audible as they receded. Was he safe now? Pete's slow intelligence -answered no. He was still fully alive to his danger. He might stay there -for awhile, but not for long. Already, perhaps owing to his desperate -running, he had an almost maddening thirst, a thirst which the sheer -sight of the cool stream so near tantalized. Should he descend, satisfy -his desire, and attempt to regain his place of hiding? No, for he might -not seclude himself so successfully the next time. Then, with his face -resting on his arm, he began to feel drowsy. Twisting his body about, -he finally found himself in a position in which he could recline -still close to the tree and rest a little, though his feet and legs, -surcharged with blood, were painfully weighted downward. The forest -about him was very quiet. Some bluebirds above his head were singing -merrily. A gray squirrel with a fuzzy tail was perched inquiringly -on the brown bough of a near-by pine. Pete reclined thus for several -minutes, and then the objects about him appeared to be in a blur. The -far off shouts, horn-blasts, and gun reports beat less insistently on -his tired brain, and then he found himself playing with a kitten--the -queerest, most amusing kitten--in the sunlight in front of his mother's -door. - -He must have slept for hours, for when he opened his eyes the sun was -sinking behind the top of a distant hill. He tried to draw his aching -legs up higher and felt stinging pricks of pain from his hips to his -toes, as his blood leaped into circulation again. After several efforts -he succeeded in standing on the bough. To his pangs of thirst were now -added those of hunger. For hours he stood thus. He saw the light of day -die out, first on the landscape and later from the clear sky. Now, -he told himself, under cover of night, he would escape, but something -happened to prevent the attempt. Through the darkness he saw the -flitting lights off many pine torches. They passed to and fro under -the trees, sometimes quite near him, and as far as he could see up the -mountain-sides they flickered like the sinister night-eyes of his doom. -He stood till he felt as if he could do so no longer, and then he got -down on the bough as before, and after hours of conscious hunger and -thirst and cramping pains he slept again. Thus he passed that night, and -when the golden rays of sunlight came piercing the gray mountain mists -and flooding the landscape with its warm glory, Pete Warren, hearing the -voices of sleepless revenge, now more numerous and harsh and packed with -hate--hearing them on all sides from far and near--dared not stir. He -remained perched in his leafy nook like some half-knowing, primeval -thing, avoiding the flint-tipped arrows of the high-cheeked, -straight-haired men lurking beneath. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -[Illustration: 9159] - -ARSON DWIGHT remained two days in the vicinity of his farm waiting -gloomily for the discovery and arrest of Pete Warren, his sole -hope being that at the last grewsome moment he might prevail on the -distraught man-hunters to listen to a final appeal for law and order. -He was forced, however, to return to Darley, feeling sure, as did -the others, that Pete was hiding in some undiscovered place in the -mountains, or shrewd and deft enough to avoid the approach of man or -hound. But it would not be for long, the hunters told themselves, for -the entire spot was surrounded and well guarded and they would starve -him out. - -"The gang" breathed more freely when they saw Carson appear in the -doorway of the den on the night of his return, and learned that through -some miracle he had failed to meet Dan Willis, though not one of them -was favorably impressed by the outward appearance of their leader. His -eyes, in their darkened sockets, gleamed like despondent fires; on his -tanned cheeks hectic flushes had appeared and his hands quivered as if -from nervous exhaustion. Not a man among them dared reproach him for the -further and futile political mistake he had made. He was a ruined man, -and yet they admired him the more as they looked down on him, begrimed -with the dregs of his failure. Garner's opinion, to himself expressed, -was that Dwight was a failure only on the surface, but that it was the -surface which counted everywhere except in heaven, and there no one knew -what sort of coin would be current. Garner loved him. He loved him for -his hopeless fidelity to Helen, for his firm-jawed clinging to a mere -principle, such as trying to keep an old negro woman who had faith in -him from breaking her heart, for his risking death itself to obtain full -justice-for the black boy who was his servant. Yes, Garner mused, -Carson certainly deserved a better deal all round, but deserving a thing -according to the highest ethics, and getting it according to the lowest -were different. - -I The following night there was a queer, secret meeting of negroes in -the town. Stealthily they left their cabins and ramshackle homes, and -one by one they glided through the darkest streets and alleys to the -house of one Neb Wynn, a man who had acquired his physical being and -crudely unique personality from the confluence of three distinct streams -of blood--the white, the Cherokee Indian, and the negro. He owned and -drove a dray on the streets of the town, and being economical he had -accumulated enough means to build the two-story frame (not yet painted) -house in which he lived. The lower floor was used as a negro restaurant, -which Neb's wife managed, the upper was devoted to the family bedroom, a -guest-chamber for any one who wished to spend the night, and a fair-sized -"hall," with windows on the street, which was rented to colored people -for any purpose, such as dances, lodge meetings or church sociables. - -It was in this room, where no light burned, that the negroes assembled. -Indeed, no sort of illumination was used below, and when a negro who had -been secretly summoned reached the spot, he assured himself that no -one was in sight, and then he approached the restaurant door on tiptoe, -rapped twice with his knuckles, paused a moment, and then rapped three -times. Thereupon Neb, with his ear to the key-hole on the inside, -cautiously opened the door and drew the applicant within, and, closing -the shutter softly, asked, "What is the password?" - -"Mercy," was the whispered reply. - -"What's the countersign?" - -"Peace an' good-will to all men. Thy will be done. Amen." - -"All right, I know you," Neb would say. "Go up ter de hall en set down, -but mind you, don't speak _one_ word!" - -And thus they gathered--the men who were considered the most substantial -colored citizens of the town. About ten o'clock Neb crept cautiously up -the narrow stairs, entered the room, and sat down. - -"We are all here," he announced. "Brother Hard-castle, I'm done wid my -part. I ain't no public speaker; I'll leave de rest ter you." - -A figure in one of the comers rose. He was the leading negro minister -of the place. He cleared his throat and then said: "I would open with -prayer, but to pray we ought to stand or kneel, and either thing would -make too much disturbance. We can only ask God in our hearts, brothers, -to be with us here in the darkness, and help lead us out of our trouble; -help us to decide if we can, singly or in a body, what course to pursue -in the grave matter that faces our race. We are being sorely tried, -tried almost past endurance, but the God of the white man is the God of -the black. Through a dark skin the light of a pure heart shines as far -in an appeal for help towards the throne of Heaven as through a white. -I'm not prepared to make a speech. I can't. I am too full of sorrow and -alarm. I have just left the mother of the accused boy and the sight of -her suffering has upset me. I have no harsh words, either, for the white -men of this town. Every self-respecting colored citizen has nothing but -words of praise for the good white men of the South, and in my heart, I -can't much blame the men of the mountains who are bent on revenge, for -the crime perpetrated by one of our race was horrible enough to justify -their rage. It is only that we want to see full justice done and the -absolutely innocent protected. I have been talking to Brother Black -to-day, and I feel--" - -He broke off, for a hiss of warning as low as the rattle of a hidden -snake escaped Neb Wynn's lips. On the brick sidewalk below the steps -of some solitary passer-by rang crisply on the still night air. It died -away in the distance and again all was quiet. - -"Now you kin go on," Neb said. "We des got to be careful, gen'men. Ef a -meetin' lak dis was knowed ter be on tap de last one of us would be in -trouble, en dey would pull my house down fust. You all know dat." - -"You are certainly right," the preacher resumed. "I was only going to -call on Brother Black to say something in a line with the-talk I had -with him today. He's got the right idea." - -"I'm not a speaker," Buck Black began, as he stood up. "A man who runs -a barber-shop don't have any too much time ter read and study, but I've -giv' dis subject a lot o' thought fust an' last. I almost giv' up after -dat big trouble in Atlanta; I 'lowed dar wasn't no way out of we-alls' -plight, but I think diffunt now. A _white_ man made me see it. I read -some'n' yesterday in the biggest paper in dis State. It was written by -de editor an' er big owner in it. Gen'men, it was de fust thing I've -seed dat seemed ter me ter come fum on high as straight as a bolt of -lightnin'. Brother black men, dat editor said dat de white race had -tried de whip-lash, de rope, en de firebrand fer forty years en de -situation was still as bad as ever. He said de question never would be -plumb settled till de superior race extend a kind, helpful hand ter -de ignorant black an' lead 'im out er his darkness en sin en crime. -Gen'men, dem words went thoo en thoo me. I knowed dat man myself, when -I lived in Atlanta; I've seed his honest face en know he meant what he -said. He said it was time ter blaze er new trail, er trail dat hain't -been blazed befo'--er trail of love en forgiveness en pity, er trail -de Lord Jesus Christ would blaze ef he was here in de midst o' dis -struggle." - -"Dat so, dat so!" Neb Wynn exclaimed, in a rasping whisper. "Gawd know -dat de trufe." - -"An' I'm here ter-night," Buck Black continued, "ter say ter you all dat -I'm ready ter join fo'ces wid white men like dat. De old time white man -was de darky's best friend; he owned 'im, but he helped 'im. In de old -slave days black crimes lak our race is guilty of ter-day was never -heard of--never nowhar! Dar's er young white man here in dis town, too, -dat I love," Black continued, after a pause. "I needn't mention his -name; I bound you it is writ on every heart in dis room. You all know -what he did yesterday an' day befo'--in spite er all de argument en -persuasions of his friends dat is backin' 'im in politics, he went out -dar ter de mountains in de thick o' it. I got it straight. I seed er man -fum dar yesterday, en he said Marse Carson Dwight was out 'mongst dem men -pleadin' wid 'em ter turn Pete over ter him en de law. He promised ter -give er bond dat was big enough ter wipe out all he owned on earth, ef -dey'd only spare de boy's life en give 'im a trial. Dey say Dan Willis -wanted ter shoot 'im, but Willis's own friends wouldn't let 'im git nigh - 'im. I was in my shop last night when he come in town an' axed me ter -shave 'im up so he could go home en pacify his mother. She was sick en -anxious about him. He got in my chair. Gen'men, I used ter brag beca'se -I shaved General John B. Gordon once, when he was up here speakin', but -fum now on my boast will be shavin' Marse Carson Dwight. He got in de -chair an' laid back so tired he looked lak er dyin' man. He was all -spattered fum head ter foot wid mud dat he'd walked an' rid thoo. I was -so sorry fer 'im I could hardly do my work. I was cryin' half de time, -dough he didn't see it,'ca'se he jes layed dar wid his eyes closed. -Hate de white race lak some say we do?" Black's voice rose higher and -quivered. "No, suh, I'll never hate de race dat fetched dat white man in -dis world. When he got out de chair de fus thing he ax was ef I'd heard -how Mam' Lindy was. I told 'im she was pretty bad off, worried in her -mind lak she was; den he turn fum de glass whar he was tyin' his necktie -wid shaky fingers en said: 'I thought I might fetch 'er some hope, Buck, -but I done give up. Ef I only had Pete in my charge safe in er good -reliable jail I could free 'im, fer I don't believe he killed dem -folks.'" - -Buck Black paused. It was plain that his hearers were much affected, -though no sound at all escaped them. The speaker was about to resume, -when he was prevented by a sharp rapping on the stair below. - -"Hush!" Neb Wynn commanded, in a warning whisper. He crept on tiptoe -across the carpetless room, out into the hallway, and leaned over the -baluster. - -"Who dat?" he asked, in a calm, raised voice. - -"It's me, Neb. I want ter see you. Come down!" - -"It's my wife>" Neb informed the breathless room. "Sounds lak she's -scared 'bout some'n'. Don't say er word till I git back. Mind, you folks -got ter be careful ter-night." - -He descended the creaking stairs to the landing below. They caught the -low mumbling of his voice intermingled with the perturbed tones of his -wife, and then he crept back to them, strangely silent they thought, for -after he had resumed his seat against the wall in the dark human circle, -they heard only his heavy breathing. Fully five minutes passed, and -then he sighed as if throwing something off his mind, some weight of -perplexing indecision. - -"Well, go on wid what you was sayin', Brother Black," he said. "I reckon -our meetin' won't be 'sturbed." - -"I almost got to what I was coming to," Buck Black continued, rising -and leaning momentously on the back of his chair. "I was leadin' up to -a gre't surprise, gen'men. I'm goin' to tell you faithful friends a -secret, a secret which, ef it was out dat we knowed it, might hang us -all. So far it rests wid des me an' a black 'oman dat kin be trusted, my -wife. Gen'men, I know whar Pete Warren is. I kin lay my hands on 'im any -time. He's right here in dis town ter-night." - -A subdued burst of surprise rose from the dark room, then all was still, -so still that the speaker's grasp of his chair gave forth a harsh, -rasping sound. - -"Yes, my wife seed 'im in de ol' lumber-yard back o' our house, en he -was sech er sight ter look at dat she mighty nigh went out'n 'er senses. -He was all cut in de face, en his clothes en shoes was des hangin' ter - 'im by strings, en his eyes was 'most poppin' out'n his head. He was -starvin' ter death--hadn't had a bite t' eat since he run off. When she -seed 'im it was about a hour by sun, en he begged 'er to fetch 'im some -victuals. Gen'men, he was so hungry dat she say he licked her han's lak -er dog, en cried en tuck on powerful. She come home en told me, en ax me -what ter do. Gen'men, 'fo' God on high I want ter do my duty ter my -race en also to de white, but I couldn't see any safe way ter meddle. -De white folks, some of 'em, anyway, say dat we aid en encourage -crimes 'mongst our people, en while my heart was bleedin' fer dat boy en -his folks, I couldn't underhanded he'p 'im widout goin' ter de men in -power accordin' ter law." - -"And you did right," spoke up the minister. "As much as I pity the boy, -I would have acted as you have done. He is accused of murder and is an -escaped prisoner. To decide that he was innocent and help him escape is -exactly what we are blaming his pursuers for doing--taking the law into -hands not sanctioned by authority. There is only one thing that can -decide the matter, and that is the decision of a judge and jury." - -"Dat's exactly de way I looked at it," said Black, "en so I tol' my wife -not ter go nigh 'im ergin. I knowed dis meetin' was up fer ter-night, en -I des thought I'd fetch it here en lay it 'fo' you all en take er vote -on it." - -"A good idea," said the minister from his chair. "And, brethren, it -seems to me we, as a body of representative negroes of this town, have -now a golden opportunity to prove our actual sincerity to the white -race. As you say, Brother Black, we have been accused of remaining -inactive when a criminal was being pursued for crimes against the white -people. If we can agree on it to a unit, and can turn the prisoner over -now that all efforts of the whites to apprehend him have failed, our act -will be flashed all round the civilized world and give the lie to the -charge in question. Do you think, Brother Black, that Pete Warren is -still hiding near your house?" - -"Yes, I do," answered the barber. "He would be afeard ter leave dat -place, en I reckon he's waitin' dar now fer my wife ter fetch 'im -some'n' ter eat." - -"Well, then, all we've got to do is to see if we can thoroughly agree on -the plan proposed. I suppose one of the first things, if we do agree to -turn him over to the law, is to consult with Mr. Carson Dwight and see -if he can devise a way of acting with perfect safety to the prisoner and -all concerned. If he can, our duty is clear." - -"Yes, he's de man, God knows dat," Black said, enthusiastically. "He -won't let us run no risk." - -"Well, then," said the minister, who had the floor, "let us put it to -a vote. Of course, it must be unanimous. We can't act on a thing as -dangerous as this without a thorough agreement. Now, you have all -heard the plan proposed. Those in favor make it known by standing up as -quietly as you possibly can, so that I may count you." - -Very quietly, for so many acting in concert, men on all sides of the -hall stood up. The minister then began to grope round the room, touching -with his hands the standing voters. - -"Who's this?" he suddenly exclaimed, when he reached Neb Wynn's chair -and lowered his hands to the drayman, who was the only one not standing. -"It's me," Neb answered; "me, dat's who--_me!_" - -"Oh!" There was an astonished pause. - -"Yes, it's me. I ain't votin' yo' way," Neb said. "You all kin act fer -yo'selves. I know what I'm about." - -"But what's de matter wid you?" Buck Black demanded, rather sharply. -"All dis time you been de most anxious one ter do some'n', en now when -we got er chance ter act wid judgment en caution, all in a body, en, as -Brother Hardcastle say, ter de honor of ou' race, why you up en--" - -"Hold on, des keep yo' shirt on!" said Neb, in a queer, tremulous voice. -"Gen'men, I ain't placed des zactly de same es you-all is. I don't want -ter tek de whole 'sponsibility on my shoulders, en I don't intend to." - -"You are not taking it all on your shoulders, brother," said the -minister, calmly; "we are acting in a body." - -"No, it's all on _me_," Neb said. "You said, Buck Black, dat Pete was in -de lumber-yard 'hind yo' house. He ain't. You might search ever' stack o' -planks en ever' dry-kiln dar, but you wouldn't fin' 'im. He's a cousin -er my wife's, en me'n dat boy was good, true friends, en so he come -here des now, when you heard my wife call me, an' th'owed hisse'f on my -mercy. He's out at my stable now, up in de hay-loft, waitin' fer me ter -fetch 'im suppin ter eat, as soon as you all go off. My wife say he's -de most pitiful thing dat God ever made, en, gen'men, I'm sorry fer 'im. -Law or no law, I'm sorry _fer_ 'im. It's all well enough fer you ter set -here in yo' good clothes wid good meals er victuals inside o' you, en -know you got er good safe baid ter go ter--it's all well enough fer you -ter vote on what is ter be done, but ef you _do_ vote fer it en clap - 'im 'hind de bars en he's hung--hung by de neck till he's as stiff es a -bone, you'll be helpin' ter do it. Law is one thing when it's law, it's -another thing when it ain't fit ter spit on. You all talk _jestice, -jestice_, en you think it would be er powerful fine thing ter prove ter -de worl' how honest you all is by handin' dat po' yaller dog over to de -law. Put yo'selves in Pete's shoes an' you wouldn't be so easy ter vote -yo'selves 'hind de bars. You'd say de bird in de han' is wuth three in -de bush, en you'd stay away firm de white man's court-house. De white -men say deirselves dat dar ain't no jestice, en dey's right. Carson -Dwight is er good lawyer, en he'd fight till he drapped in his tracks, -but de State solicitor would rake up enough agin Pete Warren to keep de -jury's blood b'ilin'. Whar'd dey git a jury but fum de ranks o' de very -men dat's chasin' Pete lak er rabbit now? Whar'd dey git a jury dat ud -believe in his innocence when dey kin prove dat he done threatened de -daid man? No whar in dis State. No innocent nigger's ever been hung, -hein? No innocent nigger's in de chain gang, hein? Huh, dey as thick dar -es fleas." - -When Neb had ceased speaking not a voice broke the stillness of the room -for several minutes, then the minister said, with a deep-drawn breath: -"Well, there is really no harm in looking at all sides of the question. -The very view you have taken, Brother Wynn, may be the one that -has really kept colored people from being more active in the legal -punishment of their race. But it seems to me that it would only be fair, -since you say Pete Warren is near, for him to be told of the situation -and left to decide for himself." - -"I'm willin' ter do dat, God knows," said Neb, "en ef y'all say so, I'll -fetch 'im here en you kin splain it ter 'im." - -"I'm sure that will be best," said Hardcastle. "Hurry up. To save time, -you might bring his food here--that is, if your wife has not taken it to -him." - -"No, she was afeard ter go out dar. I'll mek 'er fetch it up here while -I go after him. It may tek time, fer he may be afeard to come in. But ef -I tell 'im de grub's here, I bound you he'll come a-hustlin'." - -They heard Neb's voice below giving instructions to his wife, and then -the outer door in the rear was opened and closed. Presently a step was -heard on the stair, and they held their breaths expectantly, but it was -only Neb's wife with a tray of food. Gropingly she placed it on a little -table, which she softly dragged from a corner into the centre of the -room, and without a word retired. A door below creaked on its hinges; -steps shambling and unsteady resounded hollowly from the floor beneath, -and Neb's urgent, pacific voice rose to the tense ears of the listeners, -"Come on; don't be a baby, Pete!" they heard Neb say. "Dey all yo' -friends en want ter he'p you out 'n yo' trouble ef dey kin." - -"Whar dat meat? whar it? oh, God! whar it?" It was the voice of the -pursued boy, and it had a queer, uncanny sound that all but struck -terror to the hearts of the listeners. - -"She lef' it up dar whar dey all is," Neb said; "come on! I'll give it -to you!" - -That seemed to settle the matter, for the clambering steps drew nearer; -and then two figures slightly denser than the darkness came into the -room. - -"Wait; let me git you er chair," Neb said. - -"Whar it? whar it? my God! whar dat meat?" Pete cried, in a harsh, -rasping voice. - -"Whar'd she put it?" Neb asked. "Hanged ef I know." - -"On the table," said Hardcastle. - -Neb reached out for the tray and had barely touched it, when Pete sprang -at him with a sound like the snarl of an angry dog. The tray fell with a -crash to the floor and the food with it. - -"There!" Neb exclaimed; "you did it." - -Then the spectators witnessed a pitiful, even repulsive scene, for the -boy was on the floor, a big bone of ham in his clutch. For a moment -nothing was heard except the snuffling, gulping, crunching sound that -issued from Pete's nose, mouth, and jaws. Then a noise was heard below. -It was a sharp rapping on the outer door. - -"Sh!" Neb hissed, warmingly; but there was no cessation of the ravenous -eating of the starving negro. Neb cautiously looked out of the window, -allowing only his head to protrude over the windowsill. "Who dar?" he -called out. - -"Me, Neb; Jim Lincum," answered the negro below. "You told me ef I heard -any news over my way ter let you know." - -"Oh yes," said Neb. - -"Folks think Pete done lef de woods, Neb. De mob done scattered ter hunt -all round de country. A gang of 'em was headed dis way at sundown." - -"Oh, dat so?" Neb said; "well we done gone ter baid, Jim, or I'd open de -do' en let you have er place ter sleep." - -"Don't want no place ter sleep, Neb," was the answer, in a half-humorous -tone. "Don't want ter sleep nowhar 'cep' on my laigs sech times as dese. -Er crowd er white men tried ter nab me while I was in my cotton-patch -at work dis mawnin' but I made myse'f scarce. Dey hot en heavy after -Sam Dudlow; some think he had er hand in de killin'. Dey cayn't find dat -nigger, dough." - -"Well, good-night, Jim. I got ter git some rest," and Neb drew his head -back and lowered the window-sash. - -"Jim's all right," he said, "but I couldn't tek 'im in here. Dem men may -'a' been followin' 'im on de sly." - -He advanced to the middle of the room and stood over the crouching -figure still noisily eating on the floor. - -"Pete, Brother Hardcastle got suppin ter 'pose ter you, en we 'ain't got -any too much time. We goin' ter tell you 'bout it an leave it ter you. -One thing certain, you ain't safe hidin' out like you is, en nobody -ain't safe dat he'ps hide you, so I say suppin got ter be done in yo' -case." - -"I want y'all ter sen' fer Marse Carson," Pete mumbled, between his -gulps. "He kin fix me ef anybody kin." - -"That's what we were about to propose, Pete," said the preacher. "You -see--" - -"Sh!" It was Neb's warning hiss again. All was silence in the room; even -Pete paused to listen. It was the low drone of human voices, and many -in number, immediately below. A light from a suddenly exposed lantern -flashed 'on the walls. Neb approached the window, but afraid even -cautiously to raise the sash, he stood breathless. Then through his -closed teeth came the words: "We are caught; gen'men, we in fer it -certain en sho! Dey done tracked us down!" - -There was a loud rapping on the door below, a stifled scream from Neb's -wife at the foot of the stairs, and then a sharp, commanding voice -sounded outside. - -"Open up, Neb Wynn!" it said. "We are onto your game. Some devilment is -in the wind and we are going to know what it is." - -Neb suddenly and boldly threw up the sash and looked out. "All right, -gen'men, don't bre'k my new lock. I'll be down dar in er minute." Then -quickly turning to Pete, he bent and drew him up. "Mak' er bre'k fer dat -winder back dar, slide down de shed-roof, en run fer yo' life. Run!" - -There was a great clatter of chairs and feet in the group of men, a -crashing of a thin window-sash in the rear, a heavy, thumping sound on a -roof outside, and a loud shout from lusty throats below. - -"There he goes! Catch 'im! Head 'im off! Shoot 'im!" - -Then darkness, chaos, and terror reigned. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -[Illustration: 9175] - -HILE these things were being enacted, Sanders, who had taken supper at -Warren's, and Helen sat on the front veranda in the moonlight. Scarcely -any other topic than Mam' Linda's trouble had been broached between -them, though the ardent visitor had made many futile efforts to draw -the girl's thought into more cheerful channels. It was shortly after ten -o'clock, and Sanders was about to take his leave, when old Lewis emerged -from the shadows of the house and was shambling along the walk towards -the gate leading into the Dwight grounds, when Helen called out to him: -"Where are you going, Uncle Lewis?" - -He doffed his old slouch hat and stood bare and, bald, his smooth pate -gleaming in the moonlight. - -"I started over ter see Marse Carson, missy," he said, in a low, husky -voice. "I knows good en well dat he can't do a thing, but Linda's been -beggin' me ever since she seed him en Mr. Garner drive up at de back -gate. She thinks maybe dey l'arnt suppin 'bout Pete. I knows dey hain't, -honey,'ca'se dey ud 'a' been over 'fo' dis. Dar he is on de veranda -now--oh, Marse Carson! Kin I see you er minute, suh?" - -"Yes, I'll be right down, Lewis," Carson answered, leaning over the -railing. - -As he came out of the house and approached across the grass, Sanders and -Helen went to meet him. He bowed to Helen and nodded coldly to Sanders, -to whom he had barely been introduced, and then with a furrowed brow he -stood and listened as the old man humbly made his wants known. - -"I'm sorry to say I haven't heard a thing, Uncle Lewis," he said. "I'd -have been right over to see Mam' Linda if I had. So far as I can see, -everything is just the same." - -"Oh, young marster, I don't know what I'm ergoin' ter do," the old negro -groaned. "I don't see how Linda's gwine ter pass thoo another night. -She's burnin' at de stake, Marse Carson, but thoo it all she blesses -you, suh, fer tryin' so hard. My Gawd, dar she come now; she couldn't -wait." - -He hastened across the grass to where the old woman stood, and caught -hold of her arm. - -"Whar Marse Carson? Whar young marster?" Linda cried, and then, catching -sight of the trio, she tottered unaided towards them. - -"Oh, young marster, I can't stan' it; I des _can't!_" she groaned, -as she caught Dwight's hand and clung to it. "I am a mother ef I _am_ -black, an' dat my onliest child. My onliest child, young marster, en de -po' boy is 'way over in dem mountains starvin' ter death wid dem men -en dogs on his track. Oh, young marster, ol' Mammy Lindy is cert'nly -crushed. Ef I could see Pete in his coffin I could put up wid it, but -dis here--dis here"--she struck her great breast with her hand--"dis -awful pain! I can't stan' it--I des can't!" - -Carson lowered his head. There was a look of profound and tortured -sympathy on his strong face. Garner came out of the house smoking a -cigar and strolled across the grass towards them, but observing the -situation he paused at a flowering rose-bush and stood looking down the -moonlit street towards the court-house and grounds dimly outlined in the -distance. Garner had never been considered very emotional; no one had -ever detected any indications of surprise or sorrow in his face. He -simply stood there to-night avoiding contact with the inevitable. As a -criminal lawyer he had been obliged to inure himself to exhibitions -of mental suffering as a physician inures himself to the presence of -physical pain, and yet had Garner been questioned on the matter, he -would have admitted that he admired Carson Dwight for the abundant -possession of the very qualities he lacked. He positively envied his -friend to-night. There was something almost transcendental in the -heart-wrung homage the old woman was paying Carson. There was something -else in the fact that the wonderful tribute to courage and manliness -was being paid there without reservation or stint before the (and Garner -chuckled) very eyes of the woman who had rejected Carson's love, and in -the very presence of the masculine incongruity (as Garner viewed him) -by her side. All the display of emotion, _per se_, had no claims on -Garner's interest, but the sheer, magnificent play of it, and its -palpable clutch on things of the past and possible events of the future, -held him as would the unfolding evidence in an important law case. - -"But oh, young marster," old Linda was saying; "thoo it all you been -my stay en comfort; not even God's been as good ter me as you have; you -tried ter he'p po' ol' Lindy, but de Lawd on high done deserted her. Dar -ain't no just, reasonable God dat will treat er po' old black 'oman es -I'm treated, honey. In slavery en out I've done de best--de very best -I could fer white en black, en now as I stan' here, after er long life, -wid my feet in de grave, I don't deserve ter be punished wid dis slow -fire. Go ter de white 'omen er dis here big Newnited States en ax' 'em -how dey would feel in my fix. Ef de mothers in dis worl' could see me -ter-night en read down in my heart, er river of tears would flow fer me. -Dat so, en' yet de God I've prayed ter-night en mornin', in slavery -en out, has turned His back on me. I've prayed, young marster, till my -throat is sore, till now I hain't got no strength nor faith lef' in me, -en--well, here I stand. You all see me." Without a word, his face -wrung with pain, Carson clasped her hand, and bowing to Helen and her -companion he moved away and joined Garner. - -"It was high time you were getting out of that," Garner said, as he -pulled at his cigar and drew his friend back towards the house. "You -can do nothing, and letting Linda run on that way only works her up to -greater excitement. But say, old man, what's the matter with you?" - -Carson was white, and the arm Garner had taken was trembling. - -"I don't know, Garner, but I simply can't stand anything like that," -Dwight said, his eyes on the group they had left. "It actually makes me -sick. I--I can't stand it. Good-night, Garner; if you won't sleep here -with me, I'll turn in. I--I--" - -"Hush! what's that?" Garner interrupted, his ear bent towards the centre -of the town. - -It was a loud and increasing outcry from the direction of Neb Wynn's -house. Several reports of revolvers were heard, and screams and shouts: -"Head 'im off! Shoot 'im! There he goes!" - -"Great God!" Garner cried, excitedly; "do you suppose it is--" - -He did not finish, for Carson had raised his hand to check him and stood -staring through the moonlight in the direction from which the sounds -were coming. There were now audible the rapid and heavy foot-falls of -many runners. On they came, the sound increasing as they drew nearer. -They were only a few blocks distant now. Carson cast a hurried glance -towards the Warren house. There, leaning on the fence, supported by -Helen and Lewis, stood Linda, silent, motionless, open-mouthed. Sanders -stood alone, not far away. On came the rushing throng. They were turning -the nearest corner. Somebody, or something, was in the lead. Was it a -man, an animal, a mad dog, a---- - -On it came forming the point of a human triangle. It was a man, but a -man doubled to the earth by. fatigue and weakness, a man who ran as -if on the point of sprawling at every desperate leap forward. His hard -breathing now fell on Carson's ears. - -"It's Pete!" he said, simply. - -Garner laid a firm hand on his friend's arm. - -"Now's the time for you to have common-sense," he said. "Remember, you -have lost all you care for by this thing--don't throw your very life -into the damned mess. By God, you _sha'n't!_ I'll--" - -"Oh, Marse Carson, it's Pete!" It was Linda's voice, and it rang out -high, shrill, and pleading above the roar and din. "Save 'im! Save 'im!" - -Dwight wrenched his arm from the tense clutch of Garner and dashed -through the gate, and was out in the street just as the negro reached -him and stretched out his arms in breathless appeal and fell sprawling -at his feet. The fugitive remained there on his knees, his hands -clutching the young man's legs, while the mob gathered round. - -"He's the one!" a hoarse voice exclaimed. "Kill 'im! Burn the black -fiend!" - -Standing pinioned to the ground by Pete's terrified clutch, Carson -raised his hands above his head. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" he kept crying, as -the crowd swayed him back and forth in their effort to lay hold of the -fugitive who was clinging to his master with the desperate clutch of a -drowning man. - -"Stop! Listen!" Carson kept shouting, till those nearest him became -calmer, and forming a determined ring, pressed the outer ones back. - -"Well, listen!" these nearest cried. "See what he's got to say. It's -Carson Dwight. Listen! He won't take up for him; he's a white man. He -won't defend a black devil that--" - -"I believe this boy is innocent!" Carson's voice rang out, "and I plead -with you as men and fellow-citizens to give me a chance to prove it to -your fullest satisfaction. I'll stake my life on what I say. Some of you -know me, and will believe me when I say I'll put up every cent I have, -everything I hold dear on earth, if you will only give me the chance." - -A fierce cry of opposition rose in the outskirts of the throng, and -it passed from lip to lip till the storm was at its height again. Then -Garner did what surprised Carson as much as anything he had ever seen -from that man of mystery. - -"Stop! Listen!" Garner thundered, in tones of such command that they -seemed to sweep all other sounds out of the tumult. "Let's hear what -he's got to say. It can do no harm! Listen, boys!" - -The trick worked. Not three men in the excited mob associated the voice -or personality with the friend and partner of the man demanding -their attention. The tumult subsided; it fell away till only the low, -whimpering groans of the frightened fugitive were heard. There was -a granite mounting-block on the edge of the sidewalk, and feeling it -behind him: Carson stood upon it, his hands on the woolly pate of the -negro still crouching at his feet. As he did so, his swift glance took -in many things about him: he saw Linda at the fence, her head bowed -upon her arms as if to shut out from her sight the awful scene; near her -stood Lewis, Helen, and Sanders, their expectant gaze upon him; at the -window of his mother's room he saw the invalid clearly outlined against -the lamplight behind her. Never had Carson Dwight put so much of his -young, sympathetic soul into words. His eloquence streamed from him like -a swollen torrent of logic. On the still night air his voice rose clear, -firm, confident. It was no call to them to be merciful to the boy's -mother bowed there like a thing cut from stone, for passion like theirs -would have been inflamed by such advice, considering that the fugitive -was charged with having slain a woman. But it was a calm call to -patriotism. Carson Dwight plead with them to let their temperate action -that night say to all the world that the day of unbridled lawlessness -in the fair Southland was at an end. Law and order on the part of itself -was the South's only solution of the problem laid like another unjust -burden on a sorely tried and suffering people. - -"Good, good! That's the stuff!" It was the raised voice of the adroit -Garner, under his broad-brimmed hat in the edge of the crowd. "Listen, -neighbors; let him go on!" - -There was a fluttering suggestion of acquiescence in the stillness that -followed Garner's words. But other obstacles were to arise. A clatter of -galloping horses was heard round the corner on the nearest side street, -and three men, evidently mountaineers, rode madly up. They reined in -their panting, snorting mounts. - -"What's the matter?" one of them asked, with an oath. "What are you -waiting for? That's the damned black devil." - -"They are waiting, like reasonable human beings, to give this man a -chance to establish his innocence," Carson cried, firmly. - -"They are, damn you, are they?" the same voice retorted. There was a -pause; the horseman raised his arm; a revolver gleamed in the moonlight; -there was a flash and a report. The crowd saw Carson Dwight suddenly -lean to one side and raise his hands to the side of his head. - -[Illustration: 0183] - -"My God, he's shot!" Garner called out. "Who fired that gun?" - -For an instant horrified silence reigned; Carson still stood pressing -his hands to his temple. - -No one spoke; the three restive horses were rearing and prancing about -in excitement. Garner made his way through the crowd, elbowing them -right and left, till he stood near the fugitive and his defender. - -"A good white man has been shot," he cried out--"shot by a man on one of -those horses. Be calm. This is a serious business." - -But Carson, with his left hand pressed to his temple, now stood erect. - -"Yes, some coward back there shot me," he said, boldly, "but I don't -think I am seriously wounded. He may fire on me again, as a dirty coward -will do on a defenceless man, but as I stand here daring him to try it -again I plead with you, my friends, to let me put this boy into jail. -Many of you know me, and know I'll keep my word when I promise to move -heaven and earth to give him a fair and just trial for the crime of -which he is accused." - -"Bully for you, Dwight! My God, he's got grit!" a voice cried. "Let him -have his way, boys. The sheriff is back there. Heigh, Jeff Braider, come -to the front! You are wanted!" - -"Is the sheriff back there?" Carson asked, calmly, in the strange -silence that had suddenly fallen. - -"Yes, here I am." Braider was threading his way towards him through -the crowd. "I was trying to spot the man that fired that shot, but he's -gone." - -"You bet he's gone!" cried one of the two remaining horsemen, and, -accompanied by the other, he turned and, they galloped away. This seemed -a final signal to the crowd to acquiesce in the plan proposed, and they -stood voiceless and still, their rage strangely spent, while Braider -took the limp and cowering prisoner by the arm and drew him down from -the block. Pete, only half comprehending, was whimpering piteously and -clinging to Dwight. - -"It's all right, Pete," Carson said. "Come on, we'll lock you up in the -jail where you'll be safe." Between Carson and the sheriff, followed -by Garner, Pete was the centre of the jostling throng as they moved off -towards the jail. - -"What dey gwine ter do, honey?" old Linda asked, finding her voice for -the first time, as she leaned towards her young mistress. - -"Put him in jail where he'll be safe," Helen said. "It's all over now, -mammy." - -"Thank God, thank God!" Linda cried, fervently. "I knowed Marse Carson -wouldn't let 'em kill my boy--I knowed it--I knowed it!" - -"But didn't somebody say Marse Carson was shot, honey?" old Lewis asked. -"Seem ter me like I done heard--" - -Pale and motionless, Helen stood staring after the departing crowd, now -almost out of view. Carson Dwight's thrilling words still rang in her -ears. He had torn her very heart from her breast and held it in his -hands while speaking. He had stood there like a God among mere men, -pleading as she would have pleaded for that simple human life, and they -had listened; they had been swept from their mad purpose by the fearless -sincerity and conviction of his young soul. They had shot at him while -he stood a target for their uncurbed passion, and even then he had dared -to taunt them with cowardice as he continued his appeal. - -"Daughter, daughter!" her father on the upper floor of the veranda was -calling down to her. - -"What is it, father?" she asked. - -"Do you know if Carson was hurt?" the Major asked, anxiously. "You know -he said he wasn't, but it would be like him to pretend so, even if he -were wounded. It may be only the excitement that is keeping him up, and -the poor boy may be seriously injured." - -"Oh, father, do you think--?" Helen's heart sank; a sensation like -nausea came over her, and she reeled and almost fell. Sanders, a queer, -white look on his face, caught hold of her arm and supported her to a -seat on the veranda. She raised her eyes to the face of her escort as -she sank into a chair. "Do you think--did he look like he was wounded?" - -"I could not make out," Sanders answered, solicitously, and yet his lip -was drawn tight and he stood quite erect. "I--I thought he was at first, -but later when he continued to speak I fancied I was mistaken." - -"He put his hands to his temple," Helen said, "and almost fell. I saw -him steady himself, and then he really seemed stunned for a moment." - -Sanders was silent. "I remember her aunt said," he reflected, in grim -misery, his brows drawn together, "that she once had a sweetheart up -here. _Is this the man?_" - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -[Illustration: 9188] - -EN minutes later, while they still sat on the veranda waiting for -Carson's return, they saw Dr. Stone, the Dwights' family physician, -alight from his horse at the hitching-post nearby. - -"I wonder what that means?" the Major asked. "He must have been sent for -on Carson's account and thinks he is at home. Speak to him, Lewis." - -Hearing his name called, Dr. Stone approached, his medicine-case in -hand. - -"Were you looking for Carson?" Major Warren asked. - -"Why, no," answered the doctor, in surprise; "they said Mrs. Dwight was -badly shocked. Was Carson really hurt?" - -"We were trying to find out," said the Major. "He went on to the jail -with the sheriff, determined to see Pete protected." - -There was a sound of an opening door and old Dwight came out to the -fence, hatless, coatless, and pale. "Come right in, doctor," he said, -grimly. "There's no time to lose." - -"Is it as bad as that?" Stone asked. - -"She's dying, if I'm any judge," was the answer. "She was standing at -the window and heard that pistol-shot and saw Carson was hit. She fell -flat on the floor. We've done everything, but she's still unconscious." - -The two men went hastily into the room where Mrs. Dwight lay, and they -were barely out of sight when Helen noticed some one rapidly approaching -from the direction of the jail. It was Keith Gordon, and as he entered -the gate he laid his hand on Linda's shoulder and said, cheerily, "Don't -worry now; Pete is safe and the mob is dispersing." - -"But Carson," Major Warren asked; "was he hurt?" - -"We don't exactly know yet." Keith was now at Helen's side, looking into -her wide-open, anxious eyes. "He wouldn't stop a second to be examined. -He was afraid something might occur to alter the temper of the mob and -wasn't going to run any risks. The crowd, fortunately for Pete, was made -up mostly of towns-people. One man from the mountains, a blood relative -of the Johnsons, could have kindled the blaze again with a word, and -Carson knew it. He was more worried about his mother than anything else. -She was at the window and he saw her fall; he urged me to hurry back to -tell her he was all right. I'll go in." - -But he was detained by the sound of voices down the street. It was -a group of half a dozen men, and in their midst was Carson Dwight, -violently protesting against being supported. - -"I tell you I'm all right!" Helen heard him saying. "I'm not a baby, -Garner; let me alone!" - -"But you are bleeding like a stuck pig," Garner said. "Your handkerchief -is literally soaked. And look at your shirt!" - -"It's only skin-deep," Carson cried. "I was stunned for a moment when it -hit me, that's all." Helen, followed by her father and Sanders, advanced -hurriedly to meet the approaching group. They gave way as she drew near, -and she and Dwight faced each other. - -"The doctor is in the house, Carson," she said, tenderly; "go in and let -him examine your wound." - -"It's only a scratch, Helen, I give you my word," he laughed, lightly. -"I never saw such a squeamish set of men in my life. Even stolid old -Bill Garner has had seven duck fits at the sight of my red handkerchief. -How's my mother?" - -Helen's eyes fell. "Your father says he is afraid it is quite serious," -she said. "The doctor is with her; she was unconscious." - -They saw Carson wince; his face became suddenly rigid. He sighed. "It -may not be so well after all. Pete is safe for awhile, but if she--if -my mother were to--" He went no further, simply staring blankly into -Helen's face. Suddenly she put her hand up to his blood-stained -temple and gently drew aside the matted hair. Their eyes met and clung -together. - -"You must let Dr. Stone dress this at once," she said, more gently, -Sanders thought, than he had ever heard a woman speak in all his life. -He turned aside; there was something in the contact of the two that at -once maddened him and drew him down to despair. He had dared to hope -that she would consent to become his wife, and yet the man to whom she -was so gently ministering had once been her lover. Yes, that was the -man. He was sure of it now. Dwight's attitude, tone of voice, and glance -of the eye were evidence enough. Besides, Sanders asked himself, where -was the living man who could know Helen Warren and not be her slave -forever afterwards? - -"Well, I'll go right in," Carson said, gloomily. He and Keith and Garner -were passing through the gate when Linda called to him as she came -hastily forward, but Keith and Garner were talking and Carson did not -hear the old woman's voice. Helen met her and paused. "Let him alone -to-night, mammy," she said, almost bitterly, it seemed to Sanders, who -was peering into new depths of her character. "_Your_ boy is safe, but -Carson is wounded--_wounded_, I tell you, and his mother may be dying. -Let him alone for to-night, anyway." - -"All right, honey," the old woman said; "but I'm gwine ter stay here -till de doctor comes out en ax 'im how dey bofe is. My heart is full -ter-night, honey. Seem 'most like God done listen ter my prayers after -all." - -Sanders lingered with the pale, deeply distraught young lady on the -veranda till Keith came out of the house, passed through the gate, and -strode across the grass towards them. - -"They are both all right, thank God!" he announced. "The doctor says -Mrs. Dwight has had a frightful shock but will pull through. Carson was -right; his wound was only a scratch caused by the grazing bullet. But -God knows it was a close call, and I think there is but one man in the -State low enough to have fired the shot." - -When Keith and Sanders had left her, Helen went with dragging, listless -feet up the stairs to her room. - -Lighting her lamp, she stood looking at her image in the mirror on her -bureau. How strangely drawn and grave her features appeared! It seemed -to her that she looked older and more serious than she had ever looked -in her life. - -Dropping her glance to her hands, she noted something that sent a -thrill through her from head to foot. It was a purple smudge left on her -fingers by their contact with Carson Dwight's wound. Stepping across -to her wash-stand, she poured some water into the basin, and was on the -point of removing the stain when she paused and impulsively raised it -towards her lips. She stopped again, and stood with her hand poised in -mid-air. Then a thought flashed into her brain. She was recalling the -contents of the fatal letter of Carson's to her poor brother; the hot -blood surged over her. She shuddered, dipped her hands, and began to -lave them in the cooling water. Carson was noble; he was brave; he had a -great and beautiful soul, and yet he had written that letter to her -dead brother. Yes, she had openly encouraged Sanders, and she must be -honorable. At any rate, he was a good, clean man and his happiness was -at stake. Yes, she supposed she would finally marry him. She would marry -him. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -[Illustration: 9193] - -ARSON was slightly weakened by the loss of blood and the unusual tax on -his strength, and yet, wearing a strip of sticking-plaster as the -only sign of his wound, he was at the office betimes the next morning, -anxious to make an early start into the arrangements for a hurried -preliminary trial of his client. Garner, as, was that worthy's habit -when kept up late at night, was still asleep in the den when Helen -called. - -Carson was at his desk, bending over a law-book, his pipe in his mouth, -when, looking up, he saw her standing in the doorway and rose instantly, -a flush of gratification on his face. - -"I've come to see you about poor Pete," she began, her pale face taking -on color as if from the heat of his own. "I know it's early, but I -couldn't wait. Mam' Linda was in my room this morning at the break of -day, sitting by my bed rocking back and forth and moaning." - -"She's uneasy, of course," Carson said. "That's only natural of a mother -placed as she is." - -"Oh yes," Helen answered, with a sigh. "She was thoroughly happy last -night over his rescue, but now you see she's got something else to worry -about. She now wonders if he will be allowed a fair trial." - -"The boy must have that," Carson said, and then his face clouded over -and he held himself more erect as he glanced past her out at the door. -"Is Mr. Sanders--did he come with you? You see, I met him on the way to -your house as I came down." - -"Yes, he's there talking over the trouble with my father," Helen made -rather awkward answer. "He came in to breakfast, but--but I wasn't at -the table. I was with Mam' Linda." And thereupon Helen blushed more -deeply over the reflection that these last words might sound like -intentional and even presumptuous balm to the sensitiveness of a -rejected suitor. - -"I was afraid he might be waiting on the outside," Carson said, -awkwardly. "I want to show hospitality to a stranger in town, you know, -but somehow I can't exactly do my full duty in his case." - -"You are not expected to," and Helen had tripped again, as her fresh -color proved. "I mean, Carson--" But she could go no further. - -"Well, I am unequal to it, anyway," Carson replied, with tightening lips -and a steady, honest stare. "I don't dislike him personally. I hold no -actual grudge against him. From all I've heard of him he is worthy of -any woman's love and deepest respect. I'm simply off the committee of -entertainment during his stay." - -"I--I--didn't come down to talk about Mr. Sanders," Helen found herself -saying, as the shortest road from the trying subject. "It seems to me -you ought to hate me. I have, I know, through my concern over Pete, -caused you endless trouble and loss of political influence. Last night -you did what no other man would or could have done. Oh, it was so brave, -so noble, so glorious! I laid awake nearly all night thinking about it. -Your wonderful speech rang over and over in my ears. I was too excited -to cry while it was actually going on, but I shed tears of joy when I -thought it all over afterwards." - -"Oh, that wasn't anything!" Dwight said, forcing a light tone, though -his flush had died out. "I knew you and Linda wanted the boy saved, and -it wasn't anything. I ran no risk. It was only fun--a game of football -with a human pigskin snatched here and there by a frenzied mob of -players. When it fell of its own accord at my feet, and I had laid hands -on it, I would have put it over the line or died trying, especially when -you and Sanders--who has beaten me in a grander game--stood looking on. -Oh, I'm only natural! I wanted to win because--first, because it was -your wish, and--because _that man was there._" - -Helen's glance fell to the ragged carpet which, clogged with the dried -mud of a recent rain, stretched from her feet to the door. Then she -looked helplessly round the room at the dusty, open bookshelves, -Garner's disreputable desk strewn with pamphlets, printed forms of notes -and mortgages, cigar-stubs, and old letters. Her eyes rested longer on -the dingy, small-paned windows to which the cobwebs clung. - -"You always bring up his name," she said, almost resentfully. "Is it -really quite fair to him?" - -"No, it isn't," he admitted, quickly. "And from this moment that sort of -banter is at an end. Now, what can I do for you? You came to speak about -Pete." - -She hesitated for a moment. It was almost as if, after all she had said, -that if the subject was to be dropped, hers, not his, should be the -final word. - -"I came to tell you that Mam' Linda and I have just left the jail. She -was so wrought up and weak that I made Uncle Lewis take her home in a -buggy. He says she didn't close her eyes all last night and this morning -refused to touch her breakfast. Then the sight of Pete in his awful -condition completely unnerved her. Did you get a good look at him last -night, Carson--I mean in the light?" - -"No." Dwight shrugged his broad shoulders. "But he looked bad enough as -it was." - -"The sight made me ill," Helen said. "The jailer let us go into the -narrow passage and we saw him through the bars of the cell. I would -never have known him in the world. His clothing was all in shreds and -his face and arms were gashed and tom, his feet bare and bleeding. Poor -mammy simply stood peering through at him and crying, 'My boy, my baby, -my baby!' Carson, I firmly believe he is innocent." - -"So do I," Dwight made prompt answer. "That is, I am reasonably sure of -it. I shall know _positively_ when I talk to him to-day." - -"Then you will secure his liberty, won't you?" Helen asked, eagerly. "I -promised mammy I'd talk to you and bring her a report of what you said." - -"I am going to do everything in my power," Dwight said; "but I don't -want to raise false hopes only to disappoint you and Linda all the more -later." - -"Oh, Carson, tell me what you mean. You don't seem sure of the outcome." - -"You must try to look-at the thing bravely, Helen," Dwight said, firmly. -"There is more in it than an inexperienced girl like you could imagine. -I think we can arrange for a trial to-morrow, but it seems often that it -is while such trials are in progress that the people become most wrought -up; and then, you know, to-day and to-night must pass, and--" He broke -off, avoiding her earnest stare of inquiry. - -"Go on, Carson, you can trust me, if I _am_ only a girl." - -"To tell you the truth," Dwight complied, "it is the next twenty-four -hours that I dread most. That mob last night, it seems, was made up -for the most part of men here in town, workers in the factories and -iron-foundries--many of whom know me personally and have faith in my -promises. If it were left with them I'd have little to fear, but it is -the immediate neighbors of the dead man and woman, the members of the -gang of White Caps who whipped Pete and feel themselves personally -affronted by what they believe to be his crime--they are the men, Helen, -from whom I fear trouble." - -Helen was pale and her hands trembled, though she strove bravely to be -calm. - -"You still fear that they may rise and -come--and--take--him--out--of--jail? Oh!" She clasped her hands tightly -and stood facing him, a look of terror growing in her beautiful -eyes. "And can't something be done? Mr. Sanders spoke this morning of -telegraphing the Governor to send troops to guard the jail." - -"Ah, that's it!" said Carson, grimly. "But who is to take that -responsibility on himself. I can't, Helen. It might be the gravest, most -horrible mistake a man ever made, one that would haunt him to his very -grave. The Governor, not understanding the pulse of the people here, -might take the word of some one on the spot. Garner and I know him -pretty well. We've been of political service to him personally, and he -would do all he could if we telegraphed him, but--we couldn't do it. By -the stroke of our pen we might make orphans of the children of scores of -honest white men, and widows of their wives, for the bayonets and shot -of a regiment of soldiers would not deter such men from what they regard -as sacred duty to their families and homes. If the Governor's troops -did military duty, they would have to hew down human beings like wheat -before a scythe. The very sight of their uniforms would be like a red -rag to a mad bull. It would be a calamity such as has never taken -place in the State. I can't have a hand in that, Helen, and not another -thinking man in the South would. I love the men of the mountains -too well. They are turning against me politically because we differ -somewhat, but I simply can't see them shot like rabbits in a net. Pete -is, after all, only _one_--they are many, and they are conscientiously -acting according to their lights. The machinery of modern law moves too -slowly for them. They have seen crime triumphant too often to trust to -any verdict other than that reached from their own reasoning." - -"I see; I see!" Helen cried, her face blanched. "I don't blame you, -Carson, but poor mammy; what can I say to her?" - -"Do your best to pacify and encourage her," Dwight answered, "and we'll -hope for the best." - -He stood in the doorway and watched her as she walked off down the -little street. "Poor, dear girl!" he mused. "I had to tell her the -truth. She's too brave and strong to be treated like a child." - -He turned back to his desk and sat down. There was a deep frown on his -face. "I came within an inch of losing my grip on myself," his thoughts -ran on. "Another moment and I'd have let her know how I am suffering. -She must never know that--never!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -[Illustration: 9200] - -ALF an hour later Garner came in. He walked about the room, a half smile -on his face, sniffing the air as if with unctuous delight, casting now -and then an amused glance at his inattentive partner. - -"What do you mean? What are you up to now?" Carson asked, slightly -irritated over having his thoughts disturbed. - -"She's been here," Garner answered. "She told me so just now, and I want -to inhale the heavenly perfume she left in this disreputable hole. Good -Lord, you don't mean that you let her see those rotten slippers of mine! -If you'd been half a friend you'd have kicked them out of sight, but you -didn't care; you've got on a clean collar and necktie, and that plaster -on your alabaster brow would admit you to the highest realm of the -elect--provided the door-keeper was a woman and knew how you got your -ticket. Huh! I really don't know what will become of me if I associate -with you much longer. Your conduct last night upset me. I turned in to -bed about two o'clock. Bob Smith was doing night-work at the hotel, and -he came in and had to be told the whole thing; and he'd no sooner got -to bed than Keith came in, and Bob had to hear _his_ version. I had -a corking dime novel, but it was too tame after the racket you went -through. The _Red Avenger_ I was trying to get interested in couldn't -hold a candle, even in his bareback ride strapped to a wild mustang in a -mad dash across a burning prairie, to your horse-block rescue act. What -_you_ did was _new_, and I was _there_. The burning prairie business has -been overdone and the love interest in the _Red Avenger_ was weak, while -yours--_well!_" - -Garner sat down in his creaking revolving-chair and thrust his thumbs -into the arm-holes of his vest. - -"Mine?" Carson said, coldly. "I don't exactly see your point." - -"Well, the love business was there all the same," Garner laughed, -significantly; "for, thrilling as it all was, I had an eye to that. I -couldn't keep from wondering how I'd have felt if I'd been in your place -and had your chances." - -"_My_ chances!" Dwight frowned. It was plain that he did not like -Garner's bold encroachments on his natural reserve. - -"Yes, your chances, dang you!" Garner retorted, with a laugh. "Do you -know, my boy, that as a psychological proposition, the biggest, most -earnest, most credulous-looking ass on earth is the man who comes to -a strange town to do his courting and has nothing to do but that one -thing, at stated hours through the day or evening, while everybody -around him is going about attending to business. I've watched that -fellow hanging around the office of the hotel, kicking his heels -together to kill time between visits, and in spite of all I've heard -about his stability and moral worth I can't respect him. Hang it, if I -were in his place and wanted to spend a week here, I'd peddle cigars on -the street--I'd certainly have _something_ to occupy my spare time. But -I'll be flamdoodled if you didn't give him something to think about last -night. Of all things, it strikes me, that could make a man like that -sick--sick as a dog at the very stomach of his hopes--would be to see a -former sweetheart of his fair charmer standing under shot and shell in -front of her ancestral mansion protecting her servants from a howling -mob like that, and later to see the defender, with the step of a David -with a sling, come traipsing back victorious in her cause, all gummed up -with blood and fighting still like hell to keep his friends from choking -him to death in sheer admiration. She and Sanders may be engaged, but -I'll be dadblamed if I wouldn't be worried if I were in his place." - -"I wish you would let up, Garner," Dwight said, almost angrily. "I know -you mean well, but you don't understand the situation, and I have told -you before that I don't like to talk about it." - -"I _did_ want to tell you how it was rubbed in on him this morning," -Garner said, only half apologetically, "and if you don't care, I'll -finish." - -Carson said nothing. Spots of red were on his cheeks, and with a teasing -smile Garner went on: "I had stopped to speak to her on the corner just -now, when the Major and his Highness from Augusta joined us. The old -man was simply bursting with enthusiasm over what you accomplished last -night. According to the Major, you were the highest type of Southerner -since George Washington, and the obtuse old chap kept turning to Sanders -for his confirmation of each and every statement. Sanders was doing it -with slow nods and inarticulate grunts, about as readily as a seasick -passenger specifies items for his dinner, while Helen stood there -blushing like a red rose. Well," Garner concluded, as he kicked off one -of his untied shoes to put on a slipper, "it may be cold comfort to you, -viewed under the search-light of all the gossip in the air, but your -blond rival is so jealous that the green juice of it is oozing from the -pores of his skin." - -"It isn't fair to him to look at it as you are," Dwight said. "Under the -same circumstances he could have taken my place." - -"Under the same circumstances, yes," Garner grinned. "But it is -circumstances that make things what they are in this world, and I tell -you that fellow needs circumstances worse than any man I ever saw. He -is worried. I stopped and watched him as he walked on with her, and I -declare it looked to me like he kicked himself under his long coat at -every step. Say, look! Isn't that Pole Baker across the street? The -fellow behind the gray horse. Yes, that's who it is. I'll call him. He -may have news from the mountains." - -Answering the summons, Baker led his horse across the street to where -the two friends stood waiting on the edge of the pavement. - -"Have they heard of the arrest over there, Pole?" Garner asked. - -"Yes," the farmer drawled out. "I was at George Wilson's store this -morning, where a big gang was waiting for food supplies from their -homes. Dan Willis fetched the report--by-the-way, fellows, just between -us three, I'll bet he was the skunk that fired that shot. I'm pretty -sure of it, from what I've picked up from some of his pals." - -"But what are they going to do?" Carson asked, anxiously. - -"That's exactly what I come in town to tell you," answered the -mountaineer. "They are taking entirely a new tack. A report has leaked -out that Sam Dudlow was seen prowling about Johnson's just 'fore dark -the night of the murder, and they are dead on his track. They are -concentrating their forces to catch him, and, since Pete Warren is safe -in jail, they say they are going to let 'im stay thar awhile anyway." - -"Good!" Garner cried, rubbing his hands together. "We've got two -chances, now, my boy--to prove Pete innocent at court or by their -catching the right man. In my opinion, Dudlow is the coon that did the -Job, and I believe he did it alone. Pete is too chicken-hearted and -he's been too well brought up. Now let's get to work. You go talk to the -prisoner, Carson, and put him through that honeyfugling third degree -of yours. He'll confess if he did it, and if he did, may the Lord have -mercy on his soul! I won't help defend him." - -"That's whar I stand," Pole Baker said. "It's enough trouble savin' -_innocent_ niggers these days without bothering over the guilty. Shyster -lawyers tryin' to protect the bad ones for a little fee is at the bottom -of all this lawlessness anyway." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -[Illustration: 9205] - -S the prisoner's counsel, Carson had no difficulty in seeing him. At the -outer door of the red brick structure, with its slate roof and dormer -windows, Dwight met Burt Barrett, the jailer, a tall though strong young -man, who had once lived in the mountains and had been a moonshiner, and -was noted for his grim courage in any emergency. - -"I understand the trial is set for to-morrow," he remarked, as he opened -the outer door which led into a hallway at the end of which was the -portion of the house in which he lived with his wife and children. - -"Yes," Carson replied; "the judge has telegraphed that he will come -without fail." - -The jailer shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "I feel a sight better -over it than I did last night. I understand that the mob is going to let -us alone till they can catch Sam Dudlow; if they lay hands on that scamp -they certainly will barbecue 'im alive. As for Pete, I can't make up my -mind about him; he's a trifling nigger and no mistake. He's got a good, -old-time mammy and daddy, and none of Major Warren's niggers have -ever been in the chain-gang, but this boy has talked a lot and been in -powerful bad company. If you can keep him out of the clutch of the mob -you may save his neck, but you've got a job before you." - -"I want to ask what you think about putting a guard round the jail," -Carson said, when they were at the foot of the stairs leading to the -cells on the floor above. - -"As far as I'm concerned, I hope you won't have it done," said Barrett. -"To save your neck, you couldn't summon men that wouldn't be prejudiced -agin the nigger, an' if the report went out that we had put a force -on at the jail it would only make the mob madder, and make them act -quicker. A hundred armed citizens wouldn't stop a lynching gang--not -a shot would be fired by white men at white men, so what would be the -use?" - -"That's what the sheriff thinks exactly, Burt," Carson replied. "I -presume the only thing to do is to treat the arrest as usual. I'm doing -all I can to assure the people that there is to be a fair and speedy -trial." - -They had reached the top of the stairs and were near Pete's cell, when -the jailer turned and asked, in an undertone, "Are you armed?" - -"Why, no," Carson said, in surprise. - -"Good Lord! I wouldn't advise you to go inside the cell then. I've known -niggers to kill their best friends when they are desperate." - -"I'm not afraid of this one," Dwight laughed. "I must get inside. I want -to know the whole truth, and I can't talk to him through the grating. Is -he in the cell on the right?" - -"No, the first on the left; it's the only doublebarred one in the jail." - -In one corner of the fairly "well lighted room stood a veritable cage, -the sides, top and bottom consisting of heavy steel lattice-work. As the -jailer was unlocking the massive door, Carson peered through one of the -squares and a most pitiful sight met his eye, for at the sound of the -key in the lock Pete, in his tatters and gashed and swollen face, had -crouched down on his dingy blanket and remained there quaking in terror. - -"Get up!" the jailer ordered, in a not unkindly tone; "it's Carson -Dwight to see you." - -At this the negro's face lighted up, his eyes blazed in the sudden flare -of relief, and he rose quickly. "Oh, Marse Carson, I was afeared--" - -"Lock us in," Dwight said to the jailer; "when I'm through I'll call -you." - -"All right, you know him better than I do," Barrett said. "I'll wait -below." - -"Pete," Carson said, gently, when they were alone, "your mother says she -wants me to defend you under the charge brought against you. Do you wish -it, too?" - -"Yasser, Marse Carson; but, Marse Carson, I don't know no mo' about -dat thing dan you do. 'Fo' God, Marse Carson, I'm telling you de trufe. -Lawsy, Marse Carson, you kin git me out o' here ef you'll des tell 'em -ter let me go. Dey all know you, Marse Carson, en dey know none er yo' -kind er black folks ain't er gwine ter do er nasty thing lak dat. Look -how dey did las' night! Shucks! dey wouldn't er lef' enough o' my haar -fer er hummin'-bird's nest, ef I hadn't got ter you in de nick er time. -Dat pack er howlin' rapscallions was tryin' ter tear me ter mince-meat -when you fired off dat big speech en made 'em all feel lak crawlin' in -holes. You tell 'em, Marse Carson--you tell de jailer ter le' me out. -Dat man know you ain't no fool; he know you is de biggest lawyer in de -Souf. Ain't I heard old marster say you gwine up, en up, en up, till you -set in de jedge's seat in de cote? Las' night, when you 'gun on 'em, -en let out dat way, I knowed I was safe, but I don't see what yo'-all -waitin' fer; I want ter go home ter mammy, Marse Carson. Look lak she -been sick, en she cried en tuck on here, en so did young miss. Marse -Carson, _what's de matter wid me?_ What I done? I ain't er bad nigger. -Unc' Richmond, on de farm, toi' me 'twas' ca'se I made threats ergin dat -white man 'ca'se he whipped me. I did talk er lot, Marse Carson, but I -never meant no harm. I was des er li'l mad, en--" - -"Stop, Pete!" There was a crude wooden stool in the cell and Carson sat -down on it. His heart was overflowing with pity for the simple, trusting -creature before him as he went on gently and yet firmly: "You don't -realize it, Pete, but you are in the most dangerous position you were -ever in. I am powerless to release you. You'll have to be taken to court -and seriously tried by law for the crime of which you are charged. Pete, -I'm going to defend you, but I can't do a thing for you unless you tell -me the whole truth. If you did this thing you must tell me--_me_, do you -understand. We are alone. No one can hear you, and if you confess it to -me it will go no further. Do you understand?" - -Dwight's glance was fixed on the floor. To this point he had steeled -himself against a too impulsive faith in the negro's words that he might -logically satisfy himself beyond any doubt as to the innocence or guilt -of his client. There was silence. He dared not look into the gashed -face before him, dreading to read what might be written there by the -quivering hand of self-condemnation. The sheer length of the ensuing -pause sent cold darts of fear through him. He waited another moment, -then raised his eyes to the staring ones fixed upon him. To his -astonishment they were full of tears; the great, heavy lip of the negro -was quivering like that of a weeping child. - -"Why, Marse _Carson!_" he sobbed; "my God, I thought you knowed I didn't -do it! When you tol' 'em all las' night dat I wasn't de right one, I -thought you meant it. I never once thought you--_you_ was gwine ter turn -ergin me." - -Carson restrained himself by an effort as he went on, still calmly, with -the penetrating insistency of grim justice itself. - -"Then do you know anything about it?" he asked;--"_anything at all?_" - -"Nothing I could swear to, Marse Carson," Pete replied, wiping his eyes -on his torn and sleeveless arm. - -"Do you suspect anybody, Pete?" - -"Yasser, I do, Marse Carson. Somehow, I b'lieve dat Sam Dudlow done -it. I b'lieve it 'ca'se folks say he's run off; en what he run off fer -lessen he's de one? Oh, Marse Carson, I 'lowed I was havin' er hard -'nough time lak it is, but ef _you_ gwine jine de rest uv um en--" - -"Stop; think!" Carson went on, almost sternly, so eager was he to get -vital facts bearing on the situation. "I want to know, Pete, why you -think Sam Dudlow killed the Johnsons. Have you any other reason except -that he has left?" - -Pete hesitated a moment, then he answered: "I think he de one, Marse -Carson, 'ca'se one day while me'n him en some more niggers was loadin' -cotton at yo' pa's warehouse, some un was guyin' me 'bout de stripes -Johnson en Willis lef' on my back, en I was--I was shootin' off my mouf. -I didn't mean er thing, Marse Carson, but I was talkin' too much, en Sam -come ter me, he did, en said: 'Yo' er fool, nigger; yo' sort never gits -even fer er thing lak dat. It's de kind dat lay low en do de wuk right.' -En, Marse Carson, w'en I hear dem folks was daid I des laid it ter Sam, -in my mind." - -"Pete," Dwight said, as he rose to leave, "I firmly believe you are -innocent." - -"Thank God, Marse Carson! I thought you'd b'lieve me. Now, w'en you -gwine let me out?" - -"I can't tell that, Pete," Dwight answered, as cheerfully as possible. -"You need a suit of clothes. I'll send you one right away." - -"One er yo's, Marse Carson?" The gashed face actually glowed with the -delight of a child over a new toy. - -"I was going to order a new one," Carson answered. "I'd ruther have one -er yo's ef you got one you thoo with," Pete said, eagerly. "Dar ain't -none in dis town lak dem you git fum New York. Is you quit wearin' dat -brown checked one you got last spring?" - -"Oh yes, you can have that, Pete, if you wish, and I'll send you some -shoes and other things." - -"My God! will yer, boss? Lawd, won't I cut er shine at chu'ch next -Sunday! Say, Marse Carson, you ain't gwine ter let um keep me in here -over Sunday, is you?" - -"I'll do the best I can for you, Pete," the young man said, and when -the jailer had opened the door he descended the stairs with a heavy, -despondent tread. - -"Poor, poor devil!" he said to himself. "He's not any more responsible -than a baby. And yet our laws hold him, in his benighted ignorance, more -tightly, more mercilessly than they do the highest in the land." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -[Illustration: 9212] - -ESPITE the news Pole Baker had brought to town regarding the disposition -of the mountaineers to let justice take its formal trend in the case -of the negro already arrested, as the day wore on towards its close -the whole town took on an air of vague excitement. Men who now lived at -Darley, but had been former residents of the country, and were supposed -to know the temper and character of the aggrieved people, shook their -heads and smiled grimly when the subject of Pete's coming trial was -mentioned. "Huh!" said one of these men, who kept a small grocery -store on the main street, "that nigger'll never see the door of the -court-house." - -And that opinion grew and seemed to saturate the very garment of -approaching night. The negroes at work in various ways about the -business portion of the town left their posts early, and with no comment -to the whites or even to their own kind, they betook themselves to their -homes--or elsewhere. The negroes who had held the interrupted meeting at -Neb Wynn's house had been all that day less in evidence than any of the -others. The attempt to stimulate law and order, to meet the white race -on common ground, had been crudely and yet sincerely made. They had done -all they could within their restricted limitations; it now behooved them -personally to avoid the probable overflow of the coming crisis. -Their meeting in secret, they feared, was not understood. The present -prisoner, in fact, had to all appearances, at least, been knowingly -harbored by them. To explain would be easy enough; convincing an -infuriated, race-mad mob of their friendly, helpful intentions would be -impossible. Hence it was that long-headed, now silent-tongued, Neb Wynn -locked up his domicile, and with his wife and children stole through the -darkest streets and alleys to the house of a citizen who had owned his -father. - -"Marse George," he said. "I want you ter take me 'n my folks in fer -ter-night." - -"All right, Neb," the white man answered; "we've got plenty of room. Go -round to the kitchen and get your suppers. I didn't know it was as bad -as that, but it may be well to be on the safe side." - -Just after dark Carson went home to supper. As he drew near the front -gate he noticed that the Warren house was lighted both in the upper and -lower portions and that a group of persons were standing on the veranda. -He noticed the towering form of old Lewis and the bowed, bandanna-clad -head of Linda, and with them, evidently offering consolation, stood -Helen, the Major, Sanders, and Keith Gordon. - -Carson was entering the gate when Keith through the twilight recognized -him and signalled him to wait. And leaving the others Keith came over to -him. - -"I must see you, Carson," he said, in a voice that had never sounded so -grave. "Can we go in? If Mam' Linda sees you she'll be after you. She's -terribly upset." - -"Come into the library," Carson said. "I see it's lighted. We'll not be -disturbed there." - -Inside the big, square room, with its simple furnishings and drab tints, -Carson sank, weary from his nervous strain and loss of sleep, into an -easy-chair and motioned his friend to take another, but Keith, nervously -twirling his hat in his hands, continued to stand. - -"It's awful, old man, simply awful!" he said. "I've been there since -sundown trying to pacify that old man and woman, but what was the use?" - -"Then she's afraid--" Carson began. - -"Afraid? Good God! how could she help it? The negro preacher and his -wife came to her and Lewis and frankly tried to prepare them for the -worst. Uncle Lewis is speechless, and Linda is past the tear-shedding -stage. Hand in hand the old pair simply pace the floor like goaded -brutes with human hearts and souls bound up in them. Then Helen--the -poor, dear girl! Isn't this a beautiful homecoming for her? I feel like -fighting, and yet there's nothing to hit but empty, heartless air. I -don't care if you know it, Carson." Keith sank into a chair and leaned -forward, his eyes glistening with the condensed dew of tense emotion. "I -don't deny it. Helen is the only girl I ever cared for. She's treated -me very kindly ever since she discovered my feeling, and given me to -understand in the sweetest way the utter hopelessness of my case, but I -still feel the same. I thought I was growing out of it, but seeing her -sorrow to-day has shown me what she is to me--and what she always will -be. I'll love her all my life, Carson. She's suffering terribly over -this. She loves her old mammy as much as if they were the same flesh and -blood. Oh, it was pitiful, simply pitiful! Helen was trying to pacify -her just now, and the old woman suddenly laid her hand on her breast and -cried out: 'Don't talk ter me, honey child, I nursed bofe you en Pete on -dis here breast, an' dat boy's _me_--my own self, heart en soul, en ef -God let's dem men hang 'im ter-night, I'll curse 'Im ter my grave.'" - -"Poor old woman!" Carson sighed. "If it has to come to her, it would be -better to have it over with. It would have been better if I had stood -back last night and let them have their way." - -"Oh no," protested Keith; "that's Linda's sole comfort. She hardly draws -a breath that doesn't utter your name. She still believes that her only -hope rests in you. She says you'll yet think of something--that you'll -yet do something to prevent the thing. She cries that out every now -and then. Oh, Carson, I don't amount to anything, but before God I can -truthfully say that I'd give my life to have Linda talk that way about -me--before Helen." - -Carson groaned, his tense hands were locked like prongs of steel in -front of him, his face was deathly pale. "You wouldn't like any sort of -talk or idle compliments if you were bound hand and foot as I am," he -said. "It's mockery. It's vinegar rubbed into my wounds. It's hell!" - -He tore himself from his chair and began to stride about the room like -a restless tiger in a cage. His walk took him into the hall utterly -forgetful of the presence of his friend. There a colored maid came to -him and said, "Your mother wants you, sir." - -He stared at the girl blankly for a moment, then he seemed to pull -himself together. "Has my mother heard--?" - -"No, sir, your father told us not to excite her." - -"All right, I'll go up," Carson said. "Tell Mr. Gordon, in the library, -to wait for me." - -"I was wondering if you had come," the invalid said, as he bent over her -bed, took her hand, and kissed her. "I presume you have been very busy -all day over Pete's case?" - -"Yes, very busy, mother dear." - -"And is it all right now? Your father tells me the trial is set for -to-morrow. Oh, Carson, I'm very proud of you. I heard your speech last -night, and it seemed to lift me to the very throne of God. Oh, you are -right, you are right! It is our duty to love and sympathize with those -poor creatures. They are still children in the cradles of their past -slavery. They can't act for themselves. Their crimes are due chiefly to -the lack of the guiding hands they once had. Oh, my son, your father -is angry with you for spoiling your political chances by such a radical -stand, but even if you lose the race by it, I shall be all the prouder -of you, for you have shown that you won't sell yourself. I wish I could -go to the courthouse to-morrow, but the doctor won't let me. He says I -mustn't have another shock like that last night, when I heard that shot, -saw you reel, and thought you were killed. Son, are you listening?" - -"Why, yes, mother. I--" His mind was really elsewhere. He had dropped -her hand, and was standing with furrowed brow and tightly drawn lips in -the shadow thrown by the lamp on a table near by and the high posts of -the old-fashioned bedstead. - -"I thought you seemed to be thinking of something else," said the -invalid, plaintively. - -"I really was troubled about leaving Keith downstairs by himself," -Carson said. "Perhaps I'd better run down now, mother." - -"Oh yes, I didn't know he was there. Ask him to supper." - -"All right, mother," and he left the room with a slow step, finding -Gordon on the veranda below fitfully puffing at a cigar as he walked to -and fro. - -"Helen called me to the fence just now," Keith said. "She's all broken -to pieces. She is relying solely on you now. She sent you a message." - -"Me?" - -"Yes, with the tears streaming down her cheeks she simply said, 'Tell -Carson that I am praying that he will think of some way to avert this -disaster." - -"She said that!" Carson turned and stared through the gathering shadows -towards the jail. There was a moment's pause, then he asked, in a tone -that was harsh, crisp, and rasping: "Keith, could you get together -to-night fifteen men who would stick to me through personal friendship -and help me arrive at some decision as to--to what is best?" - -"Twenty, Carson--twenty who would risk their lives at a word from you." - -"They might have to sacrifice--" - -"That wouldn't make a bit of difference; I know the ones you can depend -on. You've got genuine friends, the truest and bravest a man ever had." - -"Then have as many as you can get to meet me at Blackburn's store at -nine o'clock. We may accomplish nothing, but I want to talk to them. -God knows it is the only chance. No, I can't explain now. There is not -a moment to lose. Tell Blackburn to keep the doors shut and let them -assemble in the rear as secretly and quietly as possible." - -"All right, Carson. I'll have the men there." - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -[Illustration: 9219] - -HEN Carson reached the front door of Blackburn's store about nine -o'clock that evening, he found it closed. For a moment he stood under -the Crude wooden shed that roofed the sidewalk and looked up and down -the deserted street. It was a dark night, and from the aspect of the -heavy, troubled clouds high winds seemed in abeyance beyond the hills -to the west. He was wondering how he had best make his presence known -to his friends within the store, when he heard a soft whistle, and Keith -Gordon, the flaring disk of a cigar lighting his expectant face, stepped -out of a dark doorway. - -"I've been waiting for you," he said, in a cautious undertone. "They are -getting impatient. You see, they thought you'd be here earlier." - -"I couldn't get away while my mother was awake," Carson said. "Dr. Stone -was there and warned me not to leave at night. She can't stand any -more excitement. So I had to stay with her. I read to her till she fell -asleep. Who's here?" - -"The gang and fully fifteen other trusty fellows--you'll see them on the -inside, every man of them with a gun. At the last moment I heard Pole -Baker was down at the wagon-yard, and I nabbed him." - -"Good; I'm glad you did. Now let's go in." - -"Not yet, old man," Keith objected. "Blackburn gave special orders not -to open the door if any person was in sight. Let's walk to the corner -and look around." - -They went to the old bank building on the corner, and stood at the foot -of the stairs leading up to the den. No one was in sight. Across the -numerous tracks of the switch-yard hard by there was a steam flouring -mill which ground day and night, and the steady puffing of the engine -beat monotonously on their ears. In a red flare of light they saw the -shadowy form of the engineer stoking the fire. - -"Now the way is clear," said Keith; "we can go in, but I want to prepare -you for a disappointment, old man." - -Carson stared through the darkness as arm in arm they moved back to the -store. "You mean--" - -"I'll tell you, Carson. The meeting of these fellows to-night is a big -proof of the--the wonderful esteem in which they hold you. No other man -could have got them together at such a time; but, all the same, they are -not going to allow you to--you see, Carson, they have had time to -talk it over in there, and have unanimously agreed that to make any -opposition by force would be worse than folly. Pole Baker brought -some reliable news, reliable and terrible. Why, he told us just -now--however, wait. He will tell you about it." - -Giving a rap on the door that was recognized within, they were admitted -by Blackburn, who stood back in the shadow and quickly closed the -shutter and locked it again. In the uncertain light of a lamp with a -murky chimney, on the platform in the rear, seated on boxes, nail kegs, -chairs, table, and desk, Dwight beheld a motley gathering of his friends -and supporters. Kirk Fitzpatrick, the brawny, black-handed tinner, who -had a jest for every moment, was there; Wilson, the shoemaker; Tobe -Hassler, the German baker; Tom Wayland, the good-hearted drug clerk, -whose hair was as red as blood; Bob Smith, Wade Tingle, and, nestled -close to the lamp, and looking like a hunchback, crouched Garner, so -deep in a newspaper that he was utterly deaf and blind to sounds and -things around him. Besides those mentioned, there were several other -ardent friends of the candidate. - -"Well, here you are at last," Garner cried, throwing down his paper. "If -I hadn't had something to read I'd have been asleep. I don't know any -more than a rabbit what you intend to propose, but whatever it is, we -are late enough about it." - -Hurriedly Carson explained the cause of his delay and took the chair -which the tinner, with the air of a proud inferior, was pushing towards -him. As he sat down and the lamplight fell athwart his careworn face, -the group was overwhelmed with sympathy and a strange, far-reaching -respect they could hardly understand. To-night they were, more than -usual, under the spell of that inner force which had bound them one and -all to him and which, they felt, nothing but dishonor could break. And -yet there they sat so grimly banded together against him that he felt it -in their very attitudes. - -"The truth is"--Garner broke the awkward pause--"we presume you got us -together to-night to offer open opposition--in case, of course, that the -mob means harm to your client. That seems the only thing a body of men -can do. But, my dear boy, there are two sides to this question. For -reasons of your own, chief among which is a most beautiful principle to -see the humblest stamp of man get justice--for these reasons you call on -your friends to stand to you, and they will stand, I reckon, to the end, -but it's for you, Carson, to act reasonably and think as readily of the -interests of all of us as for those of the unfortunate prisoner. To -meet that mob by opposition to-night would--well, ask Pole Baker for the -latest news. When you have heard what he knows to be true, I am sure you -will see the utter futility of any movement whatsoever." - -All eyes were now turned on the gaunt mountaineer, who was sitting on an -inverted nail keg whittling to a fine point a bit of wood which now and -then he thrust automatically between his white front teeth. - -"Well, Carson," he began, in drawling tones, "I lowed you-uns would want -to know just how the land lays, and as I had a sort of underground way -of gettin' at first-hand facts, I raked in all the information I could -an' come on to town. I'd heard about how low your mother was, an' easy -upset by excitement, an' so I didn't go up to your house. I met Keith, -an' he told me I could see you at this meetin', an' so I waited. Carson, -the jig is certainly up with that coon. No power under high heaven -could save his neck. The report that was circulated this morning, was -deliberately sent out to throw the authorities off their guard. Only -about thirty men are still on Sam Dudlow's trail--the rest, hundreds and -hundreds, in bunches an' factions, each faction totin' a flag to show -whar they hail from, an' all dressed in white sheets, is headed this -way." - -"Do you mean right at this moment?" Carson asked, as he started to rise. - -Pole motioned to him to sit down. - -"They won't be here till about twelve o'clock," he said. "They've passed -the word about amongst 'em, and agreed to meet, so that all factions can -take part, at the old Sandsome place, two miles out on the Springtown -road. They will start from there at half-past eleven on the march for -the jail. It will be after twelve before they get here. Pete's got that -long to make his peace, but no longer. And right here, Carson, before I -stop, I want to say that thar ain't a man in this State I'd do a favor -for quicker than I would for you, but many of us here to-night are -family men, and while that nigger may, as you think, be innocent, still -his life is just one life, while--well"--Baker snapped his dry fingers -with a click that was as sharp as the cocking of a revolver--"I wouldn't -give _that_ for our lives if we opposed them men. They are as mad -as wounded wild-cats. They believe he done it; they know on reliable -testimony that he said he'd kill Johnson; an' they want his blood. Five -hundred such as we are wouldn't halt 'em a minute. I want to help, but -I'm tied hand an' foot." - -There was silence after Pole's voice died away. Then Garner rapped on -the table with his small hand and tossed back the long, thick hair from -his massive brow. - -"You may as well know the truth, Carson," he said, calmly. "We put it to -a vote just before you came, and we all agreed that we would--well, try -to bring you round to some sort of resignation; try to get you to throw -it off your mind and stop worrying." - -To their surprise Carson took up the lamp and rose. "Wait a moment," -he said, and with the lamp in hand he crossed the elevated part of -the floor and went down the steps into the cellar. They were left in -darkness for a moment, the rays of the lamp flashing now only on the -front wall and door of the long building. - -"Huh, there ain't anybody hiding there!" Blackburn cautiously called -out. "I looked through the full length of it, turned over every box -and barrel, before you came. I wasn't going to run any risk of having a -stray tramp in a caucus like this." - -There was some fixed quality in Dwight's drawn face as he emerged, -carrying the lamp before him, ascended the steps, and again took his -place at the table. - -"You thought somebody might be hiding there," the store-keeper said; -"but I was careful to--" - -"No, it wasn't that," Carson said. "I was wondering--I was trying to -think--" - -He paused as if submerged in thought, and Garner turned upon him -almost sternly. He had never before used quite such a harsh tone to his -partner. - -"You've gone far enough, Carson," he said. "There are limits even to the -deepest friendship. You can't ask your best friends to make their wives -widows and their children orphans in a blind effort to save the neck of -one miserable negro, even if he's as innocent as the angels in heaven. -As for yourself, your heroism has almost led you into a cesspool of -reckless absurdity. You have let that old man and woman up there, and -Miss--that old man and woman, _anyway_--work on your sympathies till you -have lost your usual judgment. I'm your friend and--" - -"Stop! Wait!" Carson stood up, his hands on the edge of the table, the -lamp beneath him throwing his mobile face into the shadow of his firm, -massive jaw. "Stop!" he repeated. "You say you have given up. Boys, -I can't. I tell you I _can't_. I simply can't let them kill that boy. -Every nerve in my body, every pulsation of my soul screams out against -it. I have set my heart on averting this horror. Ten years ago I could -have gone to my bed and slept peacefully, as many good citizens of this -town will to-night, under the knowledge that the verdict of mob law was -to be executed, but in the handling of this case I've had a new birth. -There is no God in heaven if--I say if--He has not made it _possible_ -for the mind and will of man to prevent this horror. There must be a -way; there _is_ a way, and if I could put my ideas into your brains -to-night--my faith and confidence into your souls--we'd prevent this -calamity and set an example for our fellows to follow in future." - -"Your ideas into our brains!" Garner said, in a tone of amused -resentment. "Well, I like that, Carson; but if you can see a ghost of a -chance to save that boy's neck with safety to our own, I'd like to have -you plug it through my skull, if you have to do it with a steel drill. -At present I'm the senior member of the firm of Garner & Dwight, but -I'll take second place hereafter, if you can do what you are aiming at." - -"I don't mean to reflect on your intelligences," Dwight went on, -passionately, his voice rising higher, "but I _do_ see a way, and I am -praying God at this moment to make you see it as I do and be willing to -help me carry it out." - -"Blaze away, old hoss," Pole Baker piped up from his seat on the nail -keg. "I'm not a nigger-lover by a long shot, but somehow, seeing how you -feel about this particular one an' his connections, I'm as anxious to -save 'im as if I owned 'im in the good old day an' his sort was fetchin' -two thousand apiece. You go ahead. I feel kind o' sneakin', anyway, for -votin' agin you while you was up thar nursin' yore sick mammy. By gum! -you give me the end of a log I kin tote, an' I'll do it or break my -back." - -"I want it understood, Carson," said Wade Tingle at this juncture, "that -I was only voting against our trying to stop that mob by force, and, to -do myself justice, I was voting in the interests of the family men here -to-night. God knows, if you can see any _other_ possible way--" - -"We have no time to lose," Carson said. "If we are to accomplish -anything we must be about it. Gentlemen, what I may propose may, in a -way, be asking you to make a sacrifice almost as great as that of open -resistance. I am going to ask you, law-abiding citizens that you are, to -break the law, as you understand it, but not law as the best wisdom of -man intended it to be. This section is in a state of open lawlessness. -The law I'm going to ask you to break is already broken. The highest -court might hold that we would be no better, in _fact_, than the army of -law-breakers headed this way with the foam of race hatred on their -lips, its insane blaze in their eyes that till recently beamed only in -gentleness and human love. But I'm going to ask you to chose between -two evils--to let an everlasting injustice be done at the hand of a hate -that will drown in tears of regret in time to come, or the lesser evil -of breaking an already broken law. You are all good citizens, and I -tremble and blush over my audacity in asking you to do what you have -never in any form done before." - -Carson paused. Wondering silence fell on the group. Upon each face -struggled evidences of an almost painful desire to grasp his meaning. -That it was momentous no man there doubted. Even the ever equable Garner -was shaken from, his habitual stoic attitude, and with his delicate -fingers rigidly supporting his great head he stared open-mouthed at the -speaker. - -"Well, well, what is it?" he presently asked. - -"There is only one chance I see," and Dwight stood erect, his arms -folded, and stepped back so that the light of the lamp fell full upon -his tense features. The patch of sticking plaster stood out from his -pale skin, giving his perspiring brow an uncanny look. "There is only -one thing to do, my friends, and without your help I stand powerless. -I suggest that we form ourselves into a supposed mob of disguised men, -that we go ahead of the others to the jail, and actually _force Burt -Barrett to turn the prisoner over to us_." - -"Great God!" Garner, stood up, and leaned on the table. "_Then_ -what--what would you do? Good Lord!" - -Carson pointed steadily to the cellar-door and swallowed the lump of -excitement in his throat. "I would, unseen by any one, if possible, -bring him here and imprison him, in that cellar, guarded by us only -till--till such a time as we could safely deliver him to a court of -justice." - -"By God, you _are_ a wheel-hoss!" burst from Pole Baker's lips. "That's -as easy as failin' off a log." - -"Do you mean to make Burt Barrett believe we are--are actually bent on -lynching the negro?" demanded Keith Gordon, new-born enthusiasm bubbling -from his eyes and voice. - -"Yes, that would be the only way," said Carson. "Barrett is a sworn -officer of the law, and his position is his livelihood. Even if we could -persuade him to join us, it wouldn't be fair to him, for he would -be shouldering more responsibility than we would. The only way is to -thoroughly disguise ourselves and compel him to give in as he will be -compelled by the others if we don't act first. I know he would not fire -upon us." - -"It looks to me like a dandy idea," spoke up Blackburn. "As for me I -want to reward originality by doing the thing if possible. As for that -cellar, it's as strong as an ancient fortress anyway and, Carson, Pete -would not try to escape if you ordered him not to. As for disguises, I -can lend you all the bleached sheeting you want. I got in a fresh bale -of it yesterday. I could cut it into ten-yard pieces which would not -hurt the sale of it. Remnants fetch a better price than regular stuff -anyway. Boys, let's vote on it. All in favor stand up." - -There was a clatter of shoes and rattling of chairs, boxes, kegs and -other articles which had been used for seats. It was an immediate and -unanimous tribute to the sway Carson Dwight's personality had long -held over them. They stood by him to a man. Even Garner suddenly, and -strangely for his crusty individuality, relegated himself to the rank of -a common private under the obvious leader. - -"Hold on, boys!" exclaimed one not so easily relegated to any position -not full of action, and Pole Baker was heard in a further proposal. "So -far the arrangements are good and sound but you-uns haven't looked far -enough ahead. When we git to the jail thar's got to be some darned fine -talkin' of exactly the right sort, or Burt Barrett will smell a mouse -and refuse our demands. In a case like this silence is a sight more -powerful than a lot o' gab. Now, I propose to have one man, and one man -_only_ to do the talking." - -"Yes, and you are the man," said Carson. "You must do it." - -"Well, I'm willin'," agreed Baker. "The truth is, folks say I'm good at -just that sort o' devilment, an' I'd sort o' like the job." - -"You are the very man," Carson said, with a smile. - -"You bet he is," agreed Blackburn. "Now come down in the store an' let -me rig you spooks up. We haven't any too much time to lose." - -"Thar's another thing you-uns don't seem to have calculated on," said -Baker, as Blackburn was leading them down to the dry-goods counter. -"It may take time to quiet public excitement, even if we put this thing -through to-night. You propose to let the impression go out that thar was -a lynchin'. How will you keep 'em from thinkin' it's a fake unless they -see some'n' hangin' to a tree-limb in the mornin'? If they thought we'd -put up a job on 'em, they would nose around till they was onto the whole -business, an' then thar would be the devil to pay." - -"You are right about that," said Garner. "If we could convince the big -mob that Pete has been lynched in some secret way or place, by some -other party, who don't want to be known in the matter, the excitement -would die down in a day or so." - -"A bang-up good idea!" was Pole's ultimatum. "Leave it to me and I'll -study up some way to put it to Burt--by gum! How about tellin' 'im that, -for reasons of our own, we intend to hide the body whar the niggers -can't git at it to give it decent burial? I really believe that would go -down." - -"Splendid, splendid!" said Garner. "Work that fine enough, Pole, and it -will give us more time for everything." - -"Well, I can work it all right if I am to do the talkin'," Pole said, as -he reached out for his portion of the sheeting. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -[Illustration: 9231] - -IFTEEN minutes later a spectral group in all truth filed out through the -rear door of the store and paused for further orders in the shadow -of the wall of the adjoining bank building. The sky was still darkly -overcast and a drizzle as fine as mist was in the air. - -With Carson and Pole in the lead, the party marched grimly two and two, -a weird sight even to themselves. Straight down the alley behind the -stores along the railway they moved, keeping step like trained military -men. Pole, for visual effect, carried a coil of new hemp rope, and he -swung it about in his white, winglike clutch with the ease of a cow-boy, -as he gutturally gave orders as to turns and tentative pauses. Now and -then he would leave the others standing and stride ahead through the -darkness and signal them to come on up. In this way they progressed with -many a halt, and many a cautious détour to avoid the light that steadily -gleamed through some cottage window or chink in a door or some watchman -at his post at some mill or factory, till finally they reached the -grounds surrounding the court-house and jail. - -"I don't know how soft-hearted you are, Carson," Baker whispered in the -young man's ear, "but thar's one thing a man full of feelin' like you -seem to be ought to be ready to guard against." - -"What is that, Pole?" - -"Why, you know, if we git the poor devil out he'll be sure he's done -for, an' he'll be apt to raise an' awful row, beggin' an' prayin' an' -no tellin' what else. But for all you do, don't open yore mouth. Let 'im -bear it--tough as it will be--till we kin git to a safe place. Thar'll -be folks listenin' in the houses along the way to the store, an' ef you -was to speak one kind word the truth might leak out. To all appearances -we are lynchers of the most rabid brand." - -"I understand that, Pole," said Carson. "I won't interfere with your -work." - -"Don't call it _my_ work," said Baker, admiringly. "I've been through -a sight of secret things in my time, but I never heard of a scheme as -slick an' deep-laid as this. If she goes through safe I'll put you at -the top of my list. It looks like it will work, but a body never kin -tell. Burt Barrett is the next hill to climb. I don't know him well -enough to foresee what stand he'll take. Boys, have yore guns ready, an' -when I order you to take aim, you do it as if you intend to make a hole -in whatever is in front of you. Our bluff is the biggest that ever was -thought of, but it has to go. Now, come on!" - -Through the open gateway they marched across the public lawn covered -with fresh green grass to the jail near by. A dog chained in a kennel -behind the house waked and snarled, but he did not bark. There was a -little porch at the entrance to the building, and along this the ghostly -band silently arranged themselves. - -"Hello in thar, Burt Barrett!" Pole suddenly cried out, in sharp, stern -tones, and there was a pause. Then from the darkness within came the -sound of some one striking a match. A flickering light flared up in the -room on the right of the entrance; then the voice of a woman was heard. - -"Burt, what is it?" she asked, in a startled tone. - -"I don't know; I'll see," a coarser voice made answer. Another pause and -a door on the inside was opened, then the heavier outer one, and Burt -Barrett, half dressed, stood staring at the grewsome assemblage before -him. - -[Illustration: 0233] - -"We've come after that damned nigger," said Baker, succinctly, his -tone so low in his throat that even an intimate friend would not have -recognized it, and as he spoke he raised his coil of rope and tapped the -floor of the porch. - -Barrett, as many a brave man would have done in his place, stood -helplessly bewildered. Presently he drew himself together and said, -firmly: "Gentlemen, I'm a sworn officer of the law. I've got a duty to -perform and I'm going to do it." And thereupon they saw the barrel of a -revolver which the jailer held in his hand. In the awful stillness that -engulfed his words the click of its hammer, as the weapon was cocked, -sounded sharp and distinct. - -"Too bad, but he's goin' to act ugly, boys," Pole said, with grim -finality. "He is a white man _in looks_, but he's j'ined forces with -the black devils that are bent on rulin' our land. Steady, take aim! -If thar's less'n twenty holes in his carcass when he's examined in the -mornin' it will stand for some member's eternal disgrace. Aim careful!" - -There was a startled scream at the half-open window of the bedroom on -the right and the jailer's wife thrust out her head. - -"Don't shoot 'im!" she screamed. "Don't! Give 'em the keys, Burt. Are -you a fool?" - -"He certainly looks it," was Baker's comment, in a tone of well-assumed -only half-bridled rage. "Give 'im ten seconds to drap them keys, boys. -I'll count. When I say ten blaze away, an' let a yawnin' hell take 'im." - -"Gentlemen, I--" - -"Burt! Burt! what do you mean?" the woman cried again. "Are you plumb -crazy?" - -"One!" counted Pole--"two!--three--" - -"I want to do what's right," the jailer temporized. "Of course, I'm -overpowered, and if--" - -"Five!--six!" went on Pole, his voice ringing out clear and piercing. - -There was a jingling of steel. The spectators, peering through ragged -eye-holes in their white caps, saw the bunch of keys as it emerged from -Barrett's pocket and fell to the doorstep. - -"Gentlemen, you may live to be sorry for this night's work," he said. - -"What do you care what we're sorry for," Pole said, grimly, "just so you -ain't turned into a two-legged sifter? Now"--as he stooped to pick up -the keys--"you git back in thar to yore wife an' children. We -simply mean business an' know what we are about. An' look here, Burt -Barrett"--Pole nudged Carson, who stood close to him--"thar'll be -another gang here in a few minutes on the same business. You kin tell - 'em we beat 'em to the hitchin'-post, an', moreover, you kin tell 'em -that we said that when we settle this nigger's hash them nor nobody else -will ever be able to find hair or hide of 'im. A buryin' to the general -run o' niggers is their greatest joy an' pride, but they'll never cut up -high jinks over this one." - -"Good, by Heaven!" Garner chuckled, as he recalled Pole's diplomatic -suggestion at the store. - -Without another word of protest the jailer receded into the house, -leaving the door open, and, led by Pole, the others entered the hallway -with a firm tread and mounted the stairs to the floor above. All was -still here, and so dark that Baker lighted a bit of candle and held it -over his head. Knowing the cell in which Pete was confined, Carson led -them to its door. As they paused there and Pole was fumbling with-the -keys, a low, stifled scream escaped from the prisoner, and then, in the -dim, checkered light thrown by the candle through the bars, they saw the -negro standing close against the farthest grating. Pole had found the -right key and opened the door. - -"It's all up with you, Pete Warren," he said; "you needn't make a row. -You've got to take your medicine. Come on." - -"Oh, my God, my God!" cried the negro, as with great, glaring eyes he -gazed upon them. "I never done it. I never done it. Don't kill me!" - -"Bring 'im on, boys!" Pole produced an artificial oath with difficulty, -for he really was deeply moved. "Bring 'im on!" - -Two of the spectres seized Pete's hands just as his quaking knees bent -under him and he was falling down. He started to pull back, and then, -evidently realizing the utter futility of resisting such an overwhelming -force, he allowed himself to be led through the door of the cell and -down the stairs into the yard. - -"I never done it, before God I never done it!" he went on, sobbing like -a child. "Don't kill me, white folks. Gi' me one chance. Tek me ter -Marse Carson Dwight; he'll tell you I ain't de man." - -"He'll tell us a lot!" growled Baker, with another of his mechanical -oaths. "Dry up!" - -"Oh, my God have mercy!" For the first time Pete noticed the coil of -rope and the sight of it redoubled his terror. On his knees he sank, -trying to cover his eyes with his imprisoned hands, and quivering like -an aspen. Hardly knowing what he was doing, Carson Dwight impulsively -bent over him, but before he had opened his lips the watchful Baker had -roughly drawn him back. - -"Don't, for God's sake!" the mountaineer whispered, warningly, and -he pointed across the street to the houses near by. Indeed, as if to -sanction his precaution, a window-sash in the upper story of the nearest -house was raised, and a pale, white-haired man looked out. It was the -leading Methodist preacher of the place. For one moment he stared down -on them, as if struck dumb by the terror of the scene. - -"In the name of Christ, our Lord, our Saviour, be merciful, neighbors," -he said, in a voice that shook. "Don't commit this crime against -yourselves and the community you live in. Spare him! In the name of God, -hand him back to the protection of the law." - -"The law be hanged, parson," Pole retorted, as part of his rare rôle. -"We are looking after that; thar hain't no law in this country that's -wuth a hill o' beans." - -"Be merciful--give the man a chance for his life," the preacher -repeated. "Many think he is innocent!" - -Hearing that plea in his behalf, Pete screamed out and tried to extend -his hands supplicatingly towards his defender, but under Baker's -insistent orders he was dragged, now struggling more desperately, -farther down the street. - -"Ah, Pole, tell the poor--" Keith Gordon began, when the mountaineer -sharply commanded: "Dry up! You are disobeyin' orders. Hurry up; bring - 'im on. That other gang may hear this racket, and then--come on, I tell -you! You violate my leadership and I'll have you court-martialled." - -In some fashion or other they moved on down the street, now taking a -more direct way to the store in the fear that they might be met by the -expected lynchers and foiled in their purpose. They had traversed the -entire length of the street leading from the court-house to the bank -building, and were about to turn the corner to reach the rear door of -the store, when, in a qualm of fresh despair, Pete's knees actually gave -way beneath him and he sank limply to the sidewalk. - -"Lord, I reckon we'll have to tote 'im!" Pole said. - -"Pick 'im up, boys, and be quick about it. This is a ticklish spot. Let -one person see us and the game will be up." - -Pete clearly misunderstood this, and seeing in the words a hint that -help or protection was not far away, he suddenly opened his mouth and -began to scream. - -As quick as a flash Carson, who was immediately behind him, clapped his -hand over his lips and said, "Hush, for God's sake, Pete, we are your -friends!" - -With his mouth still closed by the hand upon it, the negro could only -stare into Carson's mask too terrified to grasp more than that he had -heard a kindly voice. - -"Hush, Pete, not a word! We are trying to save you," and Carson removed -his hand. - -"Who dat? Oh, my God, who dat talkin'?" Pete gasped. - -"Carson Dwight," said the young man. "Now hush, and hurry." - -"Thank God it you, Marse Carson--oh, Marse Carson, Marse Carson, you -ain't gwine ter let um kill me!" - -"No, you are safe, Pete." - -In a rush they now bore him round the corner, and then pausing at the -door of the store, to be certain that no extraneous eye was on them, -they waited breathlessly for an order from their leader. - -"All right, in you go!" presently came from Pole's deep voice, in a -great breath of relief. "Open the door, quick!" - -The shutter creaked and swung back into the black void of the store, -and the throng pressed inward. The door was closed. The darkness was -profound. - -"Wait; listen!" Pole cautioned. "Thar might be somebody on the sidewalk -at the front." - -"Oh, my God, Marse Carson, is you here?" came from the quaking negro. - -"Sh!" and Pole imposed silence. For a moment they stood so still that -only the rapid panting of the negro was audible. - -"All right, we are safe," Baker said. "But, gosh! it was a close shave! -Strike a light an' let's try to ease up this feller. I hated to be -rough, but somebody had to do it." - -"Yes, it had to be," said Dwight. "Pete, you are with friends. Strike a -light, Blackburn, the poor boy is scared out of his wits." - -"Oh, Marse Carson, what dis mean? what you-all gwine ter do ter me?" - -Blackburn had groped to the lamp on the table and was scratching a match -and applying the flame to the wick. The yellow light flashed out, and a -strange sight met the bewildered gaze of the negro as kindly faces -and familiar forms gradually emerged from the sheeting. Near him stood -Dwight, and grasping his hand, Pete clung to it desperately. - -"Oh, Marse Carson, what dey gwine ter do ter me?" - -"Nothing, Pete, you are all right now," Carson said, as tenderly as if -he were speaking to a hurt child. "The mob was coming and we had to do -what we did to save you." He explained the plan of keeping him hidden in -the cellar for a few days, and asked Pete if he would consent to it. - -"I'll do anything you say, Marse Carson," the negro answered. "You know -what's best fer me." - -"I've got an old mattress here," Blackburn spoke up; "boys, let's get it -into the cellar. It will make him comfortable." - -And with no sense of the incongruity of their act, considering that as -the sons of ex-slave-holders they had never in their lives waited upon -a negro, Wade Tingle and Keith Gordon drew the dusty mattress from a -dry-goods box in the corner of the room and bore the cumbersome thing -through the cellar doorway into the cob webbed darkness beneath. -Blackburn followed with a candle, indicating the best-ventilated spot -for its placement. Thither Carson led his still benumbed client, who -would move only at his bidding, and then like a jerky automaton. - -"You won't be afraid to stay here, will you, Pete?" he asked. - -The negro stared round him at the encroaching shadows in childlike -perturbation. - -"You gwine ter lock me in, Marse Carson?" he asked. - -Carson explained that in a sense he was still a prisoner, but a prisoner -in the hands of friends--friends who had pledged themselves to see that -justice was done him. The negro slowly lowered himself to the mattress -and stretched out his legs on the stone pavement. An utter droop of -despair seemed to settle on him. From the depths of his wide-open eyes -came a stare of dejection complete. - -"Den I _hain't_ free?" he said. - -"No, not wholly, Pete," Carson returned; "not quite yet." - -"Dry up down thar. Listen!" It was Baker's voice in a guarded tone as he -stood in the cellar doorway. - -The group around the negro held its breath. The grinding of footsteps on -the floor over their heads ceased. Then from the outside came the steady -tramp of many feet on the brick sidewalk, the clatter of horses' hoofs -in the street. - -"Sh! Blow out the light," Carson said, and Blackburn extinguished it. -Profound darkness and stillness filled the long room. Like an army, -still voiceless and grimly determined, the human current flowed -jailward. It must have numbered several hundred, judged by the time it -took to pass. The sound was dying out in the distance when Carson, the -last to leave Pete, crept from the cellar, locked the door, and joined -the others in the darkness above. - -"That mob would hang every man of us if they caught on to our trick," -said Baker, with a queer, exultant chuckle. - -Carson moved past him towards the front door. - -"Where you goin'?" Pole asked, sharply. - -"I want to see how the land lies on the outside," answered Carson. - -"You'll be crazy if you go," said Blackburn, and the others pressed -round Dwight and anxiously joined in the protest. - -"No, I must go," Dwight firmly persisted. "We ought to find out exactly -what that crowd thinks to-night, so we'll know what to depend on. If -they think a lynching took place they will go home satisfied; if not, -as Pole says, they may suspect us, and the most godless riot that ever -blackened human history may take place here in this town." - -"He's right," declared the mountaineer. "Somebody ought to go. I really -think I'm the man, by rights, an'--" - -"No, I want to satisfy myself," was Dwight's ultimatum. "Stay here till -I come back." - -Blackburn accompanied him to the front door, cautiously looked out, and -then let him pass through. - -"Knock when you get back--no, here, take the key to the back door and -let yourself in. So far, so good, my boy, but this is absolutely the -most ticklish job we ever tackled. But I'm with you. I glory in your -spunk." - -There was a swelling murmuring, like the onward sweep of a storm from -the direction of the courthouse. Voices growing louder and increasing in -volume reached their ears. - -"Wait for me. Keep the lights out for all you do," Dwight said, and off -he strode in the darkness. - -In the gloom and stillness of the store the others waited his return, -hardly daring to raise their voices above a whisper. He was gone nearly -an hour, and then they heard the key softly turned in the lock and -presently he stood in their midst. - -"They've about dispersed," he said, in a tone of intense fatigue. "They -lay it to the Hillbend faction, who had some disagreement with them -to-day. They seem satisfied." - -"Gentlemen"--it was Garner's voice from his chair at the table--"there's -one thing that must be regarded as sacred by us to-night, and that is -the _absolute_ secrecy of this thing." - -"Good Lord, you don't think any of us would be fool enough to talk -about it!" exclaimed Blackburn, in an almost startled tone over the bare -suggestion. "If I thought there was a man here who would blab this to a -living soul, I'd--" - -"Well, I only wanted to impress that on you all," said Garner. "To -all intents and purposes we are law-breakers, and I'm a member of the -Georgia bar. Where are you going, Carson?" - -"Down to speak to Pete," answered Dwight. "I want to try to pacify him." - -When he came back a moment later he said: "I've promised to stay here -till daylight. Nothing else will satisfy him; he's broken all to pieces, -crying like a nervous woman. As soon as I agreed to stay he quieted -down." - -"Well, I'll keep you company," said Keith. "I can sleep like a top on -one of the counters." - -"Hold on, there is something else," Carson said, as they were moving to -the rear door. "You know the news will go out in the morning that Pete -was taken off somewhere and actually lynched. This will be a terrible -blow to his parents, and I want permission from you all to let those -two, at least, know that--" - -"No!" Garner cried, firmly, even fiercely, as he turned and struck the -counter near him with his open hand. "There you go with your eternal -sentiment! I tell you this is a grave happening tonight--grave for us -and still graver for Pete. Once let that mob find out that they were -tricked and they will hang our man or burn this town in the effort." - -"I understand that well enough," admitted Dwight, "but the Lord knows we -could trust his own flesh and blood when they have so much at stake." - -"I am not willing to _risk_ it, if you are," said Garner, crisply, -glancing round at the others for their sanction. "It will be an awful -thing for them to hear the current report in the morning, but they'd -better stand it for a few days than to spoil the whole thing. A negro -is a negro, and if Lewis and Linda knew the truth they would be Shouting -instead of weeping and the rest of the darkies would suspect the truth." - -"That's a fact," Blackburn put in, reluctantly. "Negroes are quick -to get at the bottom of things, and with no dead body in sight to -substantiate a lynching story they would smell a mouse and hunt for it -till they found it. No, Carson, _real_ weeping right now from the mammy -and daddy will help us out more than anything else. Yes, they will have -to bear it; they will be all the happier in the end." - -"I suppose you are right," Dwight gave in. "But it's certainly tough." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -[Illustration: 9247] - -T was just at the break of day the following morning. Major Warren, who -had not retired until late the night before in his perturbed state of -mind over the calamity which hovered in the air, was sleeping lightly, -when he was awakened by the almost noiseless presence of some one in his -room. Sitting up in bed he stared through the half darkness at a form -which towered straight and still between him and the open window through -which the first touches of the new day were stealing. "Who's there?" he -demanded, sharply. - -"It's me, Marse William--Lewis." - -"Oh, you!" The Major put his feet down to the rug at the side of -his bed, still not fully awake. "Well, is it time to get up? -Anything--wrong? Oh, I remember now--Pete!" - -A groan from the great chest of the negro set the air to vibrating, but -he said nothing, and the old gentleman saw the bald pate suddenly sink. - -"Oh, Lewis, I hope--" Major Warren paused, unable to continue, so vast -and grewsome were the fears his servant's attitude had inspired. The old -negro took a step or two forward and then said: "Oh, marster, dey done -tuck 'im out las' night--dey tuck my po' boy--" A great sob rose in old -Lewis's breast and burst on his lips. - -"Really, you don't mean it--you can't, after--" - -"Yasser, yasser; he daid, marster. Pete done gone! Dey killed 'im las' -night, Marse William." - -"But--but how do you know?" - -"I des dis minute seed Jake Tobines; he slipped up ter my house en -called me out. Jake lives back 'hind de jail, Marse William, en when de -mob come him en his wife heard de racket en slipped out in de co'n-patch -ter hide. He seed de gang, marster, wid his own eyes, en heard um ax fer -de boy. At fus Marse Barrett refused ter give 'im up, but dey ordered -fire on 'im en he let um have de keys. Jake seed um fetch Pete out, en -heard 'im beggin' um ter spar' his life, but dey drug 'im off." - -There was silence broken only by the old negro's sobs and the smothered -effort he was making to restrain his emotion. - -"And mammy," the Major began, presently; "has she heard?" - -"Not yit, marster, but she is awake--she been awake all night long--on -her knees prayin' most er de time fer mercy--she was awake when Jake -come en she knowed I went out ter speak ter 'im, en when I come back -in de house, marster, she went in de kitchen. I know what she done dat -fur--she didn't want ter know, suh, fer certain, ef I'd heard bad news -or not. I wanted ter let 'er know, but I was afeared ter tell 'er, en come -away. I loves my wife, marster--I--I loves her mo' now dat Pete's gone -dan ever befo'. I loves 'er mo' since she been had ter suffer dis way, -en, marster, dis gwine ter kill 'er. It gwine ter kill Lindy, Marse -William." - -"What's the matter, father?" It was Helen Warren's voice, and with a -look of growing terror on her face she stood peering through the open -doorway. The Major ejaculated a hurried and broken explanation, and with -little, intermittent gasps of horror the young lady advanced to the old -negro. - -"Does Mam' Linda know?" she asked, her face ghastly and set in -sculptural rigidity. - -"Not yet, missy, not yet--it gwine ter kill yo' ol' mammy, child." - -"Yes, it may," Helen said, an odd, alien quality of resignation in her -voice. "I suppose I'd better go and break it to her. Father, Pete was -innocent, absolutely innocent. Carson Dwight assured me of it. He was -innocent, and yet--oh!" - -With a shudder she turned back to her room across the hall. In the -stillness the sound of the match she struck to light her lamp was -raspingly audible. Without another word, and wringing the extended hand -of his wordless master, Lewis crept down the stairs and out into the -pale light of early morning. Like an old tree fiercely beaten by a -storm, he leaned towards the earth. He looked about him absently for a -moment, and then sat down on the edge of the veranda floor and lowered -his head to his brown, sinewy hands. - -A negro woman with a milk-pail on her arm came up the walk from the -gate and started round the house to the kitchen door, but seeing him -she stopped and leaned over him. "Is what Jake done say de trufe?" she -asked. - -"Yassum, yassum, it done over, Mary Lou--done over," Lewis said, looking -up at her from his blearing eyes; "but ef you see Lindy don't let on ter -her yit. Young miss gwine ter tell 'er fust." - -"Oh, my Lawd, it done over, den!" the woman said, shudderingly; "it -gwine ter go hard with Mam' Lindy, Unc' Lewis." - -"It gwine ter _kill_ 'er, Mary Lou; she won't live dis week out. I know - 'er. She had ernough dis life wid all she been thoo fur 'erself en her -white folks, in bondage en out, en' dis gwine ter settle 'er. I don't -blame 'er. I'm done thoo myse'f. Ef de Lawd had spar' my child, I -wouldn't er ax mo', but, Mary Lou, I hope I ain't gwine ter stay long. -I'll hear dat po' boy beggin' fer mercy every minute while I live, en -what I want mo' of it fur? Shucks! no, I'm raidy--en, 'fo' God, I wish -dey had er tuck us all three at once. Dat ud 'a' been some comfort, but -fer Pete ter be by hisse'f beggin' um ter spar' 'im--all by hisse'f, en -me 'n his mammy--" - -The old man's head went down and his body shook with sobs. The woman -looked at him a moment, and then, wiping her eyes on her apron, she went -on her way. - -A few minutes later, just as the red sun was rising in a clear sky and -turning the night's moisture into dazzling gems on the grass and leaves -of trees and shrubbery, like the beneficent smile of God upon a pleasing -world, Helen descended the stairs. She had the sweet, pale face of a -suffering nun as she paused, looked down on the old servant, and caught -his piteous and yet grateful, upturned glance. - -"I'm going to her now, Uncle Lewis," she said. "I want to be the first -to tell her." - -"Yes, you mus' be de one," Lewis sighed, as he rose stiffly; "you de -onliest one." - -He shambled along in her wake, his old hat, out of respect for her -presence, grasped in his tense hand. As they drew near the little -sagging gate at the cottage there was a sound of moving feet within, -and Linda stood in the doorway shading her eyes from the rays of the sun -with her fat hand. To the end of her life Helen had the memory of the -old woman's face stamped on her brain. It was a yellow mask, which might -have belonged to a dead as well as a living creature, behind which the -lights of hope and shadows of despair were vying with each other for -supremacy. In no thing pertaining to the situation did the pathos so -piteously lie as in the fact that Linda was deliberately playing a -part--fiercely acting a rôle that would fit itself to that for which the -agony of her soul was pleading. She was trying to smile away the shadows -her inward fears, her racial intuition were casting on her face. - -"Mighty early fer you ter come, honey," she said; "but I reckon you is -worried 'bout yo' ol' mammy." - -"Yes, it's early for me to be up," Helen said, avoiding the wavering -glance that seemed in reality to be avoiding the revelation of hers. -"But I saw Uncle Lewis and thought I'd come back with him." - -"You hain't had yo' breakfast yit, honey, I know," said Linda, reaching -for a chair half-heartedly and placing it for her young mistress, and -then her eyes fell on her husband's bareheaded, bowed attitude as he -stood at the gate, and something in it, through her sense of sight, gave -her a deadening blow. For an instant she almost reeled; she drew a deep -breath, a breath that swelled out her great, motherly bosom, then with -her hands hanging limply at her side, she stood in front of Helen. For -a moment she did not speak, and then, with her face on fire, her great, -somnolent eyes ablaze, she suddenly bent down and put her hands on -Helen's knees and said: "Looky here, honey, I've been afraid of it all -night long, an' I've fit it off an' fit it off, an' I got up dis mawnin' -fightin' it off, but ef you come here so early 'ca'se--ef you come here -ter tell me dat my child--ef you come here--ef you come here--gre't God -on high, it ain't so! it cayn't be dat way! Look me in de eyes, honey, -I'm raidy en waitin' fer you ter give it de lie." - -For one moment she glared at Helen as the girl sat white and quivering, -her glance on the floor, and then she uttered a piercing scream like -that of a frightened beast, and grasping the hand of her husband, who -was now by her side, she pointed a finger of stone at Helen. "Look! -Look, Lewis; my Gawd, she _ain't lookin' at me!_ Look at me, honey -chile; look at me! D' you hear me say--" She stood firmly for an instant -and then she reeled into her husband's arms. - -"She daid; whut I tol you? Missy, yo' ol' mammy daid," and lifting his -wife in his arms he bore her to the bed in the corner of the room. "Yes, -she done daid," he groaned, as he straightened up. - -"No, she's only fainted," said Helen; "bring me the camphor, quick!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -[Illustration: 9253] - -HAT morning at the usual hour the store-keepers opened their dingy -houses in the main street and placed along the narrow brick sidewalks -the dusty, stock-worn samples of their wares. The clerks and porters as -they swept the floors would pause to discuss the happening of the -night just gone. Old Uncle Lewis and Mammy Linda Warren's boy had been -summarily dealt with, that was all. The longer word just used had of -late years become a part of the narrowest vocabulary, suggesting to -crude minds many meanings not thought of by lexicographers, not the -least of which was something pertaining to justice far-reaching, grim, -and unfailing in these days of bribery and graft. Only a few of the more -analytical and philosophical ventured to ask themselves if, after -all, the boy might have been innocent. If they put the question to the -average citizen it was tossed off with a shrug and a "Well, what's the -difference? It's such talk as he was guilty of that is at the bottom of -all the black crimes throughout the South." Such venom as Pete's was -the very muscle of the black claws that were everywhere reaching out for -helpless white throats. Dead? Yes, he was dead. What of it? How else was -the black, constantly increasing torrent to be dammed? - -And yet by ten o'clock that morning even these tongues were silenced, -for news strange and startling began to steal in from the mountains. The -party who had been in pursuit of the desperado Sam Dudlow had overtaken -him--found him hiding in a bam, covered with hay. He was unarmed and -made no resistance, laughing as if the whole thing were a joke. He -frankly told them that he would have given himself up earlier, but he -had hoped to live long enough to get even with the other leader of the -mob that had whipped him at Darley, a certain Dan Willis. He confessed -in detail exactly how he had murdered the Johnsons and that he had done -it alone. Pete Warren was in no way implicated in it. The lynchers, to -get the whole truth, threatened him; they tortured him; they tied him -to a tree and piled pine fagots about him, but he still stuck to his -statement, and when they had mercifully riddled him with bullets, just -as his clothing was igniting, they left him hanging by the road-side, a -grewsome scarecrow as a warning to his kind, and, led by Jabe Parsons, -they made all haste to reach the faction on Pete Warren's track to tell -them that the boy was innocent. - -Jabe Parsons, carrying a load on his mind, remembering his wife's -valiant stand in behalf of the younger accused, rode faster than his -tired fellows, and near his own farm met the lynchers returning from -Darley. "Too late," they told him, in response to his news, the Hillbend -boys had done away with the Darley jailbird and mysteriously hidden the -body to inspire fear among the negroes. - -At Darley consternation swept the place as story after story of Aunt -Linda's prostration passed from house to house. "Poor, faithful old -woman! Poor old Uncle Lewis!" was heard on every side. - -About half-past ten o'clock Helen, accompanied by Sanders, came -down-town. At the door of Carson's office they parted and Helen came -in. Carson happened to be alone. He rose suddenly from his seat and came -towards her, shocked by the sight of her wan face and dejected mien. - -"Why, Helen!" he cried, "surely you don't think--" and then he checked -himself as he hastened to get a chair for her. - -"I've just left mammy," she began, in a voice that was husky with -emotion. "Oh, Carson, you can't imagine it! It is simply heart-rending, -awful! She is lying there at death's door staring up at the ceiling, -simply benumbed." - -Carson sat down at his desk and leaned his head on his hand. Could he -keep back the truth under such pressure? It was at this juncture that -Garner came in. Casting a hurried glance at the two, and seeing Helen's -grief-stricken attitude, he simply bowed. - -"Excuse me, Miss Helen, just a moment," he said. "Carson, I left a paper -in your pigeon-hole," and as he bent and extracted a blank envelope from -the desk he whispered, warningly: "Remember, not one word of this! Don't -forget the agreement! Not a soul is to know!" And putting the envelope -into his pocket he went out of the room, casting back from the threshold -a warning, almost threatening glance. - -"I've been with her since sunup," Helen went on. - -"She fainted at first, and when she came to--oh, Carson, you love her -as I do, and it would have broken your heart to have heard her! Oh, such -pitiful wailing and begging God to put her out of pain!" - -"Awful, awful!" Dwight said; "but, Helen--" Again he checked himself. -Before his mind's eye rose the faces of the faithful group who had stood -by him the night before. He had pledged himself to them to keep the -thing secret, and no matter what his own faith in Helen's discretion -was he had no right, even under stress of her grief, to betray what had -occurred. No, he couldn't enlighten her--not just then, at all events. - -"I was there when Uncle Lewis came in to tell her that proof had come -of Pete's absolute innocence," Helen went on, "but instead of comforting -her it seemed to drive her the more frantic. She--but I simply can't -describe it, and I won't try. You will be glad to know, Carson, that the -only thing in the shape of comfort she has had was your brave efforts in -her behalf. Over and over she called your name. Carson, she used to pray -to God; she never mentions Him now. You, and you alone, represent all -that is good and self-sacrificing to her. She sent me to you. That's why -I am here." - -"She sent you?" Carson was avoiding her eyes, fearful that she might -read in his own a hint of the burning thing he was trying to withhold. - -"Yes, you see the report has reached her about what the lynchers said -in regard to hiding Pete's body. You know how superstitious the negroes -are, and she is simply crazy to recover the--the remains. She wants to -bury her boy, Carson, and she refuses to believe that some one can't -find him and bring him home. She seems to think you can." - -"She wants me to--" He went no further. - -"If it is possible, Carson. The whole thing is so awful that it has -driven me nearly wild. You will know, perhaps, if anything can be done, -but, of course, if it is wholly out of the question--" - -"Helen"--in his desperation he had formulated a plan--"there is -something that you ought to know. You have every right to know it, and -yet I'm bound in honor not to let it out to any one. Last night," he -went on, modestly, "in the hope of formulating some plan to avert -the coming trouble, I asked Keith to get a number of my best friends -together. We met at Blackburn's store. No positive, sworn vows were -made. It was only the sacred understanding between men that the matter -was to be held inviolate, owing to the personal interests of every -man who had committed himself. You see, they came at my suggestion, as -friends of mine true and loyal, and it seems to me that I'd have a moral -right, even now, to take another into the body--another whom I trust as -thoroughly and wholly as any one of them. Do you understand, Helen?" - -"No, I'm in the dark, Carson," she said, with a feeble smile. - -"You see, I want to speak freely to you," he continued. "I want to -tell you some things you ought to know, and yet I am not free to do so -unless--unless you will tacitly join us. Helen, do you understand? -Are you willing to become one of us so far as absolute secrecy is -concerned?" - -"I am willing to do anything you'd advise, Carson," the girl replied, -groping for his possible meaning through the cloud of mystery his queer -words had thrown around him. "If something took place that I ought to -know, and you are willing to confide it to me, I assure you I can be -trusted. I'd die rather than betray it." - -"Then, as one of us, I'll tell you," Carson said, impressively. "Helen, -Pete, is not dead." - -"Not dead?" She stared at him incredulously from her great, beautiful -eyes. Slowly her white hand went out till it rested on his, and remained -there, quivering. - -"No, he's alive and so far in safe keeping, free from harm at present, -anyway." - -Her fingers tightened on his hand, her sweet, appealing face drew nearer -to his; she took a deep breath. "Oh, Carson, don't say that unless you -are _quite_ sure." - -"I am absolutely sure," he said; and then, as they sat, her hand still -lingering unconsciously on his, he explained it all, leaving the part he -had taken out of the recital as much as possible, and giving the chief -credit to his supporters. She sat spellbound, her sympathetic soul -melting and flowing into the warm current of his own while he talked as -it seemed to her no human being had ever talked before. - -When he had concluded she drew away her hand and sat erect, her bosom -heaving, her eyes glistening. - -"Oh, Carson," she cried; "I never was so happy in my life! It actually -pains me." She pressed her hand to her breast. "Mammy will be so--but -you say she must not--must not yet--" - -"That's the trouble," Dwight said, regretfully. - -"I'm sure I could put her and Lewis on their guard so that they -would act with discretion, but Blackburn and Garner--in fact, all the -rest--are afraid to risk them, just now anyway. You see, they -think Linda and Lewis might betray it in their emotions--their very -happiness--and so undo everything we have accomplished." - -"Surely, now that the report of Sam Dudlow's confession has gone out, -they would let Pete alone," Helen said. - -"I wouldn't like to risk it quite yet," said Dwight. "Right now, while -they are under the impression that an innocent negro has been lynched, -they seem inclined to quiet down, but once let the news go out that a -few town men, through trickery, had freed the prisoner, and they would -rise more furious than ever. No, we must be careful. And, Helen, you -must remember your promise. Don't let even your sympathy for Linda draw -it out of you." - -"I can keep it, and I really shall," Helen said. - -"But you must release me as soon as you possibly can." - -"I'll do that," he promised, as she rose to go. - -"I'll keep it," she repeated, when she had reached the door; "but to do -so I'll have to stay away from mammy. The sight of her agony would wring -it from me." - -"Then don't go near her till I see you," Dwight cautioned her. "I'll -meet all the others to-day and put the matter before them. Perhaps they -may give in on that point." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - -[Illustration: 9260] - -T the corner of the street Helen encountered Sanders, who was waiting -for her. At the sight of him standing on the edge of the sidewalk, -impatiently tapping the toe of his neatly shod foot with the ferrule of -his tightly rolled silk umbrella, she experienced a shock which would -have eluded analysis. He had been so completely out of her thoughts, and -her present mood was of such an entrancing nature that she felt a desire -to indulge it undisturbed. The bare thought of the platitudes she would -have to exchange with any one ignorant of her dazzling discovery was -unpleasant. After all, what was it about Sanders that vaguely incited -her growing disapproval? This morning could it possibly be his very -faultlessness of attire, his spick-and-span air of ownership in her body -and soul because of their undefined understanding as to his suit, or was -it because--because he had, although through no fault of his own, taken -no part in the thing which today, for Helen, somehow, held more weight -than all other earthly happenings? Indeed, fate was not using the Darley -visitor kindly. He was unwittingly like a healthy soldier on a furlough -making himself useful in the drawing-room while news of victory was -pouring in from his comrades at the front. - -"You see I waited for you," he said, gracefully raising his hat; "but, -Helen, what has happened? Why, what is the matter?" - -"Nothing," she said; "nothing at all." - -"But," he went on, frowning in perplexity as he suited his step to hers, -"I never saw any one in my life change so suddenly. Why, when you went -into that office you were simply a picture of despair, but now you look -as if you were bursting with happiness. Your face is flushed, your eyes -are fairly dancing. Helen, if I thought--" - -He paused, his own color rising, a deeper frown darkening his brow. - -"If you thought what?" she asked, with a little irritation. - -"Oh"--he knocked a stone out of his way with his umbrella--"what's the -use denying it! I'm simply jealous. I'm only a natural human being, and -I suppose I'm jealous." - -"You have no cause to be," she said, and then she bit her lip with -vexation at the slip of the tongue. Why should she defend herself to -him? She had never said she loved him. She had not yet consented to -marry him. Besides, she was in no mood to gratify his vanity. She wanted -simply to be alone with the boundless delight she was allowed to share -with no one but--Carson--Carson!--the one who had, for _her sake_, made -the sharing of it possible. - -"Well, I am uneasy, and I can't help it," Sanders went on, gloomily. -"How can I help it? You left me so sad and depressed that you had hardly -a word for me, and after seeing this Mr. Dwight you come out looking--do -you know," he broke off, "that you were there alone with that fellow -nearly an hour?" - -"Oh no, it couldn't have been so long," she said, further irritated by -his open defence of what he erroneously considered his rights. - -"But it was, for I timed you," Sanders affirmed. "Heaven knows I counted -the actual minutes. There is a lot about this whole thing I don't like, -but I hardly know what it is." - -"You are not only jealous but suspicious," Helen said, sharply. "Those -are things I don't like in any man." - -"I've offended you, but I didn't mean to," Sanders said, with a sudden -turn towards precaution. "You'll forgive me, won't you, Helen?" - -"Oh yes, it's all right." She had suddenly softened. "Really, I am sorry -you feel hurt. Don't think any more about it. I have a reason which I -can't explain for feeling rather cheerful just now." They had reached -the next street corner and she patised. "I want to go by Cousin Ida's. -She lives down this way." - -"And you'd rather I didn't go along?" - -"I have something particular to say to her." - -"Oh, I see. Then may I come as usual this afternoon?" - -Her wavering, half-repentant glance fell. "Not this afternoon," she -said. "I ought to be with mammy. Couldn't you call this evening?" - -"It will seem a long time to wait in this dreary place, with nothing -to occupy me," he said; "but I shall be well repaid. So I may come this -evening?" - -"Oh yes, I shall expect you then," and Helen turned and left him. - -In the front garden of the Tarpley house she found her cousin watering -the flowers. Observing Helen at the gate, Miss Tarpley hastily put down -the tin sprinkling-pot and hurried to her. - -"I was just going up to see mammy," Ida said. "I know I can be of no use -and yet I wanted to try. Oh, the poor thing must be suffering terribly! -She had enough to bear as it was, but that last night--oh!" - -"Yes--yes," Helen said. "It is hard on her." - -Ida Tarpley rested her two hands on the tops of the white palings of the -fence and stared inquiringly into Helen's face. - -"Why do you say it in that tone?" she asked; "and with that queer, -almost smiling look in your eyes? Why, I expected to see you prostrated, -and--well, I don't think--I actually don't think I ever saw you looking -better in my life. What's happened, Helen?" - -"Oh, nothing." Helen was now making a strong effort to disguise her -feelings, and she succeeded to some extent, for Miss Tarpley's thoughts -took another trend. - -"And poor, dear Carson," she said, sympathetically. "The news must have -nearly killed him. He came by here last night making all haste to get -down-town, as he said, to see if something couldn't be done. He was -terribly wrought up, and I never saw such a look of determination on a -human face. 'Something _has_ to be done,' he said; 'something _must_ be -done! The boy is innocent and shall not die like a dog. It would kill -his mother, and she is a good, faithful old woman. No, he shall not -die!' And with those words he hurried on. Oh, Helen, that is sad, -too. It is sad to see as noble a young spirit as he has fail in such a -laudable undertaking. Think of how he stood up before that surging mob -and let them shoot at him while he shouted defiance in their teeth, -till they cowered down and slunk away! Think of a triumph like that, and -then, after all, to meet with such galling defeat as overtook him last -night! When I heard of the lynching I actually cried. I think I felt -for him as much as I did for Mam' Linda. Poor, dear boy! You know why he -wanted to do it so much--you know that as well as I do." - -"Why he wanted to do it!" Helen echoed, almost hungry for the sweet -confirmation of Dwight's fidelity to her cause. - -"Yes, you know--you know that his whole young soul was set on it because -it was your wish, because you were so troubled over it. I've seen that -in his eyes ever since the matter came up. I saw it there last night, -and it seemed to me that his very heart was burning up within him. Oh, -I get mad at you--to think you'd let that Augusta man, even if you do -intend some day to marry him--that you'd let him be here at such a time, -as if Carson hadn't enough to bear without that. Ah, Helen, no other -human being will ever love you as Carson Dwight does--never, never while -the sun shines." - -With a misleading smile of denial on her face Helen turned homeward. He -loved her--Carson Dwight--_that man_ of all men--still loved her. Her -body felt imponderable as she strode blithely on her way. In her -hands she carried a human life--the life of the poor boy Carson had so -wonderfully struggled for and intrusted to her keeping. To his mother -and father Pete was dead, but to her and Carson, her first sweetheart, -he still lived. The secret was theirs to hold between their throbbing -hearts. Old Linda's grief was but a dream. Helen and Carson could draw -aside the black curtain and tell her to look and see the truth. - -Standing with bowed head at the front gate when she arrived home, she -saw old Uncle Lewis, his bald pate bared to the sunshine. - -"Mam' Lindy axin' 'bout you, missy," he said, pitifully. "She say you -went down-town ter see Marse Carson, en she seem mighty nigh crazy ter -know ef you found whar de--de body er de po' boy is at. Dat all she's -beggin' en pleadin' fer now, missy, en ef dem white mens refuse it, de -Lawd only know what she gwine ter do." - -Helen gazed at him helplessly. Her whole young being was wrung with the -desire to let him know the truth, and yet how could she tell him what -had been revealed to her in such strict confidence? - -"I'll go see mammy now," she said. "I've no news yet, Uncle Lewis--no -news that I can give you. I'm looking for Carson to come up soon." - -As she neared the cottage the motley group of negroes, serious-faced men -and women, bland-eyed persons in their teens, and half-clad children, -around the door intuitively and respectfully drew aside and she -entered the cottage unaccompanied and unannounced. Linda was not in the -sitting-room, where she expected to find her, and so, wonderingly, Helen -turned into the kitchen adjoining. Here the general aspect of things -added to her growing surprise, for the old woman had drawn close the -curtains of the little, small-paned windows, and before a small fire in -the chimney she sat prone on the ash-covered hearth. That alone might -not have been so surprising, but Linda had covered her body with several -old tow sacks upon which she had plentifully sprinkled ashes. The -grayish powder was in her short hair, on her face and bare arms, and -filled her lap. There was one thing in the world that the old woman -prized above all else--a big, leather-bound family Bible which she had -owned since she first learned to read under the instruction of Helen's -mother, and this, also ash-covered, lay open by her side. - -"Is I gwine ter bury my chile?" she demanded, as she glared up at her -mistress. "What young marster say? Is I, or is I never ter lay eyes on - 'im ergin? Is I de only nigger mother dat ever lived on dis yeth, bound -er free, dat cayn't have dat much? Tell me. Ef dey gwine ter le' me see - 'im Marse Carson ud know it. What he say?" - -Rendered fairly speechless by the predicament she was in, Helen could -only stand staring helplessly. Presently, however, she bent, and lifting -the Bible from the floor she laid it on the table. With her massive -elbows on her knees, her fat hands over her face and almost touching the -flames, Linda rocked back and forth. - -"Dey ain't no God!" she cried; "ef dey is one He's es black es de back -er dat chimbley. Dat book is er lie. Dey ain't no love en mercy anywhars -dis side de blinkin', grinnin' stars. Don't tell me er nigger's prayers -is answered. Didn't I pray las' night till my tongue was swelled in my -mouf fer um ter spare my boy? En what in de name er all created was de -answer? When de day broke wid de same sun shinin' dat was shinin' when -he laid de fus time on my breas', de news was fetch me dat my baby chile -was dragged out wid er rope rounst his neck, prayin' ter men whilst I -was prayin' ter God. Look lak dat enough, hein? But no, nex' come de -news dat ef he'd er lived one short hour longer dey might er let 'im go -'ca'se dey foun' de right one. Look lak dat enough, too, hein? But nex' -come de word, en de las' message: innocent or no, right one or wrong -one, my chile wasn't goin' ter have a common bury in'-place--not even -in de Potter's Fiel' dis book tell erbout so big. Don't talk ter me! Ef -prayers fum niggers is answered mine was heard in hell, en old Scratch -en all his imps er darkness was managin' it. Don't come near me! I might -lay han's on you. I ain't myself. I heard er low trash white man say -once dat niggers was des baboons. I may be one, en er wild one fer all -I know--oh, honey, don't pay no 'tention ter me. Yo' ol' mammy is bein' -burnt at de stake en she ain't 'sponsible. She love you, honey--she love -you even in 'er gre't trouble." - -"I understand, mammy," and Helen put her arms around the old woman's -neck. An almost overpowering impulse had risen in her to tell the old -sufferer the truth, but thinking that some of the negroes might be -listening, and remembering her promise, she restrained herself. - -"I'm going to write a note to Carson to come up at once," she said. -"He'll have something to tell you, mammy." - -And passing the negroes about the door she went to the house, and -hastening into the library she wrote and forwarded by a servant the -following note: - -_"Dear Carson,--Come at once, and come prepared to tell her. I can't -stand it any longer. Do, do come._ - -_"Helen."_ - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - -[Illustration: 9269] - -ALF an hour later Helen, waiting at the front gate, saw a horse and -buggy turn the corner down the street. She recognized it as belonging -to Keith Gordon. Indeed, Keith was driving, and with him was Carson -Dwight. - -Helen's heart bounded, a vast weight of incalculable responsibility -seemed to lift itself from her. She unlatched the gate and swung it -open. - -"Oh, I thought you'd never come!" she smiled, as he sprang out and -advanced to her. "I would have broken my oath of allegiance to the clan -if you had waited a moment longer." - -"I might have known you couldn't keep it," Dwight laughed. "Mam' Linda -would have drawn it out of you just as you did out of me." - -"But are you going to tell her?" Helen asked, just as Keith, who had -stepped aside to fasten his horse, came up. - -"Yes," Carson answered. "Keith and I made a lightning trip around and -finally persuaded all the others. Invariably they would shake their -heads, and then we'd simply tell them you wished it, and that settled -it. They all seem flattered by the idea that you are a member." - -"But say, Miss Helen," Keith put in, gravely, "we really must guard -against Lewis and Linda's giving it away. It is a most serious business, -and, our own interests aside, the boy's life depends on it." - -"Well, we must get them away from the cottage," said Helen. "They are -now literally surrounded by curious negroes." - -"Can't we have them up here in the parlor?" Carson asked. "Your father -is down-town; we saw him as we came up." - -"Yes, that's a good idea," Helen responded, eagerly. "The servants are -all at the cottage; we'll make them stay there and have Uncle Lewis and -Mam' Linda here." - -"Suppose I run down and give the message," proposed Keith, and he was -off with the speed of a ball-player on a home-run. - -"Do you think there is any real danger to Mam' Linda's health in letting -her know it suddenly?" Carson asked, thoughtfully. - -"We must try to reveal it gradually," Helen said, after reflecting for -a moment. "There's no telling. They say great joy often kills as quickly -as great sorrow. Oh, Carson, isn't it glorious to be able to do this? -Don't you feel happy in the consciousness that it was your great, -sympathetic heart that inspired this miracle, your wonderful brain and -energy and courage that actually put it through?" - -"Not through yet," he laughed, depreciatingly, as his blood flowed hotly -into his cheeks. "It would be just my luck right now to have this thing -turn smack dab against us. We are not out of the woods yet, Helen, by -long odds. The rage of that mob is only sleeping, and I have enemies, -political and otherwise, who would stir it to white heat at a moment's -notice if they once got an inkling of the truth." He snapped his -fingers. "I wouldn't give that for Pete's life if they discover our -trick. Pole Baker had just come in town when Keith and I left. He said -the Hillbend people were earnestly denying all knowledge of any lynching -or of the whereabouts of Pete's body, and that some people were -already asking queer questions. So, you see, if on top of that growing -suspicion, old Lewis and Linda begin to dance a hoe-down of joy instead -of weeping and wailing--well, you see, that's the way it stands." - -"Oh, then, perhaps we'd better not tell them, after all," Helen said, -crestfallen. "They are suffering awfully, but they would rather bear it -for awhile than to be the cause of Pete's death." - -"No," Carson smiled; "from the way you wrote, I know you have had about -as much as you can stand, and we simply must try to make them comprehend -the full gravity of the matter." - -At this juncture Keith came up panting from his run and joined them. -"Great Heavens!" he cried, lifting his hands, the palms outward. "I -never saw such a sight. I can stand some things, but I'm not equal to -torture of that kind." - -"Are they coming?" Carson asked. - -"Yes, there's Lewis now. Of course, I couldn't give them a hint of the -truth down there in that swarm of negroes, and so my message that you -wanted to see them here only seemed to key them up higher." - -Carson turned to Lewis, who, hat in hand, his black face set in stony -rigidity, had paused near by and stood waiting respectfully to be spoken -to. - -"Uncle Lewis," he said, "we've got good news for you and Linda, but -a great deal depends on its being kept secret. I must exact a sacred -promise of you not to betray to a living soul by word of mouth or act -what I am going to tell you. Will you promise, Lewis?" - -The old man leaned totteringly forward till his gaunt fingers closed -upon one of the palings of the fence; his eyes blinked in their deep -cavities. He made an effort to speak, but his voice hung in his mouth. -Then he coughed, cleared his throat, and slid one of his ill-shod feet -backward, as he always did in bowing, and said, falteringly: "God on -high know, young marster, dat I'd keep my word wid you. Old Unc' Lewis -would keep his word wid you ef dey was burnin' 'im at de stake. You been -de bes' friend me 'n Mam' Lindy ever had, young marster. You been de -kind er friend dat _is_ er friend. When you tried so hard t'other night -ter save my boy fum dem men even when dey was shootin' at you en tryin' -ter drag you down--oh, young marster, I wish you'd try me. I want ter -show you how I feel down here in my heart. Dem folks is done had deir -way; my boy is daid, but God know it makes it easier ter give 'im up ter -have er young, high-minded white man lak you--" - -"Stop, here's Mam' Linda," Carson said. "Don't tell her now, Lewis; wait -till we are inside the house; but Pete is alive and safe." - -The old man's eyes opened wide in an almost deathlike stare, and he -leaned heavily against the fence. - -"Oh, young marster," he gasped, "you don't mean--you sholy can't -mean--" - -"Hush! not a word." Carson cautioned him with uplifted hand, and they -all looked at old Linda as she came slowly across the grass. A shudder -of horror passed over Dwight at the change in her. The distorted, -swollen face was that of a dead person, only faintly vitalized by some -mechanical force. The great, always mysterious depths of her eyes were -glowing with bestial fires. For a moment she paused near them and stood -glaring with incongruous defiance as if nothing in mortal shape could -mean aught but ill towards her. - -"Carson has something--something very important to tell you, dear -mammy," Helen said, "but we must go inside." - -"He ain't got nothin' ter tell me dat I don't know," Linda muttered, -"lessen it is whar dey done put my chile's body. Ef you know dat, young -marster--ef--" - -But old Lewis had moved to her side, his face ablaze. He laid his hand -forcibly on her shoulder. "Hush, 'oman!" he cried. "In de name er -God, shet yo' mouf en listen ter young marster--listen ter 'im Linda, -honey--hurry up--hurry up in de house!" - -"Yes, bring her in here," Carson said, with a cautious glance around, -and he and Helen and Keith moved along the walk while Linda suffered -herself, more like an automaton than a human being, to be half dragged, -half led up the steps and into the parlor. Keith, who had vaguely put -her in the category of the physically ill, placed an easy-chair for her, -but from force of habit, while in the presence of her superiors, the -old woman refused to sit. She and Lewis stood side by side while Carson -carefully closed the door and came back. - -"We've got some very, very good news for you, Mam' Linda," said he; "but -you must not speak of it to a soul. Linda, the men who took Pete from -jail did not kill him. He is still alive and safe, so far, from harm." - -To the surprise of them all, Linda only stared blankly at the tremulous -speaker. It was her husband who, full of fire and new-found happiness, -now leaned over her. "Didn't you hear young marster?" he gulped; "didn't -you hear 'im say we-all's boy was erlive?--_erlive_, honey?" - -With an arm of iron Linda pushed him back and stood before Carson. - -"You come tell me dat?" she cried, her great breast tumultuously -heaving. "Young marster, 'fo' God I done had enough. Don't tell me dat -now, en den come say it's er big mistake after you find out de trufe." - -"Pete's all right, Linda," Carson said, reassuringly. "Keith and Helen -will tell you about it." - -With an appealing look in her eyes Linda extended a detaining hand -towards him, but he had gone to the door and was cautiously looking out, -his attention being drawn to the sound of footsteps in the hall. It was -two negro maids just entering the house, having left half a dozen other -negroes on the walk in front. Going out into the hall, Carson commanded -the maids and the loiterers to go away, and the astonished blacks, with -many a curious, backward glance, made haste to do his bidding. A heavy -frown was on his face and he shrugged his broad shoulders as he took -his place on the veranda to guard the parlor door. "It's a ticklish -business," he mused; "if we are not very careful these negroes will drop -on to the truth in no time." - -He had dismissed the idlers in the nick of time, for there was a sudden, -joyous scream from Linda, a chorus of warning voices. The full import of -the good news was only just breaking upon the stunned consciousness of -the old sufferer. Screams and sobs, mingled with hysterical laughter, -fell upon Carson's ears, through all of which rang the persistent drone -of Keith Gordon's manly voice in gentle admonition. The door of the -parlor opened and old Lewis came forth, his black face streaming with -tears. Going to Carson he attempted to speak, but, unable to utter a -word, he grasped the young man's hand, and pressing it to his lips he -staggered away. A few minutes later Keith came out doggedly trying to -divest his boyish features of a certain glorified expression that had -settled on them. - -"Good God!" he smiled grimly, as he fished a cigar from the pocket of -his waistcoat, "I'm glad that's over. It struck her like a tornado. I'm -glad I'm not in your shoes. She'll literally fall on your neck. Good -Lord! I've heard people say negroes haven't any gratitude--Linda's -burning up with it. You are her God, old man. She knows what you did, -and she knows, too, that we opposed you to the last minute." - -"You told her, of course," Carson said, reprovingly. - -"I had to. She was trying to dump it all on me as the only member of -the gang present. I told her, the whole thing was born in your brain and -braced up by your backbone. Oh yes, I told her how we fought your -plan and with what determination you stuck to it in the face of all -opposition. No, the rest of us don't deserve any credit. We'd have -squelched you if we could. Well, I simply wasn't cut out for heroic -things. The easy road has always been mine to any destination, but I -reckon nothing worth much was ever picked up by chance." - -The two friends had gone down to the gate and Keith was unhitching -his horse, when Helen came out on the veranda, and seeing Carson she -hastened to him. - -"She's up in my room," she explained. "I'm going to keep her there -for the rest of the day anyway. I'm glad now that we took so much -precaution. She admits that we were right about that. She says if -she had known Pete was safe she might have failed to keep it from -the others. But she is going to help us guard the secret now. But oh, -Carson, she is already begging to be allowed to see Pete. It's pitiful. -There are moments even now when she even seems to doubt his safety, and -it is all I can do to convince her. She is begging to see you, too. Oh, -Carson, when you told me about it why did you leave out the part you -took? Keith told us all about your fight against such odds, and how you -sat up all night at the store to keep the poor boy company." - -"Keith was with me," Carson said, flushing, deeply. "Well, we've got -Pete bottled up where he is safe for the present, but there is no -telling when suspicion may be directed to us." - -"We are going to win; I feel it!" said Helen, fervidly. "Don't forget -that I'm a member of the clan. I'm proud of the honor," and pressing his -hand warmly she hurried back to the house. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI - -[Illustration: 9278] - -N his way to Blackburn's store the next morning to inquire about the -prisoner, Carson met Garner coming out of the barber-shop, where he had -just been shaved. - -"Any news?" Carson asked, in a guarded voice, though they were really -out of earshot of any one. - -"No actual _news_," Garner replied, stroking his thickly powdered chin; -"but I don't like the lay of the land." - -"What's up now?" Dwight asked. - -"I don't know that there is anything wrong yet; but, my boy, -discovery--discovery grim and threatening is in the very air about us." - -"What makes you think so, Garner?" They paused on the street crossing -leading over to Blackbum's store. - -"Oh, it's all due to old Linda and Lewis," Garner said, in a tone of -conviction. "You know I was dead against letting them know Pete was -alive." - -"You think we made a mistake in that, then?" Carson said. "Well, the -pressure was simply too strong, and I had to give way under it. But why -do you think it was a bad move?" - -"From the way it's turning out," said Garner. "While Buck Black was -shaving me just now he remarked that his wife had seen Uncle Lewis and -Linda and that she thought they were acting very peculiarly. I asked him -in as off-hand and careless a manner as I could what he meant, and he -said that his wife didn't think they acted exactly as if they had -just lost their only child. Buck said it looked like they were only -pretending to be brokenhearted. I thought the best way to discourage him -was to be silent, and so I closed my eyes and he went on with his work. -Presently, however, he said bluntly, 'Look here, Colonel Garner'--Buck -always calls me colonel--'where do you think they put that boy?' He had -me there, you know, and I felt ashamed of myself. The idea of as good a -lawyer as there is in this end of the State actually wiggling under the -eye and tongue of a coon as black as the ace of spades! Finally I told -him that, as well as I could gather, the Hillbend faction had put Pete -out of the way, and were keeping it a secret to intimidate the negroes -through their natural superstition. And what do you reckon Buck said. -Huh, he'd make a good detective! He said he'd had his eye on the most -rampant of the Hillbend men and that they didn't look like they'd -lynched anything as big as a mouse. In fact, he thought they were on the -lookout for a good opportunity in that line." - -"It certainly looks shaky," Carson admitted, as they moved on to the -store, where Blackburn stood waiting for them just inside the doorway. - -"How did Pete pass the night?" Carson asked, his brow still clouded by -the discouraging observations of his partner. - -"Oh, all right," Blackburn made reply. "Bob and Wade slept here on -the counters. They say he snored like a saw-mill. They could hear him -through the floor. Boys, I hate to dash cold water in your faces, but I -never felt as shaky in my life." - -"What's the matter with _you?_" Garner asked, with an uneasy laugh. - -"I'm afraid a storm is rising in an unexpected quarter," said the -store-keeper, furtively glancing up and down the street, and then -leading them farther back into the store. - -"Which quarter is that?" Carson asked, anxiously. - -"The sheriff is acting odd--mighty odd," said Blackburn. - -"Good Lord! you don't think Braider's really on our trail do you?" -Garner cried, in genuine alarm. - -"Well, you two can make out what it means yourselves," and Blackburn -pulled at his short chin whiskers doggedly. "It was only about half an -hour ago--Braider's drinking some, and was, perhaps, on that account a -little more communicative--he came in here, his face as red as a pickled -beet, and smelling like a bunghole in a whiskey-barrel, and leaned -against the counter on the dry-goods side. - -"'I'm the legally elected sheriff of this county, ain't I?' he said, in -his maudlin way, and I told him he was by a big majority. - -"'Well,' he said, after looking down at the floor for a minute, 'I'll -bet you boys think I'm a dem slack wad of an officer.' - -"I didn't know what the devil he was driving at, and so I simply kept -my mouth shut, but you bet your life I had my ears open, for there was -something in his eye that I didn't like, and then when he said '_you -boys_' in that tone I began to think he might be on to the work we did -the other night." - -"Well, what next?" Carson asked, sharply. "Well, he just leaned on the -counter, about to slide down every minute," Blackburn went on, "and -then he began to laugh in a silly sort of way and said, 'Them _Hillbend_ -fellers are a slick article, ain't they?' Of course I didn't know what -to say," said the store-keeper, "for he had his eyes on me and was -grinning to beat the Dutch, and that is the kind of cross-examination I -fail at. Finally, however, I managed to say that the Hillbend folks had -beaten the others to the jail, anyway, and he broke out into another -knowing laugh. 'The Hillbend gang didn't have as fur to go,' he said. -'Oh, they are a slick article, an' they've got a slick young leader.'" - -"What else?" asked Carson, who looked very grave and stood with his lips -pressed together. - -"Nothing else," Blackburn answered. "Just then Wiggin, your boon -companion and bosom friend, stopped at the door and called him." - -"Good Lord, _and with Wiggin!_" Garner exclaimed. "Our cake is dough, -and it's good and wet." - -"Yes, he's a Wiggin man!" said Blackburn. "I've known he was pulling -against Carson for some time. It seems like Braider sized up the -situation, and decided if he was going to be re-elected himself he'd -better pool issues with the strongest man, and he picked that skunk as -the winner. I went to the door and watched them. They went off, arm in -arm, towards the court-house." - -"Braider is evidently on to us," Carson decided, grimly; "and the truth -is, he holds us in the palm of his hand. If he should insist on carrying -out the law, and rearresting Pete and putting him back in jail, Dan -Willis would see that he didn't stay there long, and Wiggin would swear -out a warrant against us as the greatest law-breakers unhung." - -"Oh yes, the whole thing certainly looks shaky," admitted Blackburn. - -"I tell you one thing, Carson," Garner observed, grimly, "there are no -two ways about it, we are going to lose our client and your election -just as sure as we stand here." - -"I don't intend to give up yet," Dwight said, his lip twitching -nervously and a fierce look of determination dawning in his eyes. "We've -accomplished too much so far to fail ignominiously. Boys, I'd give -everything I have to ward this thing off from old Aunt Linda. She's -certainly borne enough." - -The two lawyers went to their office, avoiding the numerous groups of -men about the stores who seemed occupied with the different phases -of the ever-present topic. They seated themselves at their desks, and -Garner was soon at work. But there was nothing for Carson to do, and -he sat gloomily staring through the open doorway out into the sunshine. -Presently he saw Braider across the street and called Garner's attention -to him. Then to their surprise the sheriff turned suddenly and came -directly towards them. - -"Gee, here he comes!" Garner exclaimed; "he may want to pump us. Keep -a sharp eye on him, Carson. He may really not know anything actually -incriminating, after all. Watch him like a hawk!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -[Illustration: 9285] - -HE young men pretended to be deeply absorbed over their work when the -stalwart officer loomed up in the doorway, his broad-brimmed hat well -back on his head, the flush of intoxicants in his tanned face, his step -unsteady. - -"I hope I won't disturb you, gentlemen," he said; "but you are two men -that I want to talk to--I might say talk to as a brother." - -"Come in, come in, Braider," Carson said; "take that chair." - -[Illustration: 0283] - -As Braider moved with uncertain step to a chair, tilted it to one side -to divest it of its burden of books, newspapers, and old briefs and -other defunct legal documents, Garner with a wary look in his eye fished -a solitary cigar from his pocket--the one he had reserved for a mid-day -smoke--and prof-ered it. - -"Have a cigar," he said, "and make yourself comfortable." - -The sheriff took the cigar as absent-mindedly as he would, in his -condition, have received a large banknote, and held it too tightly for -its preservation in his big red hand. - -"Yes, I want to talk to you boys, and I want to say a whole lot that I -hope won't go any further. I've always meant well by you two, and hoped -fer your success both in the law--and politics." - -Garner cast an amused glance, in spite of the gravity of the situation, -at his partner, and then said, quite evenly, "We know that, Braider--we -always _have_ known it." - -"Well, as I say, I want to _talk_ to you. I've heard that an honest -confession is good for the soul, if not for the pocket, and I'm here to -make one, as honest as I kin spit it out." - -"Oh, that's it?" said Garner, and with a wary look of curiosity on his -face he sat waiting. - -"Yes, and I want to begin back at the first and sort o' lead up. It's -hard to keep a fellow's political leaning hid, Carson, and I reckon -you may have heard that I had some notion of casting my luck in with -Wiggin." - -"After he began circulating those tales about me, yes," Carson said, -with a touch of severity; "not before, Braider--at least not when I -worked as I did the last time for your own election." - -"You are plumb right," the sheriff said, readily enough. "I flopped over -sudden, I'll acknowledge; but that's neither here nor there." He paused -for a moment and the lawyers exchanged steady glances. - -"He may want to make a bargain with us," Garner's eyes seemed to say, -but Carson's mind had grasped other and more dire possibilities as he -recalled Blackburn's remark of a few minutes before. In fact all those -assurances of good-will might mean naught else than that the sheriff--at -the instigation of Wiggin and others--had come actually to arrest him as -the leader of the men who had intimidated the county jailer and -stolen away the State's prisoner. The thought seemed to be borne -telepathically to Garner, for that worthy all at once sat more rigidly, -more aggressively defiant in his chair, and the pen he was chewing -was suspended before his lips. This beating about the bush, in serious -things, at least, was not Garner's method. - -"Well, well, Braider," he said, with a change of tone and manner, "tell -us right out what you want. The day is passing and we've got lots to -do." - -"All right, all right," agreed the intoxicated man; "here goes. Boys, -what I'm going to say is a sort of per-personal matter. You've both -treated me like a respectable citizen and officer of the law, and I've -taken it just as if I fully deserved the honor. But Jeff Braider ain't -no hypocrite, if he _is_ a politician and hobnobs with that sort of -riffraff. Boys, always, away down at the bottom of everything I ever did -tackle in this life, has been the memory of my old mother's teachings, -and I've tried my level best, as a man, to live up to 'em. I don't know -as I ever come nigh committing crime--as I regard it--till here lately. -Crime, they tell me, stalks about in a good many disguises. The crime -I'm talking about had two faces to it. You could look at it one way -and it would seem all right, and then from another side it would look -powerful bad. Well, I first saw this thing the night the mob raided -Neb Wynn's shanty and run Pete Warren out and chased him to your house, -Carson. You may not want to look me in the eye ag'in, my boy, when I -tell you, but I could have come to your aid a sight quicker that night -than I did if I hadn't been loaded down with so many fears of injury -to myself. As I saw that big mob rushing like a mad river after that -nigger, I said to myself, I did, that no human power or authority could -save 'im anyway, and that if I stood up before the crowd and tried to -quiet them, that--well, if I wasn't shot dead in my tracks I'd kill -myself politically, and so I waited in the edge of the crowd, hiding -like a sneak-thief, till--till you did the work, and then I stepped up -as big as life and pretended that I'd just arrived." - -"Oh!" Garner exclaimed, and he stared at the bowed head of the officer -with a look of wonder in his eyes; and it was a look of hope, too, -for surely no human being of exactly _this_ stamp would take unfair -advantage of any one. - -"That was the _first_ time," Braider gulped, as he went on, his glance -now directed solely to Carson. "My boy, I went to bed that night, after -we jailed that nigger, feeling meaner than an egg-sucking dog looks when -he's caught in the act. If there is anything on earth that will shame a -man it is to see another display more moral and physical courage than he -does, and you did enough of both that night to show me where I stood. It -was a new thing to me, and it made me mad. I was a good soldier in the -war--I wear a Confederate veteran's badge that was pinned onto my coat -in public by the | beautiful daughter of a dead comrade--but being shot -at in a bunch ain't the same as being the _only_ target, and I showed my -limit." - -"Oh, you are exaggerating the whole thing," Carson said, with a flush of -embarrassment. - -"No I ain't, Carson Dwight," Braider said, feelingly, and he took out -his red cotton handkerchief and wiped his eyes. "You showed me that -night the difference between bravery, so-called, and the genuine thing. -I reckon bravery for personal gain is a weak imitation of bravery that -acts just out of human pity as yours did that night. Well, that ain't -all. The next day I was put to a worse test than ever. It was noised -about, you know, that a bigger mob than the first was rising. I stayed -out of the centre of town as much as I could, for everywhere I went -folks would look at me as if they thought I'd surely do something to -protect the prisoner, and at home my wife was whimpering around all day, -saying she was sure Pete was innocent, or enough so to deserve a trial, -if not for himself for the sake of his mammy and daddy. But what was -such a wavering thing as I was to do? I took it that seventy-five per -cent, of the men who had backed me with their ballot in my election was -bent on lynching the prisoner, and if I opposed them they would consider -me a traitor. On the other hand, I was up against this: if I did put -up a feeble sort of opposition and gave in easy under pressure, the -conservative men, like some we have here in town, would say I didn't -mean business or I'd have actually opened fire on the mob. You see, -boys, I wasn't man enough to take a stand either way, and though I well -knew what was coming, I went about lying like a dog--lying in my throat, -telling everybody that the indications showed that the excitement had -quieted down. I went home that night and told my wife all was serene, -and I drank about a quart of rye whiskey to keep me from thinking about -the business and went to bed, but my conscience, I reckon, was stronger -than my whiskey, for I rolled and tumbled all night. It seemed to me -that I was, with my own hands, tying the rope around that pore nigger's -neck. There I lay, a sworn officer of the law, flat on my back with -not enough moral courage in my miserable carcass to have killed a gnat. -Carson, if I saw you once before my eyes that long night, I saw you -five hundred times. Your speech rang over and over in my ears. I saw you -stand there when a ball had already grazed your brow and defy them to -shoot again. I saw that poor black boy clinging to your knees, and -knew that the light of Heaven had shone on you, while I lay in the hot -darkness of the bottomless pit." - -"God, you do put it strong!" Garner exclaimed. - -"I'm not putting it half strong enough," the sheriff went on. "I don't -deserve to hold office even in a community half run by mob law. But I -ain't through. I ain't through yet. I got up early that awful morning, -and went out to feed my hogs at a pen that stands on a back street, and -there a woman milking a cow told me that it was over Pete Warren was -done for--guilty or not, he was done for. I went in the house and tried -to gulp down my breakfast, faced by my wife, who wouldn't speak to me, -and showed in other ways what she thought about the whole thing. She was -eternally sighing and going on about old Mammy Lindy and her feelings. I -first went to the jail, and there I was told that two mobs had come, the -first the Hillbend crowd, who did the work, and the bigger mob that got -there too late." - -Braider's voice had grown husky and he coughed. Garner stole a searching -glance of inquiry at Carson, but Dwight, his face suffused with a warm -look of pity for the speaker, was steadily staring through the open -door. - -"I ain't done yet, God knows I ain't," the sheriff gulped. "That morning -I felt meaner than any convict that ever wore ball and chain. If I'd -been tried and found guilty of stabbing a woman in the back I don't -believe I could have felt less like a man. I tried to throw it all off -by thinking that I couldn't have done any good anyway, but it wouldn't -work. Carson, you and your plucky stand for the maintenance of law was -before me, and you wasn't paid for the work while I was. Huh! do you -remember seeing me as you came out of Blackburn's store that morning, -with your hair all tousled up and your eyes looking red and bloodshot?" - -"Yes, I remember seeing you," said Dwight. "I would have stopped to -speak to you but--but I was in a hurry to get home." - -"Well, you may have heard that I used to be a sort of a one-horse -detective," Braider went on, "and I had acquired a habit of looking -for the explanation of nearly every unusual thing I saw, and--well, -you coming out of that store before it was opened for trade, while the -shutters in the front was still closed, struck me as odd. Then again, -remembering your big interest in Pete's case, somehow, it didn't seem to -me--meeting you sudden that way--that you looked quite as downhearted -as I expected. In fact, I thought you appeared sort o' satisfied over -something." - -"Oh!" Garner exclaimed, all at once suspecting Braider of a gigantic -ruse to entrap them. "You thought he looked chipper, did you? Well, I -must say he looked exactly the other way to me when I first saw him that -day." - -"Well, it started me to wondering, anyway," went on the sheriff, -ignoring Garner's interruption, "and I set to work to watch. I hung -about the restaurant across the street, smoking a cigar and keeping my -eyes on that store. After awhile I saw Bob Smith go in the store and -then Wade Tingle. Then I saw a big tray of grub covered with a white -cloth sent from the Johnston House, and Bob Smith come to the door and -took it in, sending the coon that fetched it back to the hotel. Well, -I waited a minute or two and then sauntered, careless-like, across and -went in. I chatted awhile with Bob and Wade, noticing, I remember, that -for a newspaper man Wade seemed powerful indifferent about gathering -items about what had happened, and that Blackburn was busy folding up -a tangled lot of short pieces of white sheeting. All this time I was -looking about to see where that waiter full of grub had gone. Not a -sign of it was in sight, but in a lull in the talk I heard the clink of -crockery somewhere below me, and I caught on. Boys, I'm here to tell you -that never did a condemned soul feel as I felt. I went out in the open -air praying, actually praying, that what I suspected might be true. I -started for the jail and on the way met Burt Barrett. I asked him for -particulars, and when he said that the Hillbend mob had left word that -nobody need even look for the remains of the boy my heart gave a big -jump in the same way as it had when that clip and saucer collided in -that cellar. I asked Burt if he noticed which way the mob tuck the -prisoner, and he said down towards town. I asked him if it wasn't odd -for Hillbend folks to go that way to hang a man, and he agreed that it -was. Well, to make a long story short, I was on to your gigantic ruse, -and God above knows what a load it took off of me. You had saved me, -Carson--you had saved me from toting that crime to my grave. I knew -you were the ringleader, for I didn't know anybody else who would have -thought of such a plan. You are a sight younger man than I am, but you -stuck to principle, while I shirked principle, duty, and everything -else. Doing all that was hurting your political chances, and you knew -it, but you stuck to what was right all the same." - -"Yes, he certainly has queered his political chances," Garner said, -grimly, with a look of wonder in his eye over the sheriff's frank -confession. "But you, I think you said, were a Wiggin man," he finished. - -"Well, Wiggin and some others _think_ I am yet," said Braider; "and -I reckon I was till this thing come up; but, boys, I guess I've got -a little smidgin of good left in me, for somehow Wiggin has turned my -stomach. But I hain't got to what I was leading up to. Neither one of -you hain't admitted that there is a nigger in that wood-pile yet, and I -don't blame you for keeping it to yourselves. That is your business, -but the time has come when Jeff Braider's got to do the right thing or -plunge deeper into hellishness, and he's had a taste of what it means -and don't want no more of it. I may lose all I've got by it. Wiggin and -his gang may beat me to a cold finish next election, but from now on I'm -on the other side." - -"Good," said Garner; "that's the way to talk. Was that what you were -leading up to, Braider?" - -"Not altogether," and the sheriff rose and stood over Carson, resting -his hand on the young man's shoulder to steady himself. "My boy, I've -come to tell you that the damnedest, blackest plot agin you that ever -was laid has been hatched out." - -"What is that, Braider?" Carson asked, calmly enough under the -circumstances. - -"Wiggin and his gang have found out that a trick was played night before -last. The Hillbend men convinced them that they didn't lynch anybody, -and the Wiggin crowd smelt around until they dropped on to the thing. -The only fact they are short on is where the boy is hid. They think he -is in the house of one of the negro preachers. Wiggin come to me, not -half an hour ago, and considering me one of his stand-bys, he told me -all about it. The scheme is for me to arrest Pete and jail 'im on the -charge of murder and then to arrest you fer being the ringleader of a -jail-breaking gang, who preaches law and order in public for political -gain and breaks both in secret." - -"And what do they think will become of Pete?" Carson asked, a touch of -supreme bitterness in his tone. - -"Wiggin didn't say; but I know what would happen to him. The seeds of -bloody riot are being strewn broadcast by the handful. They've been to -every member of the crowd that lynched Sam Dudlow and warned them, on -their lives, not to repeat the statement that Dudlow had said Pete was -innocent. They told the lynchers that you two lawyers were on the hunt -for men who had heard the confession and intend to use that as evidence -against them." - -"Ah, that _is_ slick, slick!" Garner muttered. - -"Slick as double-distilled goose-grease," said Braider. "The lynchers -are denying to friend or foe that Dudlow said a word, and the news is -spreading like wildfire that Pete was Dudlow's accomplice, and that you, -Carson, are trying, with a gang of town dudes, to carry your point by -main, bull-headed force." - -"I see, I see." Carson had risen and with a deep frown on his face stood -leaning against the top of his desk. He extended his hand to the officer -and said, "I appreciate your telling me all this, Braider, more than I -can say." - -"What's the good of my telling you if the news doesn't benefit you?" -the sheriff asked. "Carson, I want to see you win. I ain't half a man -myself, but I've got two little boys just starting to grow up, and I -wish they could be like you--a two-legged bull-dog that clamps his teeth -on what's right and won't let loose. Carson, you've got a chance--a bare -chance--to get your man out alive." - -"What's that?" Dwight asked, eagerly. - -"Why, let me hold the mob in check by promising to arrest Pete, and -you get some trusty feller to take him in a buggy to-night through the -country to Chattanooga. It would be a ticklish trip, and you want a man -that won't get scared at his shadow, for on every road out of Darley, -men will be on the lookout, but if you once got him there he would be -absolutely safe, for no mob would go out of the State to do work of that -sort. Getting a good man is the main thing." - -"I'll do it myself," Dwight said, firmly. "You?" Garner cried. "That's -absurd!" - -"I'm the only one who _could_ do it," Carson declared, "for Pete would -not go with any one else." - -"I really believe you are right," Garner agreed, reluctantly; "but it is -a nasty undertaking after all you've been through." - -"By gum!" exclaimed Braider, extending his hand to Dwight. "I hope you -will do it. I want to see you complete a darn good all-round job." > -"Well, you _are_ an officer of the law," Garner observed, with amusement -written all over his rugged face, "asking a man to steal your own -prisoner." - -"What else can I do that's at all decent?" Braider asked. "Besides, -do you fellows know that there never has been any written warrant for -Pete's arrest. I started to jail him without any, and old Mrs. Parsons -turned him loose. The only time he was put in jail was by Carson -himself. By George! as I look at it, Carson, you have every right to -take him out of jail, by any hook or crook, since you was responsible -for him being there instead of hanging to a limb of a tree. I tell -you, my boy, there ain't any law on earth that can touch you. Nobody is -prepared to testify against Pete, and if you will get him to Chattanooga -and keep him there for a while he can come back here a free man." - -"I have friends there who will look after him," Dwight said. "I'll start -with him to-night." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -[Illustration: 9297] - -HAT afternoon Keith Gordon went to Warren's to tell Helen of Carson's -plan for the removal of Pete. She received him in the big parlor, and he -found her seated at one of the wide windows which, in summer-time, was -used as a doorway to the veranda. - -"I met the conquering hero, Mr. Sanders, on my way down," he said, -lightly. "I presume he has been here as usual." - -"He only called to say good-bye," Helen answered, a little coldly. - -"Oh, that _is_ news," Keith pursued, in the same tone. "Rather sudden, -isn't it?" - -"No, his affairs would not permit a longer visit," said Helen. "But you -didn't come to talk of him; it was something about Pete." - -She sat very still and rigid while he went into detail as to the whole -situation, and when he had finished she rested her chin in her white -hand, and he saw her breast rise and fall tremulously. - -"There is danger attached to the trip," she said, without looking at -him. "I know it, Keith, by the way you talk." - -He deliberated for an instant, then acknowledged: "Yes, there is, and -to my way of thinking, Helen, there is a great deal. Wade and I tried to -get him to consent to some other plan, but he wouldn't hear to it. -He's so anxious to put it through all right that he won't trust to any -substitute, and he won't let any one else go along, either. He thinks it -would attract too much attention." - -"In what particular way does the danger lie?" Helen faltered, and Keith -saw her pass her hand over her mouth as if to reprimand her lips for -their unsteadiness. - -"I'd tell you there wasn't any at all, as Carson would have me do," -Keith declared; "but when a fellow has the courage of an army of men, I -believe in his getting the full credit for it. You want to know and -I'm going to tell you. He's been through ticklish places enough in this -business, but going over that lonely road to-night, when a thousand -furious men may be on the lookout for him, is the worst thing he has -tackled. It wouldn't be so very dangerous to a man who would throw up -his hands if accosted, but, Helen, if you could have seen Carson's face -when he was telling us about it, you would know that he will actually -die rather than see Pete taken. He's reckless of late, anyway." - -"Reckless!" Helen echoed, and this time she gave Keith a full, almost -pleading stare. - -"Oh yes, you know he's reckless. He's been so ever since Mr. Sanders -came. It looks to me like--well, I reckon a man can understand another -better than a woman can, but it looks to me like Carson is doing the -whole thing because you feel so worried about it." - -"You certainly wrong him there," Helen declared. - -"He is doing it simply because it is right." - -"Oh, of course he thinks it's _right,_" Keith returned, with a boyish -smile; "he thinks everything _you_ want is right." - -When Keith had gone Helen went at once to Linda's cottage to tell her -the news, putting it in as hopeful a light as possible, and not touching -upon the danger of the journey. But the old woman had a very penetrating -mind, and she stood in the doorway with a deeply furrowed brow for -several minutes without saying anything, then her observation only added -to Helen's burden of anxiety. - -"Chile," she said, "ol' Lindy don't like de way dat looks one bit. -You say young marster got ter steal off in de dead o' night, en dat he -cayn't even let me see my boy once 'fo' he go. Suppin up, honey--suppin -up! De danger ain't over yit. Honey, I know what it is," Linda groaned; -"dem white folks is rising ergin." - -"Well, even if that is the reason"--Helen felt the chill hand of fear -grasp her heart at the admission--"even if that is it, Carson will -get him away safely." - -"Ef he _kin_, honey, ef he _kin!_" Linda moaned. - -"'God been behind 'im all thoo so fur, but I seed de time when de Lawd -Hisse'f seem ter turn His back on folks tryin' ter do dey level best." - -Leaving Linda muttering and moaning in the cottage doorway, the girl -went with a despondent step back to the big empty house and wandered -aimlessly about the various rooms. - -As night came on and her father returned from town, she met him on the -veranda and gave him a kiss of greeting, but she soon discovered that -he had heard nothing. In fact, he was one of the many who still believed -that Pete had been lynched, the vague whisperings to the contrary not -having reached his old ears. She sat with him at the tea-table, and then -went up to her room and lighted her lamp on her bureau. As she did so -she looked at her reflection in the mirror and started at the sight of -her grave features. Then a flash from her wrist caught her eye. It was -the big diamond of a beautiful bracelet which Sanders had given her, -and as she looked at it she shuddered. Was she superstitious? She hardly -knew, and yet a strange idea took possession of her brain. Would her -unspoken prayers for Carson Dwight's safety in his perilous expedition -be answered while she wore that gift from another man, after she had -spurned Carson's great and lasting love, and allowed the poor boy to -think that she had given herself heart and soul to this stranger? She -hesitated only a moment, and opening a jewel box she unclasped the -bracelet and put it away. Then with a certain lightness of heart she -went to the window overlooking the grounds of the Dwight homestead -and stood there staring out in the hope of seeing Carson. But he was -evidently not at home, for no lights were visible except a dim one in -the invalid's room and one in old Dwight's chamber adjoining. - -At ten o'clock Helen disrobed herself still with that awful sense of -impending tragedy hovering over her. The oil in her lamp was almost out, -and for this reason only she extinguished the flame, else she would -have kept it burning through the night to dissipate the material shadows -which seemed to accentuate those of her spirit. She heard the old -grandfather clock on the stair-landing below solemnly strike ten, then -the monotonous tick-tack as the great pendulum swung to and fro. Sleep -was out of the question. A few minutes before eleven she heard a soft -foot-fall on the walk in the front garden, and going out on the veranda -she looked down. - -The bowed form of a woman was moving restlessly back and forth from the -steps to the gate. - -"Is that you, mammy?" Helen asked, softly. - -The handkerchiefed head was lifted and Linda looked up. - -"Yes, it's me, honey. I can't sleep. What de use? Kin er mother sleep -when her chile is comin' in de worl'? No, you know she can't; neither -kin she close 'er eyes when she's afeared dat same chile is gwine out of -it. I'm afeared, honey. I'm afeared ter-night wuss dan all. Seem lak -de evil sperits des been playin' wid us all erlong--makin' us think we -gwine ter come thoo, so't will hit us harder w'en it do strack de blow. -You go on back ter yo' baid, honey. You catch yo' death er cold. I'm -gwine home right now." - -Helen saw the old woman disappear round the corner of the house, but -she remained on the veranda. The clock was striking eleven, and she -was about to go in, when she heard the dull beat of hoofs on the -carriage-drive of the Dwight place, and through the half moonlight she -saw a pair of horses, Carson's best, harnessed to a buggy and driven -by their owner slowly and cautiously going towards the big gate. Dwight -himself got down to open it. She heard his low commands to the spirited -animals as he led them forward by the bit, and then he stepped back to -close and latch the gate. She had an overpowering impulse to call out to -him; but would it be wise? His evident precaution was to keep his mother -from knowing of his departure, and Helen's voice might attract the -attention of the invalid and seriously hamper him in his undertaking. -With her hands pressed to her breast she saw him get into the buggy, -heard his calm voice as he spoke to the horses, and then he was off--off -to do his duty--and _hers_. She went back to her room and laid down, -haunted by the weird thought that she would never see him again. Then, -all at once, she had a flash of memory which sent the hot blood of -shame from her heart to her brain, and she sat up, staring through the -darkness. _That_ was the man against whom she had steeled her heart for -his conduct, his youthful indiscretions with her unfortunate brother. -Was Carson Dwight to go forever unpardoned--unpardoned by such as _she_ -while _that_ sort of soul held suffering sway within him? - -The hours of the long night dragged by and another day began. Keith came -up after breakfast and related the particulars of Carson's departure. -Graphically he recounted how the gang had robed the ill-starred Pete in -grotesque woman's attire and seen him and Carson safely in the buggy, -but that was all that could be told or foretold. As for Keith, he and -all the rest were trying to look on the bright side, and they would -succeed better but for the long face Pole Baker had drawn when he came -into town early that morning and heard of the expedition. - -"So he was uneasy?" Helen said, in perturbation. - -Keith hesitated for a moment and then answered: "Yes, to tell you the -truth, Helen, it almost staggered him. He is a good-natured, long-headed -chap, and he lost his temper. He cursed us all out for a silly, stupid -set for allowing Carson to take such a risk. Finally we drew out of him -what he feared. He said the particular road Carson took to reach the -State line was actually alive with men, who had been keyed up to the -highest tension by Wiggin and his followers. Pole said they had their -eye on that road particularly because it was the most direct way to -Chattanooga, and that Carson wouldn't have one chance in five hundred -of passing unmolested. He said the idea of fooling men of that stamp by -putting Pete in a woman's dress in the company of Carson, of all human -beings, was the work of insane men." - -"It really was dangerous!" said Helen, pale to the lips. - -"Well, we meant it for the best"--Keith defended himself and his -friends--"we didn't know the road was a particularly dangerous one. In -fact, Pole didn't learn it himself until several hours after Carson had -left. I really believe he'd have helped us do what we did if he had been -with us last night. We did the best we could; besides, Carson was going -to have his way. Every protest we made was swept off with that winning -laugh of his. In spite of the gravity of the thing, he kept us roaring. -I have never seen him in better spirits. He was bowing and scraping -before that veiled and hooded darky as if he were the grandest lady in -the land. He even insisted on handing Pete into the buggy and protecting -his long skirt from the dusty wheel. We never realized what we had done -till he was gone and we all gathered in the store and talked it over. -Blackburn, I reckon, being the oldest, was the bluest. He almost cried. -Helen, I've seen popular men in my life, but I never saw one with so -many friends as Carson. He's an odd combination. His friends love him -extravagantly and his enemies hate him to the limit." - -Late that afternoon, unable to wait longer for news of Carson, Helen -went down to his office. Garner was in, and she surprised a look of -firmly grounded uneasiness on his strong face. For a moment it was as if -he intended to make some equivocal reply to her inquiry, but threw aside -the impulse as unworthy of her courage and intelligence. - -"To be candid," he said, as he stood stroking his chin, which bristled -with open disregard for appearances under stress of more important -things--"to tell you the whole truth, Miss Helen, I don't like the lay -of the land." Then he told her that the sheriff had just informed him -of the whispered rumor that a body of men had met Carson Dwight and his -charge near the State line about three o'clock in the morning. What had -taken place the sheriff didn't know, beyond the fact that the men had -disbanded and returned to their homes all gravely uncommunicative. What -it meant no one but the participants knew. To face the facts, it looked -very much as if harm had really come to one, if not to both, of the two. -The mob had evidently been wrought to a high pitch of resentment for -the trick Carson had played in stealing the prisoner from jail, and this -second attempt to get him away may have enraged his enemies to outright -violence against him, especially as Dwight was a fighting man and very -hot-headed when roused. - -Unable to discuss the matter in her depressed frame of mind, Helen left -him and went home. The whole story being now out, she found her father -warmly excited and disposed to talk about it in all its phases, the -earliest as well as the latest, but she had no heart for it, and after -urging the Major not to speak of it to Linda she went supperless to her -room. - -Two hours passed. The dusk had given way to the deeper darkness of -evening. The moon had not yet risen and the starlight from a partly -clouded sky was not sufficiently luminous to aid the vision in reaching -any considerable distance, and yet from one of the rear windows of her -room, where she stood morosely contemplative, she could see the vague -outlines of Linda's cottage. It was while she was looking at the doorway -of the little domicile, which stood out above the shrubbery of the rear -garden as if dimly lighted from a candle within, that she saw something -which caused her heart to suddenly bound. It was the live coal of a -cigar, and the smoker seemed to be leaving the cottage, passing through -the little gateway, and entering her father's grounds. What more natural -than for Carson, if he had returned safely, to go at once to the mother -of the boy with the news? Helen almost held her breath. She would soon -be reasonably sure, for if it were Carson he would take a diagonal -direction to reach the gateway to the Dwight homestead. Was it Carson, -or--could it be her father? Her heart sank over the last surmise, and -then it bounded again, for the coal of fire, fitfully flaring, was -moving in the direction prayed for. Down the stairs Helen glided -noiselessly, lest the Major hear her, and yet rapidly. When she reached -the front veranda and descended the steps to the grass of the lawn she -was just in time to see the red disk passing through the gateway -to Dwight's. No form was visible, and yet she called out firmly and -clearly: "Carson! Carson!" The coal of fire paused, described a curve, -and she bounded towards it. - -"Did you call me?" Carson Dwight asked, in a voice so low from -hoarseness that it hardly reached her ears. - -"Yes, wait!" she panted. "Oh, you've gotten back!" - -They now stood face to face. - -"Oh yes," he laughed, with a gesture towards his throat of apology for -his hoarseness; "did you think I was off for good?" - -"No, but I was afraid"--she was shocked by the pallor of his usually -ruddy face, the many evidences of fatigue upon him, the nervous way -he stood holding his hat and cigar--"I was afraid you had met with -disaster." - -"But why did you feel that way?" he asked, reassuringly. - -"Oh, from what Keith said in general, and Mr. Garner, too. They declared -the road you took was full of desperadoes, and--" - -"I might have known they would exaggerate the whole business," Carson -said, with a smile. "Why, I've just come from Mam' Linda's. I went to -tell her that Pete is all right and as sound as a dollar. He's in the -charge of good, reliable friends of mine up there, and wholly out -of danger. In fact, he's as happy as a lark. When I left him he was -surrounded by a gang of as trifling scamps as himself bragging about his -numerous escapes and--he's generous--my importance in the community we -live in. Well, he's certainly been _important_ enough lately." - -"But did you not meet with--with any opposition at all?" Helen went on, -insistently. - -"Oh, well"--he hesitated, struck a match, and applied it to his already -lighted cigar--"we lost our way, for one thing. You see, I was a little -afraid to carry a light, and it was hard to make out the different -sign-boards, and, all in all, it was a slow trip, but we got through all -right. And hungry! Gee whiz! We struck a restaurant in the outskirts of -Chattanooga about sunup, and while that fellow was cooking us some steak -and making coffee we could have eaten him alive. If Mam' Linda -could have seen her boy eat she would have no fears as to his bodily -condition." - -"But didn't you meet some men who stopped you?" Helen asked, staring -steadily into his eyes. - -He blinked, flicked the ashes from his cigar, and said: "Yes, we did, -and they were really on the war-path, but they seemed very reasonable, -and when I had talked to them and explained the matter from our -stand-point--why, they--they let us go." - -They had gone into the grounds and were near the main walk when the gate -was opened and a man came striding towards them. It was Jeff Braider. - -"Oh, I've been looking for you everywhere, Carson," he cried, warmly, -shaking Dwight's hand. "I heard you'd got back, but I wanted to see you -with my own eyes. Lord, Lord, my boy, if I'd known the awful trouble I -was getting you into I'd never have let you take that road. I've just -heard the whole story. For genuine pluck and endurance you certainly -take the rag off the bush. Why, nine hundred and ninety-nine men out of -a thousand would have given up the game, but you, you young bull-dog--" - -"Carson, Carson! are you down there?" It was a man's voice from an upper -window. - -"Yes, father, what is it?" - -"Your mother wants to see you right now. She's waked up and is worrying. -Come on in." - -"You'll both excuse me for just a moment, I know," Carson said, as if -glad of the interruption. "I'll be back presently. I haven't seen my -mother since I returned, and she is very nervous and easily excited." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV - -[Illustration: 9309] - -O you are the only lady member of the secret gang that stole my -prisoner!" the sheriff said, laughingly. "The boys told me all about -it." - -"I wasn't taken in till they had done all the work," Helen smiled. "I -was only an honorary addition, elected more to keep my mouth shut than -for any other service I could perform." - -"Oh, _that_ was it!" Braider laughed. "Well, they certainly put the -thing through. I've mixed up in a lot of hair-raising scrapes in my -time, but that kidnapping business was the brightest idea ever sprung -from a man's head. This fellow Dwight is a corker. Did he tell you what -he went through last night?" - -"Not a thing," replied Helen; "the truth is, I have an idea he was -trying to mislead me." - -"Well, he certainly was if he didn't tell you he had the hardest fight -for his life and that nigger's that ever a man made. You noticed how -hoarse he was, didn't you? That is due to it. The poor chap was up all -last night and drove the biggest part of to-day. I'll bet, strong as he -is, he's as limber as a dish-rag." - -"Then he really had trouble?" Helen breathed, heavily. - -"Trouble! And he didn't mention it to you? Young men in this day and -time certainly play their cards peculiar. When I was on the carpet we -boys had a way of making the most to women folks of everything we did, -and it was generally the loudest talker that won the game. But here I -find this 'town dude,' as the country people call his sort, actually -trying to make you think he went to Chattanooga last night in a Pullman -car. Good Lord, it gives me the all-overs to think of it! I heard all -about it. I met a man who was along, and he told me the whole thing from -start to finish." - -"What was it?" Helen asked, breathlessly. - -"Why," answered Braider, casting a glance towards Dwight's as if fearful -of being overheard, "I didn't know it, but somehow the mob had got wind -of what Carson intended to do, and, bless you, they were waiting for him -near the State line primed and cocked. The boy's enemies had fixed him. -They had worked the mob up to the highest pitch of fury with all sorts -of tales against Pete. They had produced men who had really heard the -nigger threaten to harm Johnson, and they themselves testified that -Carson was saving the nigger only to capture black voters as their -friend and benefactor. The mob was mad as Tucker at him for tricking -them the other night, and they certainly had it in for him." - -"They were mad at Carson _personally_, then?" Helen said. - -"_Were_ they? They were ready to drink his blood. They halted the buggy, -took them both out, and tied them." - -"Tied Car--" Helen's voice died away, and she stood staring at Braider -unable to speak. - -"Yes, they tied them both and led them off into the woods. They then -fastened Pete to a stump and piled sticks and brush around him and told -Carson they were going to make him see them burn the boy alive and when -that was done they intended to silence his tongue by shooting him dead -in his tracks." - -Helen covered her face with her hands and stifled a groan. - -"His power of gab saved him, Miss Helen," Braider went on. "It saved -them both. It wasn't any begging, either; that wouldn't have gone with -that sort of gang. With his hands and feet tied he began to talk--that's -what ails his throat now--and the man that confessed it to me said such -rapid fire of words and argument never before rolled from human lips. He -told them he knew they would kill him; that they were a merciless band -of desperadoes; but he was going to fire some truths at them that they -would remember after he was gone, I'm no talker, Miss Helen. I can't -possibly repeat what the man told me. He said at first Carson couldn't -get their attention, but after awhile, when they were getting ready to -apply the match, something in Dwight's voice caught their ear and they -paused. He talked and talked, until a man behind him, in open defiance, -cut the cords that held his hands. Later another cut his feet loose, and -then Carson walked boldly up to Pete and stood beside him, and although -a growl of fury was still in the air he kept talking. The man that told -me about it said Carson first picked up one of the sticks around the -prisoner and hurled it from him to emphasize something he said, then -another and another, until the mob saw him kicking the sticks away and -roaring out an offer to fight the whole bunch single-handed. Gee whiz! -I'd have given ten years of my life to have heard it. He hadn't a thing -to say in favor of Pete's general character; he said the boy was an -idle, fun-loving, shiftless fellow, but he was innocent of the crime -charged against him and he should not die like a dog. He spoke of the -fine characters of Pete's mother and father and of the old woman's -grief, and then, Miss Helen, he said something about _you_, and the man -that told me about it said that one thing did more to soften and quell -the crowd than anything else." - -"He said something about _me?_" Helen cried. "Me?" - -"Yes; no names was mentioned, but they knew who he meant," Braider went -on. "Carson spoke of your family and of the close bond of human sympathy -between it and all the blacks that had once belonged to your folks, -and said that the daughter of that house, the most beautiful womanly -character that had ever blessed the South, was praying at that moment -for the safety of the prisoner, and if they carried out their plans she -would shed tears of sorrow. 'Your intentions are good,' Carson said. -'You are all sincere men acting, as you see it, in the interests of the -women of the South. Listen to this gentlewoman's prayer uttered through -my mouth to-night for mercy and human justice.' - -"It fairly swept them off their feet, Miss Helen. The man that told me -about it said he never saw a more thoroughly shamed lot of men in his -life; he said they released Pete and led the horses around and stood -like mile-posts with nothing to say as Carson drove away. The man that -told me said he'd bet ninety per cent, of the gang would vote for Dwight -this fall. But I must be going; if that young buck knew I'd been telling -you all this he'd give _me_ a tongue-lashing, and I don't want any of -his sort in mine." - -Helen waited for about ten minutes alone on the grass--waited for -Carson. When he finally came out and hurried towards her, he found her -with her handkerchief pressed over her eyes. - -"Why, what is the matter, Helen?" he asked, in sudden concern. - -She remained silent for a moment, and then with glistening eyes she -looked up at him as he stood pale and disturbed, the plaster still -marking his wound and gleaming in the starlight. - -"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, laying her hand tenderly on his -arm, her voice holding cadences of ineffable sweetness. - -"Oh, Braider's been talking to you, I see!" Dwight said, with a frown of -displeasure. - -"Why, didn't you tell me, Carson?" she repeated, putting her disengaged -hand on his arm and raising her appealing face till it was close to his. - -He shrugged his shoulders, still frowning, and then said, flushing under -her urgent gaze: "Because, Helen, you've already seen and heard too much -of this awful stuff. It really is not fit for a gentle, sensitive girl -like you." - -"Oh, Carson," she cried, her suffused face held even closer to his, "you -are the dearest, sweetest boy in the world!" and she turned and left -him, left him alone there in his fatigue, alone under the starlight to -fight as he had never fought before the deathless yearning for her. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -[Illustration: 9315] - -WO weeks went by. Great changes had come over the temper of the -insurgent mountain people. They had gradually come to accept the rescue -of Pete Warren as a chance bit of real justice that was as admirable as -it was unusual and heroic. A sufficient number of men had come forward -and testified to Sam Dudlow's ante-mortem confession to exculpate -Carson's client, and some who had a leaning towards Dwight's cause -politically were hinting, on occasion, that surely a man who would take -such a plucky stand for the rights of a humble negro would not be a mere -figure-head in the legislature of the State. At all events, there was -one man who ground his teeth in secret rage over the subtle turn of -affairs, and that man was Wiggin. He still busied himself sowing the -seditious seed of race hatred wherever he found receptive soil, but, -unfortunately for his cause, in many places where unbridled fury had -once ploughed the ground a sort of frost had fallen. Most men whose -passions are unduly wrought undergo a certain sort of relapse, and -Wiggin found many who were not so much interested in their support of -him as formerly when an open and defiant enemy was to be defeated. - -Wiggin was puzzled more about Jeff Braider than any one of his former -supporters. Braider was too good a politician to admit that he had in -any way aided Carson Dwight by a betrayal of the plot against him, -for that was exactly the sort of thing Wiggin could hold out to his -constituents as the act of a man disloyal to his official post, -for, guilty or innocent, the prisoner should have been held, as any -law-abiding citizen would admit. As to Pete's guilt Wiggin's opinion -was unchanged, and he made no bones of saying so; he believed, so he -declared, that Pete was Dudlow's accomplice, and the dastardly manner of -his release was a shame and a disgrace to any white man's community. - -As for Jeff Braider, he was in such high feather over the success of his -swerving towards the right in the nick of time that he refrained from -drink and wore better clothing. He liked the situation. He felt, now, -that he could serve his country, his God, and himself with a clear -conscience, for Carson Dwight looked like a winner and they had agreed -to work together. - -Helen Warren, after her impulsive leaning towards her first sweetheart -that night in the garden, had permitted herself to undergo the keenest -suffering which was due to her strangely unsettled mind. Was she -strictly honest? she asked herself. She had openly encouraged a good man -to hope that she would finally become his wife, and the letters she was -receiving from him daily were of the tenderest, most appealing nature, -showing that Sanders' love for her and faith in her fair dealing were -too deeply grounded to be easily uprooted. Besides, as he perhaps had -the right to do, the Augusta man had spoken of his hopes to his mother -and sister, and those sympathetic ladies had written Helen adroit -letters which all but plainly alluded to the "understanding" as being -the forerunner of a most welcome family event. - -Many times had the poor girl seated herself to respond to these -communications, and found herself absolutely unequal to the performance -in the delicate spirit that the occasion demanded. The window of her -room, at which her writing-desk stood, looked out over the garden at -Dwight's, and the very spot where she had left Carson that memorable -night was in open view. How could she throw herself into anything, yes -_anything_ pertaining to her compact with Sanders while the ever-present -thrill and ecstasy of that moment was permeating her? What had it really -meant--that ecstatic yearning to kiss the lips so close to hers, the -lips which had quivered in dumb adoration and despair as he strove to -keep from her ken the suffering he had undergone in her service? - -One day she rebelled against the painful, almost morbid, state of -indecision that was on her and firmly decided that there was but one -honorable course to pursue and that was in every way to be true to her -tacit promise to the absent suitor, and in a spasm of resolution she -was about to set herself to the correspondence just mentioned when Mam' -Linda was announced. The old woman had just returned from a visit to -Chattanooga to see her son and in addition to news of his well-being she -had many other things to say. The letters would have to wait, Helen told -herself, and her old nurse was admitted. Linda remained two hours, and -Helen sat the while in a veritable dream as the old woman gave Pete's -version of Carson Dwight's conduct before the mob on the lonely mountain -road. And when Linda had gone, Helen turned to her desk. There lay the -white sheets fluttering in the summer breeze, mutely beckoning her back -to stem reality. Helen stared at them and then with a little cry of pain -she lowered her head to her folded arms and wept--not for Sanders in -his complacent, epistolary hopefulness, but for the one who had bravely -borne more than his burden of pain, and upon whom she had resolved to -put still more. Helen told herself that it would not be the first time -_ideal_ happiness had not been a factor in a sensible marriage. The time -would come, in her life, as it had in the lives of so many other women, -when she would look back on her present feeling for Carson, and wonder -how she ever could have fancied--but, no, that would be unfair to him, -to his wealth of spirituality, to his gentleness, his courage to--to -Carson _just as he was_, to Carson who must always, always be the same, -different from all living men. Yes, he was to go out of her life. Out -of her life--how strange! and yet it would be so, for she would be the -_wife_ of---- - -She shuddered and sat staring at the floor. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -[Illustration: 9319] - -IGGIN was no insignificant opponent; he held weapons as powerful as fire -applied to inflammable material. The papers were filled with accounts -of race rioting in all parts of the South, and in his speeches on -the stump, through the length and breadth of the county, he kept his -particular version of the bloody happenings well before his hearers. - -"This is a white man's country," was the key-note of all his hot -tirades, "and the white man is bound to rule." He accomplished -one master-stroke. There was to be a considerable gathering of the -Confederate, veterans at an annual picnic at Shell Valley, a few miles -from Springtown, and by no mean diplomacy Wiggin had, by shrewdly -ingratiating himself into the good graces of the committee of -arrangements, managed to have himself invited as the only orator of the -occasion. He meant to make it the greatest day of the campaign, and in -some respects, as will be seen he did. - -The farmers came from all parts of the county in their best attire, in -their best turnouts, from plain, springless road-wagons to glittering -buggies. The wood which stretched on all sides from the spring was -filled with vehicles, horses, mules, and even oxen. - -The grizzled veterans, battered as much by post-bellum hardship and -toil as by war, came with their wives, sons, and daughters, and brought -baskets to the rich contents of which any man was welcome. A crude -platform had been erected near the spring under the shadiest trees, and -upon this the speaker of the day was to hold forth. Behind the little -impromptu table holding a glass pitcher of water and a tumbler, erected -for Wiggin's special benefit, were a number of benches made of undressed -boards. And to these seats the wives and daughters of the leading -citizens were invited. - -Jabe Parsons, being a man of importance as a land-owner and an old -soldier, was instructed on his arrival in his rickety buggy to escort -his wife, who was gorgeously arrayed in a new green-and-red checked -gingham gown with a sunbonnet to match, to the front seat on the -platform, and he obeyed with a sort of ploughman's swagger that -indicated his pride in the possession of a wife so widely known and -respected. Indeed, no woman who had arrived--and she had come later -than the rest--had caused such a ripple of comment. Always liked for -her firmness in any stand she took in matters of church or social life, -since her Amazonian rescue of Pete Warren from the very halter of death -she was even more popular. The women of the county had not given much -thought to the actual guilt or innocence of the boy, but they wanted -Mrs. Parsons--as a specimen of their undervalued sex--to be right in -that instance, as she had always been about every other matter upon -which she had stood flat-footed, and so they all but cheered her on this -first public appearance after conduct which 'had been so widely talked -about. - -Really, if Wiggin could have had the reception Mrs. Parsons received -from beaming eyes and faces he would have felt that his star, which had -been rather below the horizon than above of late, had become a fixed -ornament in the political heavens. But Wiggin gave no thought to her, -and there's where he made a mistake. Women were beneath the notice -of serious men, Wiggin thought, except as a means of controlling a -husband's vote, and there he made another mistake. It would have been -well for him if he could have noticed the fires of contempt in Mrs. -Parsons' eyes as he made his way through the crowd, bowing right -and left, and took his seat in the only chair on the platform, and -proceeded, of course, to take a drink of water. - -A country parson, while the multitude sat upon the grass, crude benches, -buggy-cushions, or heaps of pine needles, opened the ceremonies with a -long-winded prayer, composed of selections from all the prayers he knew -by rote and ending with something resembling a benediction. Then a young -lady was asked to recite a dramatic poem relating to the "Lost Cause," -and she did it with such telling effect that the gray heads of the -old soldiers sank to their chests, and, in memory of camp-fire, -battle-field, and comrades left in unmarked graves, the tears flowed -down furrowed cheeks and strong forms were shaken by sobs. - -It was into this holy silence that the unmoved, preoccupied Wiggin rose -to cast his burning brand. Through curtains of tears he laid his fuse to -hidden magazines of powder. - -"I believe in getting right down to business," he began, in a crisp, -rasping voice that reached well to the outskirts of the crowd. "There's -nothing today that is as important to you, fellow-citizens, as the -correct use of the ballot. I am a candidate for your votes. I mean to -represent you in the next legislature, and I don't intend to be foiled -by the tricks, lies, and underhand work of a gang of stuck-up town men -who laugh at your honest appearance and homely ways. God knows you are -the salt of the earth, and when I hear men of that stamp making fun of -you behind your backs it makes me mad. My father was a mountain farmer, -and when men throw dirt on folks of your sort they throw it into the -tenderest recesses of my being and it smarts like salt in a fresh cut." - -There was applause from a group in the edge of the crowd led by long, -tall Dan Willis, and it spread uncertainly to other parts of the -gathering. - -"Hit 'em, blast 'em, hit 'em, Wiggin," a man near Willis shouted; "hit - 'em!" - -"You bet I'll hit 'em, brother," Wiggin panted, as he rolled up his -coat-sleeve and pulled down his rumpled cuff. "That's what I'm here for. -I'm here, by the holy stars, to show you people a few things which have -been overlooked. I intend to go into the history of this case. I want -you all to look back a few weeks. A gang of worthless negroes in Darley -became so bad and openly defiant in their rowdyism that they were -literally running the town. Whenever they would be hauled up before the -mayor for disgraceful conduct some old slave-holder, who used to own -them or their daddies, would come up and pay their fine and they'd be -turned loose again. The black scamps became so spoiled that whenever -country people would come in town they would laugh at them, imitate -their talk, call them po' white trash, and push them off the sidewalks. -Some of you mountain men stood it, God bless your Caucasian bones, just -as long as human endurance would let you, and then you formed a secret -gang that went into Darley one night and pulled their dives and gave -them a lashing on their bare backs that brought about a reform. As every -Darley man will tell you, it purified the very air. The negroes were put -to work, and they didn't hover like swarms of buzzards round the public -square. All of which showed plainly that the cowhide was the only -corrective that the niggers knew about or cared a cent for. Trying them -in a mayor's court was elevating them to the level of a white man, and -they liked it." - -"You bet!" cried out Dan Willis, and a laugh went round which spurred -Wiggin to further flights of vituperation. - -"Now to my next step in this history," he thundered. "In that gang of -soundly thrashed scamps there were two who were chums, as I could prove -by sworn testimony. Those black fiends refused to submit passively. They -skulked around making sullen threats and trying to incite race riot. -Failing in this, what did they do? One of them, being hand in glove with -Carson Dwight, who says he's going to beat me in this election, applied -to him for a job and was sent out to Dwight's farm near to that of -Abe Johnson, who is thought--by some--to have been the leader of the -thrashing delegation. That nigger, Pete Warren, was promptly joined by -his black pal, and Johnson and his wife, one of the best women in this -State, were foully murdered in the dead hours of the night as they lay -sleeping in their beds. Who did it? _I_ know who did it. _You_ know -who did it. Fellow-citizens, those two niggers, with their backs still -smarting and their tongues still wagging, were the devils who did the -deed." - -Low muttering was heard throughout the crowd as men turned to one -another to make comment on the statement. In its incipiency it meant -no more, perhaps, than that reason, hard driven by rising emotion, -was honestly striving to keep the equitable poise which had recently -governed it, but it sounded to the thoughtless, inflammable element like -sullen, swelling acquiescence to the bitter charges, and they took it -up. Wiggin paused, drank from the tumbler, and watched his flashing fuse -in its sinuous course through the assemblage. - -Mrs. Parsons was near the edge of the platform, and Pole Baker, rising -from the grass near by, where he had been coolly whittling a stick, -stealthily approached her. - -"Great goodness, Mrs. Parsons," he whispered in her ear, "that skunk is -cutting a wide swath to-day, sure! He could git up a lynching-bee right -here in five minutes if he had any sort of material. The only thing of -the right color is that old woman selling ginger-cakes and cider at the -spring. Don't you think I'd better slip down and tell her to go home?" - -"It might save the old thing's neck," Mrs. Parsons answered, in the same -half-amused spirit. "If he keeps on I don't think I'll be able to hold -my seat. Why don't you say something?" - -"Me? Oh, I ain't no public speaker, Mrs. Parsons. That oily gab of -Wiggin's would twist me into a hundred knots, and Carson Dwight would -cuss me out for making matters worse. I never feel like talking unless -I'm drunk, and then I'm tongue-tied." - -"Well, I don't git drunk and I don't git tongue-tied!" grunted Mrs. -Parsons; "and I tell you, Pole, if that fool keeps on I'll either talk -or bust." - -"Well, don't bust--we need women like you right now," Baker smiled. "But -the truth is, if some'n' ain't done for our side this thing will sweep -Carson Dwight clean out of the field." - -"Yes, because men are born fools," retorted the woman. "Look at their -faces, the last one of them right now is mad enough to lynch a nigger -baby, and a _gal_ baby at that." - -With a laugh, Pole went back to his seat on the grass for Wiggin was -thundering again. - -"What happened _next!_" he demanded, bending over his table, a hand on -each end of it, his keen, alert eyes sweeping like twin search-lights -into the deeps of the countenances turned to him. "Why, just this and -nothing more. Knowing that the jack-leg lawyers of that measly town -would clog the wheels of justice for their puny fees, and hold those -fiends over for other hellishness, some of you rose and took the law -into your own hands. You jerked one to glory as quick as you laid hands -on him, and part of you were hard on the track of his mate, when my -honorable opponent, not wanting to lose the fee he was to get for -pulling the case through, met the mob and managed, by a lot of -grand-stand playing and solemn promises to see that the negro was -legally tried, to put him in jail. - -"Those promises he kept like the honorable gentleman he is," Wiggin -snorted, tossing back his hair in white rage and rolling up his sleeves -again. "You know how he kept his word to the public. He organized a -secret band of his dirty associates in town, dressed 'em up like White -Caps, and they went to the jail and took the nigger out. Then they -hid him in a cellar of a store where you all buy supplies, out of the -goodness of your patriotic souls, and later sent him in a new suit of -clothes to Chattanooga, where he is now engaged in the same sort of life -that he was here, an idle, good-for-nothing, lazy tramp, who says he's -as good as any white man that ever wore shoe-leather and no doubt thinks -he will some day marry a white woman." - -The rising storm burst, and Wiggin stood above it calmly viewing it in -all its subdued and open fury. Shouts of rage rent the air. Men with -blanched faces, men with gleaming eyes, rose from their seats, as if -a call to their manhood for instantaneous action had been sounded, and -walked about muttering threats, grinding their teeth, and clinching -their brawny hands. - -"Ah, ha!" Wiggin bellowed; "I see you catch my idea. But I'm not -through. Just wait!" - -He paused to drink again, and Pole Baker, with a grave look in his -honest eye approached the sculpturesque shape of Mrs. Parsons and nudged -her. - -"Did you ever in yore life?" he said; but staring him in the eyes -steadily, the woman seemed not to hear what he was saying. Her lower lip -was twitching and there was an expression of settled determination in -her eyes. Baker, wondering, moved back to his place, for Wiggin had -levelled his guns again. - -"And the man that was at the head of it, what is he doing right now? Why -he's leaning back in his rocking-chair in his law-office drawing a fat -pension from his rich old daddy, taking in big fees for such legal work -as that, and fairly splitting his sides laughing at you folks, who he -calls a lot of sap-headed hillbillies, fit only for hopping clods and -feeding hogs on swill and pussley weeds. Oh, that was a picnic--that -trick he and those town rowdies put up on you! It was a gentle rebuke to -you, and when he gets to the legislature he says he--" - -"Legislature be damned!" Dan Willis roared, and the crowd took up his -cry. - -"Oh yes, _you'll_ vote him in," Wiggin went on, with a vast air of mock -depression and reproach; "you think you won't now, but when he gets up -and tells his side of it with a forced tear or two, your women folks -will say, 'Poor boy!' and tell you what to do at the polls." - -Comprehensive applause greeted the speaker as he sat down. Hats were -thrown in the air and Dan Willis organized and gave three resounding -cheers. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - -[Illustration: 9328] - -F the audience was surprised at what next happened, what may be said of -the astounded candidate when he saw the powerful form of Mrs. Parsons -rise from her seat near him and calmly stride with the tread of an angry -man to the speaker's stand and take off her curtained bonnet and begin -to wave it up and down to indicate that she wanted them to keep their -places? - -"I never made a speech in my life," she gulped--"that is, not outside of -an experience meetin'. But, people, ef this ain't an experience meeting -I never went to one. Ef the Lord God had told me Hisse'f in a blazonin' -voice from heaven that any human bein' could take such a swivelled-up, -contemptible shape as the man that's yelled at you like a sick calf -to-day, I never would have believed it. I've got a right to be heard. -I couldn't set still. It would give me St. Vitus's dance to try it -ten minutes longer. I've got a right to talk, because, friends and -neighbors, this contemptible creature has, in a roundabout way, accused -_me_ of law-breaking, an'--" - -"Why, madam!" Wiggin gasped, as he half rose and stared around in utter -bewilderment. "I don't even _know_ you! I never laid eyes on you before -this minute--" - -"Well, take a good look at me now!" Mrs. Parsons hurled at him, "for I'm -the woman that helped Pete Warren git away from the sheriff, when your -sort were after the poor, silly nigger to lynch him for a crime he -had nothin' to do with. If you are right in all your empty tirade this -morning, I'm a woman unfit for the community I live in, and if I have -to share that honor with a man of your stamp, I'll lynch myself on the -first tree I come to." - -She turned from the astounded, suddenly crestfallen speaker to the -open-mouthed audience. - -"Listen to me, men, women, and children!" she thundered, in a voice that -was as steady and clear in resonance as a bell. "If there was ever a -crafty, spider-like politician on earth you have listened to him spout -to-day. He's picked out the one big sore-spot in your kind natures and -he's punched it, and jabbed it, and lacerated it with every sort of -thorn he could stick into it, till he gained his aim in makin' you -one and all so blind with rage at the black race that you are about to -overlook the good in yore own. - -"There are two sides to this matter, and you would be pore excuses for -men if you jest looked at one side of it. Carson Dwight is the other -candidate, and I don't know but one thing agin his character, and that -is that he ever allowed his name to be put up along with this -man's. It's a funny sort of race, anyway--run by a greyhound and a -jack-rabbit." - -A ripple of amusement passed over many faces, and there were several -open laughs over Wiggin's evident discomfiture. He started to rise, but -voices from all parts of the gathering cried out: "Sit down, Wiggin! Sit -down, it ain't yore time!" - -"No, it _hain't_ his time," said Mrs. Parsons, unrolling her bonnet -like a switchman's flag and waving it to and fro. "I started to tell -you about Carson Dwight. He can't help bein' born in a rich family any -more'n I could in a pore one, but I'm here to tell you that since I had -the moral backbone to aid that nigger to git away I've thanked God a -thousand times that I did that much to help genuine justice along. I -could listen to forty million men like this candidate expound his views -and it wouldn't alter me one smidgen in the belief that Carson Dwight -has acted only as a true Christian would. He knew that nigger. He had -known him, I'm told, from childhood up. He knew the sort of black stock -the boy sprung from, an' the white family he was trained in, an' he -simply didn't believe he was guilty of that crime. Believing that, thar -wasn't but one honest thing for him to do, and that was to fight for the -pore thing's rights. He knew that most of the racket agin the boy was -got up by t'other candidate, and he set about to save the pore, beggin' -darky's neck from the halter or his body from the burning brush-heap. -Did he do it at a sacrifice? Huh, answer me that! Where did you ever see -another politician on the eve of his election that would take up such a' -issue as that, infuriating nearly every person who had promised to vote -for him? Where will you find a young man with enough stamina to stand on -a horse-block over the heads of hundreds of howling demons, and with one -wound from a pistol on his brow, darin' 'em to shoot ag'in and holdin' -on like a bull-dog to the pore cowerin' wreck at his feet?" - -There was applause, slight at first, but increasing. There were, -too, under Mrs. Parson's eye many softening faces, and into them she -continued to throw her heart-felt appeal. - -"You've been told this morning that Carson Dwight makes fun of us -country people. I'll admit I saw him do it once, but it was _only_ once. -He made fun of a mountain chap over at Darley one circus day. The fellow -had insulted a nice country gal, and Carson Dwight made a _lot_ of fun -of him. He hammered the dirty scamp's face till it looked like a ripe -tomato that the rats had been gnawin'." - -At this point there was laughter loud and prolonged. - -"Now, listen," the speaker went on. "I want you to hear something, and I -don't want you ever to forget it. I got it straight from a truthful man -who was there. The night you mountain men gathered from all sides like -the rising of the dead on Judgment Day, and got ready to march to Darley -to take that boy out of jail, the news reached Carson Dwight just an -hour or so before the appointed time. He got a few friends together -and told them if they cared for him to make one more effort to stop the -trouble. - -"Gentlemen, to some extent they was like you. They wasn't--I'm -told--much interested in the fate of that nigger, one way or another, -and so they sat thar in judgment over Carson Dwight, and tried to argue - 'im down. I'm told by a respectable man who was thar" (and here Pole -Baker lowered his head till his eyes were out of sight and continued to -whittle his stick) "that nothin' feazed 'im. Pity was in his big, boyish -heart, and it looked out of his eyes and clogged up his voice. They told -him it meant ruination to all his political hopes, and that it would -turn his daddy against him for good and all. But he said he didn't care. -They held out agin him a long time, and then one thing he said won 'em -over--one thing. Kin you imagine what that was, friends and neighbors? -It was this: Carson Dwight said he loved you mountain men with all his -heart; he said no better or braver blood ever flowed in human veins than -yours; he said he knew you _thought_ you was right, but that you hadn't -had the chance to discover what he had found out, and that was that -Pete Warren was innocent and as harmless as a baby, and that--now, -listen!--that he knew the time would come when you'd be convinced of the -truth and carry regret for your haste to your graves. 'It is because,' -he told them, 'I want to save men that I love from remorse and sorrow -that I am in for this thing!' Fellow-citizens, that shot went home. -Those worthless 'town dudes,' as they was called just now, saved you -from committing a crime against yourselves an' God on high. Did any -human bein' ever see a better illustration than that of the duty of -enlightened folks to-day--the duty of them who, with divine sight, see -great truths--to lead others in the right direction? As God Almighty -smiles over you to-day in this broad sunlight, that gang in that store, -headed by a new Joseph, was an' are the truest and best friends you ever -had." - -There was no open applause, but Mrs. Parsons saw something in the -melting faces before her that was infinitely more encouraging, and -after a moment's pause, and leaning slightly on the table, she went on: -"Before I set down, I want to say one word about this big race question, -anyway. I'm just a plain woman, but I read papers an' I've thought about -it a lot. We hear some white folks say that the education the niggers -are now gettin' is the prime cause of so much crime amongst the -blacks--they say this in spite of the fact that it is always the -uneducated niggers that commit the rascality. No, my friends, it ain't -education that's the cause, it is _the lack_ of it. Education ain't just -what is learnt in school-books. It is anything that makes folks higher -an' better. Before the war niggers was better educated, for they had the -education that come from bein' close to the white race an' profitin' by -the'r example. After slavery was abolished the poor, simple numskulls, -great, overgrown, fun-lovin' children, was turned loose without advice -or guidin' hand, an' the worst part of 'em went downhill. Slavery was -education, and I'll bet the Lord had a hand in it, for it has lifted -a race from the jungles of Africa to a civilized land full of free -schools. So I say, teach 'em the difference between right an' wrong, an' -then let 'em work out their own salvation. - -"Who in the name of common-sense is to do this if it ain't you of the -superior race? _But!_ wait a minute, think! How can you possibly teach - 'em what law an' order is without knowin' a little about it yourselves? -How can you learn a nigger what justice means when he sees his brother, -son, or father, shot dead in his tracks or hung, like a scare-crow to -the limb of a tree because some lower grade black man a hundred miles -off has committed a dastardly deed? No sensible white man ever thought -of puttin' the two races on equality. The duty of the white blood is -always to keep ahead of the black, and it will. This candidate openly -declares that the time is coming when the negroes will overpower the -whites. A man that has as poor an opinion of his own race as that ought -to be kicked out of it. Now I can't vote, but I want every woman in -this crowd that believes I know what I'm talkin' about to see that her -brother, father, or husband votes for a member of the legislature that -knows what law an' order means, an' not for a red-handed anarchist who -would lay this country in ruins to gain his own puny aims. That's all -I've got to say." - -When she had finished there was still no applause. They had learned that -it was unseemly to make a demonstration at church, when deeply moved by -a sermon, and they had heard something to-day that had lifted them as -high under her sway as they had sunken low under Wiggin's. The formal -part of the exercises was over, and they proceeded to spread out the -contents of their baskets. Wiggin, after his successful ascent, had -fallen with something like a thud. He saw Mrs. Parsons helped from the -platform by her proudly flushing husband and instantly surrounded by -people anxious to offer congratulations. Wiggin shuddered for he stood -quite alone. Those who were in sympathy with him seemed afraid to -openly signify it. Even Dan Willis lurked back under the trees, his face -flushed with liquor and inward rage. - -Pole Baker, however, was more thoughtful of the candidate's comfort. -With a queer twinkle of amusement in his eyes, and polishing, with the -dexterity of a carver of cherry-stones, his little stick, he approached -the candidate. - -"Say, Wiggin," he drawled out, "I want to ax you a question." - -"All right, Baker, what is it?" the candidate asked, absent-mindedly. - -"Don't you remember tellin' me," Pole began, "that you never had in all -yore life met a man that made better an' truer predictions about things -to come than I did?" - -"Yes, I think so, Baker--yes, I remember now," answered Wiggin. "You do -seem to have a head that way. Some men have more than others, a sort of -foresight or intuition." - -Pole chuckled. "You remember I said Teddy Rusefelt would whip the socks -off of Parker. I'm a Democrat an' always will be, but I kin see things -that are goin' to be agin me as plain as them I'm prayin' for. Well, you -remember I was called a traitor jest beca'se I told what was comin', but -I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?" - -"Yes, you did," admitted the downcast candidate. - -"An' I was right about the majority Towns would git for the State -senate, Mayhew for solicitor, an' Tim Bloodgood for the last -legislature." - -"Yes, you were, I remember that," said Wiggin. - -"I hit it on the Governor's race to a gnat's heel, too, didn't I?" Pole -pursued, his keen eyes fixed on those of the man before him. - -"Yes, you did," admitted Wiggin; "you really seem to have remarkable -foresight." - -"Well, then," said Baker, "I've got a prediction to make about your race -agin Carson Dwight." - -"Oh, you have!" exclaimed Wiggin, now all attention. - -"Yes, and this time I'd bet my two arms and the first joint of my right -leg agin a pinch o' snuff that Carson'll beat you worse than a man was -ever whipped in his life." - -"You think so, Baker?" Wiggin was trying to sneer. - -"I don't think anything about it; I _know_ it," said Pole. - -Wiggin stared at the ground a moment aimlessly, then he said, -doggedly, and yet with an evident desire for information at any sort of -fountain-head: "What makes you think I'm beat, Baker?" - -"Because you've showed you hain't no politician, an' you've got a born -one to beat. For one thing, you've stirred up a hornet's nest. Women, -when they set the'r heads agin a'body, are devils in petticoats, an' the -one that presided this mornin' has got more influence than forty -men. Before you are a day older every man who has a wife, mother, or -sweetheart will be afraid to speak to you in broad daylight. Then ag'in, -no candidate ever won a race on a platform of pure hate an' revenge. You -made that crowd as mad as hell just now, while you was belchin' out that -stuff, but as soon as Sister Parsons showed 'em what a friend of the'rs -Dwight was they melted to him like thin snow after a rain." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -[Illustration: 9337] - -NE morning, three days later, Pole Baker slouched down the street from -the wagon-yard and went into Garner & Dwight's office, finding Garner at -his desk. The mountaineer looked cautiously about the room and asked, in -a guarded tone: "Is Carson anywhars about?" - -"Not down yet," Garner said. "His mother was not so well last night, and -it may be that he had to sit up with her and has overslept himself." - -"Well, I'm glad he ain't here," Baker said, "for I want to speak to you -about him sorter in private." - -"Anything gone wrong?" Garner asked, looking up curiously. - -"Well, not yet, Bill, but I believe in takin' the bull by the horns -before he takes you in the stomach. I've been powerful afeared for some -time that Carson and Dan Willis would run together, and I dread it now -more than ever. In the first place, I don't like the look in Carson's -eye. He knows that devil has been on his track, and it has worked him up -powerful; besides, Willis is more rampant than ever." - -"What's gone wrong with him?" Garner inquired, uneasily. - -"Well, for a while, you know, he was full of hope that Wiggin was goin' -to beat Carson, and that sorter satisfied him, but now that Wiggin is -losin' ground, Dan don't see revenge that way. Besides, since old Sister -Parsons made that rip-roarin' speech respectable folks are turnin' the'r -backs on Wiggin and all his backers. The gal Willis was to marry has -throwed 'im clean over, an' the preacher at Hill Crest just as good as -called his name out in meetin' in talkin' of the open lawlessness that -is spreadin' over the land. Oh, Willis is mad--he's got all hell in 'im, -an' he's makin' more threats agin Dwight. Now, to-morrow is Friday, an' -the next day is Saturday, an' on Saturday Dan Willis is comin' in town. -I got that straight. Wiggin is a snake in the grass, and he's constantly -naggin' Dan about his row with Carson, and it will take slick work on -our part to prevent serious trouble. Wiggin wouldn't care. If the two -met he'd profit either way, for if Carson was killed he'd have the field -to himself, an' if Carson killed Willis the boy'd have to stand trial -for his life, an' a man wouldn't run much of a political race with a -charge of bloody murder hangin' over 'im." - -"True--true as Gospel!" Garner frowned; "but what plan had you in mind, -Pole--I mean what plan to obviate trouble?" - -"Why, you see," the mountaineer replied, "I 'lowed you might be able -to trump up some business excuse for gittin' Carson out o' town next -Saturday." - -"Well, I think I can," Garner cried, his eyes brightening. "The truth -is, I was to go myself over to see old man Purdy, the other side of -Springtown> to take his deposition in an important matter, but I can -pretend to be tied here and foist it onto Carson." - -"Good; that's the stuff!" Pole said, with a smile of satisfaction. "But -for the love of mercy don't let Dwight dream what's in the wind or he'd -die rather than budge an inch." - -So it was that Carson the following Friday afternoon made his -preparations for a ride on horseback through the country, his plan being -to spend the night at the little hotel at Springtown and ride on to -Purdy's farm the next morning after breakfast, and return to -Darley Saturday evening shortly after dark. His horse stood at the -hitching-rack in front of the office, and, ready for his journey, he was -going out when Garner called him back. - -"Are you armed, my boy?" Garner questioned. - -"Not now, old man," Dwight said. "I've carried that two pounds of cold -metal on my hip till I got tired of it and left it in my room. If I -can't live in a community without being a walking arsenal I'll leave the -country." - -"You'd better make an exception of to-day, anyhow," Garner said, -reaching down into the drawer of his desk. "Here, take my gun." - -"Well, I might accidentally need it," Dwight said, thoughtfully, as he -took the weapon and put it into his pocket. - -As he was unfastening his horse, Dr. Stone crossed the street from the -opposite sidewalk and approached him. - -"Where are you off to this time?" the old man asked. - -Carson explained as he tightened the girth of his saddle and pulled the -blanket into place. - -"Well, I'd get back as soon as I could well manage it," the physician -said, his eyes on the ground. Carson started and looked grave. - -"Why, doctor, you are not afraid--" - -"Oh, she's doing very well, my boy, but--well, there is no use keeping -back anything from anybody as much concerned as you are. The truth is, -she's very low. I think we can pull her through all right, with care and -attention, but I feel that I ought to warn you and lecture you a little, -too. You see, as I've often said, she is a woman who suffers mightily -from worry and excitement of any kind, and your adventures of late have -not had the best effect on her health. I hope it's all over and that you -will settle down to something more steady. Her life really is in your -hands more than mine, for if you should have any more trouble of a -serious nature it would simply kill her. I only mention this," -the doctor continued, laying his hand on the young man's arm half -apologetically, "because there is some little talk going round that you -and Dan Willis haven't quite settled your differences yet. If I were in -your place, Carson, I'd take a good deal from that man before I'd have -trouble with him right now, considering the critical condition your -mother is in. A shooting-scrape on top of all the rest, even if you -got-the best of it, would simply send that good woman to her grave." - -"Then we won't have any shooting-scrape!" Carson said, his voice -quivering. "You can depend on that, doctor." - -The road Dwight took as the most direct way to his destination -really passed within two miles of the home of Dan Willis, and yet the -likelihood of his meeting the desperado never once crossed Carson's -mind. In this, however, he was to meet with surprise. He had got well -into the mountains, and, full of hope as to his campaign, was heartily -enjoying a slow ride on his ambling horse through a narrow, shaded road, -after leaving the heat of the open thoroughfare, when far ahead of him -he saw a horseman at the side of the way pinning with his pocket-knife -to the smooth bark of a sycamore-tree a white envelope. The distance was -at first too great for Dwight to recognize the rider, though his object -and occupation were soon evident, for suddenly wheeling on his rather -skittish mount the man drew back about twenty paces from the tree, drew -a revolver and began to fire at the target, sending one shot after the -other, as rapidly as he could rein and spur his frightened animal to -an approved distance and steadiness, until his weapon was empty. The -marksman, evidently a mountaineer, as indicated by his wide-brimmed soft -hat and easy gray shirt, thrust his hand into his trousers-pocket and -took out sufficient cartridges for another round, and was thumbing them -dexterously into their places when Carson drew near enough to recognize -him. - -A thrill, a sort of shock, certainly not due even to subconscious fear, -passed over Dwight, and he almost drew upon his rein. Then a hot flush -of shame rose in him and tingled through every nerve in his body, as -he wondered if for one instant he could have feared the presence of any -living man, armed or unarmed, and running his hand behind him to be sure -that his own revolver was in place, and with his head well up he rode -even more briskly forward. He had no thought of caution. The sharp -warning Dr. Stone had given him so recently never entered his brain. -That was the man who, on several occasions, had threatened to kill him, -and who, Carson firmly believed, had once tried it. That there was to be -grim trouble he did not doubt. Averting it after the manner of a coward -was not thought of. - -When the two riders were about a hundred yards apart, Dan Willis, -hearing the fall of horses' hoofs, looked up suddenly. There was -no mistaking the evolution of his facial expression from startled -bewilderment to that of angry, bestial satisfaction. Uttering an -unctuous grunt of delight, and with his revolver swinging easily against -his brawny thigh, by the aid of his tense left hand the mountaineer drew -his horse squarely into the very middle of the narrow road and there -essayed to check him. The animal, quivering with excitement from -the shots just fired over his head, was still restive and swerved -tremblingly from side to side, but with prodding spur and fierce -command Willis managed to keep him in the attitude of open opposition to -Carson's passage, which was, as things go in the mountains, a threat not -to be misunderstood. - -Carson Dwight read the action well, and his blood boiled. - -"Halt thar!" Dan Willis suddenly called out, in a sharp, fierce tone, -and as he spoke he raised his revolver till the hand holding it rested -on the high pommel of his saddle. - -"Why should I halt?" almost to his surprise rang clearly from Dwight's -lips. "This is a public road!" - -[Illustration: 0343] - -"Not for _yore_ sort," was hurled back. "It's entirely too narrow for -a gentleman an' a dog to pass on. _I'm_ goin' to pass, but I'll walk my -hoss over yore body. I've been praying for this chance, an' God or Hell, -one or t'other, sent it to me. Some folks say you've got grit. I've my -doubts about it, for you are the hardest man to meet I ever wanted to -settle with, but if you've got any sand in yore gizzard you've got a -chance to spill some of it now." - -"I don't want to have trouble with you," Dwight controlled himself -enough to say. "Bloodshed is not in my line." - -"But you've _got_ to fight!" Willis roared. "If you don't I'll ride up -to you an' spit in yore damned, sneakin' face." - -"Well, I hardly think you'll do that," said Carson, his rage -overwhelming him. "But before we go into this thing tell me, for my -own satisfaction if you are the one who tried to kill me the night Pete -Warren was jailed." - -"You bet I was, and damned sorry I missed." Willis's revolver was -raised. The sharp click of the hammer sounded like the snapping of a -metallic twig. Then alive but to one thought, and that of alert and -instantaneous self-preservation, Dwight quickly drew his weapon. With -his teeth ground together, his breath coming fast, he took as careful -aim as was possible at the shifting horseman, conscious of the advantage -his antagonist had over him in the calmness of his own mount. He saw -a puff of smoke before Willis's eyes, heard the sharp report of the -mountaineer's revolver, and wondered if the ball had lodged in his body. - -"I am fully justified," something within him seemed to say as he pressed -the trigger of his revolver. His hand had never been more steady, his -aim never better, and yet the smile and taunting laugh of Willis proved -to him that he had missed. The eyes of his assailant gleamed like those -of an infuriated beast as he tried to steady his rearing and plunging -horse to shoot again. Once more he fired, but the shot went wild, and -with a snort of fear his horse broke from the road and plunged madly -into the bushes bordering the way. Carson could just see Willis's head -and shoulders above a thick growth of wild vines and at these he aimed -steadily and fired. Had he won? he asked himself. There was a smothered -report from Willis's revolver, as if it were fired by an inert finger. -The mountaineer's head sank out of sight. What did it mean? Carson -wondered, and with his weapon still cocked and poised he grimly waited. -It was only for an instant, for the frightened horse plunged out into -the open again. Willis was still in the saddle, but what was it about -him that seemed so queer? He was evidently making an effort to guide -his horse, but the hand holding his revolver hung helplessly against his -thigh; his left shoulder was sinking. Then Carson caught sight of his -face, a frightful, blood-packed mask distorted past recognition, that of -a dying man--a horrible, never-to-be-forgotten grimace. The horses -bore the antagonists closer together; their eyes met in a direct stare. -Willis's body was rocking like a mechanical thing on a pivot. - -"You forced me to do it!" Carson Dwight said, his great soul rising to -heights of pity and dismay never reached before. "God knows I did not -want to shoot you. Dan, I never have had anything against you. I would -have avoided this if I could." - -The stare of the wounded man flickered. With a moan of pain he bent to -the neck of his horse and remained there a moment, and then, dropping -his revolver and resting both quivering hands on the pommel of his -saddle, he drew himself partially erect. His eyes were rolling upward, -his purple lips moved as if to speak, but his vocal organs seemed to -have lost their power. Holding to his pommel with his left hand, he -raised his right and partially extended it towards Dwight, but he -had not the strength to sustain its weight, and with another moan, a -frothing at the mouth, Dan Willis toppled from his horse and went to the -ground, the animal breaking away in alarm and running down the road. - -Quickly dismounting, Carson bent over the dying man. "Dan, were you -offering me your hand?" he asked, tenderly. But there was no response. -The mountaineer was dead. There he lay, a pint whiskey flask nearly -empty of its contents protruding from his shirt. - -Carson looked up and about him. The sky had never seemed clearer, the -forest never so beautifully lush and green, so full of sylvan recesses -and the gladsome songs of birds. Higher and more majestic never had the -mountains seemed to tower into God's infinite blue. And yet here at his -feet lay the remains of one who had been created in the image of his -Maker, as lifeless as the clod from which he had sprung. All _this_--and -Carson's horse nibbling with bitted mouth the short grass which grew -about. There were no fires of satisfied revenge at which the spiritually -chilled young man could warm himself. Regret steeped in the vat of -remorse filled his young soul. Seating himself at the side of the -road, he remained there a long time calmly laying his plans. Of course, -knowing the law as he knew it, he would give himself up to the sheriff. -Then with a start and a shock of horror he thought of his mother. Dr. -Stone's warning now loomed up before him as if written in letters -of fire. Yes, this--this, of all things, would kill her! Knowing her -nature, nothing that could happen to him would be more fatal. Not even -his own death by violence would hold such terrors for her sensitive, -imaginative temperament, which exaggerated every ill or evil that beset -his path. After all, he grimly asked himself, which way did his real -duty lie? Obedience to the law he reverenced demanded that he throw -himself upon its slow and creaking routine, and yet was there not a -higher tribunal? By what right should the legal machinery of his or any -other country require the life of a stricken woman that the majesty of -its forms might be upheld and the justice or injustice to an outlaw who -had persistently hounded him be formally passed upon? - -No, he told himself, the right to protect his mother was _his_--it was -even more, as he saw it, it was his first duty. And yet if he kept his -own counsel, he asked himself, his legal mind now active, what were the -chances of escape from accusation? Noticing the target still pinned -to the trunk of the tree with the dead man's pocket-knife, the shots -showing on the bark and paper, and the sprawling attitude of the corpse -with the wound over the region of the heart, he asked himself, with -faintly rising hope, what more natural than to assume that death had -resulted from accident? What more reasonable than the theory that on his -frightened horse Dan Willis had accidentally directed his shot upon -his own body? What better evidence that he was not at himself than the -almost empty flask in his shirt? Yes, Carson Dwight decided, it was his -duty to wait at least to see further before taking a step which -would result in even deeper tragedy. Besides, he knew he was morally -guiltless. His conscience was clear; there was consolation in that at -all events. But now what must he do? To go on to Springtown by that road -was out of the question, for only a mile or so farther on was a store -and a few farm-houses, and it would be known there that he had passed -the fatal spot. So, remounting, he rode slowly back towards Darley, now -earnestly, and even craftily, hoping that he would meet no one. He was -successful, for he reached the main road, which was longer, not so well -graded, and a more sparsely settled thoroughfare to his destination. - -He had lost time, and he now put his horse into a brisk canter and sped -onward with a queer blending of emotions. The thought of possibly -saving his mother from a terrible shock buoyed him up while the grewsome -happening put a weight upon him he had never borne before. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX - -[Illustration: 9350] - -T was after dark when he finally reached Springtown and rode through the -quiet little street to the only hotel in the village kept by a certain -Tom Wyman, whom Dwight knew. Dismounting, he turned his tired horse -over to a negro porter and went into the room which was used at once -as parlor and office. A dog-eared account-book lay open on a table, -and here, at the request of the cordial Wyman, a short, portly man with -sandy hair and mustache, Carson registered his name. - -"You are out electioneering, I know," the proprietor smiled, agreeably, -as he rubbed his fat hands together. "Well, you are going to run like a -scared dog. I hear your name everywhere. It looked as black as Egyptian -darkness for you once, but you are gaining ground. No man ever had a -better campaign document than the speech Jabe Parsons' wife made. Gee -whiz! it was a stem-winder; it set folks to laughin' at Wiggin, and that -was the worst thing that ever happened to him. Jabe Parsons is for you -now, though he headed one wing of the mob agin your pet darky. You see, -Jabe wants to prove that his wife was right in the way she first felt -about the matter, and he's a strong man." - -As if in a dream, so far into the background had even his contest been -thrust by the tragedy, Carson heard himself as if from the mouth of -another explaining that it was legal business that had brought him -thither, and calmly asking the best road from the village to Purdy's -farm, whither he intended to go the following morning after breakfast. - -A few minutes later the supper bell was rung by a negro, who carried it -with deafening clangor through the main hall and round the house, and -two or three drummers, of the small-trade class, a village storekeeper, -and a stock-drover or two clattered in on the uncarpeted floor to the -dining-room, and with more noise drew out their chairs and sat down. It -happened that Carson knew none of them, and so he sat silent through the -meal. Usually of robust appetite, to-night all inclination to physical -nourishment had deserted him. Try as he would to fasten his mind upon -more cheerful things, the view of Dan Willis's body stretched upon the -ground, the ghastly features struggling in the throes of death, came -again and again before his eyes with tenacious persistency. Morbidly, he -asked himself if that state of mind would continue always. The disaster -really had crept upon him through no deliberate fault of his. In fact, -he could trace its very beginning to his determination to turn over -a new leaf and make a better man of himself--to that and to a natural -inborn pity for a persecuted creature, and yet here was he, his hands -stained red, unable by any stoicism or philosophy to rid himself of a -gloom as deep as the void of space. Genuine man that he was, he pitied -the giant who had fallen before him. His mind, trained to logical -reasoning in most matters, told him that he was more than justified in -what he had done; but then, if so, to what was due this strange shock -to his whole being--this restless sense of boundless debt to something -never met before, the ominous flapping of wings in a new darkness around -him? - -After supper, to kill time until the hour of retiring, Carson declined -the proffered cigar of his host, and to avoid the--to him--empty chatter -of the others, now assembled on the little porch, he strolled down the -street. Here groups of men sat in front of the stores in the dim -light thrown from murky lamps within, but it happened that he was not -recognized by any of them though there were several gaunt forms he knew, -and he passed on, walking feverishly. On and on he strode till he -had covered more than a mile and suddenly came upon a little church -surrounded by a graveyard. He leaned upon the rotten fence and looked -over at the mounds marked by white marble slabs in some cases, plain, -unlettered natural stones in others, and some unmarked by any sort of -monument, but having little white palings around them. - -Carson Dwight shuddered and turned his face back towards the village as -he asked himself if this might be the resting-place of the man he had -slain. Life to him had been so bounteous, despite all the trials he -had encountered, that to think that he had by his own hand, even under -gravest provocation, deprived a human being of its privileges gave him -pain akin to nothing he had ever felt before. - -Reaching his room in the hotel, which was at the head of the stairs -in the front part of the house, his first impulse was to lock his -door--why, he could not have explained. It was not fear; what was it? -With a defiant smile he left it unfastened and proceeded to undress -himself. As he threw himself on his bed he became conscious of the -impulse to say his prayers. What a queer thing! It had been years since -he had actually knelt in prayer, and yet tonight he wanted to do so. A -strange, hot, rebellious mood came over him a few minutes later as -he lay staring at the disk on the sky-blue ceiling cast by the -lamp-chimney. He felt like crying out to the infinite powers in tones of -demand to lift the weird, stifling pall that was pressing down on him. - -The words his father had spoken in a rage when the old gentleman had -first seen the wound on his forehead after Pete Warren's rescue now came -to him with startling force: "All this for a trifling negro! Have you -lost your senses?" - -What, Carson asked himself, would his father say to this deeper -step--this headlong plunge into misfortune as the outcome of the cause -he had espoused? - -Carson could not sleep, and fancying that if his light were out he might -do so, he rose and extinguished it and went back to bed. But he was -still restless. The hours dragged by. It was after twelve o'clock, when -on the still night air came the steady beat of a horse's hoofs in the -distance, growing louder and louder, till with a cry of "Woah!" the -animal was reined in at the hotel door, and the stentorian voice of the -rider called out: "Hello! hello in thar!" - -There was a pause, but no response. The landlord was evidently a sound -sleeper. - -"Hello! hello!" Again the call rang jarringly through the empty hall -below and up the stairway. - -Carson sat erect, put his feet on the floor, and stood out in the -centre of the room. He told himself that it was an officer of the law -in pursuit of him. How silly to have imagined that such a thing could -remain hidden! And his mother! Yes, it would kill her! Poor, poor, -gentle, frail woman! He had tried to obviate the blow, resorting to -deception, to actual flight; he had submerged himself in the mire of -criminal secrecy, according to the letter of the law, that he might -shield her, and for what purpose? Yes, the blow would kill her. Dr. -Stone had plainly said so. - -He went to the window and looked out. At the gate below he saw a man on -a horse, and heard him muttering impatiently. - -"Hello in Thar!" The cry was accompanied by an oath. "Are you-uns plumb -deaf? What do you keep a tavern fur, anyhow?" - -There was a sound in the room below of some one getting out of bed, and -then a drowsy voice cried: "Who's there?" It was the landlord. - -"Me, Jim Purvines. Let me in, Tom. I've got to have a bed an' a stall -fer my nag. I'm completely fagged out." - -"All right, all right. I'll join you in a minute. Where in the thunder -have you been, Jim?" - -"To the inquest. They made me serve. Samson called a jury right off so -they could move the body home. The dead man's mammy didn't want it to -lie thar all night." - -"Good Lord! Jury? Dead man? Why, what's happened, Jim?" - -"Oh, come off! You don't mean you hain't heard the news?" The rider had -dismounted and was leading his horse through the gate to the steps on -which the landlord now stood. "Why, Tom, Dan Willis has gone to his last -accountin'. The Webb children, out pickin' huckleberries, come across -his remains on the Treadwell road a mile t'other side o' Wilks's store. -At first it was thought he'd met his death by bein' throwed from his -colt, fer somebody seed it loose with saddle an' bridle on, but when we -examined the body we found a bullet-hole over the heart." - -"Good Lord! Who done it, Jim?" - -Carson's heart was in his mouth; his breath was held; there was a pause -which seemed without end. - -"Done it hisself, Tom. The jury had no difficulty comin' to that -decision from ample evidence. He'd tuck his pocket-knife an' stuck up an -envelope with his name on it agin a tree, an', half drunk, as we judged -from his flask, he was shootin' at it over the head of a young colt that -hain't been broke a month. Dan must have had the devil in 'im, an' was -determined to train the animal to stand under fire, fer we seed whar the -dirt was pawed up powerful all around. We calculated that the colt got -to buckin' an' to keep from bein' throwed off Dan turned his gun the -wrong way. Anyhow, he's no more." - -"Yes, an' I reckon a body ought to respect the dead, good or bad," -said the landlord; "but there won't be a river of tears shed, Jim. That -fellow was a living threat to law and order." - -"Yes, I have heard that he was the chap that shot Carson Dwight the -night he saved that nigger from the mob." - -"Sh! He's up-stairs now," The landlord lowered his voice. - -"You don't say! Sort o' out of his beat, ain't he?" - -"I don't know--on his way to Purdy's. Go on in; I'll attend to your -horse and come back and find you a place to bunk." - -Carson sank back on his bed. A sense of vast, almost soothing relief was -on him. His mother was saved. The verdict that had been rendered would -forever bury the facts. Now, he told himself, he could sleep with his -mind at rest. And yet-- - -He heard the new-corner ascend the stairs with heavy, shambling tread -and enter the room adjoining his own. Through a crack between the floor -and the thin partition he saw a pencil of candle-light and heard the -grinding of boot-soles on the floor as the man undressed. Then the light -went out, the bed-slats creaked, and all was still. - - - - -CHAPTER XL - -[Illustration: 9357] - -WIGHT reached Darley the following evening shortly after dusk, and rode -straight through the central portion of the town and past his office. -All day long he had debated with himself whether it would be wise to -take Garner into his confidence, and at last had decided that it would -do no good, and only cause his sympathetic partner to worry needlessly, -since Garner nor no one else could point out any better course than -the one to which, perforce, he had committed himself. Carson now -comprehended his insistent morbidness. It was not fear; it was not a -guilty conscience; it was only the galling shackles of unwonted and -hateful secrecy, the vague and far-reaching sense of uncertainty, the -knowledge of being, before the law (which was no respecter of persons, -circumstances, or sentiment), as guilty of murder as any other untried -violator of peace and order. - -On the way down the street to his home he met Dr. Stone, who was also -riding, and reined in. - -"My mother--how is she, doctor?" he asked. "I've been away since I saw -you yesterday." - -"You'll really be surprised when you see her," the old man smiled. -"She's tip-top! I never saw such a change for the better in all my -experience. She had old Linda in her room when I was there about noon, -and they were laughing and cracking jokes at a great rate. She'll pull -through now, my boy. I tried to get her to tell me what had happened, -but she threw me off with the joke that she had changed doctors and -was taking another fellow's medicine on the sly, and then she and Linda -laughed together. I believe the old negro knew what she meant. I'll -tell you one thing, Carson, if I wasn't afraid of hurting your pride I'd -congratulate you on what happened to that chap Willis. Really, if that -thing hadn't taken place you and he would have had trouble. Some think -he was getting ready for you when he was shooting at that target." - -"Perhaps so, doctor," Carson said, glad that the dusk veiled his face -from the old man's sight. "Well, I'll go on." - -At the carriage gate at home he found old Lewis standing ready to take -his horse. - -"Hello!" Carson said, with a joke that was foreign to his mood; "when -did Major Warren discharge you?" - -"Hain't discharge me yit, young marster," Lewis smiled, in delight, as -he opened the gate and reached out for the bridle. "I knowed you'd be -along soon, en so I waited fer you. Marse Carson, Linda powerful anxious -ter see you. She settin' on yo'-all's veranda-step now; she been axin' -is you got back all evenin'. Dar she come now, young marster. I'll put -up yo' horse." - -"All right, Uncle Lewis," and Dwight, seeing the old woman shambling -towards him, went across the lawn and met her. - -"Oh, young marster, I been waitin' fer you," she said. "I got some'n' -ter ax you, suh." - -"What is it?" he asked: "If it is anything I can do I'll be glad to help -you." - -"I don't like ter bother you, young marster," Linda said, plaintively; -"but somehow it don't seem lak anybody know what ter do. I went ter -young miss, en she said fer me ter see you--dat you was de onliest one -ter decide. Marse Carson, of course you done heard dat man Willis done -killed hisse'f, ain't you?" - -"Oh yes, Mam' Linda--oh yes!" Dwight said, his voice holding an odd, -submerged quality. - -"Well, young marster, you see, me'n Lewis thought dat, bein' as dat man -was de ringleader, en de only one left on de rampage after my boy, dat, -now he's daid, I might sen' ter Chattanoogy fer Pete en let 'im come on -home." - -"Why, I thought he was doing well up there?" Carson said again, in a -tone which to himself sounded as expressionless as if spoken only from -the lips. - -"Dat so; dat so, too," Linda sighed; "but, Marse Carson, he de onliest -child I got en I wants 'im wid me. I wants 'im whar I kin see 'im en try -ter 'fluence 'im ter do what's right. In er big place lak Chattanoogy -he may git in mo' trouble, en--" She went no further, her voice growing -tremulous and finally failing. - -"Well, send for him, by all means," Dwight said. "He'll be all right -here. We'll find something for him to do." - -"En, en--dar won't be no mo' trouble?" Linda faltered. - -"None in the world now, mammy," he replied. "The people all over the -country are thoroughly satisfied that he's innocent. No one will even -appear against him. He is all right now." - -Tears welled up in Linda's eyes and she wiped them off on her apron. -"Thank God, young marster; one time I thought I never would want ter -live another minute, en yit right now--right now I'm de happiest woman -in de whole world, en you done it, young marster. You stood up fer er -po' old nigger 'oman when de world was turn agin 'er, en God on high -know I bless you. I bless you in every prayer I sen' up." - -He turned from her as she stood wiping her eyes and went on to his -mother's room, finding her, to his delight, sitting up in an easy-chair -near the table on which stood a lamp and a book she had been reading. - -"Did you see Linda?" Mrs. Dwight asked, as he kissed her tenderly and -stood, still with that everpresent alien weight at his heart, stroking -her soft cheek. He nodded and smiled. - -"And did you tell her--did you decide that Pete could come back?" - -He nodded and smiled again. "She seems to think I'm running the -country." - -"As far as her interests are concerned, you _have_ been," the invalid -said, proudly. "Oh, Carson, you know somehow it has happened that I -never knew Linda so well as some of our own slaves, but since this thing -came up I have thoroughly enjoyed having her come to see me. I keep her -here hours, at a time. Do you know why?" - -He shook his head. "Not unless it is because she has such a strong -individuality and is so original." - -"No, that isn't it--it is simply, my boy, because she worships the very -ground you walk on, and I love to hear her express it in the thousands -of indirect ways she has. Oh, Carson, I'm simply foolish--_foolish_ -about you! I have never been able to tell you how I felt about your -heroic conduct. I was afraid to. I gloried in it, but your constant -danger tied my tongue--I was afraid you'd take more risks. I've got a -secret to tell you." - -"To tell me?" he said, still stroking her cheek. "Yes; Dr. Stone, seeing -that I was so much better this morning tried to worm it out of me, but -I wouldn't tell him the cause. Carson, for a long time I have harbored -a gnawing, secret fear. It was with me night and day. I knew it was -dragging me down, keeping me from proper sleep and proper nourishment, -but I couldn't rid myself of it till this morning." - -"What was it, mother?" he asked, unable to see her drift. - -"The fear, my boy, that you and that Dan Willis would meet face to face -has for a long time been a constant nightmare to me. I had picked up in -various ways, sometimes from remarks let fall by your father or one of -the servants, more about your differences with that man than you were -aware of. I tried to keep you from knowing how I felt, but it was -secretly dragging me to my grave." - -"And now, mother?" he asked, an almost hopeful light breaking far away -on his clouded horizon. - -"Oh, it may be an awful sin, for I'm told Willis had a mother"--Mrs. -Dwight sighed--"but when the news came to-day that he had accidentally -killed himself I became a new woman. He was the one thing I dreaded -above all else, for, Carson, if he had not shot himself you and he would -have met and one of you would have fallen. Oh, I'm so happy. I'm going -to get well now, my boy. You will see me out on the lawn in a day or -two." - -His eyes were on the floor at her feet. Why he gave so much of his -mental burden to mere utterance he could not have explained, but he -said: "And even if we _had_ met, mother, and he had tried to shoot -me, and--and I, in self-defence you know, had been forced to kill -him--really forced--I suppose even that situation would have--disturbed -you?" - -"Oh, don't, don't talk of that!" Mrs. Dwight cried. "I don't think it -is right to think of unpleasant things when one is happy. God did it, -Carson. God did it to save you." - -"All right, mother, I was only thinking--" - -"Well, think of pleasanter things," Airs. Dwight interrupted him. -"Helen's been over to see me rather oftener of late. We frequently sit -and chat together. It makes me feel young again. She is very free with -me about herself--that is, about everything except her affair with Mr. -Sanders." - -"She doesn't talk of that much, then?" he ventured, tentatively. - -"She won't talk about it at all," said the invalid; "and that's what -seems so queer about it. A woman can see deeper into a woman's heart -than a man can, and I've been wondering over Helen. Sometimes I almost -think--" Mrs. Dwight seemed lost in thought and unconscious of the fact -that she had ceased speaking. - -"You were saying, mother," he reminded her, eagerly, "that you almost -thought--" - -"Why, it seems to me, Carson, that any natural girl ought to be so -full of her engagement to the man she is to marry that she would -really _love_ to talk about it. Really it seems to me that Helen may -be questioning her heart in this matter, but she'll end by marrying Mr. -Sanders. It looks as if she has pledged herself in some way or other, -and she is the very soul of honor." - -"Oh yes, she is all that," Dwight said, in an effort at lightness. "Now, -good-night, mother." - -Much fatigued from his journey and the mental strain upon him, he -went up to his room. Throwing off his coat, the night being warm to -oppressiveness, he lighted a cigar and sat in the wide-open window. What -a strange, tempestuous life was his! How like a mere bauble of soul and -flesh was he buffeted between highest heaven and lowest earth! And for -what purpose was he created in the vast scheme of endless solar systems? - -From the row of negro cabins and cottages below, across the dewy grass -and shrubbery, on the flower-perfumed air came sounds of unrestrained -merriment. Some negro in a cottage near Linda's was playing a -mouth-organ to the accompaniment of a sweetly twanging guitar. There was -a rhythmic clapping of hands, the musical, drumlike thumping of feet -on resounding boards, snatches of happy songs, clear, untrammelled, -childlike laughter. - -They--and naught else--had brought him his burden. That complete justice -might be meted out to such as they, he had dipped his hands into the -warm blood of his own race, and was an outlaw bearing an honored name, -stalking forth, pure of heart, and yet masked and draped with deceit, -among his own kind. And for what ultimate good? Alas! he was denied -even the solace of a look into futurity. And yet--born in advance of his -time, as the Son of God was born ahead of His--there was yet something -in him which--while he shrank from the depth and bitterness of _his_ -cup--lifted him, in his unmated loneliness, in his blindness, to far-off -light--high above the material world. There to suffer, there to endure, -and yet--there. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - -[Illustration: 9365] - -T was the day following the burial of the body of Dan Willis. Old man -Purdy, whom Carson had gone to see, was at Dilk's cross-roads store -with a basket of fresh eggs, which he had brought to exchange for their -market value in coffee. Several other farmers were seated about the -store on nail-kegs and soap-boxes whittling sticks and chewing tobacco, -their slow tongues busy with the details of the recent death and -interment. - -Old Purdy was speaking of how the children had discovered the body, and -remarked that it would have been found several hours sooner if Carson -Dwight had only taken the shorter road that day to Springtown instead of -the longer. - -"Why, Dwight come from Darley, didn't he?" asked Dilk, as he wrote -down the number of eggs he had counted on a piece of brown paper on the -counter and waited before continuing. - -"Why, yes," Purdy made answer; "he told me, as we were goin' through the -work he had to do at my house, that he had gone to Springtown an' stayed -all that night an' then rid on to me." - -The store-keeper's hands hovered over the basket for an instant, then -they rested on its edge. "Well, I can't make out what under the sun -Dwight went so far out o' his way for. It's fully five mile farther, and -the road is so rough and washed out that it's mighty nigh out of use." - -"Well, that does look kind o' funny, come to think of it," admitted -Purdy, as he gazed into the bland faces around him. "I never thought of -it before, but it certainly looks odd, to say the least." - -"Of course thar may not be a thing _in_ it," said Dilk, in a guarded -tone, "but it _does_ all seem strange, especially after we've heard so -much talk about the threats passin' betwixt them very two men. I mean, -you see, neighbors, that it sort o' looks, providential that--that Dan -met with the accident before Dwight an' him come together over here. -That's what I mean." - -All heads nodded gravely, all minds were busy, each in its own -individual way, and stirred by something more exciting than the mere -accidental death of Willis or the formality of his burial. - -There was a rather prolonged silence broken only by the click of the -eggs which Dilk was counting into a new tin dish-pan. When he had -finished he weighed out the coffee and emptied it into the white, -smoothly ironed poke Purdy's wife had sent along for that purpose. Then -he looked straight into Purdy's eyes. - -"Did you notice--if thar ain't no harm in axin'--whether Dwight -seemed--well, anyways upset or--or bothered while he was at your house?" - -"Well, _I_ didn't," replied the farmer; "but my wife was in the room -while he was doin' the writin' that had to be done, an' I remember now -she axed me after he left ef he was a drinkin' man. I told her no, -I didn't think he was _now_, though he used to be sorter wild, an' I -wanted to know why she axed me. She said she never had seed anybody's -hands shake like his did while he held the pen, an' that he had a quar -look about the eyes like he'd lost a power o' sleep." - -"Was--was anything said in his presence about Willis's death that -you remember of?" the storekeeper pursued, with the skill of a legal -crossexaminer, while the listeners stared, their cuds of tobacco -compressed between their grinders. - -Purdy's face had grown rigid, almost as that of an important witness on -the stand in court. "I can't just remember," he said. "There was so much -talk about it on all sides that day. Oh yes--now I recall that--well, -you see we was all at my house, eager for news, and it struck me, you -know, as if Dwight wasn't as anxious to talk as the rest--in fact, it -looked like he sorter wanted to change the subject." - -"Oh!" The exclamation was breathed simultaneously from several mouths. - -"Of course, neighbors," Purdy began, in alarm, "don't understand me for -one minute to--" But he broke off, for Dilk had something else to -observe. - -"Them two men was at dagger's-p'ints, I've heard," he declared. "Friends -on both sides was movin' heaven an' earth to keep 'em apart. Now if -Dwight _did_ take that long, roundabout road from Darley to Springtown, -why, they didn't meet. But ef Dwight went the way he always _has_ tuck, -an' I've seed 'im out this way often enough, why--" Dilk raised his -hands and held them poised significantly in mid-air. - -"But the coroner's jury found," said Purdy, "that Willis was shootin' at -a target he'd stuck up on a tree with his own knife, an' that his young -hoss was skittish, an'--" - -"All the better proof of bad blood betwixt 'em," burst from a farmer on -a nail-keg. "The truth is, some hold now that Willis was out practising -so he could wing that particular game. The only thing I see agin what -you-uns seem to think is that it's been kept quiet. Dwight is a lawyer -an' knows the law, an' he wouldn't cover a thing like that up when -all he'd have to do would be to establish proof that it was done in -self-defence an' git his walking-papers." - -"Thar you are!" Dilk said, in a voice that rang with conviction; "but -suppose _one_ thing--suppose this. Suppose the provocation wasn't -exactly strong enough to quite justify killing. Suppose Dwight, made -mad by all he'd heard, drawed an' fired without due warning, and suppose -while he was thar in that quiet spot he had time to think it all over -and decided that he'd stand a better chance of escape by not bein' known -in the matter. A body never can tell. You kin bet your boots if Dwight -_did_ kill 'im an' hid the fact, he had ample legal reasons fer not -wantin' to be mixed up in it." - -The seed was sown, and upon soil well suited to rapid germination and -growth. By the next day the noxious weed had its head well above the -ground, and, like the crab-grass the farmers knew to be so tenaciously -prolific, it was spreading rapidly. - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - -[Illustration: 9369] - -WEEK went by. Helen Warren had been sitting that warm afternoon in -the big bay-window of the parlor. A cooling breeze fanned the old lace -curtains inward, bringing the perfume of the the garden and now and then -revealing a wealth of color on the rose-bushes near by. She had just -read an appealing letter from Sanders in which he had expressed himself -as having been so disturbed by her refusal to assure him positively of -what his ultimate fate was to be that he had permitted himself to worry -considerably. So greatly concerned, indeed, was he that he had confided -in his mother, who, he wrote, had made matters worse by asking him -flatly if he was absolutely sure that he was loved in the one and only -way a man should be loved by the woman he was hoping to win for his -wife. - -He was writing all this to Helen in a straightforward, manly way, -putting her sharply on her honor, as it were, and she, poor girl, was -worried in her turn. Leaving her chair, she went to the piano and seated -herself and began to play. She was thus occupied when Ida Tarpley came -in suddenly and unannounced, as she felt privileged to do at any time. - -"Well, tell me," the visitor smiled, "what's the matter with your -playing? Why, you used to have a good, even touch, but as I came up -the walk I declare I thought it was some one tuning the piano. You were -dropping enough notes to fill a waste-paper basket." - -"Oh, I'm not in the mood for it, I presume!" Helen said, checking a -sigh. - -"I understand." Miss Tarpley gently pushed back Helen's hair and kissed -her brow. "You can't deny it; you were thinking about Carson Dwight and -all his troubles." - -Helen flushed and dropped her glance to her lap, then she rose from the -piano and the two girls moved hand in hand to the window. "The truth -is," Helen admitted, "that I have been wondering if anything has gone -wrong with him--any bad news or indications about his election." - -"He can't be worrying about the election," Ida said, confidently. "Mr. -Garner comes to see me often and confides in me rather freely, and he -says the people are flocking back to Carson in swarms and droves. They -understand him now and admire him for the courageous stand he took." - -"Well, something is wrong with him," Helen declared, eying her cousin -sadly. "Mam' Linda never makes a mistake; she knows him through and -through. She went to thank him last night for getting a position for -Pete to work regularly at the flouring mill, and she came back really -depressed and shaking her head. - -"'Suppin certain sho gone wrong wid young mars-ter, honey,' she said. -'He ain't never been lak dis before; he ain't _hisse'f_, I tell you! -He's yaller an' shaky an' look quar out'n de eyes.'" - -"Oh!" and Miss Tarpley sank into one of the chairs in the window. "I'm -almost sorry you mentioned that, for now I'll worry. I've always had his -cause at heart, and now--Helen, I'm afraid something very, very serious -is hanging over him. - -[Illustration: 0371] - -I'm not hinting at anything that might come out of his disappointment -over your affair with Mr. Sanders, either. It seems to me he accepted -that as inevitable and is making the best of it, but it is something -else." - -"Something else!" Helen repeated. "Oh, Ida, how horribly you talk! Do -you mean--is it possible that he was more seriously wounded that night -than he has let us know?" - -"No, it's not that. I don't know what it is. In fact, Mr. Garner says--" - -"What does he say, Ida?" Helen threw into the gap left by her cousin's -failure to proceed, and stood staring. - -"Well, you know it is easy sometimes to tell when one is not revealing -everything, and I felt that way about Mr. Garner when he called night -before last. In the first place, though he tried to do it in a casual -sort of way, he kept talking of Carson all the time. It was almost as -if he had come to see if I would confirm some secret fear of his, for -he seemed to get near it several times and then backed out. Once he went -further than he intended, for he said, as if it were a slip of the -lip, when we were speculating on the possible cause of Carson's -depression--he said, 'There is _one_ thing, Miss Ida, that I fear, and I -fear it so much that I dare not even mention it to myself.'" - -"Oh!" exclaimed Helen, and she leaned on the back of her chair; "what -could he have meant?" - -"I don't know; Mr. Garner wouldn't explain; in fact, he seemed rather -upset by his unintentional remark. He laughed awkwardly and changed the -subject, and never alluded to Carson again while he stayed. As he was -getting his hat in the hall, I followed him and tried to pin him down -to some sort of explanation, and then he made an effort to throw me off. -'Oh,' he said, 'you know Carson is terribly blue about losing Helen, and -it has, of course, caused him to care less about his election, but he'll -come around in time.' I told Mr. Garner then that I was sure he had -meant something else. I was looking straight at him and saw his -glance fall, but that was all I got out of him. Something is wrong, -Helen--something very, very serious." - -"Have you seen Carson lately, Ida?" Helen asked, with rigid lips. - -"Not to speak to him; he seems to avoid me, but as I sat in the window -of my room yesterday afternoon I saw him go by. He didn't see me, but -I saw his face in repose, and oh, cousin, it wrung my heart. He really -must have some great secret trouble, and it hurts me to feel that I -can't help him bear it. He used to confide in me, but he seems to shun -me now, and that, too, in itself, is queer." - -"It is not about his mother, either," Helen sighed, "for her health has -been improving lately." And as Miss Tarpley was leaving she accompanied -her, gloomily to the door. - -The twilight fell softly, and as Helen sat in the hammock on the veranda -her father came in at the gate and up the walk. She rose to greet him -with her customary kiss, and taking his arm they began to stroll back -and forth along the veranda. She was hoping that he would speak of -Carson Dwight, but he didn't, and she was forced to mention him herself, -which she did rather stiffly in her effort to make it appear as merely -casual. - -"Ida was saying this afternoon that Carson is not looking well--or, -rather, that he seems to be worried," she faltered out, and then she -hung on to the Major's arm and waited. - -"Oh, I don't know," the old gentleman said, reflectively. "I went into -his office this afternoon to get a blank check, and found him at his -desk with a pile of letters from his supporters all over the county. -Well, I acknowledge I wondered why he should have so little enthusiasm -when the thing is going his way like the woods afire, and his crusty old -father fairly chuckling with pride and delight; but what's the use of -talking to you! You know if he is blue there is only _one_ reason for -it." - -"Only one reason!" Helen echoed, faintly. - -"Yes, how could the poor boy be happy--thoroughly, so I mean--when the -whole town can talk of nothing else but the grandeur of your approaching -marriage. Mrs. Snodgrass has started the report that your aunt is to -give you a ten-thousand-dollar trousseau and that Sanders is to load -you down with family jewels. Mrs. Snod says we are going to have such a -crowd here at the house that the verandas will be enclosed in canvas -and the tables be set barbecue fashion on the lawn, and that the family -servants and all their unlynched descendants are to be brought from the -four quarters of the earth to wait on the multitude in the old style. -You needn't bother; that's what ails Carson. He's got plenty of pride, -and that sort of talk will hurt any man." But Helen was unconvinced. -After supper she sat alone on the veranda, her father being occupied -with the evening papers in the library. What could Garner have meant by -his remark to Ida? With a heavy heart and her hands tightly clasped -in her lap, Helen sat trying to fathom the mystery, for that there was -mystery she had no doubt. - -She went back to the first days of her return home. When she had -arrived her heart--the queer, inconsistent thing which was now so deeply -concerned with Carson Dwight's affairs--had been coldly steeled against -him. The next salient event of that gladsome period was the ball in -her honor of which all else had faded into the background except that -memorable talk with Carson and his promise to remove Pete from the -temptations of living in town. The boy had gone, then the real trouble -had begun. Carson had rescued him from a violent death before her very -eyes. That speech of his was never to be forgotten. It had roused her -as she had never been roused by human eloquence. With a throb of terror, -she heard the report of the pistol fired by Dan Willis, his -avowed enemy--Dan Willis upon whom a just Providence had -visited--visited--visited--She sat staring at the ground, her beautiful -eyes growing larger, her hands clutching each other like clamps of -vitalized steel. - -"Oh!" she cried. "No, no! not that--not that!" It was an accident. The -coroner and his jury had said so. But how strange! No one had mentioned -it, and yet it had happened on the very day Carson had ridden along the -fatal road to reach Springtown. She knew the way well. She herself -had driven over it twice with Carson, and had heard him say it was the -nearest and best road, and that he would _never take any other_. - -Ah, yes, _that_ was the explanation--_that_ was what Garner feared. -_That_ was the terrible fatality which the shrewd lawyer, knowing its -full gravity, had hardly dared mention even to himself. Carson Dwight, -her hero, had killed a man! - -Helen rose like a mechanical thing, and with dragging feet went up the -stairs to her room. Before her open window--the window looking out upon -the Dwight lawn and garden--she sat in the still darkness, now praying -that Carson might appear as he sometimes did. If she saw him, should -she go to him? Yes, for the pain, the cold clutch on her heart of the -discovery was like the throes of death. She told herself that she had -been the primal cause of this as of all his suffering. In the blind -desire to oblige her, he had wrecked his every hope. He had lost all -and yet was uncomplaining. Indeed, he was trying to hide his misfortune, -bearing it alone, like the man he was. - -She heard her father closing the library windows to prepare for bed. His -steps rang hollowly as he came out into the hall below and called up to -her: "Daughter, are you asleep?" - -A reply hung in her dry throat. She feared to trust her voice to -utterance. She heard the Major mutter, as if to himself, "Well, -good-night, daughter," and then his footsteps died out. Again she was -alone with her grim discovery. - -The town clock had just struck ten when she saw the red coal of a -cigar on the Dwight lawn quite near the gate leading into her father's -grounds. It was he. She knew it by the fitful flaring of the cigar. -Noiselessly she glided down the stairs, softly she turned the big brass -key in the massive lock and went out and sped, light of foot, across the -dewy grass. As she approached him Dwight was standing with his back to -her, his arms folded. - -"Carson!" she called, huskily, and he turned with a start and a stare of -wonder through the gloom. - -"Oh," he said, "it's you," and doffing his hat he came through the -gateway and stood by her. "It's time, young lady, that you were asleep, -isn't it?" - -She saw through his effort at lightness of manner. - -"I noticed your cigar and wanted to speak to you," she said, in a voice -that sounded tense and even harsh. It rose almost in a squeak and -died in her tight throat. Something in his wan face and shifting eyes, -noticeable even in the darkness, confirmed her in the conviction that -she had divined his secret. - -"You wanted to see me," he said; "I've had so many things to think about -lately, in this beastly political business, you know, that I'm sadly -behind in my social duties." - -"I--I've been thinking about you all evening," she said, lamely. -"Somehow, I felt as if I simply must see you and talk to you." - -"How good of you!" he cried. "I don't deserve it, though--at such a -time, anyway. It is generally conceded that it is a woman's duty, placed -as you are, to think of only one thing and one individual. In this case -the man is the luckiest one in God's universe. He's well-to-do, has -scores of admiring, influential friends, and is to marry the grandest, -sweetest woman on earth. If that isn't enough to make a man happy, -why--" - -"Stop; don't speak that way!" Helen commanded. "I can't stand it. I -simply can't stand it, Carson!" - -He stared at her inquiringly for a moment, as she stood with her face -averted, and then he heaved a big sigh as he gently, almost reverently, -touched her sleeve to direct her glance upon himself. - -"What is it, Helen?" he said, softly, a wealth of tenderness in his -shaking voice. "What's gone wrong? Don't tell me _you_ are unhappy. -Things have gone crooked with me of late--I--I mean that my father has -been displeased, till quite recently at least, and I have not been in -the best mood; but I have been sustained by the thought that you, at -least, were happy. If I thought you were not, I don't know what I would -do." - -"How can I be happy when you--when you--" Her voice dwindled away into -nothingness, and she could only face him with all her agony and despair -burning in her great, melting eyes. - -"When I what, Helen?" he asked, gropingly. "Surely you are not troubled -about _me_, now that my political horizon is so bright that my opponent -can't look at it without smoked glasses. Oh, I'm all right. Ask -Garner--ask your father--ask Braider--ask anybody." - -"I was not thinking of your _election_," she found voice, to say. "Oh, -Carson, _do_ have faith in me! I crave it; I long for it; I yearn for -it. I want to help you. I want to stand by you and suffer with you. You -can trust me. You tried me once--you remember--and I stood the test. -Before God, I'll never breathe it to a soul. Oh"--stopping him by -raising her despairing hand--"don't try to deceive me because I'm a -girl. The uncertainty is killing me. I'll not close my eyes to-night. -The truth will be easier borne because I'll be bearing it--_with you_." - -"Oh, Helen, can it be possible that you--" He had spoken impulsively and -essayed to check himself, but now, pale as a corpse, he stood before her -not knowing what to do or say. He opened his mouth as if to speak, and -then with a helpless shrug of his shoulders he lapsed into silence, a -droop of utter despondency upon him. She was now sure she was right, -and a shaft she had never met before entered her heart and remained -there--remained there to strengthen her, good woman that she was, as -such things have strengthened women of all periods. She laid her firm -hand upon his arm in a pressure meant to comfort him, and with the -purity of a sorrowing angel she said: "I know the truth, dear Carson, -and if you don't show me a way to get you out from under it--you who did -it all for my sake--if you don't I shall die. I can't stand it." - -He stood convicted before her. With bowed head he remained silent for a -moment, then he said, almost with a groan: "To think, on top of it all, -that you must know--_you!_ I was bearing it all right, but now you--you -poor, gentle, delicate girl--you have to be dragged into this as you -have been dragged into every miserable thing that ever happened to -me. It began with your brother's death--I helped stain that memory for -you--now this--this unspeakable thing!" - -"You did it wholly in self-defence," she said. "You _had_ to do it. He -forced it on you." - -"Yes, yes--he or fate, the imps of Satan or the elemental passion born -in me. Flight, open flight lay before me, but that would have been the -death of self-respect--so it came about." - -"And you kept it on account of your mother?" she went on, insistently, -her agonized face close to his. - -"Yes, of course. It would kill her, Helen, and I would be doing it -deliberately, for I know what the consequences would be. I must be my -own tribunal. I have no right to take still another life that legal -curiosity may be gratified. But till I am proven innocent I am a -murderer--that's what hurts. I am offering myself to my fellow-men as -a maker of laws, and yet am deliberately defying those made by my -predecessors." - -"Your mother must never know," Helen said, firmly. "No one shall but you -and I, Carson. We'll bear it together." She took his hand and held it -tightly for a moment, then pressing it tenderly against her cold cheek, -she lowered her head and left him--left him there under the vague -starlight, the soulful fragrance of her soothing personality upon him, -causing him to forget his peril, his grief, and his far-reaching sorrow, -and to draw close to his aching breast her heavenly sympathy and undying -fidelity. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - -[Illustration: 9382] - -NE morning, a week later, Pole Baker slouched down the street from the -wagon-yard, and, peering into the law-office of Garner & Dwight, he -stood undecided on the deserted street, his hands thrust deep into -the pockets of his baggy trousers. He took another surreptitious look. -Garner was at his desk, his great brow wrinkled as with concentrated -thought, his coarse hair awry, his coat off and shirt-sleeves rolled up -to his elbows, his fingers stained with ink. Glancing up at this moment, -he caught the farmer's eye and nodded: "Hello!" he said, cordially; -"come in. How's our young colt running out your way?" - -"Like a shot out of a straight-barrelled gun," Baker retorted. "He's the -most popular man in the county. He had a slow start, in all that nigger -mess, but he's all right now." - -"So you think he'll be elected?" Garner said, as Pole sat down in a -chair near his desk and began to twirl his long, gnarled fingers. - -"Well, I didn't say _that_, exactly," the farmer answered. - -"But you said--" In his perplexity the lawyer could only stare. - -"I reckon thar are lots of things in this life that kin keep fellows out -of offices besides the men runnin' agin 'em," Baker said, significantly. - -The eyes of the two men met in a long, steady stare; each was trying to -read the other. But Garner was too shrewd a lawyer to be pumped even -by a trusted friend, and he simply leaned back and took up his pen. "Oh -yes, of course," he observed, "a good many slips betwixt the cup and the -lip." - -Silence fell between the two men. Baker broke it suddenly and with his -customary frankness. "Look here, Bill Garner," he said. "That young -feller's yore partner an' friend, but I've got his interests at heart -myself, an' it don't do no harm sometimes fer two men to talk over what -concerns a friend to both. I come in town to talk to _somebody_, an' it -looks like you are the man." - -"Oh, that's it," Garner said. "Well, out with it, Baker." - -Pole thrust his right hand into his pocket and took out a splinter of -soft pine and his knife. Then, with the toe of his heavy shoe, he drew -a wooden, sawdust-filled cuspidor towards him and over it he prepared to -whittle. - -"I want to talk to you about Carson," he said. "It ain't none o' my -business, Bill, but I believe he's in great big trouble." - -"You do, eh?" and Garner seemed to throw caution to the winds as he -leaned forward, his great, facile mouth open. "Well, Pole?" - -"Gossip--talk under cover from one mouth to another," the mountaineer -drawled out, "is the most dangerous thing, next to a bucket o' powder in -a cook-stove that you are goin' to bake in, of anything I know of. -Gossip has got hold of Dwight, Bill, an' it's tangled itself all about -him. Ef some'n' ain't done to choke it off it will git him down as shore -as a blacksnake kin swallow a toad after he's kivered it with slime." - -"You mean--" But Garner seemed to think better of his inclination -towards subterfuge and broke off. - -"I mean about the way Dan Willis met his death," Pole said, to the -point. "I'm no fool an' you ain't, at least you wouldn't be ef you was -paid by some client to git at the facts. Folks are ready to swear Carson -was seed the day that thing happened on that road inside of a mile o' -whar Willis was found. You know what time Carson left here that day; it -was sometime after dinner, an' the hotel man at Spring-town says he got -thar an' registered after dark. He says, too, that Carson looked nervous -an' upset an' seemed more anxious to avoid folks than the general run of -vote-hunters. Then--then, oh, well, what's the use o' beatin' about the -bush? You know an' I know that Carson hain't been actin' like himself -since then. It's all we can do to git 'im interested in his own -popularity, an' that shows some'n' is wrong--dead wrong. An' it looks -to me like it is a matter that ought to be attended to. Killin' a man is -serious enough in the eyes of the law without covering it up till it's -jerked out of you by the State solicitor." - -"So you think the two men met?" Garner said, now quite as if he were -inquiring into the legal status of any ordinary case. - -"That's my judgment," answered Pole. "And if I'm right, then it seems to -me that Carson an' his friends ought to take action before--" - -"Before what?" Garner prompted, almost eagerly. "Before the grand jury -takes it up, as you know they will have to with all this commotion goin' -the rounds." - -"Yes, Carson ought to act--concerned in it or not," said Garner. "If -something isn't done right away, it might be sprung on him on the very -eve of his election and actually ruin him." - -"I'm worried, an' I don't deny it," said the mountaineer. "You see, -Bill, Carson's a lawyer, and he knows whether he had a good case of -self-defence or not, an' shirking investigation this way looks powerful -like--" - -"Like he was himself the--aggressor," interpolated Garner, with a frown. - -"Yes, like that," said Baker. "Of course we know Willis was houndin' the -boy and making threats, but Carson's hot-headed, as hot-headed as they -make 'em, an' maybe he flared up at the first sight of Willis an' blazed -away at 'im. I don't see no other reason for him lyin' so low about it." - -"I'm glad you came to me," Garner said. "I'll admit I've been fearing -the thing, Pole. It will be a delicate matter to broach, but I'm going -to talk to him about it. As you say, the longer it remains like it is -the more serious it becomes. Good Lord! if he _did_ kill Willis--if he -_did_ kill him, it would take sharp work to clear him of the charge of -murder after the silly way he has acted about it. Why, dang it, it's -almost an admission of guilt!" - -Baker had barely left the office when Carson came in, nodded to his -partner, and sat down at his desk and began in an absent-minded way -to cut open some letters that were waiting for him. Unobserved Garner -watched him from behind the worn book he was holding up to his face. -Hardened lawyer that he was, Garner's heart melted with pity as he noted -the dark splotches under the young man's eyes, the pathetic droop of -his shoulders, the evidences in every facial line of the grim inward -struggle that was going on in the brave, supersensitive soul. Garner put -down his book and went into the little consultation-room in the rear and -stood at the window which looked out upon a small patch of corn in an -adjoining lot. - -"He did it!" he said, grimly. "Yes, he did it. Poor chap!" - -The task before him was the hardest Garner had ever faced. He could have -discussed, to the finest points of detail, such a case for a client, but -Carson--the strange, winning personality over which he had marvelled -so often--was different. He was the most courageous, the most -self-sacrificing, the most keenly suffering human being Garner had ever -known, and the most sensitively honorable. How was it possible, even -indirectly, to allude to so grave a charge against such a man? And yet, -Garner reflected, pessimistically, the best of men sometimes reach a -point at which their high moral and spiritual tension, under one crucial -test or another, breaks. Why should it not be so in Carson Dwight's -case. - -Garner went back to his desk, sat down, and turned his revolving-chair -till he faced Carson's profile. "Look here, old chap," he said. "I've -got something of a very unpleasant nature to say to you, and it's a -pretty hard thing to do, considering my keen regard for you." - -Dwight glanced up from the letter he held before him. He read Garner's -face in a steady stare for a moment, and then said, with a sigh, as he -laid the letter down: "I see you've heard it. Well, I knew it would get -out. I've seen it coming for several days." - -"I began to guess it a week or so back," Garner went on, outwardly calm; -"but this morning in talking to Pole Baker I became convinced of it. -It is a grim sort of thing, my boy, but you must not despair. You've -surmounted more obstacles than any young fellow I know, and I believe -you will eventually come through this. Though you must acknowledge that -it would have been far wiser to have given yourself up at once." - -"I couldn't do it," Carson responded, gloomily. "I thought of it. -I started on my way to Braider, really, but finally decided that it -wouldn't do." - -"Good God! was it as bad as that?" Garner exclaimed. "I've been hoping -against hope that you could--" - -"It couldn't be worse." Carson lowered his head till it rested on his -hand. His face went out of Garner's view. "It's going to kill her, -Garner. She can't stand it. Dr. Stone told me that another shock would -kill her." - -"You mean--my Lord! you mean your _mother?_ You--you"--Garner leaned -forward, his face working, his eyes gleaming--"you mean that you did -not report it because of her condition? Great God! why didn't I think of -that?" - -"Why, certainly." Carson looked round. "Did you think it was because--" - -"I thought it was because you had--had killed him in--well, in a manner -you feared would not be adjudged wholly justifiable. I never dreamed of -the _real_ reason. I see it all now," and Garner rose from his chair and -with his lips twitching he laid his hand on Dwight's back. "I understand -perfectly, and I admire you more than I can say. Now, tell me all about -it." - -For an hour the two friends sat talking together. Calmly Carson went -into detail as to the happening, and when he had finished Garner said: -"You've got a good case, but you can easily see that it is grievously -hampered by your concealment of the facts so long. To make a jury see -exactly how you felt about your mother's reception of the thing may be -hard, for the average man is not by nature quite so finely strung as -that, but we must _make_ them see it. Dr. Stone's testimony as to his -advice to you will help. But, by all means, we must make the advance -ourselves as soon as possible--before a charge is brought against you -by the grand jury." v "But"--and Dwight groaned aloud--"my mother simply -cannot go through it, Garner. I know her. It will kill her." - -"She simply must bear it," Garner said, gloomily. "We must find a way -to brace her up to the ordeal. I have it. All my hopes are based on our -making such a clear statement before Squire Felton, with the testimony -of several witnesses as to Willis's threats against you, that he will -throw it out of court. I can see the squire to-day and have a hearing -set for to-morrow. We'll make quick work of it. I'll also see your -father and--" - -"My father!" Carson exclaimed, despondently. - -"Yes, I'll see him and explain the whole thing. I think I can get him to -keep the matter from reaching your mother till after the hearing. She is -still confined to her room, and surely your father can manage that part -of it." - -"Yes," Carson replied, gloomily; "and he will do all he can, though it's -going to be a terrible blow to him. But--if--if the justice court should -bind me over, and I should have to go to jail to await trial, then my -mother--" - -"Don't think about her now!" Garner said, testily. "Let's work for a -prompt dismissal and not look on the dark side till we have to. I'll run -down and talk to your father at once, before the rumor reaches him and -drives him crazy. I tell you it's in the very air; I've felt it for -several days." - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. - -[Illustration: 9390] - -N his office in one corner of his great grain and cotton warehouse, at a -dusty, littered desk before a murky, cobweb-bed window, Garner found -old Dwight, his lap full of telegraphic reports, his head submerged in a -morning paper containing the market and crop news in general. Outside of -the thin-walled office heavy iron trucks, in the grasp of brawny black -men, rattled and rumbled over the heavy floor and across weighty skids -into open cars in the rear. There was the creaking sound of the big hand -elevators engaged in hoisting and lowering bales, barrels, bags, and -casks, the mellow sing-song of the light-hearted negroes as they toiled, -blissfully ignorant of the profound gloom which had fallen on the -defender of their rights. - -"I came to see you on an important matter concerning Carson," Garner -began, as he leaned over the old man's desk. - -Dwight lowered his paper, shrugged his shoulders, and sniffed. - -"Campaign funds, I reckon," he said. "Well, I've been looking for some -such demand. In fact, I've been astonished that you fellows haven't -been after me sooner. I'll do anything but buy whiskey to give away. I'm -against that custom." - -"It wasn't _that_," said Garner, who, usually plain-spoken, shrank from -beating about the bush even in so delicate a matter. "The truth is, -Carson is in a little trouble, Mr. Dwight." - -"Trouble?" the merchant said, bluntly. "Will you kindly show me when -he's ever been out of it? Since the day he was born it's been scrape -after scrape. By all possessed, Billy, when he wasn't a year old I had -to spend fifty dollars to encase all the chimneys in with iron grating -to keep him from crawling into the fire. He's walked or stumbled into -every fire that was made since then. When he was only twelve a man out -at the farm fell in a well and nothing would do Carson but that he must -go down after him. He did it, fastened the only available rope about the -man and sent him to the top, and when they lowered it to Carson he was -so nearly drowned that he could hardly sit in the loop. If I had a list -of the scrapes that boy went through at home and at college I'd sell it -to some blood-and-thunder novel writer. It would make his fortune. Well, -what is it now?" - -"Carson is in very serious trouble I'm afraid, Mr. Dwight," Garner said, -as he took a chair and sat down. "You will have to prepare yourself for -a pretty sharp shock. He couldn't help it. It was pushed on him to -such an extent that there was no other way out of it and retain his -self-respect. Mr. Dwight, you, of course, heard of Dan Willis's death?" - -"Yes, and thought that now that he was under the sod Carson would -surely--" - -"The death was not an accident, Mr. Dwight," - -Garner interrupted, and his eyes rested steadily on the old man's face. - -"You mean that Willis killed himself--that he--" - -"I mean that he _forced_ Carson to kill him, Mr. Dwight." - -The old merchant's face was working as if in the throes of death; he -leaned forward, his eyes wide in growing horror. - -"Don't, don't say that, Billy; take it back!" he gasped. "Anything but -that--anything else under God's shining sun." - -"You must try to be calm," Garner said, gently. "It can't be helped. -After all, the poor boy was forced to do it to save his life." - -Old Dwight lowered his face to his hands and groaned. The negro at the -head of the gang of truckmen approached and leaned in the doorway. He -had come to ask some directions about the work, but with widening eyes -he stood staring. Garner peremptorily waved him away, and, rising, he -laid his hand on Dwight's shoulder. - -"Don't take it so hard!" he said, soothingly. "Remember, there is a lot -to do, and that's what I came to see you about." - -Old Dwight raised his blearing eyes, which, in his pallid face now -looked bloodshot, and stammered out: "What is there to do? What does it -mean? How was it kept till now? Was he trying to hide it?" - -"Yes"--Garner nodded--"the poor boy has been bearing it in secret. He -was afraid the news of it would seriously injure his mother." - -"And it will!" Dwight groaned. "She will never bear it in the world. -She is as frail as a flower. His conduct has brought her within a -hair's-breadth of the grave more than once, and nothing under high -heaven could save her from this. It's awful, awful!" - -"I know it's bad, but we've got to save him, Mr. Dwight. You can't have -your own son--" - -"Have him _what?_" Dwight rose, swaying from side to side, and stood -facing the lawyer. - -"Well, you can't have him sent to jail for murder; you can't have -him--found guilty and publicly executed. The law is a ticklish business. -Absolutely innocent men have been hanged time after time. I tell you -this concealment of the thing, and Carson's hot fury at Willis and -the remarks he has made here and there about him--the fact that he was -armed--that there were no witnesses to the duel--that he allowed the -erroneous verdict of the coroner's jury to go on record--all these -things, with a scoundrel like Wiggin in the background at deadly work to -thwart us and pull Carson out of his track, are very, very serious. It -is the most serious job I ever tackled in the courts, but I'm going to -put it through or, as God is my judge, Mr. Dwight, I'll throw up the -law." - -Tears were now flowing freely from the old merchant's eyes and, -unhindered, dripped from his face to the ground. Taking Garner's hand -he grasped it firmly, and as he wrung it he sobbed: "Save my boy, Billy, -and I'll never let you want for means as long as you live. He's all I've -got, and I'm prouder of him than I ever let folks know. I've made a lot -of fuss over some things he's done, but through it all I was proud of -him, proud of him because he saw deeper into right than I did. Even this -nigger question--I talked against that a lot, because I thought it -would pull him down, but when I heard how he got you all together in -Blackburn's store that night and persuaded you to save old Linda's -boy--when I learned of that and heard the old woman's cries of joy, and -saw the far-reaching effects of what Carson was standing for, I was so -proud and thankful that I sneaked off to my room and cried--cried like a -child; and now upon it all, as his reward, comes this thing. Oh, Billy, -save him! Don't crush the poor boy's spirit. I've always wanted to aid -you in some substantial way for your interest in him, and I'm going to -do it this time." - -"I hope we can squash the thing in justice court in the morning, Mr. -Dwight," Garner said, confidently. "The chief thing is for you to keep -it all from your wife until then, anyway. I can't do a thing with Carson -till his mind is at ease over her. He worships the ground she walks on, -Mr. Dwight, and if it hadn't been for that he would have been out of -this trouble long ago, for I'm sure a plain statement of the matter -immediately after it happened would have cleared him without any -trouble. In his desire to spare his mother he has complicated the case, -that's all." - -"Oh, I can keep it from his mother that long easy enough," said Dwight. -"I'll go home now and see to it. Pull my boy through this, Billy. If you -have to draw on me for every cent I've got, pull him through. I'm going -to treat him different in the future-. If he can get out of this I -believe he will be elected and make a great man." - -An hour later Garner hurried back to the office. - -"Everything is in fine shape!" he chuckled, as he threw off his coat -and fell to work at his desk. "Squire Felton has fixed the hearing for -to-morrow morning at eleven and Pole Baker has gone on the fastest horse -in the livery-stable to secure witnesses for our side. He says he can -find them galore in the mountains, and your father is as solid as a -stone wall. He fell all in a tumble at first, but braced up, said some -beautiful things about you, and went home to see that your mother's ears -are closed. - -"I saw the sheriff, too. What do you think? When I told him the facts, -and said that you were ready to give yourself up, he almost cried. -Braider's a trump. He said that the law gave him the right to let you go -on your own recognizance, and that before he'd arrest you and put you in -a common jail he'd have his arms and legs cut off. He said, knowing -your heart as he knew it, he'd let you go all the way to Canada without -stopping you, and that if you were bound over on this charge he'd throw -up his job rather than arrest you. He told me he'd been looking for -it--that he got wind of it two days ago, and would have been in to see -you about it if he hadn't been afraid you'd misunderstand his coming -at such a time. He put a flea in my ear, too. He said we must beware of -Wiggin. He has an idea that Wiggin has been on to this for sometime and -may have a dangerous dagger up his sleeve. The district-attorney is out -of town to-day but will be back to-night. He's as straight as a die and -will act fair. I will see him the first thing in the morning. Now, you -brace up. Leave everything to me. You are as good a lawyer as I am, but -you are too nervous and worried about your mother to act on your best -judgment." - -At this juncture the colored gardener from Dwight's came in with a note -directed to Garner. Garner opened it and read it while Carson stood -looking on. It ran: _"Dear Billy,--Everything is all right at this end, -and will remain so, at least till after the hearing to-morrow. I enclose -my check for ten thousand dollars as a retaining fee. I always intended -to give you a little start, and I hope this will help you materially. -Save my boy. Save him, Billy. For God's sake pull him through; don't let -this thing crush his spirit. He's got a great and a useful future before -him if only we can pull him through this."_ - -Carson read the note through a blur and turned away. He was standing -alone in the dreary little consultation-room a few minutes later, when -Garner came to him, old Dwight's check fluttering in his hands. - -"Your dad's the right sort," he said, his eyes gleaming with the infant -fires of avarice. "One only has to know how to understand him. The -size of this check is out of all reason, but if I can do what he wishes -to-morrow, I'll not only accept it, but I'll put it to a glorious use. -Carson, there is a young woman in this town whom I'll ask to marry me, -and I'll buy a home with this to start life on." - -"Ida Tarpley?" said Carson. - -"She's the one," Garner said, with a bare touch of rising color. "I -think she would take me, from a little remark she dropped, and it was -through you that I found her." - -"Through me?" Dwight said. - -"Yes, it was in talking of your ups and downs that I first saw into -her wonderfully sweet and sympathetic nature. Carson, if you get your -walking-papers in the morning, I won't wait ten minutes before I pop -the question. The lack of means was the only thing that kept me from -proposing the last time I saw her." - - - - -CHAPTER XLV. - -[Illustration: 0398] - -HE next morning when Garner reached the office, he found Carson -surrounded by "the gang," Blackburn was just leaving, his mild eyes -fixed gloomily on the sidewalk, and Wade Tingle, Keith Gordon, and Bob -Smith sat about the office with long-drawn, stoical faces. - -"I was just telling Carson that it will be a walkover in court this -morning," Wade was saying, comfortingly, as Garner sat down at his desk, -his great brow clouded. "Don't you think so, Garner?" - -"Well, I'll tell you _one_ thing, boys," Garner answered, irritably, -"it's too important a matter to make light over, and I want you fellows -to clear out so we can get to work. I've got to talk to Carson, and I -can't do it with so many here. I'm not accustomed to thinking with a -crowd around." - -"You bet we'll skedaddle, then, old man," said Keith; "but we'll be at -the--the hearing." - -When they had gone droopingly out, Carson came from the window at which -he had been standing and looked Garner over, noting with surprise that -the lower parts of the legs of his partner's trousers were dusty and his -boots unpolished. The shirt Garner wore had sleeves that were too long -for his arms, and a pair of soiled cuffs covered more than half of -the small hands. His standing collar had become crumpled, and his -ever-present black silk necktie, with its unshapely bow and brown, -frayed edges, had slipped out of place. His hair was awry, his whole -manner nervous and excitable. - -"Keith says you didn't sleep at the den last night," Dwight said, -tentatively. "Did you go out to your father's?" - -Garner seemed to hesitate for an instant, then he crossed his dusty legs -and began to draw upon and tie more firmly the loose strings of his worn -and cracked patent-leather shoes. - -"Look here, Carson," he said, when he had fumblingly tied the last knot, -"you are too strong and brave a man to be treated in the wishy-washy -way a woman's treated. Besides, you'll have to know the truth sooner or -later, anyway, and you may as well be prepared for it." - -"Something gone wrong?" Dwight asked, calmly. - -"Worse than I dreamed was possible," Garner said. "I thought we'd have -comparatively smooth sailing, but--well, it's your danged luck! Pole -Baker come in this morning about two o'clock. I'd taken a room at -the hotel to get away from those chattering boys so I could think. I -couldn't sleep, and was trying to get myself straight with a dime novel -that wouldn't hold my attention, when Pole came and found me. Carson, -that rascal Wiggin is the blackest devil that ever walked the earth in -human shape." - -"He's been at work," said Carson, calmly. - -"You'd think so," said Garner. "Pole says wherever he went, expecting to -lay hands on good witnesses who had heard Willis make threats, he found -that Wiggin had got there first and put up a tale that closed their -mouths like clams." - -"I see," said Dwight. "He frightened them off." - -"I should think he did. He put them on their guard, telling them, -without hinting at any trouble of yours, that if they had a call to -court, of any sort whatsoever, to get out of it, as it would only be a -trick on our part to implicate them in the lynching business." - -"So we have no witnesses," said Dwight. - -"Not even a photograph of one!" replied Garner, bitterly. "I sent Pole -right out again, tired as he was, in another direction. He had a faint -idea that he might persuade Willis's mother to testify, though I told -him he was on a wild-goose chase, for not one mother in ten thousand -would turn over a hand to aid a man who--a man under just such -circumstances. Then I got a horse--" - -"At that time of night?" Carson cried. - -"What was the difference? I couldn't sleep, anyway, and the cool night -air made me feel better, but I failed. The men I saw admitted that they -had heard Dan talk some, but they couldn't recall any absolute threats. -When I got back to town it was eight o'clock. I ate a snack at the -restaurant and then hurried off to see the district-attorney. Mayhew is -a good man, Carson, and a fair man. I think he is the most honest and -conscientious solicitor we've ever had. But right there I saw the track -of your guardian angel. As early as it was, Wiggin had been there before -me. Mayhew wouldn't admit that he had, but I knew it from his reserved -manner. Why, I expected to see the solicitor take the whole thing -lightly, you know, considering your standing at the bar and your family -name, but I found him--well, entirely too serious about it. He really -talked as if it were the gravest thing that had ever happened. I saw -that he was badly prejudiced, and I tried to disabuse his mind of some -hidden impressions, but he wouldn't talk much. All at once, however, -he looked me in the face and asked me how on earth any sensible man, -familiar with the law, could keep a thing like that concealed as long -as you did. I told him, in as plausible and direct a way as I could, how -you felt in regard to your mother's condition. He listened attentively, -then he shrugged his shoulders and said: 'Why, Garner, Dr. Stone told -my wife the other day that Mrs. Dwight was improving rapidly. Surely she -wasn't as bad off as all that.' My Lord! I was set back so badly that I -hardly knew what to say. He went on then to tell me that folks through -the country had been saying that towns-people always managed to avoid -the law by some hook or crook, or influence, or money, and that he was -not going to subject himself to public criticism even in the case of a -man as popular as you are." - -"That was Wiggin's work!" Carson said, his lips pressed tightly together -as he turned back to the window. - -"Yes, that's his method. He's the trickiest scamp unhung. Of course, -he can't hope to see you actually convicted of this thing, but he does -evidently think he can have you bound over to trial at the next term of -court, and beat you at the polls in the mean time. He thinks with his -negro incendiary speeches to rouse the lowest element, and the charges -that you've murdered one of your own race to inflame the prejudices of -others, that he can snow you under good and deep. But we've got to -make the best of it. There is no shirking or postponing of this hearing -to-day. Even if the very--the very worst comes," Garner finished, -slowly, as if shrinking from the words he was uttering, "we can give any -bonds the court may demand." - -"But"--and Dwight turned from the window and stood before his -friend--"what if they refuse to take bonds at all and I have to go to -jail?" - -"What do you want to cross a bridge like that for?" Garner demanded, -plainly angered by the sheer possibility in question. - -Dwight leaned over Garner and put his hand on the dusty shoulder. -"_That_ would kill my mother, old man!" - -"Do you think so, Carson?" Garner was deeply moved. - -"I know it, Garner, and her blood would be on my head." - -"Well, we must _win!_" Garner said, and a look of firm determination -came into his eyes; "that is all there is about it. We must win. Eternal -truth and justice are on our side. We must win." - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI. - -[Illustration: 0403] - -HE big, square court-room was filled to overflowing when at the last -moment Carson and Garner arrived. Just inside the door they found old -Dwight standing, his battered silk hat in his hand, and with an air of -unwonted humility upon him, patiently awaiting their coming. - -"Is everything all right?" he anxiously whispered to Garner, as he -reached out and caught his son's hand and held on to it. - -"Yes, all right, Mr. Dwight," Garner replied; "and is--is your wife--" - -"Yes, we are safe on that score," the old man said, encouragingly, to -Carson. "I only slipped away for a minute. I won't wait here, but will -hurry back and stand guard. God bless you, my boy." When Dwight had -turned towards the door and was moving away, Carson glanced over the -crowded room. All eyes were fixed, it seemed to him, anxiously and -sympathetically on his face. As he passed through the central aisle -to reach the railed-in enclosure where, at his elevated desk, the -magistrate sat, gravely consulting with the State solicitor, Carson's -mind was gloomily active with the numerous instances in which, to -his knowledge, innocent men had been convicted by the complication -of circumstantial evidence, in a chair which Braider was solicitously -placing near that of Garner, the young man's glance again swept the big -room. On the last row of benches sat Linda, Uncle Lewis, and Pete in -the company of other negro friends of his. Their fixed and awed facial -expressions added to his gloom. Near the railing sat "the gang"--Gordon, -Tingle, and Bob Smith--their faces long-drawn. Behind them sat Helen and -her father, with Ida Tarpley. Catching Helen's anxious glance, Carson -tried to smile lightly as he responded to her bow, but there was -something in his act which seemed to him to be empty pretence and rather -unworthy of one in his position. Guilty or innocent in the eyes of the -law, he told himself he was there to rid his character of the -gravest charge that could be made against a human being, and from the -indications, as seen by the shrewd Garner, he was not likely to leave -the room a free man. He shuddered as he grimly pictured Braider--the -feeling, sympathetic Braider--coming to him there before all those eyes -and formally placing him under arrest at the order of the court. He sank -to the lowest ebb of despair as he pictured his mother's hearing of -the news. Almost in a daze Carson sat dumb and blind to the formal -proceedings. Like a child, he felt a soothing comfort in the knowledge -that he was leaning on such a skilled friend as that of the hardened -young lawyer at his side, and yet for the first time in his life he was -pitying himself. Things had really gone hard with him. He had tried his -best to do the right thing of late, but fate had at last overpowered -him. He was losing faith in the impulses which had led him, blind under -the blaze of youthful enthusiasm, to that seat here under the cold, -accusing eye of the law. - -He was drawn out of his lethargy by the clear, ringing, confident voice -of the solicitor. It was a strong, an utterly heartless speech, "the -gang" thought. Duty to the State and public protection was its key-note. -Personally, Mayhew had nothing but the kindliest feeling and strongest -admiration for the defendant. He belonged to one of the best and oldest -families in the South, and was a man of undaunted courage and remarkable -brains. But with all that, Mayhew believed, as he tugged at his heavy -mustache and stared with confident eyes at the magistrate, he could show -that lurking under the creditable and refined exterior of the defendant -was a keenly vindictive nature--a nature that was maddened beyond -forbearance by opposition. The solicitor promised to show by competent -witnesses, when the matter was brought to trial, that Carson Dwight -believed--mark the word _believed_--without an iota of proof, that Dan -Willis had fired upon him in the mob that was attempting to lynch Pete -Warren. Believing this, your honor, I say, with no sort of proof, I -think the State will have no trouble in establishing the fact -that Dwight had sufficient _motive_ for what was done, and that he -deliberately and with aforethought went armed with no other intent than -to kill Willis. Furthermore, Mayhew could show, he declared, that Dwight -had carefully concealed the deed, letting it go out to the world that -the finding of the coroner's jury was correct, and making no statement -to the contrary till he was driven to it by the encroachments of -verifiable rumor and the certainty of adverse action by the grand jury. -That being the status of the case, the solicitor could only urge upon -the court its duty to hold Carson Dwight on the charge of murder in the -first degree. - -Deep in his slough of depression, Dwight, looking over the breathless -audience, noticed the serious faces he knew and loved. Helen was deathly -pale, and her father sat with bowed head, fingering his gold-headed -ebony cane. Keith Gordon's face was as full of reproach for what the -solicitor had said as that of a grief-stricken woman. Wade Tingle sat -flushed with rebellious anger, and Bob Smith, not grasping the full -import of the high-sounding words, stared from under his neatly -plastered hair like a wondering child at a funeral. It was Mam' Linda's -almost savage glare that more firmly fixed Carson's wandering glance. -She sat there, her visage full of half-savage passion, her large lip -hanging low and quivering, her breast heaving, her eyes gleaming. - -Carson had not the heart to follow Garner's weak and inadequate plea as -the lawyer stood, his small hands clutched and bloodless behind him. He -had not been able, he said, to reach the witnesses he had expected to -produce, who would swear that Dan Willis, time after time, had pursued -the defendant and made threats against his life, but he felt that a calm -statement of Carson Dwight's would be believed, and that-- - -Here there was a commotion in the room. The bailiff at the door was -talking loudly to some one. The magistrate rapped vigorously for order, -and in the pause that ensued Pole Baker came striding down the aisle, -leading a little woman wearing a black cotton sun-bonnet and dress of -the same material. Leaving her standing, Baker approached Garner and -whispered in his ear. Then, with a suddenly kindling face, the lawyer -turned and whispered to the woman. A moment later he drew himself up to -his full height and said, in a clear, confident voice that reached all -parts of the room: "Your honor, I have a witness here that I want to -have sworn." - -The district-attorney stood up and stared curiously at the woman. "If -I'm not mistaken that's Dan Willis's mother," he said, with a smile. -"She is a witness I'm looking for myself." - -"Well, you are welcome to what she'll testify," Garner dryly retorted. - -A moment later the little woman was on the stand, holding her bonnet in -her hand, her small, wizened face as colorless as parchment, her black -hair brushed as smoothly as patent leather down over her brow and tied in -a small, tight knot behind her head. - -"Now, Mrs. Willis," Garner went on, casting a significant glance at -Carson, who was gazing at him in growing wonder, "just tell the court -in your own way what happened at your house the day your son met his -death." - -The room was very still when she began in a low, quivering voice which, -gradually steadied itself as she continued. - -"Well," she said, "Mr. Wiggin come to the fence while we-all was eatin' -our breakfast, an' called Danny out an' they had a talk near the -cow-lot. I don't know what was said, but I was sorry they got together -for Mr. Wiggin always upset Danny an' started 'im to drinkin' and -rantin' agin Mr. Dwight here in town." - -She paused a moment, and then Garner, leaning easily on the back of his -chair, said, encouragingly: "All right, Mrs. Willis, you are doing very -well. Now, just go ahead and tell the court all that took place to the -best of your recollection." - -"Well, thar wasn't much to recollect that happened right thar _at -home_," the witness went on, plaintively; "of course, the shootin' tuck -place about a mile from thar on the--" - -"Pardon me, Mrs. Willis," Garner interrupted. "You are getting the cart -before the horse. I want you to tell his honor how your son acted when -he came into the house after his talk with Mr. Wiggin." - -"Why, when Danny fust come in, Mr. Garner, he went to the bureau drawyer -and tuck out his revolver an' loaded it thar before us, cussin' at every -breath agin Mr. Dwight. I tried to calm 'im down, an' so did my brother -George, but he was as nigh crazy as I ever saw any human bein' in my -life. He said he was goin' straight to Darley an' kill Carson Dwight, if -he had to go to his daddy's house an' drag 'im out of his bed. He said -he'd tried it once an' slipped up, but that if he missed again he'd kill -hisse'f in disgust." - -"I see, I see," Garner said, in the pause that ensued. He stroked his -smooth chin with his tapering fingers and opened and shut his mouth, -and he kept his eyes on the ceiling as if the witness had made the most -ordinary sort of statement. He leaned again on the back of his chair, -and then lowering his glance to the face of the witness, he asked: "Did -you gather from Dan's talk that morning, Mrs. Willis, when it was that -he made the _first_ attempt on the life of Carson Dwight?" - -"Well, I don't know as I did _then_," the woman answered; "but he told -us about it the day after he fired the shot." - -"Oh, he did!" Garner's face was still a study of guileless indifference, -and he stroked his chin again, his eyes now on the floor, his arms -folded across his breast. "What day was that, Mrs. Willis?" - -"Why, the day after Mr. Dwight kept the mob from hangin' old Lindy -Warren's boy." - -Profound astonishment was now visible on every countenance except that -of Garner. "I never knew positively before _who_ fired that shot," he -said, carelessly, "though, of course, I had an idea who did it. So Dan -admitted that?" - -"Yes, he told us about that, and about tryin' to git at Mr. Dwight -several other times." - -"I reckon you are satisfied in your own mind that if Mr. Dwight hadn't -defended himself Dan would have killed him?" Garner pursued, adroitly. - -"I know he would, Mr. Garner, an' when I heard the report that Danny had -shot hisse'f by accident, while he was practisin' with his pistol, I -was reconciled to it. I didn't think Mr. Dwight was to blame. I always -thought he was doin' the best he could, an' that politics caused the bad -blood. I always liked 'im, to tell the truth. I'd heard that he was a -friend to the pore an' humble, even to pore old niggers, an' somehow -I felt relieved when I heard he'd escaped my boy. I knowed Danny meant -murder an' that no good could come of it. I'd a sight ruther know a -child of mine was dead an' in the hands of his Maker than tied up in -jail waitin' to be publicly hung in the end. No, it is better like it -is, though if I may be allowed to say so, I can't for the life of me, -understand what you-all have got Mr. Dwight hauled up here like this, -when his mother is in sech a delicate condition. Good Lord, he hain't -done nothin' to be tried for!" - -"That will do, Mrs. Willis," Garner was heard to say, his voice harshly -stirring the emotion-packed stillness of the room; "that will do, unless -my brother Mayhew wants to ask you some questions." - -"The State has no case, your honor," Mayhew said, with a sickly smile. -"The truth is, I think we've all been imbibing too freely of politics. -I confess I've listened to Wiggin myself. It looks like, failing to get -Dan Willis to kill Dwight, he's set about trying to have it done by law. -Your honor, the State is out of the case." - -There was a pause of astonishment and then the truth burst upon the -audience. Realizing that Carson Dwight was more than a free man, -vindicated, restored to them, "the gang" rose as a man and yelled. Led -by Pole Baker and the enthusiastic Braider, they pressed around him, -climbing over the railing and crushing chairs to splinters. Then, amid -the shouts and glad tears of the spectators, the most popular man in the -county was raised perforce upon the stout shoulders of Baker and Braider -and borne down the aisle towards the door. - -Above the heads of all, Carson, flushed with confusion, glanced over the -room. Immediately in front of him stood Helen. She was looking straight -and eagerly at him, her face aglow, her eyes filled with tears. She -paused with her father just outside the door, and as "the gang" bore -their struggling and protesting hero past, she raised her hand to him. -Blushing in fresh embarrassment, he took it, only to have it torn from -him the next instant. - -"Let me down, Pole!" he cried. - -"No, sir, we don't let you down!" Pole shouted. "We've got it in for -you. We are goin' to lynch you!" - -The crowd, appreciating the joke, thereupon raised the queerest cry that -ever burst from breasts surcharged with joy. - -"Lynch him!" they yelled. "Lynch him!" - -Half an hour afterwards Carson went home. His father was at the fence -looking for him. He had heard the news and his old face was beaming with -joy as he opened the gate for his son and took him into his arms. - -"How's mother?" was Carson's first inquiry. - -"She's all right and she knows, too?" - -"She knows!" Carson exclaimed, aghast. - -"Yes, old Mrs. Parsons was the first to bring me the news, and she -assured me she could impart it to your mother in such a way as not to -shock her at all." - -"And you let her?" Carson said, anxiously. - -"Yes, and she did the slickest piece of work I ever heard of. I knew she -was considered a wonderful woman, but she's the smoothest article I ever -met. I laughed till I cried. I was in the mood for laughing, anyway. -Mrs. Parsons began by adroitly working your mother up to such a pitch -of fury against Willis for his nagging pursuit of you that your mother -could have shot him herself, and then, in an off-hand way, Mrs. Parsons -led on to the meeting between you. Willis had his gun in your face, and -was about to pull the trigger, when your pistol went off and saved -your life. She went on to say that Dan's mother had just been to the -court-house testifying that her son had tried to murder you, and that -she didn't blame you in the slightest. I declare, Mrs. Parsons actually -made it appear that Willis was on trial instead of you. Anyway, it's all -right. We've got nothing to fear now." - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII. - - -[Illustration: 9413] - -IX weeks later the election came off. - -It was no "walk-over" for Carson. Wiggin seemed only more desperately -spurred on by every exposition of his underhand chicanery. He died -hard. He fought with his nose in the mire, but, throwing honor to -the winds, he fought. Carson Dwight's stand on the negro question was -Wiggin's strongest weapon. It was a torch with which the candidate could -inflame the breasts of a certain class of men at a moment's notice. -He was a crude but powerful speaker, and wherever he went he left -smouldering or raging fires. Pledged to him were the lowest order of -men, and they fought for him and worked for him like bandits in the -dark. Over these men he wielded a sword of fear. Carson Dwight's -intention in getting to the legislature was to make laws against -lynching, and every man who had ever protected his home and fireside by -summary justice to the black brutes would be ferreted out and imprisoned -for life. But Dwight's more gentle and saner reasoning, backed by his -heroic conduct of the past, held sway. He was elected. He was not only -elected, but, as the exponent of a new issue, the news of his election -was telegraphed all over the South. He had written some articles for -Wade Tingle's paper which had been widely copied and commented on, and -his political course was watched by many conservative thinkers, who -prophesied a remarkable career for him. He was a fearless man, with -a new voice, who had taken a radical stand based on humanitarian and -Christian principles. Family history was simply repeating itself. His -ancestors had stood for the humane treatment of the slaves thrust -upon them by circumstances, and he, in the same hereditary spirit, -was standing for kind, just treatment of those ex-slaves and their -descendants. No man who knew him would have accused him of believing in -the social equality of the races any more than they would earlier have -brought the same charge against his ancestors. - -On the night the returns were brought in and it was known that he had -triumphed, "the gang" had arranged a big pine torch-light procession, -and it passed with its blaze and din through every street of the town. -Carson was at home when they lined themselves, in all their tooting of -horns, beating of drums, and general clatter, along the front fence. The -town brass-band did its best, and every sort of transparency that the -inventive mind of Wade Tingle could devise was borne, as if by the smoke -and heat of the torches themselves, above the long procession. - -Garner separated himself from the throng, and, clad in a new and costly -suit of clothes, a tribute to his engagement to Miss Tarpley--a fine -black frock-coat, broadcloth trousers, and a silk hat--he made his way -into the house and up the stairs to the veranda above, where Carson and -his mother and father were standing. - -"The boys want a speech," he said to Carson, "and you've got to give -them the best in your shop. By George, they deserve it." Carson was -demurring, but his mother pressed him to comply, and Garner, with his -stateliest strut, his coat buttoned so tightly at the waist that, the -tails spread out as if inviting him to sit down, and his hat held on -a level with his left shoulder, advanced to the balustrade, and in -his happiest mood introduced the man who, he declared, was the -broadest-minded, the most conscientious and fearless candidate that -ever trod the boards of a political platform. They were to receive the -expression of gratitude and appreciation of a man whose name was written -upon every heart present. Garner had the distinguished honor and pride -to introduce his law partner and close friend, the Hon. Carson Dwight. - -Carson never spoke better in his life. What he said was from a boyish -heart overflowing with content and good-will. When he had finished Mrs. -Dwight rose from her chair and proudly stood by his side. The cheers at -her appearance rent the air. Then Garner pushed old Dwight forward from -the shadow of a column where he was standing, and as the old gentleman -awkwardly bowed his greeting, the cheers broke out afresh. Bob Smith, -who was a sort of drum-major, with a ribbon-wound walking-cane for a -baton, struck up, "For he's a jolly good fellow," and as the crowd -sang it to the spluttering and jangling accompaniment of the band the -procession moved down the street. - -At this juncture Major Warren came up to offer his congratulations. -Carson was standing a few minutes later talking to Garner. He was trying -to hear what his partner was saying in his bubbling and enthusiastic -way about his engagement to Miss Tarpley, but he found it difficult to -listen, for the conversation between his mother and Major Warren had -fixed his attention. - -"I tried to get her to come over to hear the speech, but she wouldn't," -the Major was saying. "I can't make her out here lately, Mrs. Dwight. -She used to be so different in anything concerning Carson. She is now -actually hiding behind the vines on the veranda." - -"Perhaps she is so much in love with Mr. Sanders that she--" - -"That's the very point," the Major broke in. "She won't talk about -Sanders, and she--well, really, I think the two have quit writing to -each other." - -"Perhaps she--oh, do you think, Major, that--" Carson heard no more; his -father had come forward and was talking to Garner. - -Carson slipped away. He glided down the stairs and out at the door on -the side next to Warren's and rapidly strode across the grass. Passing -through the little gateway, he reached the veranda and the vines -concealing the spot where the hammock was hanging. He saw no one at -first and heard no sound. Then he called out: "Helen!" - -"What is it?" a timid, even startled voice from the vines answered, and -Helen looked out. - -"Why didn't you come over with your father?" Carson asked. "He said he -wanted you to, but you preferred to stay here." - -"I _did_ want to congratulate you," Helen, said, as he came up the steps -and they stood face to face. "I'm so happy over it, Carson, that really -I was afraid I'd show it too much." - -"I'm glad you feel that way," he said, awkwardly. "It was a hard fight, -and I thought several times I was beaten." - -"What did you ever touch that wasn't hard?" she said, with a sweet, -reminiscent laugh. - -They were silent for a moment and then he said: "I'm not quite satisfied -with your reason for not coming over with your father just now--really, -you see, it is in a line with your actions for the last six weeks. -Helen, you actually have avoided me." - -"On the contrary," she said, "you have made it a point to stay away from -me." - -"Well," he sighed, "considering, you know, Sanders and his claims, I -really thought I'd better keep my place." - -"Oh!" Helen exclaimed, and then she sank deeper into the vines. - -For one instant he stood trembling before her, and then he asked, -boldly: "Helen, tell me, are you engaged to him?" - -She made no answer for a moment, and then in the moonlight he saw her -flushed face against the vines and caught an almost startled glance from -her wonderful eyes. She looked straight at him. - -"No, I'm not, and I never have been," she said. - -"You never have been?" he repeated. "Oh, Helen--" But he went no -further. For a moment he hung fire, then he said: "Don't you care for -him, Helen? Are you and I good enough friends for me to dare to ask -that?" - -"I thought once that I might love him, in time" she faltered; "but when -I came home and found--and found how deeply I had misunderstood and -wronged you, I--I--" She broke off, her face buried in the leaves of the -vines. - -"Oh, Helen!" he cried; "do you realize what you are saying to me? You -know my whole life is wrapped up in you. Don't raise my hopes to-night -unless there is at least some chance of my winning. If there is one -little chance, I'll struggle for it all the rest of my life." - -"Do you remember," she asked, looking at him, one side of her flushed -face pressed against the vines--"do you remember the night you told me -in the garden about that awful trouble of yours, and I promised to bear -it with you?" - -"Yes," he said, wonderingly. - -"Well," she went on, "I went straight to my room after I left you and -wrote to Mr. Sanders. I told him exactly how I felt. I simply couldn't -keep up a correspondence with him after--Carson, I knew that night when -I left you there in your gloom and sorrow that I loved you with all -my soul and body. Oh, Carson, when I heard your voice in your glorious -speech just now, and knew that you have loved me all this time, I was so -glad that I cried. I'm the happiest, proudest girl on earth." - -And as they stood hand in hand, too joyful for utterance, the glow of -his triumph lit the sky and the din and clatter, the song and shouts of -those who loved him were borne to him on the breeze. - - -THE END - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mam' Linda, by Will N. Harben - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAM' LINDA *** - -***** This file should be named 50899-8.txt or 50899-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/8/9/50899/ - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - 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. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |