THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE WILMER COLLECTION 
 
 OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. 
 
^^J^COU£CTi 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2010 witii funding from 
 
 University of Nortii Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/knightsinfustianOObrow 
 
KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 % Wm €tme dS^torp of 
 
 BY 
 
 CAROLINE BROWN 
 
 " / must become a borrower of the night 
 For a dark hour or twain." 
 
 Shakbspkasb 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 1900 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
SDeDicatcD to 
 
 THE MEMORY OF OLIVER PERRY MORTON 
 
 THE GREAT WAR GOVERNOR, PATRIOT AND 
 
 STATESMAN ; A MIGHTY INSTRUMENT 
 
 IN THE SALVATION OF HIS 
 
 COUNTRY 
 
 603007 
 
PKEFACE 
 
 While presenting the romantic and tragic sides 
 of the situation with which this story deals, the 
 author has not strayed from the truth, but has 
 used the romancer's privilege of gathering into a 
 narrative facts from many sources. Except in 
 those chapters dealing with sentiment, — as com- 
 mon in times of storm and stress as in tranquillity 
 and safety, — every incident is founded on facts, 
 which were either actual experiences of the au- 
 thor's kith and kin, or else the observation of eye- 
 witnesses. But by far the most important part 
 was gleaned from the record of the treason trials, 
 as reported and published by Benn Pitman, the offi- 
 cial stenographer ; and wherever the ritual of the 
 order is quoted, it is taken from this report. Ma- 
 terial was also collected from Greeley's "American 
 Conflict," Barnes's " History of the United States," 
 three different lives of Governor Morton, and the 
 files of the " Indianapolis Journal " for 1863 and 
 1864. 
 
 History slurs over the proceedings of the 
 
vi PREFACE 
 
 Knights of the Golden Circle as a matter of little 
 moment ; and we of a later generation can hardly 
 credit the extent of the organization, and the 
 heinousness of its aims, which included crime and 
 the disruption of the Union. Yet Governor Mor- 
 ton managed to keep every act of these Knights 
 under surveillance. " There was not a moment," 
 says Dudley Foulke, " in which they were not 
 held securely in the grip of the war governor of 
 Indiana." Quietly and firmly he broke up the 
 organization by arresting the leaders, and pre- 
 vented an uprising which, if successful, would 
 have told very seriously on the outcome of the 
 war. Six men who were the leaders of the order 
 in Indiana were tried before a military commis- 
 sion and found guilty of treason, but were par- 
 doned by Mr. Johnson, after the assassination of 
 President Lincoln, through the intercession of 
 Governor Morton himself. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHIP. PAGB 
 
 I. The QuiLTrNG at Mrs. Bowles's ... 1 
 
 n. An Awkwakd Squad 9 
 
 in. "Companions of Owls" 17 
 
 rV. Moke Light 27 
 
 V. At "Meeting" 32 
 
 VI. The Tin-Peddler 38 
 
 VII. The Whittakers 47 
 
 VIII. "The Lone Star" 63 
 
 IX. Mrs. Whittaker Vindicated ... 71 
 
 X. The Polling Officer 78 
 
 XI. Overheard 88 
 
 Xn. A Hearth-stone Heroine .... 97 
 
 XIII. The Barn-Burning Ill 
 
 XIV. The Rivals 121 
 
 XV. The Barbecue 131 
 
 XVI. A Friend in Need 142 
 
 XVII. In Bear Den Hollow 148 
 
 XVIII. Treats of Failures 157 
 
 XIX. An Object of Suspicion 165 
 
 XX. The Rescue 177 
 
 XXI. The Report to the Governor . . . 191 
 
 XXII. The Meetlng of the Grand Council . 202 
 
 XXm. Mrs. Neal's Guest 211 
 
 XXIV. A Prisoner of War 224 
 
 XXV. The " Uprising " .232 
 
 XXVI. Captive and Captor 242 
 
 XXVII. Capitulation 252 
 
 XXVin. The Treason Trlal 270 
 
KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE QUILTESTG AT MRS. BOWLES'S 
 
 A SCORE of women were seated down the loner 
 sides of a gaudy calico quilt set up in frames in 
 Mrs. Sarah Bowles's best room. They were sewing 
 on it with more or less skill and with lagging in- 
 dustry amid the hum of voices, subdued to a much 
 softer key than was usual with them; and they 
 were indulging in such mild gossip as the rural 
 community in which they lived had furnished. 
 
 The hostess sat at one end of the frames, and 
 kept an austere eye on her guests. She had the 
 air of a guard over prisoners, rather than that of 
 an affable hostess, and her guests showed they felt 
 it by stealthy glances and subdued snatches of 
 side-talk. It was a rare event, indeed, when Mrs. 
 Bowles had company, and rarer still for her to let 
 any one but herseK set a stitch in her quilts, she 
 being " so bigotty about her things," as her neigh- 
 bors declared privately. Some very strong motive 
 must have compelled her to offer this reluctant 
 hospitality, but none dared question her. She was 
 
2 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 one of those women that command deference, — a 
 singular combination, neither hate nor fear, love 
 nor esteem, rendered by a weaker nature under the 
 compulsion of a stronger one. 
 
 " It 's real queer for Mrs. Bowles to have a 
 quiltin', hain't it ? " whispered Mrs. Rush to her 
 neighbor Mrs. Stump, made bold by the entire 
 stretch of quilt between her and the morose 
 hostess. 
 
 " 'T is, for a fact ! 'spect she '11 pick out every 
 stitch when we 're all gone ! " said the other 
 woman spitefully, knowing too well her own fail- 
 ings as a seamstress. 
 
 " Wonder what made her ? " 
 
 " Dun-know. My man ain't bid to supper, 
 neither. Is yours ? " 
 
 " No ; nary man is." 
 
 " Mebby it 's 'cause she 's a widow woman," 
 hazarded Mrs. Stump. At this moment the glance 
 of the hostess fell on the two whisperers, who felt 
 like conspirators, and tried to divert suspicion by 
 increased assiduity in " running the diamonds " 
 into which the quilt was laid off. 
 
 Mrs. Rush was not a woman easily cowed, and 
 if a little "flustered," as she would have said, 
 rallied quickly ; being by nature as insensible as a 
 rubber ball, — the harder the blow the greater the 
 rebound, — she called out affably, with that super- 
 fluity of voice common to people who dwell in the 
 country and talk across large spaces : — 
 
 " Mrs. Bowles, is this the ' Risin' Sun ' pattern, 
 
THE QUILTING AT MRS. BOWLES'S 3 
 
 or tlie ' Old Maid's Puzzle ' ? Me an' Mrs. Wilson 
 can't make out. 'Pears like I never could tell 
 them patterns apart ! " 
 
 Whereupon ensued an animated explanation and 
 comparison of the two, either sufficiently hideous 
 to drive one mad ; and Mrs. Bowles's attention was 
 diverted. 
 
 The discussion at last wore itself out, when a 
 new topic was started by some one saying : — 
 
 " Uncle Billy 's chillin' agin. Seems like he 
 cain't git 'em broke with bervin nor nuthin' ! My 
 man see him a-sittin' out in the sun, tilted agin' the 
 house in his chair, just a-shakin' like a yaller dog 
 in a thunder storm." 
 
 Commiseration was expressed by all for this 
 universal " uncle," who could claim actual kinship 
 with none of them. They gave this title to all old 
 men, and that of " aunt " to all old women after 
 they had " turned " sixty, as a mark of esteem. 
 
 This subject exhausted, another woman added 
 her budget of news : — 
 
 " I heerd that Mrs. Whittaker was took awful 
 bad agin last night. She 's been a-lookin' terrible. 
 She 's powerful puny." 
 
 " Yes," chimed in her opposite neighbor, " Lu- 
 cetty 's had to set up, keepin' bags of hot salt and 
 hop poultices on her stummick, for three nights 
 runnin'." 
 
 " If that woman did n't have the hypo and 
 would hump herself, she'd be a heap better off. 
 As to looks, she ^s like a singed cat — ' looks a 
 
4 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 heap worse than she feels,' " observed Mrs. Bowles 
 sternly. 
 
 " An' Lucetty would n't be as slim as a bean- 
 pole an' as slab-sided as a scantlin'," added Mrs. 
 Stump, " If her ma would stir round a little more." 
 
 " Poor Lucetty ! 't seems to me a heart of stone 
 would pity her, with all she 's got on her back. 
 A sick mammy, and a daddy that 's lazier than a 
 white dog ! " said Mrs. Rush, with superficial sym- 
 pathy. Induced by a daring desire to oppose Mrs. 
 Bowles, of whom the whole community stood in 
 awe, especially the women, who knew she consid- 
 ered them collectively a " passel of fools." 
 
 " She 's that fond of readin' and study in', too," 
 volunteered Mrs. Clark, — who could do neither, 
 owing to early neglect, yet cherished in her secret 
 soul a pitiful ambition to learn when she had time, 
 — " that she sews for the schoolma'am, so she '11 
 teach her nights. I heerd she 's a studyin' algib- 
 bery," In an awed voice, "she 'lows to be a 
 teacher." 
 
 " It 's a heap more gumption than Zeb 's got ! 
 Klllin' 's too good for him ! " observed Mrs. Bowles 
 viciously. 
 
 To this there was a general assent, and a minute 
 dissection of the characters of the absent Whit- 
 takers followed, till some one remarked, " and 
 Zeb, he 's that feered of the draft," and gave a new 
 turn to the conversation, and they fell to talking 
 of the proposed conscription. One quiet little 
 woman, who lived nearer than the rest to RIdgely, 
 
THE QUILTING AT MRS. BOWLES'S 5 
 
 the post village, and had later news, startled them 
 into vehement discussion by saying : — 
 
 " They do say JefP Riddle 's took." 
 
 "What's he been doin' ? " asked Mrs. Rush, 
 the only woman who had perfect control of her 
 faculties — of which curiosity was the strongest 
 — under the austere eye of Mrs. Bowles. 
 
 " They do say he 'd ought to have went back to 
 the army a month ago. But Harv Wilson he per- 
 suaded him it was n't no use to go, as the Rebs 
 was sure to whip the Yankees, and the North 
 was n't a-goin' to put up with no more drafts, 
 and most of the Black Republicans' time was up, 
 and they was n't likely to enlist again. So he just 
 'lowed he 'd stay, for he thought it likely Harv 
 knowed more about it than he did." 
 
 " H-m-m, arrested for desertin', I reckon," ob- 
 served Mrs. Bowles. 
 
 " Yes," eagerly assented the speaker, " I disre- 
 membered the name of it. But, anyhow, he 's in 
 jail now in Crofton." 
 
 " He 's likely to be shot, the fool ! " said Mrs. 
 Bowles fiercely ; " I told him not to mind Harv." 
 
 In that community, blood never became so di- 
 luted by marriage that kinship ceased ; and it was 
 suddenly remembered that Jeff was the son of 
 Mrs. Bowles's niece, who had married Harv Wil- 
 son's cousin, Bill Riddle, and the conversation 
 thereafter trickled into an uneasy silence. It was 
 not a pleasant party, for all present felt con- 
 strained and anxious in the presence of Mrs. 
 
6 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 Bowles, without any definite reason. One or two 
 of the women were slirewd enough to suspect some 
 stronger motive behind the invitation than mere 
 friendliness and hospitality, knowing well the lack 
 of the former and the rarity of the latter on the 
 part of the hostess. But a quilting was a quilting, 
 and, as such, too precious an opportunity for a little 
 pleasure to be lost ; in their dull, monotonous lives 
 any change was welcome, and rare enough in these 
 war times. At Mrs. Bowles's there were no lively 
 sallies, no rather broad jokes, retailed at the tops 
 of their robust voices, to be greeted with bursts of 
 shrill laughter, as were common elsewhere on such 
 occasions. They chafed inwardly at the restraint 
 too fine for their comprehension, and privately 
 harbored the resentment weak natures feel at the 
 wordless contempt of the strong and arrogant, 
 which they instinctively recognized Mrs. Bowles 
 to be. 
 
 It was a relief to one and all when supper was 
 announced, and they filed out through the door 
 into the dazzlingly clean kitchen, where the drop- 
 leaf table was set, its length further extended by a 
 smaller one to accommodate them all. The supper 
 was bountiful and excellent, and nearly everything 
 on the table was the product of Mrs. Bowles's 
 farm, which she managed and largely worked by 
 herself. The coffee was parched barley with a 
 dash of genuine, for the real article at fifty cents 
 a pound was not to be thought of; the jellies, 
 preserves (of which there were numerous kinds), 
 
THE QUILTING AT MRS. BOWLES'S 7 
 
 " float " cake; and rhubarb pies were all sweetened 
 ^tli the maple sugar made in the camp in the 
 early spring. The meats were ham, cured by her, 
 and chickens of her own rearing. She had spun 
 and woven the table-cloth, and also her brown 
 checked linsey gown, and the gay rag-carpet on 
 the floor. Mrs. Bowles was indeed a capable 
 woman, one of the kind men hate and women 
 envy. She could have led an army, like Joan of 
 Arc or an Amazon. A longing for heroic action 
 smouldered in her soul, a passion for conflict, that 
 would have led her to kill an enemy ruthlessly. 
 Failing an outlet for these misplaced emotions, she 
 was a woman who had boundless contempt for her 
 own sex, and was a hater of men because they 
 failed to make use of their opportunities ; her 
 ideas were heroic, and the men about her were not 
 heroes. Yet her opinions were matters of princi- 
 ple and conscience, and carried her to extremes ; 
 for she had no sophistry in her nature, and could 
 not permit herself a middle path. 
 
 The guests were waited on by Liddy Ann Col- 
 lins, Mrs. Bowles's " hired girl," a sort of second- 
 ary hostess, who made up in trifling garrulousness 
 for the taciturnity of her mistress ; in truth, she 
 was vastly the more popular of the two, for " girls " 
 in that locality stood on an equal footing with the 
 families which they served. A kind of pity was 
 felt for Liddy Ann by the neighbor women ; and 
 when one of them ventured to express it openly, she 
 replied, with the accidental wisdom of a fool : — 
 
8 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " I ain't got no cause to complain. She pays me 
 my dollar a week reg'lar. An' her hark 's worse 'n 
 her bite. She ain't like the balance of us weemen, 
 but the Lord A'mighty made her, I reckon, like 
 he did the rest of us. If she 's more stronger 'n 
 we are, — like a man, — 't ain't her fault, as I 
 know of ! " 
 
 After supper, all retired to the " settin' room," 
 also connected with the kitchen by a door, to get 
 their wraps from the bed, piled high with feathers. 
 Mrs. Bowles's house had but three large rooms, and 
 a tiny bedroom off the kitchen, devoted to Liddy 
 Ann, and on this occasion the sitting-room served 
 as a dressing-room for her guests. The company 
 quietly dispersed down the long lane through the 
 sun - tinted twilight of the chill April evening. 
 They parted with loud and reiterated good-bys at 
 the big gate where the lane entered the road ; some 
 climbed the rail fence into a field, while others kept 
 to the path by the roadside. 
 
 As the last one disappeared down the dip of the 
 hill, Mrs. Bowles, who was looking after them 
 from her doorway, said with a short, contemptuous 
 laugh : — 
 
 " A pack of fools ! Them men owe me some- 
 thing for this day's work ! My quilt 's nigh about 
 spoiled ! I '11 have to pick out every stitch of it 
 and wash it, to make it decent." 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 AN AWKWAED SQUAD ' 
 
 While Mrs. Bowles's guests were stitching and 
 gossiping, the men were very differently and, as 
 they thought, secretly employed ; for the quilting 
 was a mere pretext to rid them of the " women 
 folks," and their insatiable curiosity and eternal 
 questioning, and in this Mrs. Bowles was their 
 confederate. 
 
 That there were meetings many and mysterious 
 the women were beginning to suspect, forced to 
 misgiving by the poor excuses the men — hard 
 pressed through lack of the inventive faculty — 
 gave for their frequent absences. As yet, none of 
 them had been bold enough or shrewd enough to fer- 
 ret out this mystery. At about the hour when the 
 quilting party were discussing the Whittakers, a 
 farm wagon might have been seen making its way 
 from Crofton — the seat of Middle County — by 
 an unfrequented road, along which there were but 
 two houses for a distance of several miles. The 
 road was a series of dips up and down all the way. 
 At one moment nothing could be seen but the un- 
 dulating corn-fields, ploughed but not planted ; for 
 the season was backward even for the last of April, 
 
10 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 and no corn would be dropped in that locality till 
 the pawpaw leaves were as big as squirrels' ears, 
 a rule laid down by the pioneers and proved by 
 experience. The next instant, from the top of the 
 rise a glimpse might be caught of a tiny cabin set 
 in an enchanting dale, surrounded by young green 
 wheat ; or a sparkle of sunlight on the creek, 
 whose course was indicated by the glaring white 
 trunks of leafless "ghost trees," as the Indians 
 called the sycamore. Lem Beasly, the driver of 
 the vehicle, was a sun-tanned farm-hand, strong 
 and healthy, dressed in rough, faded clothes of 
 home-made butternut jeans. By his side on the 
 high spring seat of the wagon sat a youth, also 
 strongly built and of medium height. He lacked 
 the ruddy hues one would look for, with his bright 
 blonde hair, lucent blue eyes, and sturdy physique. 
 Over his face spread a pallor and wanness inex- 
 plicable, and his air would have been languid but 
 for the momentary interest that roused him. The 
 eager glance of the eye, the smile of recognition as 
 familiar points in the landscape pleased him, testi- 
 fied mutely that, for some reason, it was all dearer 
 now than when last seen. In every respect he 
 was a contrast to the driver ; but perhaps the most 
 marked difference lay in their clothing, for the 
 young man was dressed in army blue, and evi- 
 dently took no small pride in the fact. It was 
 Frank Neal, at home on a furlough, after having 
 been taken prisoner and confined at Andersonville 
 three months. He and Lem seemed to have been 
 discussing this, for he said : — 
 
AN AWKWARD SQUAD 11 
 
 " If it had n't been that some men from a New 
 York regiment were there, too, I 'd been rotting 
 there now." 
 
 "Why, how's that?" 
 
 " Well, for some reason the ' Johnnies ' always 
 exchange the New Yorkers first. All of us Hoo- 
 siers know that. I had a chum in this New York 
 regiment, but the poor fellow died — starved ! — 
 didn't stand it three months. A rumor went 
 around — I never did know how it got started — 
 that there would be an exchange, and we knew the 
 New Yorkers would have the first chance. So I 
 just changed clothes with poor Van Voort, — he 
 had died at my side in the night, — and I was all 
 right. When they called out his name I answered, 
 and when they examined me I was from the — th 
 New York and not from the — st Indiana, so that 's 
 how I am here. I sent his things to his folks, and 
 wrote and told them all about it. Poor Van ! he 
 was a good fellow, — as brave a boy as ever lived, 
 and he never whimpered, but he 'd been raised in 
 a city and he could n't stand it." 
 
 Tears rose to Frank's eyes, and for an instant 
 he fell into sad musing ; then, throwing off the 
 mood, he observed brightly : — 
 
 " My folks don't look for me till to-morrow. 
 And you bet I was glad to see you in town, Lem ! 
 Saved me a six-mile tramp, for I never could stand 
 it to wait. But I 'm hardly strong enough yet for 
 that long a walk." 
 
 " That 's so," said Lem, with a sympathy of tone 
 his words could not convey. 
 
12 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " Where are you living now, — on the Culver 
 place yet ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Lem, " been there nigh a year." 
 
 " Left Harv Wilson, did you ? " 
 
 " Yes. Harv 's just a leetle too much of a ' But- 
 ternut ' for me. Whiles I 'm a Democrat, I ain't 
 no ' Copperhead,' and that 's what he is." 
 
 " Glad to hear that, Beasly ! If there were 
 more fellows like you, the governor would n't be 
 worried by the stay-at-homes." 
 
 As Frank spoke, they dipped into a valley which 
 gave them glimpses into its green windings, and 
 his sharp eyes saw moving objects that he could 
 not make out, appearing and disappearing below 
 a gentle swell. 
 
 " Hello ! What 's that, Lem ? " pointing in the 
 direction. 
 
 " Don't you bother your head about them, young 
 feller ! " said Lem with emphasis ; " better lot Cop- 
 perheads alone ! Don't stir 'em up. They 're apt 
 to bite, an' their bite 's pizen." 
 
 " Well, who are they, anyway ? " 
 
 " I '11 tell you, but never tell it as comin' from 
 me. It 's the Knights a-trainin'." 
 
 "Knights ? what knights ? " 
 
 " Ain't you heerd about 'em ? ' The Sons of 
 Liberty,' or ' The Knights of the Golden Circle,' 
 as we call 'em here. They 're all the same. 'Spect 
 that 's the Riffle Township Temple a-trainin'." 
 
 "You don't mean to say they 're in this township, 
 a township that was first to fill its quota? " 
 
AN AWKWARD SQUAD 13 
 
 " They just are ! But fillin' that there last quoty 
 took nigh about all the Union men there was left 
 out of this county, except the fellers, like your pap, 
 that 's too old to go, and War Democrats, and a lot 
 of them went, too." 
 
 " Who 's at the head of this business ? " 
 
 " Old Harv Wilson 's County Commander. Now 
 don't you tell this ; it 's as much as my neck 's 
 worth ! But he 's been in and around Kidgely, 
 an' 's goin' to hold a meetin' in our township to 
 form a branch Temple next Friday night in that 
 there little empty log-cabin on his place. They 
 come to me, an' says I, ' No siree ; whiles I 'm a 
 Democrat I ain't no Copperhead ! ' They 're a-gittin' 
 a Temple in every township in this here county ! " 
 
 Both men looked intently eastward at the mov- 
 ing objects, which were too much obscured by the 
 nature of the land, and too far off, to take the shape 
 of men. 
 
 " They played it smart on their weemen ! OF 
 Miz Bowles helped 'em. She 's one of 'em, as 
 much as a lady can be. Got all the weemen-folks 
 to her house to a quiltin' so 's to give the men a 
 chance to drill. Lord, wouldn't Miz Rush be as 
 mad as a wet hen if she know'd it ! She 's as 
 spunky as a rat when her dander 's up ! " and Lem 
 chuckled with enjoyment. 
 
 " You 're right, Lem. Keep out of it ! It 's a 
 dangerous game." 
 
 " You bet ! " was Lem's laconic reply, which 
 nevertheless conveyed his opinion of the danger as 
 well as many words. 
 
14 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " I believe I '11 take a look at them and see 
 who 're there." Even as he spoke, Frank's foot 
 was on the wheel and he dropped lightly to the 
 ground. Lem looked troubled. " Be mighty sly, 
 and don't let 'em ketch a squint of you ! " he 
 warned. " But you 'd better not go at all." 
 
 " But I will ! You drive on and wait for me 
 at the creek. I '11 not be long." 
 
 Frank swiftly and warily made his way toward 
 the dip, and, when he reached a point where ob- 
 servation was possible, threw himself flat on the 
 ground. It was a strange sight for that retired 
 spot. Below him lay a tiny vale, on which was 
 spread a thick sward of blue grass, nibbled short 
 as the pile of velvet by the sheep, which were hud- 
 dled afar off, watching the intruders with timid 
 surprise. Over it fell the brilliant sunshine of 
 late April, un tempered by shadows, for as yet the, 
 pawpaws and little elms on the hills shutting it 
 in were leafless. A swift, strong stream of April 
 wind blew unceasingly, and brought with it faint, 
 sweet scents of opening buds, robbed from trees 
 far out of sight, and the resinous odor of the new 
 greenery of the j)ines that grew a mile away on 
 the bluffs of Honey Creek. It bore the hum of 
 bees reveling in the bloom of the wild plum, the 
 contented chirping of hedge - sparrows building, 
 and the few rare flutings of the meadow-lark. To 
 men intent on conspiracy and sedition, these appeals 
 of nature for peace and happiness fell as on the 
 ears of the deaf. Even Frank, so thankful to be 
 
AN AWKWARD SQUAD 15 
 
 free from the horrors of prison to watch the coming , 
 of spring in the open country that he loved, gave 
 these things no heed. He was intently watching 
 the spectacle below him. Twenty-five or thirty 
 men were going through military evolutions with 
 guns roughly cut out of wood, in order to give them 
 skill in handling arms, when they should have ac- 
 quired them. These they managed more or less 
 clumsily, but it was evident they were earnestly 
 seeking to gain dexterity. Not a word was spoken 
 except by the drill-master, whose commands were 
 given in so low a tone that Frank could not catch 
 them. 
 
 " Well, I 'U be shot ! " said Frank after watching 
 them for a few moments. He could not but adaiire 
 their cunning in selecting their parade-ground, for 
 the little valley was so retired that it was rarely 
 traversed, and the road by which it was reached 
 was a mere lane near the " big road." Lem had 
 taken this short cut to accommodate a farmer liv- 
 ing on it, fetching home his plough, which had 
 been sent to town for repairs. 
 
 Frank went back as secretly as he had come, and 
 joined Lem at the ford as he had agreed. 
 
 " Lem," he said, " that means mischief ! I '11 
 not go on with you. Swear to me — Hold up 
 your hand ! " Lem did so. " Swear that you '11 
 not tell what you saw, and that I came home to-day 
 and was with you ! " 
 
 Lem took the required oath, then asked anx- 
 iously : — 
 
16 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " What you goin' to do ? " 
 
 " That I can't tell you. You 're loyal, are n't 
 you?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Now drive on, for it may save trouble if you 
 don't even know the direction I take." 
 
 Lem drove, splashing through the creek, up the 
 hill and out of sight, while Frank watched him, 
 and, when he could no longer hear the clatter of 
 the wagon, faced about and returned over the road 
 by which he had just come from Crofton. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 " COMPANIONS OF OWLS " 
 
 It was late for a farm-liouse to show the glow of 
 a candle, for the working day was long in that 
 community : they arose at dawn, and were in bed 
 before the afterglow had scarcely faded. Yet a 
 thin thread of light revealed itself from a cabin on 
 the extreme bounds of Harv Wilson's farm. In 
 spite of a heavy horse-blanket hung on a nail on 
 one side of the casement, and made fast by a jack- 
 knife thrust into the frame at the other, a betray- 
 ing shaft fell across the dooryard. Within the 
 cabin, a company of half a score of men had gath- 
 ered at this unwonted hour near midnight. The 
 cabin had but one room, in which there was no 
 furniture, for the last tenant had moved out. A 
 rickety bench, a goods-box, and sundry billets of 
 firewood furnished the seats. On the rude shelf 
 above the fireplace, in which were the cold ashes of 
 the last fire, were two candles stuck into potatoes 
 shaped for the purpose. 
 
 Harv Wilson himself was there, and seemed to 
 be the moving spirit. He was one of those domi- 
 nant men found in every community, a self-con- 
 stituted leader, the " big man " of the neighbor- 
 
18 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 hood. Unfortunately for his followers, he was an 
 unrighteous man, and his influence was wholly- 
 evil. He was unprincipled in business transac- 
 tions, and his face gave condemning testimony to 
 his private character. The swarthy red of his 
 skin and his mottled cheeks told of intemperance 
 and sensuality ; his bloodshot eyes, with thick lids 
 half closed, were crafty and cruel, and his narrow 
 forehead betokened scant intellectuality and low 
 cunning. His nose was bulbous and pitted, after 
 years of hard drinking. The flabby skin hung 
 down along his throat like the dewlap of a bull, 
 and bristled with short red beard. His counte- 
 nance proclaimed him a knave of the lowest sort. 
 Yet he possessed a rude, virile force that enabled 
 him to govern men. His very figure, with its mus- 
 cular legs and brawny torso, testified to his power. 
 He possessed tireless endurance, great courage, 
 even utter fearlessness, because of his contempt of 
 law and order, decency and probity. He feared 
 neither God nor man, heaven nor hell, as he often 
 boasted. 
 
 Harv was wide awake and listening, but the 
 other men were blinking sleepily, worn out with a 
 hard day's work. 
 
 " "Well, boys," he said, " if they don't come 
 pretty soon, there won't be any ' Vestibule ' to- 
 night. They were due at eleven o'clock, and it 's 
 nigh on to midnight now," and he closed his watch 
 as he spoke. 
 
 " Maybe they 're lost," hazarded one man. 
 
"COMPANIONS OF OWLS" 19 
 
 " Both of them fellers thought they could get here 
 by directions, but that 's not so easy." 
 
 They lapsed into silence again, for farmers de- 
 prived of their natural amount of sleep are not 
 loquacious. 
 
 Harv Wilson's " place " lay in Honey Creek 
 Township, — about six miles southwest of the 
 Bowles farm, which was situated in Ri£3e Town- 
 ship, — in one of the beautiful, picturesque spots 
 so common to that part of Indiana, but more espe- 
 cially found along the sinuous course of Honey 
 Creek. The house where he lived was secluded 
 and difficult to reach. It lay on a by-road that 
 branched off the turnpike leading to Crof ton. The 
 cabin was still more difficult to find. It stood on 
 the top of a bluff overlooking the creek, and the 
 only means of egress was by a wagon track across 
 the fields to Harv's lane and thence to the road. 
 This isolation did not matter much to its tenants, 
 for they were usually too poor to own a team. Be- 
 hind the cabin, a narrow path led down to the bot- 
 tom of the ravine and followed the spring branch 
 to the creek. This gorge opened wide, like a gap- 
 ing mouth, at the place where the " branch " (as 
 brooks are invariably called in the vernacular of 
 the South and West) emptied into the creek, and 
 here there was a deep, funnel-like pool, excavated 
 in storms by the heavy flow of water from the ra- 
 vine. Such a spot was usually a landing place for 
 canoes, where one rudely hollowed from a log, and 
 belonging to the tenant of the cabin, generally lay 
 
20 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 tied up. But to-night there were three or four, 
 and another had just been made fast ; while filing 
 up the steep path were three men, cautiously pick- 
 ing their way as if unused to the place. Not a 
 word was uttered. The occasional roll of a pebble, 
 and the heavy breathing of a portly man, blown by 
 the unusual exertion, were the only sounds that 
 broke the heavy stillness. Even the owls and 
 night-prowlers were silenced by this unwonted in- 
 trusion. This walk was not without an object, but 
 led them straight to the cabin whence the flash of 
 light came. On reaching the door, the foremost 
 man knocked twice softly and slowly, then three 
 times rapidly. His companions were some dis- 
 tance in the rear. A voice within asked a question 
 that was audible to him only, to which he replied, 
 " America," in a low tone, and Harv Wilson opened 
 the door to them. 
 
 After exchanging greetings, the new - comers 
 were civilly offered the rude seats, then an uneasy 
 silence fell upon the company. All were known to 
 each other, as they lived on farms near by or in the 
 village of Ridgely. Alec Rush, the blacksmith at 
 the cross-roads. Dr. Skagg of Ridgely, and Tom 
 Peyton, a clerk in the general store in Ridgely, 
 were the latest comers. 
 
 " We got into the wrong landin','' said Alec, 
 " it was so dark. These two fellers aint got no 
 notion of handlin' a canoe, and I had a hefty load 
 a-polin' down. Three 's a tight fit for my dugout. 
 Ain't the Commander here yet ? We 'lowed we 'd 
 be the last." 
 
"COMPANIONS OF OWLS" 21 
 
 Harv was about to answer him, when a low, 
 mournful cry, " 0-a-k-h-o-u-n," long drawn out, 
 ending in a wail, sounded startlingly near. To 
 most of the men it seemed to have no particular 
 significance, but by Harv it was comprehended 
 perfectly; for he answered by going to the door, 
 raising the latch, which could not be lifted from 
 the outside, as the leather latch-string had been 
 pulled in to guard against intrusion. He answered 
 the cry with a similar one, and in a moment three 
 men stood at the door, with each of whom he car- 
 ried on a strange colloquy, with lengthy pauses 
 between parts of words and sentences. 
 
 " What — a star " — 
 
 " Arc — turns," replied the man outside. 
 
 " What — of — the — night ? " 
 
 « Will — ye — inquire ? " 
 
 " Inquire — ye ? — Come." 
 
 " O — rion " was the password given with the 
 " o " long drawn out. The new-comers were then 
 permitted to enter ; for they were the men ex- 
 pected from Crofton, and the Grand Temple at 
 Indianapolis, to institute a branch Temple in 
 Honey Creek Township. Upon entering, they pro- 
 ceeded, with grotesque gravity, to give Harv the 
 grips and signs of the degree of the Knights of 
 the Golden Circle, to which they belonged, while the 
 others present gaped in amazement. One of these 
 men Harv did not know, and he looked him over 
 suspiciously, peeping from a narrow slit between 
 his dropped eyelids, although the stranger seemed 
 
22 imiGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 perfectly familiar with all the forms. The object 
 of his distrust was a tall, slight young man, of com- 
 monplace appearance, whose dark gray, near-sighted 
 eyes were shielded by spectacles. His light red- 
 dish hair was accompanied by a fair, delicate skin 
 thickly sprinkled with freckles ; a large, pleasant 
 mouth filled with perfect teeth gave him an amia- 
 ble expression. He was quick and nervous in all 
 his movements, but remarkably slow of sjDeech. 
 
 Stephen Coultiss — the Commander of the Pa- 
 rent Temple of Middle County at Crof ton — was 
 heavy-set and low-browed. Above his forehead 
 rose a thick shock of black hair, which gave one 
 the impression of its being stacked like straw. His 
 mouth was wide, with thin shaven lips set between 
 the heavy jaws of a remarkably broad face. A 
 short, thick beard covered the throat only, leaving 
 the cheeks and chin bare. Altogether, his appear- 
 ance was neither prepossessing nor intelligent. 
 The third man was Dodd, Grand Commander of 
 Indiana. He carried himself alertly, and wore the 
 eager air of an enthusiast whose fatuity carried 
 him above all minor considerations of prudence 
 and caution. He was fearless because foolhardy, 
 and had not prescience to foresee results. His 
 schemes were of amazing magnitude and audacity, 
 to the successful issue of which he was brought to 
 see no obstacle until the gallows waved its hideous 
 arms over his head. He could lead men mysteri- 
 ously ; men of cool heads, calculating minds, com- 
 mon sense, even intellect, were enthralled by the 
 
"COMPANIONS OF OWLS" 23 
 
 spell of his bombastic sentimentality, and borne 
 along by the rush of his enthusiasm to ruin ; some 
 to prison, some to banishment, some to their 
 graves. 
 
 Harv was well acquainted with these two men, 
 one of whom observed his manifest mistrust of 
 their companion. 
 
 " Oh, he 's all right," said Coultiss, as if Harv 
 had uttered his doubts. " He 's one of us, straight 
 from ol' Kaintuck." 
 
 " I came from Louisville, sir, and my name is 
 Oliver Tapp," said the suspect, with that soft slur- 
 ring of the " r's " peculiar to the South. 
 
 " He 's a-peddlin' tinware," said Coultiss, with 
 a wink and a grin at the company in general. 
 
 Harv drew Tapp and Coultiss into a corner and 
 asked in a low tone : — 
 
 " You come from Judge BuUett at Louisville ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but later from Indianapolis and 
 Terre Haute." 
 
 " These fellows ain't even had the ' Vestibule ' 
 degree, and it ain't worth while to let 'em know 
 too much," said Harv with a backward jerk of his 
 thumb at the group by the fireplace. " I 'm going 
 to sound 'em though, and drop 'em a hint that 
 we 're going to turn this from a political to a mili- 
 tary organization." 
 
 " Have you any definite plans yet ? " asked Tapp 
 of the Grand Commander, -who had joined them. 
 
 " Yes ; but I want to talk them over with the 
 Commanders of the County Temples first before 
 
24 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 we give them to the members. I 've already in- 
 structed the Commander of the Innermost Tem- 
 ple"— 
 
 " Ah," said Tapp quickly, " that 's Bledso of 
 Indianapolis ! " 
 
 " You seem posted," observed Harv. 
 
 " I should think so ! " was the significant reply. 
 " I 've orders from BuUett, who has just received a 
 general outline of the work of the reconstructed, 
 order from Vallandighara." 
 
 " Suppose we give these fellows the ' Vestibule,' 
 then we can let them go if they want to, and we 
 can consult together afterward." 
 
 To this they consented, and the work proceeded. 
 Owing to their restricted quarters and the lateness 
 of the hour, some of the forms were necessarily 
 dispensed with. Harv Wilson and Tapp acted as 
 sponsors, as two were required. Dodd officiated 
 as Knight Lecturer by right of office, and read 
 from a ritual of his own composition, in unctuous 
 tones. 
 
 "Brothers," he read (meaning the sponsors), 
 " the purpose ye have declared touching this stran- 
 ger (the candidate) is most worthy ; let him ad- 
 vance to our altar by the regular steps ; instruct 
 him in our chosen solemn attitude, and let him give 
 testimony of that which is in him." 
 
 To this the sponsors agreed by an affirmative 
 bend of the head. 
 
 " Man, thou art now in the Vestibule, and if 
 found worthy will hence be ushered into the con- 
 
"COMPANIONS OF OWLS" 25 
 
 secrated Temple where Truth dwells amid her 
 votaries/' He read for a few moments in this 
 high-flown strain, and finished with the ques- 
 tion : — 
 
 " As thou wouldst answer to a good conscience, 
 is thy soul pure and fitted to the indwelling of the 
 Truth?" 
 
 The candidate, embarrassed by the grandilo- 
 quence of the ritual, did not know what he was 
 expected to answer, till he caught an affirmative 
 nod from Tapp and faltered out a throaty " Yes." 
 
 The men very naturally labored under the im- 
 pression that they were at " meetin'," begotten of 
 the liberal use of " thee " and " thou," which they 
 never heard anywhere else, and their faces ex- 
 pressed seriousness to the verge of sadness. When 
 possible, the candidates had been "lumped" to 
 shorten the ceremony, and, as it was now quite 
 midnight, an unheard-of hour for them to be out 
 of bed, the Grand Commander hurried through 
 the Declaration of Principles, which further mys- 
 tified the new members, and caused one, at least, 
 to change the opinion he had hitherto held of the 
 order. Then Coultiss stumblingly read the penalty 
 for disclosure, which was to the effect that, if a 
 member divulged the secrets of the order, his body 
 would be quartered, and one quarter would be 
 placed at the north gate, one at the south gate, 
 one at the east gate, and one at the west gate of 
 this mythical Temple. In plain language, they 
 were warned of assassination for treachery. They 
 
26 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 were then taught the grips and signs, and rehearsed 
 the colloquy of the Vestibule degree. 
 
 Meantime Dodd, the Knight Lecturer, forget- 
 ting the time and place, spoke with all the fervor 
 of an orator before a vast audience. Extravagant 
 enthusiasm for the cause he championed emanated 
 from him and roused his hearers, as certain odors 
 will rouse some animals. 
 
 The roll of his restless eye, the ceaseless play of 
 expression that flashed like sheet-lightning and 
 scarcely faded ere it reappeared, the frequency 
 and rapidity of gesture, proclaimed him a reckless 
 zealot. What wonder that these dull, bucolic 
 minds were enkindled ! Carried away by Dodd's 
 irresistible energy, they bound themselves to what 
 they scarcely knew. They were not collected 
 enough to realize the full purport of the oaths 
 they took. In truth, the lowest or Vestibule de- 
 gree did not enlighten them much as to the pur- 
 poses of the three higher, into which they were to 
 be inducted, should they prove to be of the right 
 kind of material. 
 
 It required some time to go through with this 
 ceremony, abridged as it was, and it left the can- 
 didates, simple farmers with the exception of the 
 clerk, bewildered and apprehensive. Most of them 
 slunk away home, — feeling like black conspirators, 
 dreading to meet their wives, who would scold and 
 question, — leaving the others and Harv in consul- 
 tation with the three strangers. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 MORE LIGHT 
 
 No sooner had these men withdrawn than those 
 remaining — among whom were Zeb Whittaker and 
 Alec Rush the blacksmith — drew together around 
 a table improvised from a barrel-head, and Coultiss 
 opened a small valise he had brought with him. 
 
 " Are all here faithful ? And do you solemnly 
 swear to reveal nothing that now transpires ? " 
 asked Dodd in a tremulous voice, so wrought upon 
 by the excitement of the occasion as to be almost 
 hysteric. 
 
 Each in his own way gave promise of secrecy, 
 and Coultiss prepared to lay the contents of the 
 valise before them. Tapp obligingly took down 
 from the shelf one of the improvised candlesticks 
 to further the examination. Within the valise, 
 neatly packed, were many small vials and several 
 little clocks. 
 
 " A clock-peddler, by golly ! " observed Rush 
 with a chuckle. " Lots of peddlers to-night ! " 
 
 " These are all inventions of one of our order to 
 help the cause ; " explained Coultiss, " these little 
 vials hold Greek fire, and when they are thrown 
 again' a house or barn they burn it ! Nothing '11 
 
28 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 put it out ! We 've already made good use of 
 them In Kentucky." 
 
 "What is this?" asked Harv Wilson, touching 
 a metal ball thickly set with nipples for caps. 
 
 " That 's a hand-grenade. The two halves un- 
 screw, and in the centre is a vial of an explosive 
 that is sure to go off whenever it is thrown against 
 anything. One of these caps will certainly explode 
 it, there are so many of them." 
 
 " W'y, what have we got to do with them 
 things ? " bluntly asked the blacksmith. 
 
 " Use 'em when the time comes ! This war 's 
 got to stop ! The usurpation of Abe Lincoln's 
 government 's got to stop ! It 's tyranny ! We '11 
 not stand the draft ! We '11 resist, and these will 
 help us ! " answered Coultiss violently. 
 
 At this outburst the new recruits looked at each 
 other in alarm, for they had altogether misappre- 
 hended the intent of the order ; if they had formed 
 any opinion of it at all, it was as a sort of safety 
 valve for letting off surplus dissatisfaction in idle 
 demonstrations or threats ; that it could lead to 
 deeds of arson and murder they had never dreamed. 
 Jim Swazey, the smith's new hand, took it all 
 coolly, — so much so, indeed, that one would have 
 thought he was thoroughly posted. Zeb Whittaker 
 had not energy enough to betray his feeling, if he 
 had any. But Alec Rush looked very serious, and 
 felt that Harv Wilson had trapped them as neatly 
 as he himself did muskrats in Honey Creek. 
 
 "These," said Coultiss, taking up one of the 
 
MORE LIGHT 29 
 
 clocks, — "I reckon you wonder what they 're for. 
 They '11 set off the fuse to a mine that '11 blow 
 up state-houses and forts and arsenals ! They 're 
 mighty good medicine for ' Lincoln dogs ' ! " and 
 he smiled wolfishly. " Some of these could be put 
 to a good use right here in this county, over in 
 Riffle Township. The Grand Council 's heard of 
 Abner Neal's sayings and doings, and they 've 
 ordered a dose out of one of these little bottles for 
 him ! " 
 
 Although Harv Wilson hated Abner Neal as 
 the most zealous and outspoken Union man in the 
 adjoining township, a man his opposite in every 
 respect, yet even he did not like the idea conveyed 
 by Coultiss's speech. 
 
 " You don't mean to kill him, do you ? " Harv 
 asked gruffly. 
 
 " W-e-1-1, no, — only give him a little hint to 
 keep his mouth shut ! " 
 
 " How will you do it ? " asked Tapp interestedly. 
 
 " Well, sir, some man here 's got that to do ! 
 You 're bound by your oaths to help the cause in 
 every way in your power, and the Council decides 
 how that is to be done. We think a little hint 
 like settin' fire to his barn '11 do it, and this is the 
 stuff for that job ! " said Coultiss, holding up one 
 of the vials. 
 
 He and Dodd observed with annoyance the evi- 
 dent dislike of the project shown clearly on the 
 troubled faces about him. 
 
 " You know the penalty ! " he said menacingly. 
 
30 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " And there 's another job set for Middle County 
 Temple ; that 's to raid the jail and let out the 
 bounty- jumpers and deserters. You 're bound to 
 help and protect them whenever and wherever you 
 can, and to resist the draft. These are orders 
 from headquarters." 
 
 "There ain't any bounty -jumpers in jail now, 
 and only one deserter, and he ain't worth the stuff 
 in that bottle ! " observed Harv, who had been the 
 means of getting him there. 
 
 " That don't matter. It 's the principle," said 
 Dodd. 
 
 " As for the other fellows," observed Jim Swazey, 
 " they 're well took care of outside of jail ! " 
 
 Coultiss gave him a sharp look, which he re- 
 turned in kind, then said : " We might as well set- 
 tle Abner Neal's business now. We '11 draw lots. 
 Now 's the time to show your grit ! " 
 
 " I did n't join the Knights to burn my neigh- 
 bors' barns," said Alec sturdily, " an' I won't 
 draw no lots, neither ! " 
 
 " Remember the penalty ! " said Dodd solemnly. 
 
 *' Penalty be damned ! I ain't no firebug ! " 
 
 " You '11 not turn traitor to the cause ? " asked 
 Harv, who knew his man and the uselessness of 
 urging ; for, like most good-natured persons. Alec 
 was incredibly stubborn when once his mind was 
 made up. 
 
 " No. I '11 respect my oath as far as tellin' goes. 
 But I '11 see the whole order in the pit before I '11 
 do such dirty tricks as them ! You may just count 
 
MORE LIGHT 31 
 
 me out of the whole sneakin' business ! " And be- 
 fore they could stop him Alec left the cabin. 
 
 " D' you think he 's safe ? " asked Dodd anx- 
 iously. 
 
 " Oh, he '11 be mum if he says he will. But 
 Alec 's set. He won't do nothin' if he says he 
 won't, though he 's mighty easy-goin' generally," 
 said Swazey. 
 
 " Mr. AYilson, will you proceed to prepare the 
 lots ? " asked Dodd. 
 
 Harv retired to the corner with Coultiss, where 
 they whispered together and soon returned with 
 the strips of paper, which they put in a hat and 
 Harv passed to the half dozen men who remained. 
 Each put in his hand, and a long breath of relief 
 testified to the blank he drew. The dullard Zeb 
 was reached last, and there was left in the hat but 
 one lot, which, when he turned it over, showed a 
 rude sketch of the skull and crossbones. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 AT "meeting" 
 
 At the forks of the road which led east to Crof- 
 ton, and south to the village of Ridgely, stood a 
 weather-beaten church, known locally as " Liberty 
 Meetin' House." It was not so called from any 
 political bias, but from the fact of its being free to 
 itinerant preachers of any denomination who chose 
 to stick up a notice at the village post-office, or 
 Alec Rush's smithy, announcing preaching therein. 
 It had no regular pastor, and any chance preacher 
 that held " meetin' " had cause to be gratified at 
 the size of his congregation, though possibly not at 
 Its motive for coming, which, happily, he was not 
 wise enough to discern. 
 
 •The first Sunday in May was a bright day with 
 a chill in the air. The hitching-racks around the 
 little church were crowded with horses. Within, 
 the benches were filled with their owners ; groups 
 in the yard were " passing the time of day," while 
 from every direction laggards were still coming 
 afoot. The church could not hold them all ; and 
 men who were unable to find places without going 
 to the " Amen Corner," yet felt piously inclined, 
 loitered near the windows to catch the " drippings 
 
AT "MEETING" 33 
 
 of the gospel ; " while those not so disposed seated 
 themselves on the rail fence in the sun, and quietly 
 exchanged opinions as to the prospects of wheat, 
 or corn planting, the war, or even the draft, which 
 was imminent, and opposed in Middle County 
 with bitter rancor. 
 
 The people thereabout were not given to the 
 study of " doctrine," for their religious training 
 had been too discursive ; one Sunday they would 
 listen to a Primitive Baptist, and on others to a 
 Missionary Baptist, a New Light or Universalist, 
 a Presbyterian, Old or New School, and occa- 
 sionally to a Methodist, until their minds were 
 in hopeless confusion as to future rewards and 
 punishments and methods of baptism. This Sun- 
 day, brother Jocktan Teeter, of the Old School 
 Presbyterians, was to preach. The proceedings 
 at the opening of the services were not formal. 
 When a sufficiently large company had gathered, 
 one of the church officers came to the door and 
 called out in a big, cheerful voice, " Meetin 's about 
 to begin. Come in, folkses ! " 
 
 In they thronged, filling the seats to overflowing, 
 men on one side of the house, women on the other. 
 Some brought in chairs from their wagons, and sat 
 in the rear of the church, tilted comfortably against 
 the wall. 
 
 The old custom of lining out the hymn was still 
 in usage there, and Zeb Whittaker always "led 
 the tune." He took no other part in the meeting 
 and made no pretense to any religious belief, but 
 
34 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 dozed peacefully through the sermon, starting vis- 
 ibly when disturbed by the force and fervor of the 
 preacher's voice. But he loved to sing, which he 
 did in a loud thin voice with considerably more 
 confidence than was warranted, for it had a habit 
 of breaking on the high notes, at which he was not 
 in the least discomposed, but there was usually 
 some snickering on the part of the youngsters in 
 the congregation. If his daughter Lucetta hap- 
 pened to be present, the accident was not noticeable, 
 for she would bravely carry the tune to a finish. 
 
 She was a natural musician, and it was rumored 
 about the neighborhood that she aspired to learn 
 to play on the cabinet organ, and that Miss Ab- 
 bot would teach her the use of that instrument, as 
 well as " algibbery." The purchase of an organ 
 for Liberty Church had even been broached. Se- 
 vere were the strictures of the Baptists and Pres- 
 byterians of the " Old School " when this proposi- 
 tion was timidly made, for they firmly believed and 
 forcibly proclaimed that nothing but what had 
 breath should praise the Lord. Whereupon Alec 
 Rush, who belonged to the other faction, " 'lowed 
 he 'd have to send 'em his belisses." 
 
 With cheerful if rather dull countenances, un- 
 musical voices, and curious unfitness on such a 
 lovely day, they were singing heartily " I would 
 not live always" to the old tune of "Frederick." 
 Zeb's voice, as usual, had shattered on the high 
 note, and Lucetta had continued to the end of the 
 phrase, like a soaring lark, when half the congrega- 
 
AT "MEETING" 35 
 
 tion turned their heads, as if on a pivot, to the door 
 on the men's side, at the entrance of a new-comer. 
 Head-turning is contagious in a country assembly 
 and involves the whole of it. The cause of the 
 disturbance was Frank Neal, who had reached 
 home the Thursday before. With innocent vanity 
 and boyish audacity he came late, glorying in his 
 uniform, and rather maliciously flaunting it in the 
 faces of those whom he knew hated it. He wore- 
 a bright new one, and its yellow cavalry trimmings 
 were in gorgeous contrast to the rusty blacks, but- 
 ternut browns, and dull indigos which predomi- 
 nated in the raiment of the other men. He even 
 wore spurs, and their jingling could be plainly 
 heard during the " lining out " as he marched 
 proudly down the aisle. He would have liked to 
 wear full accoutrement, but an innate sense of pro- 
 priety restrained him. 
 
 There was much curiosity and surprise expressed 
 in the faces of those who watched his theatrical 
 entry, for it was not generally known that Frank 
 had been released from prison and had got home. 
 For some private reason, he had kept it " shady," 
 as he would have said. He walked forward till 
 he found a vacant place behind Zeb Whittaker 
 and in line with Lucetta, close under the pulpit. 
 At the end of the preliminaries, brother Jocktan 
 Teeter rose in the pulpit to preach. He was a 
 man of strong prejudices, no education, a wonderful 
 vocabulary of lengthy words, which he used from a 
 fancy for their sonorous sound, though he was igno- 
 
36 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 rant of their meaning. His sermon was a tirade 
 of abuse against the existing government, inter- 
 larded with denunciatory texts which suited his 
 purpose. The boy endured it passively for an 
 hour, but the flush on his cheeks and nervous 
 twisting of his body betokened a struggle to keep 
 silent. On the bench in front of him sat Jim 
 Swazey, the new hand at the blacksmith's, a stran- 
 ger to Frank; and at the close of the discourse, 
 which grew more and more vindictive as it neared 
 the end, he turned with a contemptuous grin and 
 stared full into Frank's face. Jim displayed on 
 the bosom of his blue hickory shirt a device that 
 was very popular. He gloried in the fact that he 
 had once been arrested and taken to Indianapolis 
 for wearing the emblem, and that it had been 
 decided on the trial " that a man had a right to 
 wear what he pleased, as it could not be construed 
 into an ' overt act ' to wear a cross section of a 
 butternut." He had flaunted it with impunity ever 
 since, and his example was servilely followed by 
 the youths thereabout. 
 
 Frank's quick eye saw it. Ali'eady enraged by 
 the covert insults of the preacher, and the taunt 
 conveyed in Jim's grin, this open display of the 
 sign of treason was too much. He dived into his 
 pocket, drew out his knife, opened it, perfectly be- 
 side himself with fury, reached over and cut the pin 
 off of Jim's shirt front, threw it on the floor, and 
 crushed it under his heel. The people immediately 
 around them who saw the act were paralyzed by 
 
AT "MEETING" 37 
 
 fright. Jim's reputation for violence was estab- 
 lished, and they looked for murder. 
 
 " You may be a ' butternut ' inside, but I '11 be 
 hanged if you shall carry the sign of it outside 
 while I 'm around ! " Frank hissed in a whisper in 
 Swazey's ear. 
 
 Jim was not a coward, but he was crafty, and 
 did not resent Frank's violent act at the time, but 
 " laid it up for him then and there." He knew 
 these people of Riffle Township well, and realized 
 that, if he turned on his adversary, a curious clan- 
 nishness would lead them to espouse Frank's cause 
 against him, notwithstanding they differed politi- 
 cally. Frank was a son of the soil ; he was an out- 
 sider ; in this case discretion was the better part of 
 valor. It did not suit his purpose to retaliate 
 there, but his revenge waited. Brother Teeter, 
 observing signs of a disturbance and fearing an 
 outbreak, hastily brought the services to a close 
 and dismissed the congregation. 
 
 Frank stopped to speak to but few of his old 
 acquaintances, not many of whom were sympathiz- 
 ers with the Union cause, but among those with 
 whom he exchanged a hand-clasp were Zeb Whit- 
 taker and his daughter Lucetta. 
 
 From that day he was a marked man with the 
 Ejiights, and the rival and enemy of Swazey. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE TIN-PEDDLER 
 
 " La, somebody 's openin' the big gate, Miz 
 Bowles ! " exclaimed Liddy Ann Collins, as she 
 stood in the door, peering out from under her hand 
 down the long lane to the " big gate," the inlet to 
 the farm. 
 
 " An' there 's a kivered wagon, an' a white horse 
 with a rope halter. It 's a tin-peddler ! " she ex- 
 plained, after examining the entire turnout at long 
 range with that remarkably acute vision of the 
 country-bred person accustomed to long distances. 
 
 Mrs. Bowles gave no heed to Liddy Ann, but 
 went on with her work. This contemptuous dis- 
 regard would have dampened the ardor of most 
 people, but not that of Liddy Ann Collins. With- 
 drawing her devouring gaze from the peddler, she 
 turned fully to Mrs. Bowles. 
 
 " We need a new b'iler, and a skimmer, and 
 some pie-pans," she volubly enumerated ; " them 's 
 burned black." 
 
 Mrs. Bowles, sternly reticent, still made no an- 
 swer to her handmaiden, but, as the clatter of 
 tinware became audible, she arose from her wheel, 
 where she was engaged in spinning fleecy rolls of 
 
THE TIN-PEDDLER 39 
 
 wool into yarn, and looked over Liddy Ann's shoul- 
 der at the peddler, who was now well up the lane. 
 At the sight of thp: man's face her casual gaze be- 
 came one of sharp inspection, and after a moment 
 she said : — 
 
 " Liddy Ann, go to the smoke-house and fetch 
 them three bags of rags. The two crocks of taUow 
 and the big mould of beeswax are on the swingin' 
 shelf down cellar ; fetch them too. They '11 nigh 
 about pay for the things we need. And I '11 dicker 
 with him." 
 
 Liddy Ann departed reluctantly as the peddler 
 drew up at the yard gate, and, throwing the lines 
 down on the back of his bony horse, he dismounted 
 from the high seat and walked with a brisk step 
 and assured air up to Mrs. Bowles. He asked in 
 a quick, cheerful voice : — 
 
 " Can I make a trade with you in the tinware 
 line to-day, ma'am ? " 
 
 "Depends on what you fetch," she answered 
 briefly. 
 
 He looked around swiftly, and, while he casually 
 pulled the lobe of his left ear, said with pleasing 
 distinctness : — 
 
 " I 've got lots of useful things, and knickknacks 
 to please the ladies ; " then, significantly, in a lower 
 tone, that the weasel-eared Liddy might not hear, 
 *' and some for the men." 
 
 At this instant Liddy Ann appeared, staggering 
 under the weight of the rag-bags. 
 
 "There must be nigh about fifty pound ! 
 They 're awful hefty." 
 
40 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 The peddler took them from her, and she disap- 
 peared hurriedly into the cellar by an outside door 
 that opened with two leaves, and was soon back 
 again with her " plunder," as she called it. They 
 all walked to the wagon standing in the lane. The 
 man unbuttoned the door on the side of the wagon, 
 displayed a lot of cheap tinware, and glibly com- 
 mended it to Liddy Ann, the saturnine mistress 
 standing silently by. She made a selection of 
 the articles she wanted, the peddler meanwhile 
 jocularly praising her judgment and appearance, 
 with the freedom of his kind, while she simpered 
 with delight. The trade over, he turned to Mrs. 
 Bowles. 
 
 " Have n't any use for this kind of an article, 
 have you ? sell it to you cheap. It 's a fine bread- 
 box ; keeps bread from drying a long time, and 
 flies and ants out of it. Fine thing, / tell you ! " 
 
 Mrs. Bowles looked at it dubiously and asked : — 
 
 " How much does it cost ? " 
 
 He named the price. 
 
 " Cash or trade ? " she asked shortly. 
 
 " Oh, cash for this ! We can't make enough off 
 of rags to afford to trade for such costly goods as 
 this ! Comes high, you know, it 's so useful," and 
 he laughed knowingly and tapped the box. It 
 did not emit the dull rumble of an empty box, but 
 gave out a thick, muffled sound. 
 
 The woman frowned, but made no reply. 
 
 " And here, ma'am, 's a spice - box that goes 
 along with it. Holds all kinds of precious stuff 
 
THE TIN-PEDDLER 41 
 
 in that line. Just the thing for the kitchen ! " 
 He took up, and extended toward her on the palm 
 of his hand, — a very delicate, slender-fingered 
 hand for one of his calling, — a large spice-box 
 that would hold perhaps a half gallon of spice. 
 
 " Guess I '11 take 'em both," said Mrs. Bowles, 
 after pondering a moment. " Liddy Ann, go look 
 in the cracked chiny sugar-bowl, the blue one that 
 was Granny's, — on the top shelf of the pantry, — 
 and fetch me some change," she said to that dam- 
 sel, who was much taken with the gallantries of 
 the peddler and was loth to leave. When Liddy 
 Ann disappeared loiteringiy on her errand, the 
 peddler grinned impudently and said knowingly : — 
 
 " I thought you 'd take 'em. Come in mighty 
 handy by and by ! " There was more in this 
 speech than the mere words conveyed, for Mrs. 
 Bowles said, almost fiercely : — 
 
 " I don't need anybody to help me to make up 
 my mind, young man, and I stick to it after it is 
 made ! " 
 
 " Oh, nobody doubts that, ma'am. The loyalty 
 of Mrs. Bowles to anything she puts her mind to 
 is not questioned by any of us." 
 
 She paid no attention to his flattery, nor to the 
 emphasis of the last sentence, but commanded 
 sharply : — 
 
 "Help me with these things before she gits 
 back." 
 
 The man took up the bread-box, which seemed 
 heavy, and Mrs. Bowles the spice-box : she had 
 
42 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 not accurately calculated its weight, so that it 
 nearly fell from her grasp ; but before Liddy Ann 
 returned, the boxes were disposed of, and Mrs. 
 Bowles and the peddler were at the wagon, look- 
 ing at the counterpart of those which had been 
 removed. 
 
 " Miz Bowles," bawled Liddy from the house 
 door, " they ain't a cent in that there cracked 
 chiny bowl, an' I let it fall an' busted it ! " 
 
 " Fall in the money market," facetiously re- 
 marked the peddler. " That 's lucky. Gold 's 
 dreadful high ; forty-three per cent, premium I " 
 
 By this time Liddy Ann had reached the wagon- 
 side. 
 
 " It does n't make any difference about the pay 
 to-day, ma'am. I '11 be in the neighborhood a 
 couple of weeks, and will be passing often, and 
 you can pay me some time when I 'm going by." 
 
 " I '11 pay now ! " said Mrs. Bowles gruffly, and 
 she went to the house in search of funds. 
 
 No sooner had she disappeared than Liddy Ann 
 began to assume a coquettish air, wetting her lips 
 with her tongue, smoothing her locks and simper- 
 ing foolishly, as do some women, unused to men's 
 notice, in the presence of the most insignificant 
 man. 
 
 " Did I hear you say you 'd be in the neighbor- 
 hood some time ? " she asked in her " company " 
 voice. 
 
 " Yes," said the peddler, as he leaned negligently 
 against the gate, rather impudently leering at her 
 
THE TIN-PEDDLER 43 
 
 in return for the smiles and airs which he fully 
 comprehended. 
 
 " Where 're you atoppin' ? " 
 
 " No place yet. Just got here last night. 
 Stayed at the tavern over at Ridgely last night. 
 I 'd like to get a place to stay to-night, and maybe 
 the rest of the week. I 've got right smart to do 
 in this neighborhood if I sell out my load." 
 
 " La, I should say ! You might stay here, 
 only Miz Bowles is so set agin' men, they never 
 put their foot on the place 'less they 're sent for. 
 She don't like none of 'em. Says she knows 'em 
 all as well as if she 'd knit 'em on two needles and 
 made up the pattern," and Liddy Ann giggled 
 cheerfully. 
 
 " That 's hard on the young fellows, seeing 
 there's such a nice girl here. You can't make 
 me believe some young buck don't come,"., said 
 the peddler jocosely. 
 
 " They 'd come mighty peart if she 'd let 'em ! " 
 said Liddy Ann, nodding toward the door that had 
 swallowed up the gaunt form of Mrs. Bowles. " I 
 can take my choice ; fellers or my place ! An' I 
 ain't a-goin' to give up a dollar job fer no five-cent 
 man ! " 
 
 She gave him a look which delicately conveyed 
 that she held him at a much higher rate of reckon- 
 ing. He laughed uproariously, and slapped his 
 thigh, in appreciation of her sprightly humor. 
 
 " It 's mighty rough on the boys, I should say ! " 
 cried he. 
 
44 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " Nary a man 's set foot on this place since I 've 
 been here — and that 's since harvestin' last sum- 
 mer — that don't belong here, but Alec Rush, an' 
 he come to set up Mrs. Bowles's new cuttin'-box 
 that come the day of the quiltin'. There was n't 
 no men-folks bid to that neither," she interjected 
 regretfully. " I declare ! I think Miz Bowles is 
 too hard on 'em ! " 
 
 " What kind of a cutting-box was it ? I 'm the 
 man that can set them up myself ! " asked the 
 peddler, reverting to the main point, from which 
 Liddy was prone to wander. 
 
 " Now you 've got me guessin' ! I don't know ; 
 Alec took it off in the boxes. Said it was a tick- 
 lish job, and he reckoned he could do it better at 
 the shop. Seemed mighty hard to fix, for he ain't 
 fetched it back yet ! It 's nigh a week ago he took 
 it." ,. 
 
 " Likely something 's wrong about it, — some- 
 thing missing. I '11 take a look at it when I pass 
 the blacksmith's. Where is his shop?" 
 
 Liddy obligingly explained, and then asked en- 
 gagingly:— 
 
 " Are you argoin' to the barbecue ? " 
 
 He had never heard of the barbecue till she 
 mentioned it, but answered with alacrity, " Oh, 
 yes. I '11 be there. Hope you will, too. If I 
 thought you would n't, more than likely I 'd stay 
 away. When is it to be ? " 
 
 " Long about the ' Fourth.' " 
 
 " Why, that 's Wednesday." 
 
THE TIN-PEDDLER 45 
 
 « Oh, I mean tlie Fourth o' July." 
 
 " Good heavens, that 's two months off ! " 
 
 Liddy looked surprised at his astonishment ; for 
 since the last one the whole neighborhood had been 
 looking forward to the recurrence of the event, 
 with that patience peculiar to such people. The 
 barbecue was an institution of the political party 
 in power in that and the adjoining township, and 
 occurred as regvJarly as the day rolled round. 
 She could see no reason for surprise on his part 
 at its being two months off. Had Liddy been 
 astute enough, the expression of that emotion by 
 the peddler would have betrayed to her that he 
 was accustomed to a crowded and busy life, one in 
 which events hurried each other ; but she was not 
 shrewd enough to draw the inference, and, more- 
 over, her curiosity was entirely without suspicion. 
 
 " W'y, that ain't long! " she observed. " I kind 
 ©'thought mebby Jim Swazey 'd ask me to go. 
 But then he ain't nobody," she said, with a coquet- 
 tish giggle and a scornful toss of her head. 
 
 " He 'd better not," said the peddler, with as- 
 sumed ferocity, cracking his whip. 
 
 " They do say he 's a-settin' up to Lucetty Whit- 
 taker. But, my ! she 's too ' uppety ' fer him. 
 She 's a-studyin' algibbery and a-learnin' to play 
 on the organ ; the schoolma'am 's a-teachin' her. 
 But, la, I ain't a-carin' who he sparks, long 's 
 't ain't me ! " and she pursed her lips contempt- 
 uously. 
 
 " Who is this girl Lucetta ? " asked the peddler. 
 
46 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " Oh, she 's Zeb Whittaker's girl. Only child 
 he 's got left, — had scads of 'em, but t' others is all 
 dead, — and he can't support her and her mammy, 
 he 's that do-less. They do say lately he 's taken 
 to sleepin' all day an' runnin' all night. They 
 ain't no corn shuckin' now," she said musingly, as 
 if refuting some mental reason for Zeb's peculiar 
 somnolency. " Anyhow, that 's better than sleepin' 
 all the time he ain't eatin'." 
 
 At this moment Mrs. Bowles reappeared with a 
 roll of " shin-plasters," — as fractional currency 
 was called, — much out of proportion to the price 
 asked for the boxes, one would think, and gave it 
 to the peddler. 
 
 " That settles the bill?" she inquired. 
 
 "Yes, ma'am." 
 
 He then climbed to the high seat, turned the 
 wagon around, nodded to Mrs. Bowles, clucked 
 to the old horse, and clattered down the lane, not 
 before giving Liddy Ann a smile which so " flus- 
 tered " her she did not notice he had gone off with 
 the boxes after all. 
 
 As the peddler closed the gate behind him he 
 said to himself : — 
 
 " I think I '11 take a hand in setting up that 
 cutting-box ! Shrewd old girl, that Mrs. Bowles ! " 
 
 The whirr of Mrs. Bowles's wheel was sounding 
 again before he closed the gate ; but Liddy Ann 
 was standing in the doorway looking after him 
 regretfully. He waved his hat to her from the 
 road, then drove rapidly off to the blacksmith's, 
 his load jingling loudly. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE WHITTAKJEES 
 
 The Whittakers lived on a rented place, contain- 
 ing about thirty-five acres, that belonged to Abner 
 Neal; and the creek and a by-road separated it 
 from his home farm. It was a poor, worn-out piece 
 of land, — from which the loam had washed, leav- 
 ing bald fields of clay, — overrun by blackberry 
 vines and thickets of wild plum, and split nearly in 
 two by a most picturesque ravine. These ravines 
 formed a peculiar feature of the country there- 
 about. They seemed to radiate from a common 
 centre, a point on Honey Creek at the junction of 
 Clifty (known as " the little creek ") with the big 
 creek. From the top of a high bluff on the Whit- 
 taker place could be counted nine of the " back- 
 bones," as the ridges that separated the ravines 
 were called. They covered an area of about ten 
 miles in an almost complete semicircle, and were 
 on the left bank of the creek, which was very sinu- 
 ous throughout its entire course. The opposite 
 side of the stream was lined with rich bottom-lands 
 rising to gentle hills, where rolling pastures alter- 
 nated with magnificent woodland and highly culti- 
 vated fields. In the midst of one of the most 
 
48 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 beautiful of these tracts stood a large brick house, 
 the Neal homestead. 
 
 Every farm touching on that side of Honey 
 Creek had one or more of the ravines ; some were 
 deep and dark as canyons, others as winding as 
 the labyrinth ; still others were shallow glens or 
 mere hollows. These dark, cool gorges, which 
 the sun never robbed of their chill, were a tangle 
 of sarsaparilla and gosling and wild cucumber and 
 clematis vines that beautified everything near them 
 with thick shrouding foliage. Shade-loving flow- 
 ers, ferns, and herbs flourished in the dim green 
 light and cool moisture of their depths. Great 
 pines and hemlocks found root-fastness upon their 
 steep sides ; and in autumn, from inaccessible 
 ledges, the radiant red of the sumach lent a 
 transient, dazzling glow to the prevailing gloom. 
 Where the sun glinted through a mass of foliage, 
 the partridge-berry grew amid moss and lichens, 
 giving a dash of color to their dull grays and 
 greens. Spicewood and sassafras blended their 
 odors with those of the mints that grew along the 
 " Branch ; " for, invariably, through every one of 
 these mimic canyons ran a stream of water, if no 
 larger than a crystal trickle from a choked foun- 
 tain. In every case they originated in a spring 
 at the head of the gorge, where was a place of 
 silence and sweet odors. The pioneers of Indiana 
 had wisely chosen to make their homes convenient 
 to these wells of living water, influenced, no doubt, 
 by the resemblance of environment to that of 
 
THE WHITTAKERS 49 
 
 the mountain gorges of Tennessee and Kentucky, 
 whence so many of them came. 
 
 As a mere artistic feature of the landscape, these 
 ravines were neither prized nor admired by their 
 owners. The medicinal herbs and roots and the 
 various mints which they yielded generously, and 
 which were in demand for domestic remedies, alone 
 gave them value. Mrs. Whittaker was skilled in 
 the preparation of these homely medicaments, for 
 she knew the name of every plant that grew there 
 and its peculiar healing virtue. To her, the wild 
 gorge back of her cabin, with its tangle of lush 
 greens, its enchanting lights and shades, was of 
 supreme interest. From its heights and depths 
 were got together the materials for her " doc- 
 torin','' and she dosed herself into a bedridden 
 ghost by the concoctions she made and swallowed ; 
 but they gave an otherwise empty mind and hands 
 employment, and whiled away hours that would 
 have been leaden in their dullness. Her cunning 
 in their distillation and use had brought her, unso- 
 licited, the title of " Herb Doctor " among her 
 humble neighbors. 
 
 There was a narrow, well-worn path running up 
 the side of the ravine on the Whittaker place, and 
 across the two or three barren fields. The cabin 
 stood in an oasis-like spot in the midst of this bar- 
 renness, a tiny orchard of peach, apple, and wild- 
 plum trees. Various sheds and log outhouses of 
 rudest structure, — the handiwork of Zeb, — al- 
 though out of repair, were clustered about it, and 
 gave a homelikeness to the dull spot. 
 
50 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 There were evidences that some one took an In- 
 terest in the humble dwelling; for the two win- 
 dows of the cabin were clean, and draped with 
 fresh white curtains of " factory," as they called 
 white muslin. They were edged with an elaborate 
 home-made lace knit on needles, and mutely testi- 
 fied to the imperishable love of adornment in all 
 of Eve's daughters. 
 
 A great bunch of " pineys " stood by the door, 
 and snowball bushes grew on either side of the 
 garden gate that led into the lane. 
 
 A shallow free-stone well, from which the water 
 was drawn by a sweep, was near the kitchen door ; 
 and above it grew two cone-like juniper trees, 
 which shaded the little milk-house, with the vege- 
 table pit, like a great grave, near by. 
 
 The cabin proper had originally but one room, 
 perhaps twenty feet square. On one side was a 
 great chimney of sticks daubed with clay, and op- 
 posite was a rude partition of wood which did not 
 reach to the ceiling. The narrow room thus cut 
 off was Lucetta's special apartment, or, to speak 
 more exactly, one end of it was hers, for the other 
 was religiously held as the spare room. Tightly 
 wedged in each corner was a bed piled high with 
 feathers ; and in Lucetta's was an old-fashioned 
 chest of drawers of dark mahogany, the sole relic 
 of some prosperous ancestor. Both beds were be- 
 decked with valance and pillows profusely trimmed 
 with lace, in the knitting of which Mrs. Whittaker 
 whiled away the long winter days, and a home- 
 
THE WHITTAKERS 51 
 
 made blue-and- white counterpane reached to the 
 valance. These white muslin, lace-trimmed val- 
 ances were not wholly for ornament, but served to 
 hide the jars of home-made preserves, honey, dried 
 corn, and even boxes of clothing, stowed away 
 under the beds. 
 
 The big room was a general sitting-room, and, 
 though meagerly furnished, was kept neat and 
 bright. The floor was covered with a gay rag car- 
 pet. Against the partition, opposite the fireplace, 
 was Mrs. Whittaker's bed, draj)ed and trimmed 
 even more elaborately than the others, and in it 
 she could be found most of the time, for she was 
 a hopeless invalid, — " hypo " her neighbors ex- 
 pressed it. There really was some foundation for 
 her invalid state ; for at the birth of her third 
 child she had suffered partial paralysis, and had 
 never fully recovered, as one birth followed another 
 rapidly. The death of all her children but the 
 eldest fixed the habit of hypochondria; and she 
 seldom left the house, her migrations being from 
 her cushioned rocking-chair in the chimney-corner 
 to her thick feather-bed. It was amazing that she 
 had survived her life of inactivity so long, and it 
 proved that originally she had been blessed with a 
 strong constitution. In the neighborhood, sympa- 
 thy for her had long been displaced by contemptu- 
 ous pity. 
 
 In one angle of the sitting-room stood a really 
 handsome mahogany corner cupboard, which had 
 been part of Mrs. Whittaker's mother's wedding 
 
52 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 portion, before she had come from Kentucky to the 
 wilds of Indiana. Through its glass doors could 
 be seen old green and blue dishes. A great chest 
 of drawers with glass knobs stood near the window. 
 The mantel above the fireplace was a rough board 
 one, but it, too, was draped with a valance in keep- 
 ing with the bed, and was further adorned by two 
 tall brass candlesticks with brass snuffers and tray 
 complete, a moon-faced clock, and a gorgeous pea- 
 cock tail. There was also a row of suggestive 
 vials of assorted sizes. Above all this array was 
 a bracket of the antlers of a deer, — shot by Mrs. 
 Whittaker's father in the " early day," — which 
 held Zeb's rifle. 
 
 In the winter Lucetta did all the cooking at the 
 fireplace, but in summer she used a cooking-stove 
 with a top fashioned like two steps, which was set 
 up in the " lean-to " kitchen that Zeb, after years 
 of procrastination, had been prevailed on to build ; 
 for the Whittakers had lived on this spot for the 
 twenty years since their marriage. True to the 
 universal law governing such cases, the poorest 
 farmer got the poorest farm ; and Zeb was the man 
 of all men to illustrate this truism. He cultivated 
 the few fields in the slackest manner. His corn 
 and wheat were always the last planted and har- 
 vested in the community. The kitchen garden, 
 once ploughed, he turned over entirely to the care of 
 his daughter. As the " lame and the lazy are al- 
 ways provided for," — a saying Mrs. Bowles sneer- 
 ingly applied to Zeb, — he managed to ward off 
 
THE WHITTAKERS 53 
 
 starvation with the least possible labor. In tbis 
 life, there seems to be a certain amount of homely 
 duty apportioned to each person, which, if shirked, 
 is only added to that of another who is faithful in 
 the performance of his own share. It does not 
 follow that because it is evaded by the one, it is not 
 exacted of another to the uttermost. 
 
 Zeb had escaped, as nearly as man can, his share 
 of the curse of Eden ; he never worked hard enough 
 to sweat, nor earned enough to keep him in bread. 
 Not so the women of his household : his wife had 
 brought forth many children in sorrow, and the 
 bread he ate was from the sweat of his daughter's 
 brow. 
 
 He ploughed and harrowed the fields, only because 
 the girl was not strong enough, but she followed 
 patiently in the furrows dropping the corn, which 
 later she helped hoe, and in autumn gathered and 
 " shucked." She cut the potatoes and planted 
 them, and even followed after the sickle and bun- 
 dled the wheat that Zeb leisurely cut. He had 
 amazing faith in that Providence which provides 
 for the idler, and planted only so much of a crop as 
 woidd serve his needs till the next harvest, never 
 giving thought to what a year might bring forth in 
 the way of droughts or floods. 
 
 There was, however, a finer side to Zeb's nature, 
 which showed itself in the exceeding neatness of 
 his attire of common blue jeans. His going-abroad 
 coat — of the shad-belly pattern — was a well-fit- 
 ting one, adorned with bright brass buttons ; his 
 
54 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 trousers were shapely, and never bagged at the 
 knees. Another of his higher traits was his love 
 for his fiddle, on which he played with remarkable 
 taste and feeling for one entirely untutored. With 
 the sensitiveness of an artist, he shrank from mis- 
 appreciation and indifference, and was shy of play- 
 ing on it before people who did not love it as truly 
 as he. Then, too, he was noted for his skill in or- 
 namenting rough, home-made wagon beds, — which, 
 it is needless to say, he had no part in making, — 
 and was thought to have a nice taste in colors ; 
 his scrolls and flowers were the wonder and delight 
 of his neighbors, who sought his services in that 
 line. Somewhere back in Zeb's ancestral tree had 
 flourished an artist, whose genius had filtered down 
 through many generations to this humble scion, 
 and showed itself paradoxically in bigger brushes 
 and paint-pots. 
 
 Lucetta had mental and moral qualities — per- 
 haps owing to a strong hereditary strain dormant 
 in her parents — which neither her father nor her 
 mother manifested. She had been forced gradually 
 to assume responsibilities which were rightly theirs, 
 thus in some measure reversing the attitudes of 
 parent and child. Cut off by circumstances from 
 intimate association with her neighbors, she was 
 thrown much on her own resources. She would 
 not accept the meagre hospitality of the community, 
 because she could not in any way return it. Lack 
 of companionship created the habit of introspection, 
 and she became serious, thoughtful, and sedate be- 
 
THE WHITTAKERS 55 
 
 yond her years, and keenly alive to tlie marvelous- 
 ness of common things about her. Her only real 
 pleasure was drawn from a knowledge of the plants 
 which grew in the ravine, and of the insects she 
 fought in the kitchen garden, whose peculiarities 
 and habits she knew better than those of her 
 neighbors. She cherished aspirations to be and 
 do more than her present life promised, but she 
 kept her own counsel. It was not until the coming 
 of Miss Abbot, the new teacher, that the first puff 
 of destiny blew on this spark of ambition smoulder- 
 ing in her soul, like fire in punk that needs but a 
 breath to set it aglow. 
 
 Such ambition in women is pitiful, since it is so 
 rarely realized. For conscience throttles it in favor 
 of a lowly but imperative duty, which neither ele- 
 vates the performer nor rouses one whit of grati- 
 tude in those for whom the sacrifice is made, and 
 by whom it is accepted as a matter of course. 
 
 When Miss Abbot came into the neig-hborhood, 
 chance threw her and Lucetta together, and, not- 
 withstanding twenty years' disparity in age, a 
 friendship grew up between them. 
 
 It was then the custom in all the district schools 
 of Indiana for the teacher to act as janitor, or 
 pay for such service out of his own pocket. Miss 
 Abbot had been told she might possibly get Zeb 
 Whittaker to sweep out and build fires at the 
 school-house, as it was not very far from his cabin. 
 Zeb declined, but Lucetta offered to do the work 
 in return for lessons in algebra, history, and gram- 
 
56 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 mar, just after school, three evenings in the week. 
 Miss Abbot became deeply interested in her, and 
 Liicetta proved an apt pupil, doing so well that 
 she hoped by next autumn to be able to secure a 
 license and herself become a teacher, which was 
 her cherished ambition. She saw, in the realiza- 
 tion of her hopes, help and comforts for her sickly 
 mother which she could not now command. She 
 had long since ceased to expect anything of the 
 rightful head of the family, and rarely gave a 
 thought to his indolence, but took it as a matter of 
 course ; it was as much a part of his character as 
 his good-nature. 
 
 Miss Abbot was a woman of strong character, 
 sensible, independent, and fearless. She was a 
 granddaughter of one of the educational pioneers 
 of the State, who had come out from the East and 
 founded a college in the heart of the primeval 
 forest girdling the tiny settlement of Crofton. 
 She possessed the qualities of her sire, pluck and 
 perseverance, and was thoroughly well educated. 
 Like him, she was an abolitionist of the blackest 
 hue, but though she did not hide the fact, neither 
 did she boast of it; and, being gifted with tact, 
 she gave no offense even in Riffle Township, where 
 such opinions were hotly opposed. She came into 
 Lucetta's arid life, like a refreshing rain in the 
 midst of a drought, at the moment of her greatest 
 need. 
 
 Of late, Zeb had been neglecting his work even 
 more than usual, and it was only by repeated urg- 
 
THE WHITTAKERS 57 
 
 ing that Lucetta moved him to break the ground 
 for corn and for her garden, which provided the 
 greater part of tbgir food for the summer. 
 
 Instead of going to bed at nightfall as formerly, 
 he left the house soon after supper and returned 
 very late, and would sullenly evade their question- 
 ing as to his nocturnal jaunts. 
 
 For days after the meeting at Harv Wilson's 
 cabin, Zeb sat over the fire brooding. He was one 
 of those nerveless men that collapse mentally and 
 physically when anything like responsibility falls 
 upon them. During those hours of self-communion 
 he was conscience-smitten ; tortured by cowardly 
 fears, he suffered to the depths of his shallow, fal- 
 tering soul. But he was not clever enough to see 
 that he had been the victim in the dealing of the 
 lot, not inventive enough to evade it, nor energetic 
 enough to run away. Like the craven he was, he 
 made the innocent women of his household, igno- 
 rant of its cause, suffer with him, during the inter- 
 val between the allotment and fulfillment of his 
 terrible duty. Members of the " Vestibule " were 
 the dupes and tools of the three higher orders of 
 the Knights of the Golden Circle, and were not 
 taken into confidence further than to make them 
 useful. The real intentions and purposes of the 
 higher degrees they never knew. They were in- 
 timidated by vague threats of vengeance, and pla- 
 cated by specious promises, to make them faithful 
 and obedient. 
 
 A glimmering of the baseness of his ingratitude 
 
58 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 penetrated Zeb's feeble brain, as the heinousness 
 of such a crime did not ; for Harv had inspired in 
 him a fanatical ardor for " the cause," and he was 
 not capable of more than one impression at a time. 
 Abner Neal had always been his benefactor, and, 
 when no one else would, he had accepted him as a 
 tenant, and times without number had forgiven 
 him his debt for the rent : he had often furnished 
 him with the necessaries of life for the sake of his 
 " women folks," before Lucetta was old enough to 
 realize the shamefulness of his improvidence and 
 put an end to it. But Abner Neal was a Union 
 man, and had incurred the enmity of the order, and 
 Zeb was to be the instrument of his punishment. 
 
 On this particular evening, early in May, Zeb 
 sat tilted forward on the front legs of his splint- 
 bottomed chair, huddling over the fire, wherein 
 smouldered a backlog, now a mass of fleecy gray 
 ashes that seemed always moving, under which, 
 whenever a puff of wind blew the ashes aside, 
 could be seen the heart of fire. He was slowly 
 cracking each joint of his long bony fingers, the 
 only thing he ever did industriously, and ruminat- 
 ing intently. As a rule, Lucetta gave little heed 
 to his laggard ways, but his pale, blank eyes, in 
 which vacancy usually dwelt, now had a look of 
 distress that attracted her notice as he occasionally 
 lifted them to her face. His nature was not strong 
 enough to bear his burden alone, and Lucetta felt 
 from this new expression that he was mutely ask- 
 ing for help. 
 
THE WHITTAKERS 59 
 
 " Pappy," she asked, " what 's the matter ? Are 
 you ailin' ? " 
 
 " Not perticaler, but then I don't feel right 
 peart." 
 
 After a pause he asked, " Lucetty, do you know 
 what ' Arcturus ' is ? " 
 
 " Yes, Pappy, Arcturus is the name of a star ; it 
 means ' The Bear's Guard,' and it 's called that 
 because it 's near The Great Bear, — a group of 
 stars, you know, — and guards it. But what a 
 queer question. Pappy ! " 
 
 He ignored her surprise and said : " Means a 
 guard, does it ? Well, mebby so," shaking his 
 head doubtfully, " mebby so. But what the devil 
 does" — and he stopped suddenly, realizing that 
 he was talking aloud, after the habit of people 
 much alone. 
 
 "Did the teacher learn you all that, Lucetty? 
 She knows a heap, don't she ? " he asked, with an 
 attempt at sprightliness and interest that did not 
 deceive the girl, nor divert her attention from the 
 glimpse she had of his trouble, betrayed by this 
 unusual question. It at once aroused her suspicion, 
 and made her anxious. Far more intelligent than 
 he, she was able to deduce reasons and form opinions 
 with surprising correctness. 
 
 The news of the call of the President for more 
 men, and of the impending draft, had reached her 
 in the weekly newspaper which Miss Abbot took, 
 the only one except Abner Neal's that came to the 
 community. She had heard, too, of the Order of 
 
60 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 the Knights of the Golden Circle, but of their pre- 
 sence in the township she had not the slightest 
 suspicion. They had not yet begun that series of 
 petty crimes and flagrant lawlessness that harassed 
 the Commonwealth so greatly. Why the prospec- 
 tive draft should distress her father she could not 
 understand ; for their township would escape, as 
 the Union men of both parties had volunteered 
 and filled its quota. 
 
 She watched him warily as she prepared their 
 early supper, and when he ate sparingly of the 
 homely meal of cold greens, young onions, corn- 
 bread, and rhubarb pie, — all favorite dishes with 
 him, — she was convinced something more than 
 usual was amiss. 
 
 Toward dusk he grew more nervous, and took 
 his cap off its peg and said : — 
 
 " Well, Lucetty, I 've got to go over to the 
 blacksmith shop — to see about — a " — (he hesi- 
 tated, his dull wits unused to inventing excuses) 
 — " to see about mendin' the ploughshare." 
 
 Lucetta well knew it was sticking in the furrow 
 intact. 
 
 " It seems to me it would do just as well to take 
 it to him to-morrow, seeing he don't work nights." 
 
 Made suspicious through his fears, he regarded 
 this innocent speech as an intentional sneer. 
 
 "That's none o' your business, Lucetty. You 
 ain't got no right to talk to your pap that-a-way." 
 
 He took down his gun and departed, trembling 
 from his unusual outbreak. He rarely spoke in 
 
THE WHITTAKERS 61 
 
 anger to Lucetta, and she wonderingly watched 
 him taking the short cut across the ravine to the 
 smithy, which lay half a mile south on the Kidgely 
 road. 
 
 " What ails him, I wonder ? Something 's come 
 over him, certain." 
 
 " He 's just like all men-folkses," observed her 
 mother in a peevish little voice, from the depths 
 of her rocking-chair. " When they git a chance, 
 they 're just as gosterin' and masterful as they can 
 be. Him a-goin' off that-a-way, and me a feelin' 
 that bad with such a misery in my stummick ! " 
 and she moaned in self-pity. 
 
 Lucetta, accustomed to such complaints, asked 
 absently from the doorway : — 
 
 " Are you feelin' poorly, mammy ? " 
 
 She had great sympathy for her mother, and 
 believed devoutly in all her aches and pains. She 
 went quickly to her, when a groan was her only 
 answer. 
 
 " Do you want your ginseng bitters, or boneset 
 tea, mammy? " she asked solicitously. 
 
 Mrs. Whittaker had eaten heartily of their heavy 
 supper, her not infrequent habit, notwithstanding 
 her invalid state, and, writhing in real pain now, 
 groaned out : — 
 
 " Oh, such a misery ! " 
 
 Lucetta hastily hung the kettle on the crane, 
 and threw chips on the drowsing tire to heat water, 
 and she soon made ready the simple remedies she 
 used in such attacks. But they brought no relief, 
 
62 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 all failed now, and Lucetta was really alarmed as 
 the hours passed and her mother became paler and 
 more deathly sick. 
 
 - When the clock struck eleven, Zeb had not 
 returned, and Lucetta said : — 
 
 " Mammy, I 've done all I can. Do you think 
 you 'd be afraid to stay alone while I run over 
 to Rush's to get some one to go for the doctor? 
 Maybe I '11 have to go on to Ridgely myself, if 
 Alec ain't home, but I '11 get Mrs. Eush to stay 
 with you if I do." 
 
 Her mother nodded an assent, and the girl 
 swiftly left the house, tying on her sun-bonnet. 
 The moon was on the wane, and gave but little light 
 to brighten her path through the fields. 
 
 On reaching Rush's, Lucetta found no men there, 
 but Mrs. Rush, usually an arrant coward, was 
 moved to pity by the girl's anxiety, — which from 
 long habit she thought quite unnecessary, — and 
 went back with her to stay with her mother, while 
 Lucetta continued on her errand alone. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 "THE LONE star" 
 
 LucETTA took the path down the ravine, and, 
 when she reached the place where her canoe was 
 tied up, quickly unfastened it and poled off into 
 mid-stream. In that neighborhood, where the 
 farms lay along the creek, a very common mode of 
 travel was by canoes, which were in as constant 
 use for locomotion as horses. Every family owned 
 one or more; even the children were skilled in 
 handling them, a very delicate operation. 
 
 Lucetta stood in the middle, tall and straight, 
 dipping her long paddle deftly and evenly. She 
 was soon in the strong current, and it swept her 
 along so rapidly that it took little effort on her 
 part except to keep off the huge boulders, which 
 now and then stuck their gray crowns out of the 
 water. 
 
 The stream ran between rolling fields on one 
 hand and high bluffs, broken at frequent intervals 
 by ravines, on the other. The bluffs were black 
 in the shadow of the balsam and pine. The night 
 was very silent, except for the recurring screech 
 of an owl, which sounded sadly, or when a frog 
 shrieked in dismay as it plunged from a boulder 
 
64 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 mid-stream ; and the water swung along with a 
 deep cadence, like a low-pitched human voice, hush- 
 ing the finer silvery tones of the spring branches 
 that emptied into it. None of these night sounds 
 disturbed Lucetta, for to her they were as familiar 
 as the voices of friends. The " old moon," hung 
 in a sky full of cloud-hummocks, was hardly risen 
 to the treetops ; its light fell feebly, scarcely pier- 
 cing through them to the shadowed stream. But 
 Lucetta knew its channel as well in the dark as in 
 the light, for it was the shortest route to the village? 
 and she nearly always made use of it. After pad- 
 dling two miles down-stream, she made a landing 
 above the riffle, at the ford of the Kidgely road, 
 to take the path on the edge of the wood, which 
 led to the village, still a half mile away, where the 
 doctor lived. 
 
 As she clambered up the short, steep bank into 
 the wood, the clouds that had been obscuring the 
 sky suddenly cleared, and, with head up in the effort 
 of reaching the summit, she saw a gleam of some- 
 thing bright in the top of an oak-tree that stood 
 somewhat apart from the rest of the forest, where 
 it had been thinned to let in the sunshine along 
 the edge of a wheat field. At any other time her 
 curiosity would have been aroused to learn the 
 cause of that mysterious shining, but now anxiety 
 swallowed up every other feeling. She took the 
 foot-path just within the wood, close by the fence 
 that bounded the field. In the middle of the wood 
 the night noises reasserted themselves, dispelling 
 
" THE LONE STAR " 65 
 
 Ler distress, and filling her with nervous dread of 
 she knew not what, a dread that swiftly turned to 
 fear when an appalling cry broke the silence, seem- 
 ing to come from the black depths beyond her. 
 The dull seesawing of crickets, the varied croak- 
 ing of frogs, the shuddering cry of the lich-owl, 
 have no greater terrors for a country girl than the 
 homely crow of cocks, which were now telling the 
 hour from farmstead to farmstead. But this cry, 
 which seemed that of neither man nor brute, stopped 
 her blood with a clutch at her heart, and stayed 
 her feet on the path. 
 
 It wailed out weirdly, not loud, but far-reach- 
 ing:— 
 
 " O— a— k— houn ! " 
 
 " What is it ? What is it ? " she whispered, 
 appealing to that stronger self to which we go for 
 cheer or courage when our every-day seK is baffled 
 and discomfited. Some instinct warned her of 
 danger and suggested hiding. A few yards ahead 
 of her, in a corner, on both sides of the rail fence, 
 a tangle of wild-gooseberry bushes grew, on which 
 the young leaves were just putting forth. As she 
 stood that instant in the path, holding counsel 
 with herself, the cry was repeated many times, far 
 and faint, from all directions. She made her 
 way swiftly to the clump of bushes, and, creeping 
 behind this prickly covert into the fence corner, 
 waited for a revelation, or a return of tranquillity. 
 The moon was now bright overhead. Its marred 
 proportions added to the mournfulness of the night, 
 
66 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 and afforded a mild illumination to tlie path and 
 the trees bordering it, but made the dense shade of 
 those beyond her seem blacker by contrast. 
 
 She was hardly hidden when a man came 
 quickly and noiselessly down the path in the direc- 
 tion to which she was bound ; others, from the 
 creek ; three or four appeared from the gloom of 
 the wood, until a company of nearly a dozen had 
 gathered under the great oak where the strange 
 light glittered. One, who seemed to be the leader 
 of this mysterious band, shifted his position so that 
 the moonlight fell on his face, and Lucetta saw 
 Harv Wilson. 
 
 " What can it mean ? Why do they come here 
 in the night ? " she said to herself. 
 
 Then she saw his companions go through singu- 
 lar motions with hands and arms and feet, and 
 utter strange gibberish. The words she could not 
 hear distinctly, but the gestures she coidd easily 
 follow, especially those of Harv Wilson, who stood 
 a little apart. He placed the heel of his right foot 
 in the hollow of the left, and the right hand under 
 the left arm ; then, changing the position of his 
 arms, folded them and placed the four fingers of 
 his left hand on the right arm, and those of the 
 right hand on the left arm, with serious gravity, in 
 perfect silence. He was imitated by all present 
 except one solitary spectator. Then, with a wave 
 of his arm, Harv dismissed them into the dej^ths of 
 the woods, except the looker-on. He engaged him 
 in a pantomime somewhat different. Each took the 
 
"THE LONE STAR" 67 
 
 other's right hand In an ordinary grip, and placed 
 the left hand on the other's breast ; then shifted 
 the right hand to the other's wrist, and straightened 
 the thumb out on it. The wind, veering, carried 
 to her words uttered in Harv's coarse voice, which, 
 in attempting to subdue, he made more distinct. 
 " If I go to the east " — he said and paused, 
 while another voice of finer timbre completed the 
 sentence, — "I will go to the west. Let there be 
 no strife " — he, too, abruptly stopped, and Harv 
 took it up, " between mine and thine — (pause) — 
 " for we," resumed the other voice, " be brethren," 
 with strong emphasis on "be." 
 
 " Resistance to tyrants," said Harv, — " is obe- 
 dience to God," the other man concluded, which 
 seemed to satisfy Harv, for with that the colloquy 
 ended. 
 
 They set out to follow their companions into the 
 woods, and the miknown man lifted his hat from 
 his head and wiped his brow with a dark handker- 
 chief. As he did so, his features were revealed 
 clearly enough for her to see that they were unfa- 
 miliar. 
 
 There was a slight twittering in the bushes, as 
 of birds disturbed in sleep, and all was still. With 
 amazement and dread Lucetta witnessed this mys- 
 terious rite under the oak-tree. She had beheld a 
 dozen men engaged in this ceremony, and had seen 
 the faces of but two, and, if called upon to do 
 so, could have identified Harv's only. The others 
 turned their backs, as if intentionally hiding their 
 
68 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 faces. She had no inkling of the strange scene, 
 but, knowing well the lawless character of Harv 
 Wilson, was convinced it boded nothing good. It 
 was with profound relief she welcomed the silence 
 that proved them out of hearing, but it was with a 
 thrill of greater terror that she saw a sturdy, boy- 
 ish figure rise from the field-side of her ambush, 
 leap the fence, and noiselessly follow Harv and his 
 comrades into the darkness. 
 
 Lucetta waited a short time, in affrighted sur- 
 prise, to be certain she was unobserved, then 
 climbed into the field, to have the fence for a bar- 
 rier between her and any other mysterious thing 
 that might cross her path, and crouchingly made 
 her way to the road, running swiftly. 
 
 When she reached the doctor's home she found 
 he was out, and left word for him, on his return, 
 to come as quickly as possible. She took no one 
 into her confidence in regard to her strange experi- 
 ence, but hastily retraced her steps homeward by 
 the same wood-path, not without rigors of fear. 
 She reached the canoe unmolested, and was unloos- 
 ing it, when she almost shrieked aloud as a voice 
 called softly : — 
 
 " Hold on there ! " and a man came hastily 
 down the shallow bank from the willows where he 
 had been under cover. 
 
 " Don't be frightened ! Are n't you Lucy ? " 
 " Yes," she answered sharply, " but you " ? — 
 " Don't you know my voice ? It 's Frank." 
 She had not seen Frank since his return on a 
 
"THE LONE STAR" 69 
 
 furlough nearly a month ago, except at the church 
 the day of the violent scene. 
 
 "How did you come here at this time of night? " 
 she asked, her voice vibrating nervously. 
 
 " That 's what I 've got to know from you," he 
 said, by way of reply, as he righted the canoe. 
 " Step in," he said, almost as if giving a military 
 command. " It '11 be safer to talk in the canoe. 
 I 'U paddle her." 
 
 Lucetta had not recovered her composure enough 
 to resist, and mechanically obeyed. Frank him- 
 self stepped in, and, standing lusty and upright, 
 pushed off, exerting all his strength against the 
 opposing current. When they were out of sight 
 and beyond hearing of any chance loiterer, he said 
 earnestly : — 
 
 " Lucy, do you love your State, and do you care 
 for the boys in blue ? " He paused an instant, but, 
 before she could reply, continued : " If you do, 
 don't speak a word to any one of what you have 
 seen to-night till I ask you." 
 
 " Why shoidd n't I ? " she inquired wonderingly. 
 
 " It is of the greatest imjjortance it should n't 
 be known. There are reasons that I cannot ex- 
 plain, and if you tell now you 'd be worse than a 
 traitor. Give me your promise," he demanded 
 earnestly. 
 
 " I promise, Frank." 
 
 He paddled strongly against the brawling cur- 
 rent, impeded by a big boulder, and, when in 
 smoother water, pulled in to the shore to a dark 
 
70 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 spot under the over-hanging evergreens, and lay to 
 a moment. 
 
 " Now, Lucy, tell me what brought you out at 
 such an hour." 
 
 She told him, and added urgently, " Oh, Frank, 
 let us go. Poor mammy needs me." 
 
 Frank was as skeptical as every one else in re- 
 gard to "mammy," and made no reply to her 
 appeal. 
 
 " I saw you coming down the path," he said, 
 " and never was more surprised in my life, for I 
 thought only men were in it. But there 's more 
 than one woman, I find." 
 
 " In what, Frank ? " 
 
 " Never you mind. I can't tell you now, Lucy. 
 I 'm as good as on oath not to. You '11 know 
 soon enough. Things are coming to pass within 
 the next two or three months, in this old Hoosier 
 State, that will surprise you." 
 
 With a few sturdy strokes, the canoe was again 
 in mid-stream, and soon after tied up at its own 
 landing. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 MRS. WHITTAKER VINDICATED 
 
 For once, Mrs. Whittaker's illness proved to be 
 real. When Lucetta reached home, she found her 
 mother attended only by Mrs. Rush. Zeb had not 
 yet returned from his mysterious absence, but came 
 shortly, and was stunned into even greater useless- 
 ness by his wife's serious state. When the doctor 
 arrived, he found his patient in a condition in 
 which his ministerings availed nothing, and before 
 morning Mrs. Whittaker vindicated her claim to 
 being an invalid by dying. 
 
 The news of her death spread about the neigh- 
 borhood with amazing speed, and, strangely enough, 
 was a shock to the people, who had been in the 
 habit of saying, in regard to her ailments, " A 
 creaking door hangs longest." The women has- 
 tened to offer their help, which had been so rarely 
 proffered in her lifetime, and with which Lucetta 
 would gladly have dispensed. There was an un- 
 written law against her performing the last offices 
 for the dead. It was thought imfitting that she 
 should straighten the lifeless limbs whose staff 
 and stay she had been so long; should fold the 
 smooth hands in whose tender care hers had been 
 
72 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 roughened ; should comb the long hair, still so 
 bright and abundant, which, with daughterly pride, 
 she had kept tidy and beautiful ; should enrobe 
 for the last time that paralyzed body she had 
 dressed for years as faithfully as a mother tends 
 her babe. None of these services were seemly 
 now, and Lucetta could not but reflect bitterly on 
 the display of tardy kindness that had forced her 
 to yield them into strangers' hands. It was with 
 pain that she resigned herself to unkind custom to 
 sit idly apart in her tiny bedroom. 
 
 The sound of women's voices, subdued but cheer- 
 ful, and the clatter of cooking utensils, reached 
 her there, and Lucetta realized sadly there was no 
 grief in any heart but her own. She sorrowed for 
 the dead, not as a child for a mother, but as a 
 mother over a helpless creature, who, for some phy- 
 sical or mental lack, is left to her sole cherishing, 
 after the cruel wont of mankind. From childhood, 
 Lucetta had assvuned the burdens of that feeble, 
 complaining mother, and indulged her childish 
 whims. The strongest interest of the woman's life 
 was " herb doctorin'," and it was among Lucetta's 
 greatest pleasures, so pitifully few, to secure mate- 
 rials for her decoctions. As soon as the sap crept 
 upward in the spring, she dug the sassafras root, 
 and later stripped the tender green spicewood 
 twigs of their bark to make her fragrant teas and 
 coax a sickly appetite. From the crystal thread 
 of the stream in the ravine, she gathered sweet, 
 cool-breathed mints, and she despoiled the boggy 
 
MRS. WHITTAKER VINDICATED 73 
 
 places of calamus. She plucked the odorous pen- 
 nyroyal from under the beeches in the wood, and 
 hunted in seclnded spots for the rare ginseng; 
 found " boneset " and sarsaparilla for her bitters ; 
 dried bunches of catnip and hoarhound; and in 
 August picked the coral partridge-berries. When 
 the leaves fell in the autumn, she climbed the 
 steep sunny side of the ravine to rob the sumach 
 of its flaming seed-cones, and from its near neigh- 
 bor, the wahoo, pillaged the pink twin-capsided 
 berries. She planted herbs in her garden, sage 
 and thyme, camomile and rue, for her use. These 
 she garnered for winter and stored in the shallow 
 loft above the sitting-room, till the cabin reeked 
 with mingled odors of roots and herbs. All were 
 beneficent agents which ministered to both mother 
 and daughter, though in widely different ways. 
 Lucetta was thus brought into a close, earnest 
 study of nature ; and a mind so occupied has no 
 room for sordid thoughts or petty schemings, for 
 Nature washes its tablets clean with her dews and 
 showers, and writes on it the story of her mysteri- 
 ous enchantments. 
 
 Lucetta was so familiar with the haunts and 
 growth of all these homely simples that in later 
 years they furnished a sort of humble calendar to 
 her mother's memory. The lengthening days of 
 February reminded her of sassafras time ; if she 
 trod on mint and crushed from it a pungent breath, 
 her thoughts flew back to those bygone days ; and 
 so throughout the year to autumn's last offering. 
 
74 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 The day of the funeral fell on Sunday, and was 
 one of unusual activity for the self-constituted 
 helpers, who, without realizing it, were making it 
 a day of recreation. It was a time of universal 
 leisure ; funeral guests would come from far and 
 near, and must be fed. In the early morning 
 hours, bustling sounds reached Lucetta, and brought 
 with them the mortifying conviction that the neigh- 
 bors must have brought the provision for the feast 
 from their own homes. She surmised that the fine 
 cloth to be used on the table had been borrowed 
 from "Neal's folks," who were known to possess 
 the best in the neighborhood. 
 
 The women inspected Lucetta's wardrobe, and 
 openly criticised its paucity and unfitness for the 
 occasion ; but finally settled among themselves that 
 her brown delaine would do to wear to the funeral, 
 if some one would lend her a black shawl and a 
 hat, for she possessed only a hood and sun-bonnet. 
 The one was borrowed from Mrs. Rush, the other 
 from Liddy Ann Collins. 
 
 During the dreary funeral services, the women 
 crowded into the little sitting-room "to see how 
 the mourners took it," for they had more curi- 
 osity than sympathy. The men found seats on the 
 top of the garden fence, and in subdued voices 
 talked of their spring work, and speculated as 
 to when the draft would begin, and who would be 
 the poUing officer in Honey Creek Township, till 
 the discussion grew so heated they lost sight of the 
 occasion; the mention of the draft in Riffle or 
 
MRS. WHITTAKER VINDICATED 75 
 
 Honey Creek townships was like shaking a red rag 
 before a bull. 
 
 It was a relief to Lucetta's sensitive nature 
 when the clay effigy of what had been her lifelong 
 care was laid away forever, — when the feast was 
 eaten and these unwelcome guests were gone. 
 
 Her only comfort had been found in the kind- 
 ness of Miss Abbot during all these trying hours ; 
 her after-impression of the time was one of painful 
 confusion. 
 
 The day following the funeral Lucetta keenly 
 realized her loss, as she went about the task of re- 
 storing order to the house. One by one she emp- 
 tied the bottles of nostrums, — the kettle of bone- 
 set tea that had been forgotten, the jug of bitters 
 by the hearth, — and often in imagination heard 
 the querulous voice calling her to do some needless 
 errand. She started at the emptiness of the deep, 
 wooden rocking-chair, as if she saw a shrunken, 
 ghostly form among its pillows. Her day of servi- 
 tude was over ; the work of her hands and heart 
 was taken from her. 
 
 But who can measure her debt to that feeble 
 mother, or know how greatly she was beholden to 
 her for the development of the virtues of patience 
 and self-sacrifice, endurance and courage, and for 
 the self-reliance which was afterward so painfully 
 tested ? Even her love of knowledge, cramped by 
 circumstance, sprang into lustier life because of 
 enforced restraint. 
 
 Lucetta's was one of those minds that seem the 
 
76 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 florescence of a commonplace race. Long denied 
 the opportunity for improvement and culture, she 
 had already reached the time when her intellect 
 demanded more than it could obtain in her present 
 mode of life. Then fortune sent her the plain, 
 homely spinster school-teacher. In her Lucetta 
 found the friend she needed, and for two troubled 
 winters she had studied with her so faithfully that 
 she had reached with infinite difficulty the 'heights 
 of Parnassus where algebra and history dwelt, to 
 the awe and disapproval of the neighbors. They 
 regarded such ambition in " weemen " as sinful, 
 and indulged in spiteful and slighting speeches 
 concerning her audacious aspirations, while feeling 
 a secret pride in her success as reflecting credit 
 on them locally. But Mrs. Bowles had recognized 
 something different in her from the girls in the 
 neighborhood, and had said : — 
 
 " You need n't talk ! you can't balk Nature ! 
 The girl 's got it in her and it 's bound to come 
 out, like the measles, or kill her. But where she 
 gets it from I can't see, with such folks ! It 's like 
 goin' to a goat's house for wool ! " 
 
 On Monday night following the funeral, when 
 Miss Abbot came to her and asked her to take 
 her to board, she did a kinder thing even than she 
 had intended, and took down the first rail in the 
 " gap " that led Lucetta out from the barren 
 ground of her old existence into the broad, fertile 
 fields of the new. 
 
 Life is a series of adjustments to varying condi- 
 
MRS. WHITTAKER VINDICATED 77 
 
 tions. Lucetta gladly consented, and the next day 
 the cabinet organ found a place in the living-room, 
 the schoolmistress was put into possession of the 
 "spare-room" end of the little long bedroom, and 
 the new life had begun. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE POLLING OFFICER 
 
 Two days after Mrs. Whittaker's funeral, it was 
 known the length and breadth of the township that 
 polling for the draft had begun, in compliance 
 with the call of the President for 300,000 men. It 
 had been an inevitable measure, which was required 
 to fill the places of those whose term of enlistment 
 had exjiired. In some sections of Indiana, the 
 spirit of opposition to the draft was so strong that 
 only a leader was needed to organize the malcon- 
 tents and encourage them to break into open vio- 
 lence ; failing which, individuals wreaked it on the 
 man appointed to the dangerous work of polling. 
 Nowhere was this spii'it more bitter than in Riffle 
 and Honey Creek townshiijs, which lay adjacent, 
 and whose eligible loyal men were already in the 
 service. Those in authority in the county were 
 perfectly aware of the fact, and for that reason, 
 when the officer started on his rounds, very few in 
 Riffle Township knew who had been selected for 
 the dangerous mission. In the month he had been 
 at home, Frank had not sufficiently recovered from 
 the hardships of Andersonville to rejoin his regi- 
 ment, and, at his earnest solicitation, he had been 
 
THE POLLING OFFICER 79 
 
 given tlie appointment of polling officer for these 
 two disaffected townships. 
 
 When rumors of a draft settled into a certainty, 
 its opponents throughout the State were roused to 
 frenzy : secret meetings of the Knights and their 
 sympathizers were held, and a call was made for a 
 convention at the capital, ostensibly in the name of 
 the Democratic party ; in reality, by the Knights of 
 the Golden Circle. Harv Wilson and Jake Zer- 
 fus, who had represented respectively the Temples 
 in Honey Creek and Riffle townships, had not yet 
 reported the ludicrous outcome of this convention, 
 which was put to rout in the midst of seditious 
 utterances, insidious boasts, and malignant threats, 
 which had been made possible by the acts of a 
 Supreme Court that had hampered the governor in 
 every way known to legal chicanery and personal 
 opposition. Nor had this retired community yet 
 read of the battle of Pogue's Run, that farcical and 
 bloodless engagement wherein those Knights, who 
 had not fled in a panic, surrendered to a company 
 of volunteers all the arms they had not hidden 
 in the women's skirts, or thrown into the classic 
 " Run." 
 
 It was known in every Temple of the State, 
 however, that their idol, Vallandigham, had been 
 ignominiously sent through the lines, and that the 
 secessionists had repudiated him, so that he had 
 retreated to the protecting soil of Canada, there to 
 send out his manifestoes as Supreme Commander, 
 and, there unmolested, to work out his schemes. 
 
80 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 It was a lovely morning in early June, — the 
 wheat was beginning to head ; the corn, which had 
 been planted earliest, was already peeping up in 
 small, sharp blades ; the grass in the fence corners 
 was so high it would have furnished a snug covert 
 for little boys playing at hide-and-seek, were such 
 impious pranks permitted in the fields. 
 
 Abner Neal's cornfield, a goodly one of forty 
 acres, lay beside a wheat-field nearly as large ; 
 both stretched from the Crofton road almost to the 
 creek. The Neal home-farm was a tract of three 
 hundred acres, and the house lay to the northeast 
 of these fields ; one corner of it was cut across by 
 the Honey Creek, on which stood the Whittaker 
 cabin, which could also be seen from this point. 
 When a canoe could not be used, the people took 
 to the foot-paths through the fields, which, like the 
 British yeomanry, they considered as much theirs 
 as the highway itself, and no one ever questioned 
 their right to use them. They were left open to 
 the public, like the English by-paths, by right of 
 long holding, and many of them were the original 
 Indian trails. Such a path ran along the border 
 of the Neal cornfield through the wheat-field to 
 the house. Of late it was seldom trodden, for 
 political differences had raised bitter rancor among 
 neighbors. As the Neals were outspoken Union- 
 ists, and nearly every one in the vicinity of the 
 opposite creed politically, they were not visited, 
 except by a few " War Democrats," who were 
 hated as renegades, even more than the Unionists, 
 
THE POLLING OFFICER 81 
 
 by the third and stronger party, called " Butter- 
 nuts " or " Copperheads." These last, by reason 
 of their superior numbers, and the machinations of 
 such men as Harv Wilson, had grown bold and 
 insolent, and openly made coarse and malignant 
 threats. The results of this malevolence were to 
 bring the small remnant of Union men and War 
 Democrats into closer affiliation for mutual help 
 and protection if need be, and the organization of 
 the Home Guard. 
 
 Frank had set out early on his rounds, and found 
 angry or dispirited groups discussing the polling, 
 and it was difficult to get names of eligible men 
 under such conditions. 
 
 It was not without serious misgivings that 
 Frank's parents had seen him begin the work of 
 enrollment, for they knew the temper of their 
 neighbors better than he, and dreaded something 
 worse than insult. He, however, felt no fear, for 
 he was a daring, reckless fellow, and familiarity 
 with real danger made him contemptuous of their 
 threats. He forgot that the foe in ambush is dead- 
 lier than an open enemy. He trusted to the fact 
 that he had been reared among them to save him 
 from personal violence. But in any case he had 
 resolved to do his whole duty, — a lesson he had 
 learned on battle-fields, on long marches, and in 
 camp. 
 
 It can hardly be said that Frank had been ac- 
 tuated by the highest patriotism when he had 
 enlisted the day after his graduation. A whirl of 
 
82 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 excitement had swept over the college, and nearly 
 depleted it. One of Frank's classmates had raised 
 a company, and the entire senior class had dis- 
 tinguished itself on Commencement Day by laying 
 aside the diploma and taking up the musket. 
 
 Frank had gone into the war thinking it a matter 
 of a few months, as did most raw recruits on both 
 sides. Vainglorious, self-confident, chafing under 
 restraint of the authority of his superior officer, 
 who was his college chum, he longed to burst into 
 the fray undisciplined by drill, certain of victory, 
 — forgetting that his foe was of the same blood, 
 the same mind, the same desires, though not of a 
 common cause. Long months of discouragement 
 and defeat had taught him at length a soldier's 
 duty ; he had learned thoroughly the hardships of 
 war. With two years' service had come a full 
 realization of all that the nation had at stake, and 
 how fierce would be the struggle to save it. En- 
 thusiasm yielded to a stubborn determination to 
 conquer or die, — " to fight to the last ditch," 
 with that dogged persistence of the Anglo-Saxon 
 which never lets him know when he is beaten ; a 
 spirit which prolonged the struggle between the 
 opposing armies of the same race in the Civil War. 
 
 On a gentle slope in the road running beside 
 Abner Neal's cornfield, three coffee-nut trees tow- 
 ered like campaniles capped with belfries of flut- 
 tering greenery, where the oriole swung its nest 
 and played at bell-ringer, and the rain-crow tolled 
 its solemn note before a storm. These noble trees 
 
THE POLLING OFFICER 83 
 
 had been exiled from the woods, gashed by hollows 
 and dark with coppice, that skirted the opposite 
 side of the road. Their feathery tops cast a circle 
 of shade many feet to the westward, but gave little 
 shelter to a small group of men gathered there, 
 talking eagerly together, and with some heat, as 
 was shown by their disturbed countenances. At 
 the far end of the cornfield, Abner Neal's farm- 
 hand, Sam Truax, was starting in on his third fur- 
 row ; early as it was, he had already crossed the 
 field and back again. Not far from him stood 
 Abner Neal himself, leaning over the fence inspect- 
 ing his wheat, which was heading, and speculating 
 how soon he would be able to cut it. Both were 
 within calling distance of the road, but out of sight 
 of it owing to the rolling nature of the field. Two 
 or three rods down the furrow would bring Sam to 
 the top of the rise, and into full view of the men 
 on the road. 
 
 Along this field-path Lucetta was walking, com- 
 ing from Neal's, where she had gone to return the 
 table-cloth ; for the neighbors who had taken the 
 liberty, without consulting her, to borrow many 
 things to grace the funeral feast, had not been 
 equally ready to return them. The men under the 
 coffee-nut trees were Jim Swazey, Mick Gavin 
 (who owned thirty acres of bottom-land adjoining 
 Neal's, and the rough wood-lot at hand), and Dan 
 Cruze, a farmer who lived on Buck Creek. They 
 were looking down the road, and their backs were 
 toward Lucetta, so that they were not aware of 
 
84 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 her presence. Nearly the length of the field lay- 
 between her and Sam Truax and Abner Neal. As 
 she was about to climb the fence separating her 
 from the road, she caught sight of a figure coming 
 toward them, which the men were watching, and 
 she heard Jim Swazey say vindictively : — 
 
 " You 've got to get that book away from him if 
 you have to kill him. Them 's Harv's orders." 
 
 Lucetta dropped into the fence corner and 
 waited, in a quandary, not knowing what she 
 should do. 
 
 " We don't want to do no violence, young fel- 
 ler," said Cruze to Jim, " but we 've got to have 
 that book and no mistake." 
 
 " I 'm not carin' how you get it, boys," said Jim, 
 his malignant eyes fastened on the man approach- 
 ing ; " one damned black abolitionist more sent to 
 hell don't matter much." 
 
 As he spoke he drew a revolver from the inside 
 pocket of his coat, snapped the trigger suggestively, 
 and after fitting a cap replaced it half-cocked. By 
 this time the man was within hailing distance, and 
 Swazey recognized him. Rankling under the in- 
 sult at church, he said : — 
 
 " By heaven, it 's that damned ' Lincoln dog ' ! 
 If you weaken, I '11 do the job myself." 
 
 Lucetta heard this speech plainly, and was 
 shaken with fear, but not for herself. True to her 
 long training, the tremor of fright passed, she cast 
 about for the help which she realized she herself 
 was powerless to give, and recalled having seen 
 
THE POLLING OFFICER 85 
 
 Abner Neal and Sam Truax across the field. The 
 fence afforded her covert, and she ran half its 
 length, then crawled on hands and knees down the 
 furrow below the dip tiU out of sight, when she 
 sped fleetly over the rough ground and reached 
 Neal, to whom she gasped out her story. He said 
 nothing to her, but called to Sam that Frank was 
 in danger, told him to follow, and rushed to the 
 rescue. Sam quickly unfastened the chain traces 
 to loose the plough and sprang on the horse's back, 
 Lucetta, meantime, explaining the situation. 
 
 "I'm a Democrat, but I'll be everlastingly 
 blasted if I '11 see murder done ! " cried Sam. 
 
 Diffffinsf his heels into the horse's sides, and 
 lashing him with the lines, the next instant he was 
 racing madly down the furrows, with the chain 
 traces jangling and showers of earth spurned from 
 the horse's flying hoofs. 
 
 Frank had reached the group by the roadside. 
 He wore his uniform, and, as he paused, pushed 
 back his cap to wipe the sweat from his forehead, 
 still pale and hollow at the temples from his three 
 months' imprisonment. 
 
 Gavin stepped close to him, and without any 
 preliminary greeting said : — 
 
 " We want that book, man, and by the Holy 
 Saints we 're goin' to have it ! We want it peace- 
 able loike, ye understhan'. So give ut over, will 
 yez?" 
 
 Frank made no reply, but squeezed the poll-book 
 tight under his left arm, and leaned against the 
 
86 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 fence, searching warily for a loose rail ; for he was 
 without other weapon than the slender stick he 
 had used for a staff, not thinking it necessary to 
 arm himself against his own neighbors. 
 
 Cruze stepped forward twirling a green oak club 
 which he had cut for a weapon. 
 
 " Yes, we 've got to have it, and if you don't 
 give it up quietly we '11 take it ! " he said. 
 
 Cruze was afraid to seize the book, but still more 
 afraid not to make some sort of an attempt to ob- 
 tain it, terrorized by the threats of Harv Wilson, 
 who, by virtue of his power as Commander of 
 their Temple, had appointed him to this task. 
 
 " I 'm sorry I can't oblige you," said Frank, with 
 provoking suavity. " It is n't mine, — belongs to 
 Oliver Perry Morton. Perhaps you've heard of 
 him? If you haven't, you will. He only lent 
 it to me for a while, and I 'm expected to return 
 it in good order, and " — with a change from his 
 bantering tone, — "I fully intend to do so." 
 
 He pressed the book closer and twirled his stick 
 carelessly as he coolly scanned the three irate faces 
 before him, with an expression that warned while 
 it defied them. 
 
 The Irishman's countenance expressed admira- 
 tion for his pluck ; the farmer's, ludicrous helpless- 
 ness ; and Swazey's, murderous rage. 
 
 "Men," said Frank, in a calm, even voice, "if 
 you get this book it will be from my dead body ! " 
 
 There was no bravado in words or manner ; no- 
 thing but an earnestness that carried conviction. 
 
THE POLLING OFFICER 87 
 
 An instant of profound silence followed, during 
 which, had they given it attention, a jingling sound 
 could have been heard. Then Swazey, raging like 
 a mad beast, with fearful oaths, screamed stri- 
 dently : — 
 
 " I '11 have it, or I '11 skin the hide off of you 
 and hang it on the fence ! " 
 
 " Well, sir," said Frank coolly, with simulated 
 affability, " I 've got that article with me right now, 
 and I '11 take great pleasure — in shooting you," — 
 and he paused sufficiently to emphasize his con- 
 tempt — " in the back ! " 
 
 " Holy Mother, there '11 be murther done ! " 
 screamed the Irishman, as Swazey, goaded and en- 
 raged beyond endurance, reached for his revolver. 
 Before he could draw it, there was a frightful crash 
 and a horse plunged through the fence, scattering 
 the rails, and the next instant trampling the mur- 
 derous ruffian under his feet before Sam could 
 pull up. 
 
 The other two men, fearing arrest, vanished like 
 spirits into the wood, and were soon lost in the 
 underbrush. 
 
 After Lucetta had made sure of Frank's safety, 
 she took another way home, that his enemies might 
 not know of her share in bringing him help. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 OVERHEAKD 
 
 Tkroughout the remainder of the day, during 
 the solitary hours which followed, Lucetta, having 
 recovered from her agitation, thought over the 
 affair, and wisely resolved to say nothing of the 
 attempted assault on Frank. She was beginning 
 to realize that it was an easy matter to become an 
 object of suspicion and persecution in that locality, 
 and it was not difficult for her to keejj it a secret, 
 since she was unused to making confidences. Such 
 disclosures are largely a matter of habit, and are 
 the effort of a weak nature to throw off burdens 
 which a lax mind, like flaccid muscles, refuses to 
 bear. 
 
 Lucetta had instinctively kept her thoughts and 
 aspirations to herself, as a matter of no moment 
 to her mother, whose interests had centred in her 
 ailments to the exclusion of everything else ; and 
 she knew they were above the sympathetic com- 
 prehension of her father. In this respect she was 
 one of " the solitary set in families." Suppression 
 was her lifelong habit, and she now hid in her in- 
 most heart the feelings of relief and thankfulness 
 she felt at being able to help Frank, even conceal- 
 
OVERHEARD 89 
 
 ing from herself the fact that she had been the 
 instrument to deliver him, perhaps, from great 
 danger. 
 
 For the next day or two thereafter, she busied 
 herself with readjusting her household on the new 
 footing; and Zeb employed himself in desultory 
 ploughing in the sterile field. 
 
 But on the following Friday her father did not 
 appear at their early dinner, much to Lucetta's 
 surprise, for he usually came at that hour as faith- 
 fully as the clock-hand on the dial. His alacrity 
 in this matter was equaled only by that of his two 
 dogs, — Bose, a lank, black hound, and Dandy, 
 a tyrannizing spaniel, which made the big dog 
 wretched by petty bickerings that he could not in 
 honor resent. The situation between these ani- 
 mals was much like that between a big, patient 
 man and his small, shrewish wife ; and it was 
 touching to see the gentle submission of Bose to 
 the caprices of Dandy, and his gratitude for any 
 condescending favor from him, as that, for in- 
 stance, of resigning the " clabber " trough when 
 he (Dandy) had no appetite for it. On this day 
 they came in from the field panting from the 
 exertion of rabbit-coursing, and crestfallen from 
 having been ordered to the house ; but no master 
 came with them. 
 
 The schoolmistress carried her dinner with her, 
 as it was too far for her to walk to and from the 
 schoolhouse at noon. And, moreover, it was an 
 unwritten law that the teacher should stand sen- 
 
90 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 tinel over her pupils during the nooning ; other- 
 wise the building might suffer in the riots that 
 would surely follow in her absence. 
 
 At five o'clock Miss Abbot came from school, 
 while Lucetta was busy getting supper, and before 
 the meal was ready Zeb, too, came slouching in. 
 Not a stroke of work had he done that afternoon, 
 for Lucetta had walked to the top of the field and 
 had seen the plough standing in the furrow, and 
 the horse was gone as well as the master. 
 
 " Why did n't you come to dinner, pappy ? " 
 asked Lucetta. 
 
 " Had to go to the blacksmith shop," he an- 
 swered. 
 
 Then Lucetta knew that he had probably heard 
 of Frank's trouble, for the shop was the point from 
 which all the neighborhood gossip disseminated, 
 and it required more than nine days to wear out 
 so rich a theme. She waited in some anxiety to 
 learn if he knew of the part she had taken in it, 
 but with his usual reticence he told her nothing. 
 
 For some time after the meal, he sat over the hot 
 ashes in the fireplace, — where, from long usage 
 not yet affected by Mrs. Whittaker's death, a log 
 still smouldered, — smoking his cob pipe, and puff- 
 ing the smoke up the wide throat of the chimney. 
 On his vacant face there was as much distress as 
 it was capable of expressing, and deep trouble lay 
 in the murky eyes. Before Lucetta had finished 
 her evening chores, he took his cap from its peg 
 and stole away again without excuse. 
 
OVERHEARD 91 
 
 Lucetta threw a few chips on the fire and tidily 
 brushed the hearth with a turkey wing, as the last 
 task for the evenhig. When she turned to hang 
 the wing up in the chimney-corner, she saw Mrs. 
 Rush's black shawl, neatly folded, lying on the 
 chest near by. 
 
 " Oh, there 's Mrs. Rush's shawl. I must take 
 it home to-night. I '11 be too busy to-morrow, 
 and she '11 need it Sunday, as there 's meeting 
 at 'Liberty.' Do you want to go, too, Miss 
 Abbot?" 
 
 It was a black challis shawl of light weight, 
 which showed a ghostly pattern of the original 
 florid design, in spite of its dip into the dye-ket- 
 tle ; it was considered an indispensable article of 
 toilet for public occasions, and no matron was ever 
 seen abroad without one in that neighorhood. 
 
 In reply to Lucetta's invitation. Miss Abbot 
 said : — 
 
 " Not to-night, Lucetta. I 've had rather a hard 
 day in school ; I 'm truly glad it 's out next week. 
 I '11 sit by the fire for a little while, then I '11 go 
 to bed." 
 
 The evening was chill from the heavy mist that 
 rose from the creek, and the cheerful crackle of 
 the flames and the pungent odor of the sap stewing 
 from the handful of green chips were pleasant to 
 this lonely woman, and the homely but tidy cabin 
 was the most cheerful refuge she had known for 
 many a day. A restful tarrying by this quiet 
 hearth seemed a most desirable good, and she 
 
92 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 declined the visit, well knowing Lucetta did not 
 fear to go alone the short distance between the 
 two houses. 
 
 Lucetta herself was not sorry to have a solitary- 
 walk, and she set out by a short cut across the 
 fields. 
 
 The sun was just sinking, and as it reached the 
 horizon it seemed to drop with incredible swiftness 
 from the rim of the earth, and, even while she 
 gazed, it shot like a plummet down through un- 
 knowable spaces, leaving an interval of faltering 
 light from the afterglow that flickered and faded 
 into gray twilight, then suddenly gave place to 
 the darkness of a starlit night. As often happens 
 after sundown, a wind sprang up, as if speeding 
 the parting guest, which set the tops of the high 
 trees in motion, and sent the clouds racing like 
 white-caps on an overhead sea. Then the stars 
 went out like candles at a puff of breath, and 
 before Lucetta reached the field behind the shop it 
 was quite dark and threatened rain. A heavy gate, 
 fastened by a hook to the corner of the shop, led 
 into the road, and the rear of the building served 
 in place of the missing sections of fence. As 
 Lucetta paused to lift the hook, she at once 
 became aware of voices inside the shop ; words 
 reached her, and of such purport that, when she 
 had grasped their meaning, she was filled with 
 terror. 
 
 " Yes, he '11 be put out of the way to-morrow 
 night, the damned black abolitionist ! He '11 not 
 
OVERHEARD 93 
 
 get a chance to do any more of his cursed spying 
 this side of hell ! " 
 
 It was one of those booming bass voices that 
 cannot be subdued, and it carried far in the still- 
 ness of the evening. In the reply she recognized 
 Jim Swazey's tones, but so indistinct was his 
 speech she could not catch his meaning. 
 
 " You don't think the white-livered hound '11 
 weaken when it comes to the pinch? " asked Jim's 
 companion. 
 
 Swazey uttered a cruel laugh, and spoke louder 
 in his savage excitement. 
 
 " He knows he can't. It 's as much as his 
 hide 's worth. Cuss his worthless carcass ! We 've 
 had a hell of a time with him anyway ! But 
 we 've made him understand he 's between the 
 Devil and the deep sea, with chances in favor of 
 the Devil." And he concluded with a string of 
 fierce oaths. 
 
 " 'T would n't be much loss to us, nor gain to 
 the Old Nick. Why, he 's so infernal lazy he 'd 
 let a cat pull him away from his own fireplace, and 
 would n't do nothin'," said the other man, and he 
 laughed at his own joke, Swazey joining in. 
 
 " He '11 do the job ! " declared Swazey. " You 
 bet ! He '11 have to. There '11 be some there 
 that '11 see to it. It 's either Abner Neal's life or 
 his, and he knows it pretty well. I 've had to lay 
 low ever since the row, and he 's had Gavin and 
 Cruze both put in jail at Crofton." 
 
 Lucetta, screened by the big gate, with infinite 
 
94 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 relief heard them come out and close the door, 
 and, after a moment's parleying, walk off down 
 the road. 
 
 She was aware that the feeling against the war 
 and the draft was bitter in the neighborhood, and 
 that the resident abolitionists were hated, but she 
 did not know the lengths to which the feeling 
 had gone, — the secret organizations that had been 
 formed, with their plots for assassination and arson. 
 She knew of the existence of such societies in other 
 parts of the State, and in Ohio and Illinois. In 
 the past week, she had read in the school-teacher's 
 weekly " Tribune " of the great danger which 
 threatened the whole State of Indiana, that im- 
 peached its loyalty and harassed the great war 
 governor. With a flash of woman's quick intui- 
 tion, worth in a crisis whole days of slow reasoning, 
 she put the facts together, and knew that the thing 
 caUed treason confronted her in the despicable 
 guise of assassination. What was the measure 
 of her responsibility ? Could she, without blood- 
 guiltiness, let the innocent suffer ? Would she not 
 be an accessory to murder if she did not prevent 
 it ? But how ? 
 
 She waited until the sound of footsteps had 
 ceased, and during the interval took her resolu- 
 tion. Her self-dependence and habits of prompti- 
 tude helped her to decide what was her duty, and, 
 after she had settled it with her own conscience, 
 she no more thought of shirking it than of snuffing 
 out the solitary star that shone amid the clouds 
 
OVERHEARD 95 
 
 above her. She crossed the road, climbed the gen- 
 tle ascent to the house, and knocked. 
 
 Mrs. Rush opened the door, candle in hand, 
 raised high above her head. She peered into 
 Lucetta's face as she gave her the shawl with words 
 of thanks, and exclaimed boisterously, in her sur- 
 prise : — 
 
 " Why, Lucetty, — whatever possessed you to 
 bring that shawl home this time o 'night ? It 's 
 nigh half past eight ! There was n't no sense in 
 it at all ! " 
 
 " I have so much to do to-morrow, I could n't 
 fetch it then, and I was afraid you might want it 
 Sunday." 
 
 " Come right in and sit down and rest yourself. 
 I know you 're tired, and you look that pale, and 
 you're just a-tremblin' from climbin' that hill," 
 urged Mrs. Rush, so volubly there was no chance 
 for Lucetta to interject a refusal. " You do look 
 bad, now I see you," and Mrs. Rush held the flar- 
 ing candle in the girl's face. " Come in for a 
 minute anyway." 
 
 " No, no ! I must go ; Miss Abbot 's all alone." 
 
 "H — u — m — m — ! Your pap ain't home, 
 mebby?" she asked with that seemingly lifeless 
 interest that betrays a very vital one, for Mrs. 
 Rush was both shrewd and suspicious, and " knew 
 a heap more 'n the men an' ol' Miz Bowles thought 
 she did," as she had confided to her easy-going 
 spouse. But she was really kind in her shallow 
 way, and pitied the girl, whose confidence she 
 
96 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 could never entirely win, a fact which she some- 
 what resented. 
 
 " No, he is not," Lucetta answered. " Thank 
 you for all your kindness, Mrs. Eush, and good- 
 night. I must go now." 
 
 "Well, do as you please," said Mrs. Rush 
 shortly, closing the door as Lucetta turned away. 
 
CHAPTER Xn 
 
 A HEAKTH-STONE HEROINE 
 
 When Lucetta reached home, she found Miss 
 Abbot in bed in her corner of the little bedroom, 
 sleeping soundly, worn out by the fatigues of a 
 day of thankless drudgery. Zeb had come home 
 again during Lucetta's absence at Mrs. Rush's, 
 and was sitting in silence before the fire : a silence 
 which was not, as formerly, like the peaceful rumi- 
 nation of an ox, but now suggested the dumb mis- 
 ery of that creature under the cruel goad. He 
 twisted his fingers till one might have looked for the 
 bones to snap ; his feeble mouth twitched, and the 
 loose lips puckered like a child's making ready to 
 cry. Then he would start up and leave the house, 
 as if its narrow space fretted him like a cell in a 
 prison. He had been in this harassed, nervous 
 state since his wife's death, and Lucetta thought 
 it only a manifestation of his grief. But now his 
 trouble, whatever it was, seemed to have reached 
 a climax. His attitude and the expression of his 
 pale eyes convinced her he was suffering unbeara- 
 ble anguish. Her own anxiety made her less sym- 
 pathetic than usual. She feared his being up at 
 this hour would prove fatal to the expedition she 
 
98 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 had planned. A groan burst from his lips that 
 roused her. 
 
 " What is it, pappy ? Are you ailin' ? " 
 He shook his head in denial, then buried his 
 face on his folded arms and trembled, imtil she 
 cried : — 
 
 " Why, pappy, you 've got a chill ! " 
 " No, no, girl ! Let me be, can't ye? " he said 
 querulously. He could find no relief in expression, 
 and sat the picture of wretchedness. At last Lu- 
 cetta in despair went to her own little bed, hoping 
 that he would soon seek his. But he sat till the 
 clock struck eleven ; then she heard him lie down 
 with inarticulate murmurings and stifled moaning. 
 Almost at once his flaccid nature succumbed to 
 sleep, worn out with the unwonted stress of feel- 
 ing. 
 
 When Lucetta was convinced, by his regular 
 breathing, that his slumbers were sound, she arose, 
 though it was near midnight, to carry out her pur- 
 pose, which was to walk to Crofton and back before 
 morning, a journey of fourteen miles, in order to 
 warn the sheriff of the deed that menaced the life 
 of an innocent man. She had decided it was best 
 to leave no clue that would involve any one else, 
 should the matter leak out; walking alone was 
 the safest way, and she hoped to return before the 
 household was astir in the morning. 
 
 Women are rarely possessed of that form of 
 courage which finds vent in taking up arms in war 
 or in savage fighting. They are not ambitious 
 
A HEARTH-STONE HEROINE 99 
 
 of martial glory. Now and then, an heroic spirit 
 adorns the pages of history, possessed of a high 
 design which leads to martyrdom and wins immor- 
 tality. 
 
 But these hearth-stone heroines, — who can num- 
 ber them ! They sit xmregarded in the ashes, like 
 Cinderella, yet do their duty as unflinchingly as 
 the soldier at the front, without his hope of glori- 
 ous reward. There was as vast an army of them 
 at home during the terrible years of the Civil War 
 as of men in the field. Their blood did not flow 
 hot as on the fields of victory, nor grow sluggish in 
 defeat, but fled back to the heart in the anguish 
 of utter loss. Or it was drained slowly from over- 
 tasked bodies by ministrations in hospitals and on 
 battle-fields after the combat, or wasted away in 
 a roimd of double duties at home. How hard it 
 was to bear their part was revealed in the blanched 
 cheeks, the ashy lips, the hair whitened before its 
 time, the eyes burning with the fires of anxiety 
 or dulled by floods of unavailing tears, of those 
 who waited and watched beside the hearth-stone. 
 Action, fierce and terrible, is not so deadly as this 
 torturing quiescence. 
 
 Many of these women were exalted far above 
 the ties of kinship when it came to a question of 
 duty that might involve the sacrifice of the liberty 
 or even the life of a brother, father, or husband 
 for the good of the nation. This lonely spot in 
 Indiana held a few such spirits, in whom burned 
 the sacred fire of patriotism, — women so himible 
 
100 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 that opportunity rarely drew aside the curtain from 
 the shrine and let it shine out in the sight of men. 
 Yet how faithfully they used these occasions, how 
 unfalteringly they decided when one or many must 
 suffer, even if that decision but lay between them 
 and their own conscience ! 
 
 Without a moment's hesitation at the thought 
 of whom it might implicate, even though it be her 
 own father, Lucetta quietly made her preparations 
 for the long, solitary walk. It were better the 
 designs of the conspirators were frustrated than 
 that murder should be committed, that the assassin, 
 whoever he proved to be, should be held a prisoner 
 in Crofton jail, than that Abner Neal, their neigh- 
 bor, friend, and benefactor, their stay in poverty 
 and sickness, should be his victim, when Providence 
 had put it into her power alone to prevent it. 
 
 She made ready so quietly that Miss Abbot did 
 not stir, and slipped into the sitting-room, raised 
 the wooden latch to the outer door, pushed the 
 latch-string through, so that she could reenter with- 
 out disturbing them, and took the lane to the road, 
 which was as familiar to her as the ravine path, 
 and which, three miles further on, entered the Crof- 
 ton turnpike. On either hand lay thick woods 
 broken by a few fields. From them came sounds 
 of night life, which gave her no disquiet ; she felt 
 no fear but that her mission might fail through 
 some untoward circumstance. She walked rapidly, 
 for she knew the return could be made more slowly. 
 "When she had traveled two thirds of this by-road, 
 
A HEAKTH-STONE HEROINE 101 
 
 another sound, mingling with that of the night 
 insects, filled her with wild alarm. The wind had 
 risen and a pasping shower fell, but neither wind 
 nor rain roused that grisly terror which almost 
 held her feet in their tracks. It was that direful 
 cry that came, faintly but distinctly, from far and 
 near : — 
 
 " O — a — k — houn ! O — a — k — houn ! O — a — k 
 — houn ! " 
 
 Invisible things seemed closing about her like 
 a pack of wolves. She took refuge in the woods, 
 and, although her feet felt as though they were 
 shod with lead, made such progress that before she 
 reached the turnpike the ominous sounds were left 
 behind. On the highway a new dread seized her, 
 — that of meeting a chance traveler who might 
 seek to detain her or offer her insult. Once, dis- 
 concerted by the rattle of wheels, she hid till 
 a farm-wagon passed on. The wind lashed her 
 clothing and twisted it around her body, impeding 
 her steps, and, when it quieted, a drizzling shower 
 set in that saturated her garments, but her purpose 
 never faltered. Her heart lightened when, after 
 hours as it seemed to her, she saw afar the lights 
 that twinkled around the court-house clock, and 
 her steps quickened, for the perilous part of her 
 journey was done. 
 
 She soon reached the jail. It was an old-fash- 
 ioned, two-story brick house, with a spacious hall 
 in the middle and a long ell at the rear, and it 
 stood on a corner at the intersection of two streets. 
 
102 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 The part that was exposed on two sides was used 
 as a residence for the sheriff, — who also acted 
 as jailer, — and the other was the prison proper. 
 The building was but two rooms deep, the rear of 
 which was divided into small cells for refractory- 
 prisoners ; the front one was a general assembly 
 room, where they ate their meals and stayed dur- 
 ing the day, and, when they were few, slept at 
 night. All the windows on this side of the house 
 were barred and crisscrossed with rods of iron. 
 The house had a sandstone foundation, and it 
 would have been an easy matter to remove one of 
 those big blocks for the escape of prisoners. The 
 hall door was an ordinary one of oak, but those 
 opening into the prisoners' cells were of iron. As 
 a prison, the building was far from secure in the 
 best of times, and, now that it held as inmates Jeff 
 Riddle, the deserter, and the men who had inter- 
 fered with the polling in Eiffle Township, await- 
 ing orders from Indianapolis, it was guarded day 
 and night. That very morning, Jeff's affection- 
 ate grand-aunt, Mrs. Bowles, had paid him a visit. 
 She had looked at him through the bars, and he, 
 expecting sympathy, wore a befitting expression of 
 countenance, when she burst out fiercely : — 
 
 " Jeff Riddle, you 're the first of the name that 
 ever looked through the bars. And hangin' 's too 
 good for you for 'listin' at all. You always was a 
 born fool ! And you 're a disgrace to your blood 
 and raisin'." 
 
 Jeff, crestfallen, had turned away from the grat- 
 
A HEARTH-STONE HEROINE 103 
 
 ing, while the woman stalked off without another 
 word to anybody, to the great amusement of the 
 good-natured sheriff. 
 
 Lucetta rapped softly at the hall door, and at 
 once heard a window raised gently, and a voice 
 asking softly : — 
 
 " Is that you, Billy ? Are the boys coming ? 
 We 're ready for 'em." 
 
 It was too dark to see the face of the speaker, 
 who grew angry and swore under his breath when 
 she made no reply. 
 
 " You don't mean to say the white-livered hounds 
 have failed us ? " 
 
 The girl suspected that some enterprise of a 
 serious nature was on foot, and knocked again 
 loudly. A voice within asked : — 
 
 "Who's there?" 
 
 " A friend," she answered. 
 
 " Damn it, can't you tell your name ? " said the 
 person impatiently. 
 
 " No ; please don't ask it." 
 
 " Are you alone ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 The man opened the door a narrow space, and, 
 seeing a dim outline, reached forth a brawny hand, 
 drew her inside before she realized it, and quickly 
 shut and made all fast again. He then opened the 
 slide of the dark lantern, and threw a flood of light 
 on his prisoner. 
 
 " By heaven, it 's a girl ! " he exclaimed. In- 
 stantly a dozen men closed about them. Surprise 
 
104 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 and anxiety were depicted on their faces, but nei- 
 ther unkindness nor hostility. 
 
 Now the suspense was relieved, Lucetta sank on 
 the lower steps of the stairway, and faltered out to 
 the man who had just released her : — 
 
 "You are Sheriff Hale?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " I have come to warn you that Saturday night 
 is set for a plot against Abner Neal. I think 
 they 're going to kill him." 
 
 " How do you know this, girl ? " 
 
 " I overheard Jim Swazey, Alec Rush's hand, 
 talking to some one about it in the blacksmith's 
 shop at dusk this evening, on my way to take home 
 Mrs. Rush's shawl," she explained, with that mi- 
 nute attention to trifling detail common in rural 
 folk ; and then she told what she had heard, as 
 nearly as she could remember it. 
 
 A man in the group whispered to the sheriff : — 
 
 " It 's Lucetta Whittaker." 
 
 " Zeb's girl ? " asked the sheriff, in the same low 
 tone. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " You did n't hear the name of the man who was 
 going to do it?" asked the sheriff, turning to Lu- 
 cetta. 
 
 " No, they mentioned no names." 
 
 " Well, little girl, you 've done your duty," said 
 the sheriff kindly. " Now you need rest and must 
 go to bed. You 're not afraid to stay all night 
 in the jail, I reckon? — a girl like you," seeing a 
 troubled look on the girl's face. 
 
A HEARTH-STONE HEROINE 105 
 
 " No, I must go home," she said firmly. " No 
 one must know I came." 
 
 " She 's right, Sheriff," said one of the men. 
 
 " She might rest an hour." 
 
 There was the snapping of a watch-lid, and a 
 finer, smaller hand than that of the sheriff held a 
 gold watch in the glare of the bull's-eye. 
 
 "Can't be done," said the man who held it. 
 " It 's time now ; five minutes of two." 
 
 There was a subdued shufiling of feet and the 
 rinoqnoj sound of metal. The sheriff said excit- 
 edly : — 
 
 " By heaven, we 've not three minutes to get her 
 off. Where 's Jerry ? He might take her home 
 on horseback." 
 
 Jerry was " riding bailiff," and when they looked 
 around for him he could not be found. 
 
 " He 's off to warn 'em," cried one voice. 
 
 "He was here when the girl came in," said 
 another. 
 
 The men looked at each other astounded, for 
 Jerry had been a participant in their plans ; and on 
 the dismayed silence that followed, a metallic soimd 
 broke dully twice. 
 
 "By heaven, they're at it! To your places, 
 boys ! " was the low command of the sheriff. 
 " We '11 not parley with them except with lead." 
 
 Each man was instantly at his post beside the 
 windows, that were shielded by heavy wooden shut- 
 ters, which they opened a span. In the excite- 
 ment, the girl was forgotten. She climbed to the 
 
106 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 upper landing on the stairway and sat down, with 
 a vague idea of being out of the way. The next 
 moment a volley rang from the revolvers of the 
 men within, and was instantly returned from with- 
 out. Not a sound came from those on the defense 
 but the click of revolvers. From without came a 
 rush of feet ; that was a signal for a second volley 
 from the jail. One loud cry followed, which Lu- 
 cetta knew was a cry of pain, then all was silence 
 again. 
 
 The girl sat undismayed. At first she had ex- 
 perienced that horror of blood-shedding a woman 
 always feels, but excitement dispelled it. And 
 when shot after shot rang out, she felt so urgent a 
 desire to join the fray she could hardly remain 
 seated. The spirit of a pioneer grand-dame who 
 had shot at Indians through the crevices of her 
 cabin stirred within her, as it does on occasion in 
 every American woman who has sprung from such 
 ancestry. 
 
 The fight was over as suddenly as it had begun. 
 The sheriff opened the hall door to reconnoitre 
 cautiously, when he was hailed from without. 
 
 " All right here ! The enemy has retreated in 
 quick order ! " and a laugh followed. 
 
 " Is that you. Gore? " demanded the sheriff. 
 
 " Yes. Fetch a light, and let 's look after the 
 wounded. Somebody was hurt." 
 
 A kerosene lamp in the hall was hastily sought 
 by some one, while the others went out of doors 
 with the sheriff, and soon Lucetta saw them bring 
 
A HEARTH-STONE HEROINE 107 
 
 in tlie limp body of a man, which they carried into 
 Hale's part of the house. A squad of armed men 
 of the Home Guard followed. She peered over 
 the banister at the men below and asked : — 
 
 "Is he dead?" 
 
 The sheriff, lamp in hand, was going in search 
 of water and bandages, when the voice from above 
 startled him into nearly dropping it. 
 
 " Good Lord, girl, I 'd clean forgot you ! No, 
 be is n't much hurt, — fainted from loss of blood." 
 
 Lucetta descended the steps firmly, and, when 
 he raised the light above his head to look at her, 
 he said : — 
 
 " Well, you are a plucky one ! Not a bit scared 
 in a battle. In the dark all by yourself, too ! I 'm 
 awful sorry," he added regretfully. 
 
 " Now I '11 go. I must start right away, or I 
 can't reach home in time," was the only response 
 she made. 
 
 Sheriff Hale was as large of heart as he was of 
 stature, and as gentle as he was brave ; moreover, 
 he had five little girls of his own that he had lifted, 
 sleeping, from their beds and carried to the neigh- 
 bors, out of harm's way, early in the evening ; he 
 had also sent away his wife when certain that a 
 raid on the jail would be made that night ; and he 
 was painfully reluctant to let Lucetta go home 
 alone. 
 
 " I wish you would go upstairs to bed. The 
 danger 's over for to-night. The delivery was a 
 failure. But I won't keep you if you think it 
 wiser to go." 
 
108 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 One of the men, who had been listening, stepped 
 forward and said : — 
 
 " I '11 go with her, Hale, as far as the dirt road. 
 There won't be any danger after she leaves the 
 pike. The Knights don't know me here." 
 
 " He 's aU right," said Hale to Lucetta. " Go 
 with him, for I can't think of letting you go alone. 
 The town 's roused." 
 
 She consented, and the hall door was opened to 
 let them pass out. A great crowd had gathered in 
 the street, and people were running toward it from 
 every direction. In the press, they left the town 
 unnoticed. 
 
 Lucetta and her companion walked the entire 
 distance to the point agreed on without exchang- 
 ing a dozen words, and as he left her there he 
 said : — 
 
 " I know you, Lucetta Whittaker, and some time 
 my life may be in peril ; I may need a woman's 
 help. If it should be so, I now know where to find 
 one in whose bravery and loyalty I can trust." 
 
 " I do not know you, sir, but I will help you if 
 ever I can," and they parted at the road that led 
 her homeward. 
 
 As Lucetta proceeded rapidly on her way, she 
 seemed the only being alive, another Eve in an- 
 other Eden, alone. By this time, night was going, 
 and an owl was making a fretful plaint at its 
 brevity. An early morning breeze sprang up, cool 
 and damp, from the woods on Honey Creek, bring- 
 ino; with it an odor befittinof the air of Paradise, so 
 
A HEARTH-STONE HEROINE 109 
 
 heavenly sweet, for the wild grapes flung abroad 
 their morning incense to the rising sun. A pheas- 
 ant drummed a reveille from its post on the hill- 
 side ; a bittern boomed among the sedges and 
 awoke mournful echoes ; the cocks sent trumpet- 
 ings from farmstead to farmstead, announcing the 
 dawning, like heralds before a royal procession. 
 These sounds were all significant to Lucetta, and 
 she scanned the eastern sky, which was as familiar 
 a map to her as the printed ones in the geography. 
 She knew by the argent shimmer on the mass of 
 low, thin clouds on the horizon, that the hour was 
 near, the most beautiful and least familiar of the 
 day, the hour of dawn, which is as lingering in its 
 coming as twilight of evening in its going, but in 
 which there is an awesomeness which the falling 
 of night does not inspire. She watched the swift 
 scattering of clouds as they fled before the morning 
 wind, like a crowd before the advance guard of a 
 monarch, and saw the horizon stained by a tremu- 
 lous pink. At this moment, as if watching for a 
 signal, a lark rose from the meadow before the 
 cabin, which she had now reached, and sang with 
 glorious energy the few rare notes of its thrilling 
 song. It seemed the prelude of the morning choir, 
 for, as if in response, a redbird trilled from a 
 thicket in the creek bottom, a catbird mewed in 
 the grapevines, and a robin warbled a homely 
 ditty from the garden fence, while a malicious jay 
 screamed from the swaying bough of an apple-tree 
 in the dooryard. 
 
110 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 All these things — the ecstasy of Nature at the 
 return of day — Lueetta noted with delight, and 
 when she reached the cabin the sun came up with 
 a burst as she pulled the latch-string of the silent 
 house. 
 
CHAPTER Xni 
 THE BARN-BUENING 
 
 After a hard day's ploughing, Abner Neal and 
 his hands were glad enough to go to bed at night- 
 fall, and nine o'clock saw the entire household 
 asleep. There was one duty he never neglected 
 before he slept, no matter how great his fatigue : 
 he saw that his double-barreled shotgun was loaded 
 and capped ready for instant use. No loyal man 
 of either party was without arms in that troubled 
 time, when insurrection was at the very door. 
 
 There is nothing like twelve hours' work in the 
 open air to induce sound slumber. It is Nature's 
 daily renewal of man's powers, to mark her higher 
 esteem of him, which she grants but yearly to her 
 lower plant-life. How generously she rewards his 
 puniest efforts in return for dressing her broad 
 bosom with the varied greenery of wheat and oats, 
 barley and rye, corn and clover, whose exquisite 
 color-tones in growth delight his eye, and in the 
 harvest fill his granaries ! The soft dews of morn- 
 ing are for the refreshing, the rain for revivifying, 
 the sunshine for ripening all these common things, 
 that the fruits of his toil may benefit him. Even 
 the wonderful prodigality of vegetation and over- 
 
112 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 abundance of seed are for his welfare, that he may 
 never come to want through his own amazing 
 wastefulness and passion for destroying. He, of 
 all Nature's creatures, is the only one capable of 
 perfect gratitude, yet is most ungrateful. His 
 murmurings began with the primal sacrifice of the 
 firstfruits of the field and the firstlings of the 
 flock. 
 
 Abner Neal was, on the whole, one of the best 
 men of his class. He took his blessings with be- 
 coming thankfulness, and patiently accepted his 
 calamities. A strain of Irish blood helped him to 
 throw off trouble, and rally quickly from defeat. 
 
 The blessings of rest had fallen on his house, 
 and their slumbers were as profound as those of 
 the fabled Seven Sleepers. The rising wind did 
 not disturb them; nor did the sound of wheels 
 rouse them, although it ceased within their own 
 barnyard, scarcely a hundred yards from the 
 house. 
 
 An oilcloth-covered conveyance, known as a 
 " spring-wagon," was driven as cautiously as might 
 be under the open shed where vehicles were kept. 
 The driver quickly unloosed the traces, but, without 
 removing the harness from the horses, tied them 
 in a corner. Nine men had alighted from the 
 wagon, not without some clatter, for each was 
 well armed. In silence they dispersed into the 
 gloom of the barn and were lost in its shadows. 
 It was so warily done, not even the house-dog was 
 aroused. 
 
THE BARN-BURNING 113 
 
 When all were safely stowed, one man asked 
 another nearest him : — 
 
 " Don't you thirk we 'd better wake Abner ? " 
 
 " No ; Frank said not to, as the old man can't 
 do much, and it would scare the women. We may 
 be able to manage this quietly." 
 
 " Frank ought to be here soon, anyway," said 
 the other. 
 
 There was the scratch of a match and a sputter, 
 and the man held the light to the face of a watch 
 hidden in his hat crown, that no stray beam might 
 betray them. 
 
 " It 's half past eleven," he announced. " Frank 
 said he 'd be here by that time." 
 
 He paused, and a voice answered quietly : — 
 
 " And he is." 
 
 " Good ! Which direction do you expect the 
 attack?" 
 
 " From the southwest ; that 's the nearest way 
 for them to come. We have the advantage of 
 them, and are ready for them, thanks to our friends 
 here." And he laid his hand on the shoulder of 
 the taller and slighter of the two men. 
 
 " To me ? not much ! Why, don't you know " — 
 
 " Too loud, boys," cautioned the big man, who 
 seemed to be in authority. They were quiet for 
 half an hour, when Frank coidd contain himself 
 no longer. 
 
 " They 've got scent of us, I 'm afraid. Harv 's 
 got spies every place, even in the jail. Eh, Hale ? " 
 
 As he spoke the last words, a rail fell out of place 
 
114 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 from the fence back of the barn, as indicated by 
 the sound, some yards away. A quickly smothered 
 curse followed the noise, and Frank, who was peep- 
 ing through a crack into the darkness, could dimly 
 see a figure skulking toward the sodden straw- 
 stacks which stood farther down the yard. The 
 men within the shed watched for others to follow, 
 but no one came. 
 
 "They seem to have weakened," whispered 
 Frank. " There 's only one of 'em." 
 
 " Hush ! the rest may be hidden in the fence 
 corners on the field-side." 
 
 As they watched, a crash as of breaking glass 
 followed, and a flame instantly shot up the side of 
 the stack, that soon made it a veritable pillar of 
 fire. A shrill voice screamed : — 
 
 " To hell with old Abe Lincoln and all the Lin- 
 coln dogs! " and the creature gamboled grotesquely 
 about the roaring stack. He flung up his arms 
 in wild gestures, uttered fearful imprecations as 
 a second one became enkindled, then broke into 
 shrieks of hysteric laughter that ended abruptly 
 in awful silence. 
 
 " It 's brighter than Arcturus ! Fire can burn 
 out blood-stains ! The blood of my friend ! the 
 blood of my friend ! The lot ! the lot ! It fell my 
 lot ! " he chanted weirdly, then screamed in ecstasy 
 and capered more wildly as the fire mounted higher. 
 The fit passed, and his voice fell into its accustomed 
 mildness, and he said with rational decision : — 
 
 " It 's like hell-fire ! " 
 
THE BARN-BURNING 115 
 
 Then, with sudden fury, he cried : — 
 
 "Let 'em burn, burn, burn to everlastin', and 
 I '11 burn with 'em ! " 
 
 With a leap he plunged into the raging flames. 
 Then, with a fearful shriek, a woman flung herself 
 over the fence and ran to the maniac's rescue, and 
 she, too, would have been swallowed in this fiery 
 furnace, had not Frank rushed down on her and 
 held her back. 
 
 " Oh, it 's pappy ! it 's pappy ! " she screamed 
 distractedly, and fell at Frank's feet, where she 
 groveled as in a fit. 
 
 The men in the barn stood awestruck, bereft of 
 all their senses but that of sight, with jaws dropped 
 and arms rigid, useless, and heavy as leaden images, 
 as if under the bewitchment of Zeb's incantations, 
 till the cry of the girl broke the spell ; when they 
 ran to the stacks, too late to save the man from his 
 desperate deed. 
 
 As they burst into the glare of the fire, there 
 was a rustle in the fence corners, and half a dozen 
 men fled across the wheat-field and were lost in 
 the woods beyond, but some of the sheriff's men 
 were collected enough to send a volley crashing 
 after them. 
 
 They dragged the man from the flames, scorched 
 and suffocated, but still breathing feebly, and all 
 interest was centred on the frenzied wretch writh- 
 ing in the throes of self-inflicted torture, who 
 gasped agonizingly for the breath his seared lungs 
 refused to take. 
 
116 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 By this time the household was aroused and in 
 commotion. Abner Neal and his men hurried out 
 half clothed, followed by the women. They were 
 all cool and collected, for they had lived for months 
 under the menace of arson and murder, and were 
 therefore not unprepared for this crisis, which was 
 in a measure a relief from wearing suspense. 
 
 When Abner Neal saw that it was Zeb lying 
 there on the ground, contempt drove pity from his 
 heart. 
 
 " That fellow ! " he cried. " I 've almost given 
 him the bread he 's eaten for years for the sake of 
 his women folks. God knows he never earned it. 
 And I 've kept the roof over his head." 
 
 " Oh, it 's all true, it 's all true, but I did what 
 I could. Frank knows ! " moaned Lucetta. 
 
 Sheriff Hale went up to the angry, outraged old 
 man, and spoke to him in a low voice, but Abner 
 was not to be appeased. 
 
 " The fellow 's done for. His punishment 's 
 greater than any the law could give him, God 
 knows. For decency's and humanity's sake, let us 
 take him into the house," urged the kind sheriff. 
 
 " Take the viper into my house ! A fellow that 
 would murder me in my bed ! No, take him to 
 jail!" 
 
 " At least, get us something to soothe his pain, 
 some flour, and oil, and bandages," pleaded the 
 sheriff. But the old man still refused. 
 
 Frank said, " Don't be so hard, father ; you for- 
 get," sinking his voice lower. " Lucetta can hear 
 you. Mother, you at least will be kinder." 
 
THE BARN-BURNING 117 
 
 But Mrs. Neal had neither kindly words nor 
 looks of pity for Zeb's daughter, although human- 
 ity prompted her to fetch such simple palliatives 
 as they had at hand. 
 
 Sheriff Hale went to Lucetta, who still sat on 
 the ground, wretched beyond the power of words 
 or motion, with her face buried in her hands. 
 
 Even the harsh duties of his office could not 
 change the benignant clemency of his nature, — a 
 gentle quality frequently the gift of men of large 
 physique and calm, even temperament, who are too 
 slow to stab with sarcastic wit, and too strong will- 
 fully to pain the weak. Fate selects them for en- 
 terprises where endurance and patience are needed, 
 and for troubled womankind to trust. 
 
 He raised the girl to her feet, supported her in 
 his arms, and soothed her with kind words. He 
 was the only person there who entered into her feel- 
 ings, and sympathized fully with her misery and 
 f riendlessness ; he alone realized that her mental 
 torture was greater than Zeb's physical agony, and 
 he wished to spare her the added pain of the hard 
 words which fell from the lips of those about them. 
 
 He motioned to Frank, who came to his side. 
 
 "Take the girl away, Frank, into the house," 
 he said. " It 's all too much for her." 
 
 Frank beckoned to his aid a slender young man, 
 and between them they supported her to the house, 
 tearless and despairing, and so exhausted she could 
 hardly walk. 
 
 Mrs. Neal returned with her stores, and the men 
 
118 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 stripped Zeb of his smoking tatters, and applied 
 oil and flour, and wrapped him in a sheet. They 
 took a door from its hinges, and on this improvised 
 stretcher they carried the pain-stricken wretch to 
 the house of the man whom he had been appointed 
 to murder. 
 
 Frank had laid Lucetta down on a lounge in the 
 sitting-room. He could not comfort her, for she 
 seemed beyond the reach of words, and he unable 
 to call up any. 
 
 "Oh, will they hang poor pappy?" she asked 
 distractedly over and over. " He did n't plot it 
 of his own will. He could n't do it. It was the 
 lot ; he said it was the lot." 
 
 She clung to Frank's hand in the intensity of 
 her despair, and implored him with pain-widened 
 eyes for comfort. Then, when she realized that it 
 was his father whom hers would have murdered, 
 she shrank back into the pillow, and moaned in 
 bitterness of soul : — 
 
 "Oh, he would have killed your father! Let 
 me go away out of this house. What right have 
 I here?" 
 
 She attempted to rise, but he gently detained her. 
 
 " Try to be quiet, Lucetta, so you can tell me 
 all about it. We must know, so the others may 
 be brought to justice. It is your duty to your 
 father." His appeal was not guileless. He knew 
 of her exaggerated idea of duty. "He was the 
 tool of the Knights, was n't he ? " 
 
 " I think so, but I don't know. He has been so 
 
THE BARN-BURNING 119 
 
 strange lately, but I thought it was on account of 
 mammy. To-day he acted so worried, and, as night 
 came, seemed like a crazy man. Knowing what I 
 did, I was afraid ; and when he left the house so 
 late, after he thought we were asleep, I got up and 
 followed him. Oh, I was afraid, but God knows 
 I did n't expect this ! Oh, please take me home 
 now, and I '11 tell you all I know to-morrow." 
 
 As she spoke, the bearers brought Zeb in, and 
 when she saw him wrapped in a sheet she rose to 
 a sitting position, and asked quietly : — 
 
 " Is he dead ? " 
 
 Sheriff Hale stepped to her side and said : — 
 
 " No, my child, but there 's no hope for him. 
 He '11 die before morning." 
 
 A look of relief crossed her face, which was fol- 
 lowed by a fit of terrible weeping. 
 
 " Don't take on so, child," said the tender-hearted 
 sheriff. " It 's a God's mercy he '11 be taken, for 
 he was clean crazy." 
 
 But he realized it was the other and far more 
 terrible punishment that the girl had dreaded. 
 
 They laid the body on the lounge from which 
 Lucetta had risen, and after a time Zeb's moaning 
 ceased, lulled by the homely applications they had 
 made. Some one came in from the village and 
 said the doctor was out. Zeb lay apparently life- 
 less, but when he heard the doctor's name he 
 roused, as if some distracted chord of his memory 
 had been struck ; and he looked at Lucetta, who 
 was kneeling at his side, and said f alter ingly : — j 
 
120 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 "I didn't want to do it." 
 
 " Why did you, then ? " asked the sheriff. 
 
 " Arcturus is my star, and it led me on." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Well, Harv said so. I don't know. I did n't 
 throw the fire ; it fell from Arcturus. It 's like 
 hell-fire. Oh, it burns ! it burns ! " 
 
 " He 's as crazy as a loon," whispered the sheriff 
 to the tall, slender man by his side. " What 's to 
 be done with him ? " 
 
 " Nothing. Look ! " 
 
 The sheriff turned toward Zeb, and saw a change 
 pass over his face, like a film over the cold surface 
 of a mirror, and he beckoned his men from the 
 room. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE BIVALS 
 
 The barns and bridges and every available space 
 witbin a radius of five miles around Eidgely were 
 blazing witb gorgeous red, wbite, and blue posters 
 announcing the Fourth of July barbecue. It fell 
 on Saturday, which, from time immemorial, has 
 been a sort of holiday among country folk, an au- 
 spicious coincidence which promised " a big time." 
 The barbecue was to be held in Bolser's woods, 
 a mile from the village, and all the young people 
 turned out, without regard to political bias. The 
 draft, for some unknown reason, had not occurred 
 at the expected time, but was in abeyance, and 
 caused disquiet that broke into seditious mutter- 
 ings and threats of violence. Many of the wiser, 
 older people of both parties resolved to stay away 
 from this gathering, which, on former occasions, 
 had been merely a social affair, for now it was 
 prophesied that a disturbance of some sort would 
 occur. Of late, secret meetings had been held 
 with greater frequency, and they feared the agita- 
 tors would use the opportunity to further their own 
 ends; for their influence was becoming felt, and 
 had spread like contagion over the country, until 
 nearly every township had its branch Temple. 
 
122 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 The War Democrats and Republicans had hitherto 
 considered these meetings as of little consequence. 
 The tragedy at Neal's had been a fearful shock, 
 and had opened their eyes to the mischievous if 
 not downright criminal intentions of the Copper- 
 heads. It seemed the policy of the governor, who 
 kept thoroughly informed of their movements, to 
 ignore much of their incipfent lawlessness, and to 
 deal as leniently with the actual transgressors as 
 possible ; and in the end it proved a wise course. 
 
 By reason of this judicious policy, the men who 
 had assaulted Frank, after having been turned 
 over to the proper legal authorities, were released 
 on bail ; and Jeff Riddle, who had been sentenced 
 to death, had been pardoned by the President 
 through the influence of his loyal kinsmen, and 
 had returned to the army a wiser man. No effort 
 had been made, apparently, to find Zeb's accom- 
 plices, if he had any ; many thought his deed the 
 work of an overwrought brain, crazed by grief and 
 excitement. 
 
 Frank, for some mysterious reason, had not re- 
 joined his regiment, although his health was fully 
 recovered. He came and went on seemingly pur- 
 poseless errands, which caused not a little comment 
 and sagacious inferences on the part of the " But- 
 ternuts." He still wore his uniform, which he 
 knew became him well, and he was aware that the 
 girls liked him all the better for wearing it. He 
 had acquired the soldier swagger, and his cap had 
 a rakish habit of getting on one side of his head, 
 
THE RIVALS 123 
 
 which was covered with thick, crisp, light brown 
 hair. His dark-blue eyes, rather bold in expres- 
 sion, straight muscular figure, made him an ideal 
 man-of-arms, and the maidens thereabouts were 
 quick to appreciate him, for their woman's admira- 
 tion for a soldier was stronger than their political 
 bias. Therefore, when the news went abroad in 
 the neighborhood that Frank had bought a new 
 single buggy, it set them anxiously speculating as 
 to what girl he would honor with an invitation to 
 occupy the vacant seat beside him, and go with him 
 to the barbecue. Frank had never "kept com- 
 pany " especially with any one, but had bestowed 
 his attentions impartially on all, perfectly aware 
 how much they were valued. What wonder, then, 
 that he took his own time to make his selection, and 
 waited till the day before the great event to do so ; 
 unlike the other young fellows, who thought it was 
 necessary to " engage their company " at least a 
 fortnight before. He knew any girl of them would 
 throw her accepted swain over for the pleasure of 
 going with him. It is not surprising that he grew 
 conceited and somewhat cavalier in his treatment 
 of them, and indulged in a good deal of figurative 
 handkerchief-dropping. His four years in college 
 had modified his opinions of girls somewhat, and 
 these country belles were no longer quite to his 
 taste. 
 
 Frank's complacency was destined to receive a 
 shock. He had made his choice undisturbed by 
 a doubt of possible refusal, and it had fallen on 
 
124 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 Lucetta Whittaker. Why he was moved to ask 
 her he could not tell, — pity perhaps. Ever since 
 Zeb's death, now three weeks past, he had heard 
 nothing at home but bitter censure of the Whitta- 
 kers. He had not spoken of his decision to his 
 father or mother, who he knew had no intention 
 of going, and it rather tickled his sense of impor- 
 tance when he thought of the storm it would raise 
 if they foimd it out. All that remained now for 
 him to do was to invite Lucetta, and, with this laud- 
 able object in view, on Friday evening he hitched 
 his spirited chestnut mare to his new buggy and 
 set out for the Whittaker cabin. 
 
 Since her father's death, Lucetta had remained 
 in her humble dwelling with the schoolmistress, 
 for she had nowhere else to go. Moreover, most 
 of the neighbors were too poor, especially in those 
 hard times, to receive her in their homes, even if 
 she would have consented to live with them. She 
 managed to subsist off the garden and the money 
 Miss Abbot paid her, and she earned a little by 
 sewing for the neighbors and helping at harvest 
 dinners. But she was not strong enough to labor 
 at actual field-work with the energy required, and 
 as many women were compelled to do, owing to 
 the scarcity of men from enlistment. 
 
 To the conventional-minded, attending a place 
 of amusement so soon after a double bereavement 
 seems indecent, but here formal usages were not 
 regarded. We are largely governed by custom, 
 even in the matter of our most sacred griefs. In 
 
THE RIVALS 125 
 
 this locality, at the visitation of death no change 
 took place in the habits of life ; the outward badge 
 of mourning was rarely worn ; but possibly the 
 grief was as sincere and the sense of loss as great 
 as if all the niceties of polite society had been ob- 
 served. 
 
 For these reasons, therefore, it would not have 
 been indecorous had Lucetta chosen to go to the 
 barbecue, but her recluse habit made her reluctant 
 to mingle with large crowds. She feared that this 
 meeting would end violently. The community had 
 now reached a climax of feeling, in regard to the 
 conduct of the war, the draft, and the recent out- 
 rages of the Knights, so strong that distinct lines 
 had been drawn between the party then universally 
 called Butternuts on the one side, and Republicans 
 and War Democrats on the other ; and friendly 
 affiliation, even on such an occasion, had become 
 all but impossible. 
 
 Frank drove through the lane and drew up be- 
 fore the door with a flourish. The two dogs, Bose 
 and Dandy, added to the glory of his arrival with 
 joyous yelps, as if announcing a hero. Having tied 
 his horse to the fence, he walked to the open door 
 and called out a good-day to Lucetta, who sat sew- 
 ing just within. Stooping instinctively, he entered 
 the room, to find, to his disgust, Jim Swazey sitting 
 near the window, silently seesawing on the hind 
 legs of his chair, sullen and chagrined. Instantly 
 the two men assumed a different air, ruffling like 
 cocks making ready for the onset. Jim's handsome, 
 
126 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 swarthy face mustered a bullying frown ; Frank's 
 blue eyes flashed the contempt he felt, and a curt 
 nod passed between them. Each was conscious 
 they were rivals for the same favor. 
 
 Lucetta at once perceived the bitter animosity 
 of the two men by their bearing toward each other, 
 and mentally prepared herself for a skirmish of 
 passionate words, while casting about for a pla- 
 cating topic of conversation. Unluckily, her first 
 words were a firebrand : — 
 
 " Frank, you 've been away so long maybe you 
 don't know my friend, Mr. Swazey ?" 
 
 Frank glared at him, and said with cutting con- 
 tempt : — 
 
 " If he 's one of your friends, you may mark me 
 off the list! I don't count Copperheads among 
 mine, nor any one that does ! " 
 
 Swazey rose to his feet, hate blazing from his 
 eyes, his lips rolled back in a grin of ferocious 
 savagery from his clenched teeth, and presented a 
 most inhuman spectacle. Murder would have been, 
 at that moment, a pleasure to him, inflicting pain 
 a delight ; his hands contracted to fists, and invol- 
 untarily he took a fighting attitude. 
 
 " By heaven ! I 'm not so scarce of friends that 
 I would have one of Lincoln's dogs for one ! " and 
 he threw out his sinewy right arm to strike a 
 blow. 
 
 Frank nimbly sprang aside and laughed taunt- 
 ingly : — 
 
 " I guess this is not quite the place for us to 
 
THE RIVALS 127 
 
 settle our differences. I think you 'd better join 
 Early or Morgan in Kentucky, and I '11 try to meet 
 you there. It would give me pleasure to blow 
 your brains out." 
 
 Lucetta caught Frank's arm and said entreat- 
 ingly, though not so softly in her agitation but 
 that Swazey heard : — 
 
 " Don't quarrel with him ; he 's a bigger man than 
 you; you don't know how strong and cruel he is ! " 
 
 In her anxiety she quite forgot the other man, 
 who dropped his arm at this speech, betraying her 
 entire indifference to him and her anxiety for 
 Frank. Swazey laughed sneeringly, and his aspect 
 was even more brutal than before. 
 
 " I 'U not hurt your fine sweetheart now ! But 
 I 'U fix him yet ! I did n't know I was making up 
 to another man's girl ! That 's why you would n't 
 go with me ! " he said coarsely, and left the house, 
 muttering vindictively. 
 
 " What did he mean ? " cried Lucetta in agita- 
 tion. 
 
 " Nothing so very far from the truth, Lucetta." 
 
 " No, no ! Not that ; I meant his threat. Oh, 
 Frank, be careful ! You don't know what 's on 
 foot in this neighborhood. It 's too dreadful to 
 talk about. Even worse things may follow than 
 those that have been done. They don't dream how 
 much I know, and it 's as much as my life 's worth 
 to tell. You are a marked man. All Union men 
 are ; so be careful, for you are reckless, Frank, 
 and sometimes provoke people needlessly." 
 
128 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " The impudence of that fellow pushing himself 
 in here! Maybe I know more than you think. 
 I '11 be all right ! Don't you fret ! They are 
 skulking cowards that work at night like jackals. 
 I 'm ready for 'em. — But I came for something 
 else, Lucetta. I want you to go with me to the 
 barbecue at Bolser's woods to-morrow in my new 
 rig." 
 
 " Oh, Frank, I can't go, for I 'd just told Mr. 
 Swazey I could n't before you came. I have n't 
 the heart for such things." 
 
 " Oh, a little fun will do you good. Of course 
 you'd not want to go with him. No respectable 
 girl would want to be seen with that scoundrel. I 
 never could see why girls run after every strange 
 fellow that comes into the neighborhood. That 
 refusal don't count. You '11 go with me, won't 
 you ? " he said persuasively. 
 
 Until Frank saw Swazey sitting there, discom- 
 fited, he had given little thought to the possible 
 chance of refusal ; but as soon as another man cov- 
 eted what he wanted, he felt for the moment that 
 Lucetta's company to the picnic was his most 
 ardent wish. Her refusal only made him the more 
 determined to win her consent. 
 
 Before he joined the army he had been a favorite 
 with the girls, and was accustomed to having his 
 favors received with alacrity and becoming grati- 
 tude. Lucetta's repeated refusal seemed like a 
 rebuff, yet he hardly believed her in earnest, as 
 she was only a girl after aU, and he a sort of con- 
 
THE RIVALS 129 
 
 quering hero. He was chagrined, and felt at her 
 persistent denial the same humiliation he had ex- 
 perienced when defeated in a petty skirmish with 
 the enemy ; and then, too, he resented being treated 
 like Swazey. 
 
 Lucetta, who had spent all her life reading the 
 riddles of other people's moods, unraveled his with 
 ease. 
 
 " No, Frank, I cannot go ! It is for your own 
 good that I stay at home." 
 
 He grew, angry at being resisted by a girl, and 
 flung at her cruel words as he quickly left the 
 house : — 
 
 " Since you know so much about them, perhaps 
 you prefer the company of a Knight of the Golden 
 Circle to one of ' Lincoln's dogs ' ! " 
 
 Lucetta made no answer to this unjust taunt, 
 but watched him drive down the lane, hurt by his 
 suspicion, and fearful for him if he went to the 
 barbecue in his present mood. His plain-speaking 
 did not wound her, for the people in the community 
 were primitive in their habits and open of speech. 
 The polish of polite society had not smoothed bitter 
 truth into bland evasion, nor secret irritation into 
 suave acquiescence, nor turned lively curiosity into 
 well-bred interest ; there was little glossing of rough 
 speech under the varnish of gentle manners, and 
 the thin-skinned interloper was apt to suffer. Be- 
 tween them, wisely, it was give and take, and there 
 were few quarrels and no feuds under such con- 
 ditions. But there was no small amount of good 
 
130 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 feeling, real kindliness, and rude integrity in their 
 intercourse with each other, before this secret trea- 
 son began to permeate the State, and set friend 
 against friend, and neighbor against neighbor. 
 Their worst passions had been roused by the war, 
 and nearly to a man they sympathized with seces- 
 sion, and caught up and bruited about the trea- 
 sonable speeches of their leaders. The women 
 violently echoed the men, who were their masters ; 
 and now and then one was thought worthy to be 
 taken into their councils, such as Mrs. Bowles. 
 
 Lucetta was neither shocked nor surprised at 
 Frank's rudeness, nor did she feel resentment at 
 his savagery. It was not unusual for " men-folks " 
 to talk so, but he had grieved her by his last fling 
 as no sharp speech had done before. The ugly 
 scene between the two men left an uneasy feeling 
 behind, and she had forebodings of evil so strong 
 she could not dismiss them. Her fears were so 
 clamorous that before Frank drove rapidly out of 
 sight she resolved, with some wild idea of warding 
 ofP a crisis by her presence, to go to the barbecue 
 herself if Miss Abbot would accompany her. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE BARBECUE 
 
 The morning of the barbecue dawned clear and 
 bright, with the delicious freshness and slight 
 chilliness of the atmosphere which comes after 
 thunderstorms. The rain had not been violent 
 enough to make the roads muddy, and the dust 
 was well laid. People, not deterred by damp 
 ground and consequent discomfort, were seen com- 
 ing from every direction, in all sorts of vehicles 
 and on foot, — thrifty men, and even women, car- 
 rying their best shoes in their hands till in sight 
 of the objective point, Bolser's woods. 
 
 As each wagon delivered its load in the grounds, 
 there were hearty greetings and vigorous hand- 
 shakings ; every one seemed in fine humor. The 
 assemblage was plainly, even poorly, dressed, for 
 calico was forty and fifty cents a yard, and finer 
 materials proportionately dear. The men wore 
 trousers and coats of blue and brown jeans, and 
 their shirts were of homespun linen. The women's 
 dresses were of linsey, woven in such checks and 
 stripes as their fancy suggested and their skill 
 could execute ; and some were clad in clean but 
 faded cotton dresses they had bought long before 
 
132 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 the war began. The old dames wore drawn silk 
 bonnets with long skirts, and the girls and younger 
 women calico sunbonnets. The young seemed 
 lively and cheerful, as if no war-cloud hung over 
 them, or their gay spirits may have been but the 
 exhilaration of the moment, called forth by the 
 occasion, — a rare break in their dull lives. The 
 elder people had a look of settled melancholy. 
 
 The girls giggled and prattled together in groups, 
 now and then casting inviting glances on the lout- 
 ish young fellows that hovered afar, but were keen 
 enough to follow at a safe distance as the group 
 moved from place to place. 
 
 The older men, after the first hearty greeting, 
 were taciturn and apathetic, or anxiously alert, 
 some even gruffly irritable ; others were collected 
 in knots talking earnestly, remote from the women 
 and younger people. 
 
 The speakers' stand was erected under a group 
 of magnificent beech-trees, whose long, interlacing 
 limbs, with their perfectness of foliage, made a 
 wide-spreading canopy of greenery, through which 
 the sun scarcely penetrated. Eude benches, con- 
 structed of boards laid upon pegs driven in the 
 ground, furnished seats for two or three hundred 
 people. 
 
 On one side of the grove, where the trees had 
 been thinned, a trench had been dug, and early in 
 the morning a great fire of logs started, so that it 
 might burn low enough for roasting the beef, and 
 two sheep to be hung over it later. Now all was 
 
THE BARBECUE 133 
 
 in readiness, and the carcases were suspended by 
 hickory poles, supported on heavy forked sticks 
 planted on opposite sides of the trench. The logs 
 were reduced to a mass of glowing coals, and the 
 savory odors from the meat soon attracted a large 
 crowd around the trench, many of whom had not 
 tasted fresh meat in months. They watched the 
 fat as it dripped into the fire, their eyes water- 
 ing from smoke, and jumped back with shrill 
 screams as it burst into a fierce little blaze. 
 
 Genuine coffee was ready to be put into pots at 
 the right moment, and brown cane-sugar was pro- 
 vided to sweeten it. These last were almost un- 
 attainable luxuries, for which parched barley and 
 wheat and home-made maple-sugar had long been 
 substituted. Many of these people, for months to- 
 gether, had not a cent's worth of actual scrip in 
 their possession; all their transactions were done 
 by exchange, — their farms furnishing them a bare 
 subsistence at best. 
 
 Alec Rush and Hiram Gillum were officiating 
 as cooks. When a great cloud of ill-smelling 
 smoke puffed into the girls' faces, tears flowed co- 
 piously, and they fell back en masse against the 
 boys " lined up " behind them. The young fellows 
 uttered mock groans, and stretched forth rescuing 
 arms, which the girls evaded with loud laughter 
 and a rush forward. 
 
 " Never mind, girls," said one swain, who had 
 overcome his bashf ulness enough to speak, " they 
 say beauty draws smoke." 
 
134 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 At this sally, a black-eyed maid observed pertly, 
 " How purty you must be, Zeke Creeters ! " 
 
 There arose at this archaic witticism a com- 
 bined shout of shrill giggling and coarse guffaws, 
 which acted like a charm in dissolving the invisi- 
 ble barriers that had separated these boys and 
 girls, for instantly they paired off like birds on 
 St. Valentine's Day, and wandered hand in hand 
 about the ground. 
 
 Lucetta Whittaker had been standing on the 
 outskirts of this crowd with the schoolmistress. 
 Swasey's bold, fierce eyes had found her out 
 while he was on His rounds as marshal of the day. 
 He did not observe Miss Abbot, and concluded 
 that Lucetta had come thither in the new buggy 
 with Frank, whom, however, he had failed to dis- 
 cover anywhere about the grounds. Resentful 
 and vindictive by nature, he resolved not to let the 
 day pass without redress of some sort, petty or 
 great, as luck sent, for this slight upon him, con- 
 veyed by her acceptance of Frank's escort. 
 
 While the men were turning the beef on the 
 impromptu spit, Harv Wilson — who was grand 
 marshal, and who wore a scarf of red, white, and 
 blue muslin across his breast — came up, full of 
 importance. 
 
 " Most ready, boys ? " he asked. 
 
 Alec prodded the beef with a sharp-pointed iron 
 rod he had had the foresight to provide, and, as 
 the bright-red juice poured from the puncture, he 
 said complainingly : — 
 
THE BARBECUE 135 
 
 " Seems like it won't never git done. It '11 take 
 an hour yet anyway." 
 
 " It 's been a-Langin' on here since seven o'clock, 
 too," said Hi Gillum, wiping his smarting eyes on 
 his shirt-sleeve. 
 
 " We must do something with these people. 
 The Crof ton brass band did n't come ; the Arcady 
 Glee Club 's here, but they don't seem to satisfy 
 'em like a brass band. They're gittin' tired of 
 waitin', and I 'm afraid it 'U have a bad effect on 
 the meetin'. It 's eleven o'clock now," said Harv, 
 impatiently, looking up at the sun. 
 
 " Have a speech," said Alec, pacifically ; " that '11 
 fetch 'em. Plenty of time for a rouser 'fore this 
 critter 's fitten to eat." 
 
 " Good idee," said Harv, approvingly. 
 
 Shortly afterward his hard, raucous voice was 
 heard calling the people together. The feeble, 
 elderly men occupied three or four rows immedi- 
 ately -under the stand, and the others were sparsely 
 filled with women, whose lawful partners were 
 grouped together on the outskirts, smoking, chew- 
 ing, and spitting, and passing a bottle from hand 
 to hand. Whiskey was very dear, and conse- 
 quently was a great treat, and always in evidence 
 on such occasions. 
 
 A glee club of young men with nasal, discordant 
 voices sang a campaign song about " Little Mac," 
 — who was seriously talked of as a presidential 
 candidate of promise, — and it was received with 
 great applause. 
 
136 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 That Harv read aright the temper of his audi- 
 ence, irritable from hunger and impatient from de- 
 lay, and cunningly used his knowledge to his own ad- 
 vantage, was proved by the speaker he had selected. 
 
 The orator came forward to the edge of the plat- 
 form, and his tall figure, crowned by a massive 
 head covered with tawny hair, that hung long and 
 thick about it like a lion's mane, his smooth-shaven 
 chin, brilliant, crafty eyes that could suffuse with 
 tears at his will, lips that curled with bitter sar- 
 casm or melted into a smile as gentle as a child's, 
 made him a man of remarkable and impressive pre- 
 sence. There was that in his bearing which stamped 
 him a leader of men, demagogue though he was. 
 
 He began his speech with moderation and a 
 happy allusion to the day, and gradually reached 
 the themes that set men on fire, — the conscription 
 act, the removal of McClellan, the enrollment of 
 negro troops, arrest under habeas corpus, the im- 
 pending draft. His voice, at first of fluting mel- 
 ody, gradually increased to a strident scream as he 
 shrieked to some invisible opponent : — 
 
 " Dare no more to lay your hands on the white 
 man's liberty ! As the Lord God reigns in heaven, 
 you cannot go on with your system of provost 
 marshals and police officials, arresting free white 
 men for what they conceive their duty ! Blood 
 will flow ! You cannot, you shall not, forge fetters 
 on our limbs with a struggle for the mastery I 
 The blood of a race of freemen is up ; it will not 
 submit to this assault ! You may conscript citi- 
 
THE BARBECUE 137 
 
 zens from their homes into the army, but it is 
 true that the popular heart is no longer for the 
 prosecution of this war. Do you think you can 
 compel it so by force ? — by Lincoln's dogs with 
 collars round their necks ? " 
 
 His auditors were tremendously aroused, and as 
 he sat down they called, " Go on ! go on ! " 
 
 Harv seized the opportunity, while the tide of 
 feeling was at the flood, and drew forward a man 
 whom he introduced as Mr. Dodd. He was the 
 Grand Commander of the Knights of the Golden 
 Circle, though it was not generally known to his 
 audience. 
 
 He began where the former speaker left off, and 
 fell at once into personal abuse of the head of the 
 party then in power. On the instant, he turned 
 the crowd into a raging mob. He had a thin, pas- 
 sionate voice that rose and fell in cadenced mea- 
 sure, and it swayed them like a strong wind blown 
 across a field of headed wheat. His thin cheeks 
 burned with two red spots, and his pale-blue eyes 
 were bloodshot with the energy of fanatic passion. 
 
 " This government of Abe Lincoln's is a fail- 
 ure ! He is a usurper ! a tyrant ! To-day a dol- 
 lar in gold is worth one dollar and forty-nine cents 
 in their accursed greenbacks, earned by toil of the 
 farmer that calls forth bloody sweat ! This war is 
 butchery ! It is no longer a white man's govern- 
 ment ! They want to give your daughters nigger 
 husbands ! " 
 
 His voice rose to a shriek of rage, and the effect 
 
138 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 was like a spark of gunpowder. Men surged for- 
 ward close up to the stand, wild with passion, and 
 yelled : — 
 
 " Down with the nigger-lovers ! " 
 
 " To hell with them ! " 
 
 " Death and damnation to old Abe ! " 
 
 " I ask you, in the name of God," he shouted 
 above the uproar, " will you submit to this, or will 
 you arm yourselves for battle, rise and defy them 
 in your own State ? " 
 
 " Treason ! " rang out clear and strong as a 
 bugle. 
 
 The crowd turned as one man in the direction 
 of the voice. They beheld Frank Neal, dressed 
 in the uniform they were execrating, his arm ex- 
 tended, pointing an accusing finger at the traitor. 
 He was a fine picture of courage, at the moment 
 lost to all sense of policy or danger. On the 
 ground by his side was a tall, strong man, a stran- 
 ger to the people, who attempted to drag him from 
 his perilous position, as he stood, a conspicuous 
 figure, on the trunk of a fallen tree. 
 
 The speaker cast on him a glance of devilish 
 malice and proceeded vehemently : — 
 
 " Our cherished Vallandigham is an exile ; our 
 Senator is wrongfully expelled from his seat ; this 
 war is bloody butchery of our brothers ! Help is 
 at hand ; even now the hosts of your deliverance 
 are thitherward bound. Arise and free yourselves 
 from the yoke of the oppressor, nor fear the bloody 
 bayonets of Lincoln's dogs ! " 
 
THE BARBECUE 139 
 
 This last taunt was flung maliciously and with 
 unmistakable intention at Frank, the only man 
 present in army blue, who still stood on his lofty 
 place. The crowd swayed toward him, now an 
 uncontrollable mob, shouting execrations and vile 
 words and threats, in most hideous timiult. Roused 
 in a moment of physical weakness by the delib- 
 erate intent of demagogues, inflamed by whiskey, 
 lost to self-control with the lust of murder in them, 
 they closed round the boy, who was now supported 
 by the man who had failed to drag him to the 
 ground. 
 
 Lucetta and Miss Abbot were lookers-on from 
 behind a huge beech-tree, some distance to the 
 rear of the seats, and were fearful of a tragic end- 
 ing, but powerless to aid. Lucetta felt sick with 
 despair as she saw her premonitions about to be 
 realized, and herseK utterly impotent to prevent it. 
 Frank stood in full view, struggling to speak again, 
 but the hand which his brawny companion had 
 placed on his mouth was like an iron clamp. 
 
 The men had deserted the spit, attracted by the 
 uproar, and the smoke from the burning fat rose 
 blue as incense. Lucetta was startled by a snap- 
 ping sound at her ear, and turned her head to look 
 into the barrel of a revolver which Swazey was 
 aiming over her shoulder at Frank's head. She 
 struck at it, but the hand that held it was muscled 
 with steel, and it only swerved aside. There was a 
 loud report, and the next instant a man reeled from 
 the stump, lunging heavily forward to the ground. 
 
140 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 Lucetta shrieked, " Oh, Frank is killed ! " and 
 sank to her knees and buried her face in Miss 
 Abbot's skirts, while spasms of shuddering racked 
 her body. 
 
 The shot instantly sobered the mob, and an 
 appalled silence fell upon them. Then cries of 
 " Shame ! " " Catch the murderer ! " " Kill him ! " 
 " String him up ! " rose fiercely. Apprehension 
 made them tremble, and faces but a moment since 
 red with furious passion grew pale with horror. 
 They were not brutes, but men of primal passions, 
 untaught in the higher codes of humanity. They 
 had not guarded themselves against such out- 
 breaks by self -repression and culture. A sense of 
 justice and pity they had in common with all men, 
 and they were moved deeply as they crowded 
 round those who were tearing the clothing from 
 the dying man, shot in the back through the heart. 
 His blood spouted from his breast in a jet and fell 
 in red spray around them, each pulsation growing 
 feebler. The retreat of life was visible to them ; 
 it withdrew like early spring frost before the ris- 
 ing sun, gradually, irrevocably, — slowly retiring 
 before an invincible power, it left the glazing eye, 
 the relaxed muscle, the gelid clay. They were 
 potent to destroy but imj^otent to restore life ; 
 before them this miracle of life and death was 
 finished. 
 
 The victim had made one feeble effort to speak, 
 but he was quickly past words. No one knew him, 
 not even Frank, for whom he had been slain. 
 
THE BARBECUE 141 
 
 Frank, meantime, stood staring down at the 
 dying man, so powerless that he could not lift a 
 finger. But he was brought to his senses by being 
 roughly dragged to the ground, and a strange 
 voice said : — 
 
 " You are under arrest for disturbing a public 
 meeting." 
 
 " But they are traitors, and murderers, and 
 Cop—" 
 
 But a hand laid over his mouth cut off further 
 speech, and the owner led Frank away to his own 
 buggy and placed him in charge of a man who was 
 seated in it. 
 
 " You young fool ! don't you know how to keep 
 your mouth shut ? You can't stir up Copperheads 
 without gettin' bit." 
 
 " Who are you ? " asked Frank. 
 
 *' I 'm Lish Conway, provost marshal for this 
 district. Now you go home as quick as you can, 
 for I don't want another murder on my hands." 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 A FRIEND IN NEED 
 
 Jim Swazey was of the order of men which is 
 cruel to everything gentle ; if a little dog fawned 
 on him, he would kick it away from mere sur- 
 plus of savagery. He was especially ruthless to 
 women who had worn out his fancy, or crossed his 
 prurient purpose ; but he rarely met resistance 
 from those on whom his vagrant fancy fell. Why 
 a man of his nature should have selected a girl 
 like Lucetta as the object of his pursuit is one of 
 the world-old mysteries. Her unveiled repugnance 
 to him only strengthened his resolution to over- 
 come it, and when Frank appeared on the scene it 
 settled into deadly purpose. 
 
 There was one woman he could neither impress 
 nor bully. He more than met his match when he 
 met Mrs. Bowles. Her large, strong physique well 
 matched his own ; her bitter tongue silenced his, 
 or set him stammering ; a glance of her irate, 
 piercing eye — gray as half -chilled steel, it had a 
 red spot within it — searched out the most secret 
 meanness of his soul, and he withered before it, 
 as surely as did the " keerless weed " at her 
 kitchen door, on which she threw hot water. 
 
A FRIEND IN NEED 143 
 
 She intuitively knew Swazey to tlie core of liis 
 bad nature, and reckoned him a bully, a coward, 
 and a most unmanly churl. So that when he 
 climbed the steep hill before her house the after- 
 noon of the barbecue, and asked her for protection 
 till dark, she was prepared for any disclosure he 
 might make, or that she might be able to worm 
 out of him. 
 
 She asked briefly and compeUingly, " What you 
 been a-doin' ?" 
 
 He answered sullenly, " I 've been to the bar- 
 becue." 
 
 " Got into trouble, I reckon ? " 
 
 The fellow's sullen eye sent her a sidewise 
 glance of hate, and he grinned wolfishly, showing 
 strong, tobacco-stained teeth, but the straining of 
 the upper lip did not betoken mirth. He made no 
 other answer. 
 
 " You have — have n't you ? " Mrs. Bowles in- 
 sisted. 
 
 He nodded an unwilling assent. 
 
 She held in her hand, as if interrupted in read- 
 ing it, an old newspaper, of a date two months 
 back, printed on coarse yellowish paper, the " Crof- 
 ton Index," issued at the county seat, strongly 
 Union in its policy. 
 
 " Look a' here ! Seems to me this fits you pretty 
 well ! " and she placed a calloused finger on a para- 
 graph in the telegraphic news. It was an account 
 of a bounty-jumper and deserter, supposed to be 
 an emissary of the Southern Confederacy, who, in 
 
144 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 making his escape from Camp Morton, where he 
 was confined awaiting trial, had wrested the gun 
 from the guard, shot and nearly killed him with 
 his own weapon, and, in the excitement following, 
 made good his escape. 
 
 " I got it in town yesterday, round some carpet- 
 chain, and, as I don't get a-hold of a paper often, 
 I just thought I 'd read it. It 's mighty interestin' 
 readin', and val'able, too ! " And she smiled a sin- 
 ister, mocking smile, more awful than her frown, 
 under which he quailed and shrank back shudder- 
 ing. 
 
 " You 're a poor sort of a feller ! What you 
 'fraid of ? I reckon you done it to help the cause, 
 though bounty- jumpers ain't much to my taste." 
 
 " Is there a reward out ? " he faltered abjectly, 
 overlooking the fact that he was confirming her 
 suspicions by asking. 
 
 " Yes, ' two hundred,' dead or alive." 
 
 The poltroon cowered. 
 
 " Why, I believe you 're 'fraid I '11 try and get 
 it ! " She looked him over with contempt. " I 'm 
 not after blood-money ! All I want is to see the 
 cause prosper ; and if you 've done these black 
 abolitionists out of a cent, or, better, killed any of 
 them and sent them to burn in the pit for the sake 
 of the cause, I 'm the woman to help you ! Though, 
 God knows, I ain't got no use for such poor cattle 
 as you." 
 
 The man seemed cowed by the superior strength 
 of her nature and the scorn she heaped on him, 
 
A FRIEND IN NEED 145 
 
 yet resented it, after the manner of his kind, as 
 coming from a woman, and was wicked and angry- 
 enough, had he dared, to have slain her on the 
 spot for her contempt and knowledge of him. 
 
 " I want to know what I 'm gettin' into first, 
 before I pass my word, Jim. What 'a' you been 
 a-doin' at the barbecue ? " 
 
 " Well, I aimed to shoot that damned Lincoln 
 dog that's pushin' himself into everything round 
 here. He tore the badge off of me in meetin' ! 
 He 's insulted me every chance he 's got ! It 's on 
 account of him I 'm on bail. And he 's cut me 
 out of takin' Lucetta Whittaker to the barbecue." 
 
 " Oh, a quarrel over a girl ! I might 'a' known 
 it. Men '11 fight over a slip of a girl they take a 
 notion to, like two yaller curs ; and they 're always 
 takin' a likin' to the same one, though the good 
 Lord knows he made enough of 'em to go round. 
 And a matter of duty '11 slip by, and they '11 sleep 
 through it side by side, like a pair o' hounds in a 
 kennel." And she broke into a harsh laugh. 
 
 The man was furious enough to throttle her. 
 He was not accustomed to self-control, and was 
 only held in check by her extraordinary strength, 
 knowing well he would have fared ill in a contest. 
 
 " Him and me ain't done with each other yet," 
 said Swazey menacingly. 
 
 " I omess Frank 's able to look out for himself 
 if he is a ' Lincoln dog.' He don't make threats ; 
 he acts. Or was it him you killed ? I reckon you 
 don't want to hide for anything else but murder." 
 
146 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " No, I did n't kill him. The girl — curse her ! 
 — knocked my arm, and I killed a young fellow 
 that's deputy marshal, — I don't knowhis name." 
 
 " Served him right ! " observed Mrs. Bowles, 
 grimly approving. " Come in ! Liddy 's at the 
 barbecue. She has the only tongue here, hung 
 in the middle and loose at both ends. They '11 
 not look here for you. Come in." 
 
 Swazey entered the kitchen, and Mrs. Bowles 
 opened the door of a closet by the chimney, and, 
 pointing to a trap-door in its ceiling, said : — 
 
 " I guess you 'd better get up in the loft. It 's 
 dark up there, but it ain't as dark as the grave." 
 She nodded with grim significance. 
 
 The man's lips worked savagely to keep back 
 the curses he would have flung at her had he dared. 
 He mounted a chair, slid back the little trap-door, 
 and drew himself up through the narrow hole by 
 sheer strength. 
 
 There he lay the rest of the day, and late in 
 the dusk of the evening, while Liddy Ann was 
 milking, Mrs. Bowles called him to come down. 
 She gave him his supper by no other light than 
 the low kitchen fire. 
 
 When he had voraciously eaten a hasty meal, 
 Mrs. Bowles said : ; — 
 
 " I reckon you 'd better make for Bear Den Hol- 
 low. It 's a good six mile from here, and they '11 
 never think of lookin' for you there. They'll 
 think, from the start you 've got, you '11 be a heap 
 f urder off. Just follow the creek down ; they 've 
 
A FRIEND IN NEED 147 
 
 scoured the banks every foot by this time. There 's 
 good hidin' places in the Den, and the raili'oad 's 
 only four miles south, and you 'd better git into 
 Kentucky as fast as you can. There you '11 be all 
 right. Here 's some powder and shot. Reckon 
 you 've got a gun ? " She handed him a compact 
 bundle as she spoke. 
 
 " No, I let mine fall when I stumbled over a root, 
 and did n't have time to pick it up again, they were 
 after me so close," and he swore viciously at his 
 pursuers. 
 
 Mrs. Bowles unhooked her sleeve at the wrist- 
 band and rolled it up to her shoulder, displaying 
 an arm as sinewy as the blacksmith's. She opened 
 the meal-chest, full to the brim with corn-meal, and 
 thrust her naked arm down to the bottom and drew 
 up a good-sized parcel, well wrapped up in paper, 
 and handed it to Swazey. 
 
 " They 're for the ' cause,' " she said express- 
 ively. 
 
 He took it, hastily tore off the paper and dis- 
 closed a brace of revolvers ; he snapped the trig- 
 gers and found them in perfect order. 
 
 *' If the men were all like you, Mrs. Bowles, our 
 cause would succeed," he said, compelled to admira- 
 tion. 
 
 Liddy Ann was heard coming heavily along the 
 board walk, and Mrs. Bowles opened the door and 
 said : — 
 
 " Go quick ! Harmless fools like her ain't to 
 be trusted." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 IN BEAR DEN HOLLOW 
 
 News in country communities is sporadic ; it 
 starts no one knows how, and spreads insidiously. 
 About a week after the flight of Jim Swazey, it 
 was rumored that there was a ghost in Bear Den 
 Hollow. One night, two boys, fishing for " cat " 
 in the deep hole at the mouth of the ravine, had 
 seen a dim figure down in the hollow, which was 
 lighted in flickering spots by an overhead moon. 
 With boyish bravado they had called out : — 
 
 " Hi, there ! who are you ? " 
 
 The apparition had sunk into the ground, they 
 averred, before their eyes. The story ran further 
 day by day, spreading like circles in water when a 
 pebble is dropped, till the news reached the ham- 
 let of Appleton, which lay five miles southeast of 
 Ridgely, where it had come to the knowledge of 
 Colonel Gore, who commanded the Home Guards 
 in that section. Orders had been sent to him, as 
 to all the commanding officers of the State militia, 
 to be on the alert for bounty-jumpers, deserters, 
 and instigators of insurrection. Provost-marshals 
 were numerous throughout the State, acting with 
 the Home Guard and those of the civil officers who 
 
IN BEAR DEN HOLLOW 149 
 
 were loyal, for iu many localities these latter were 
 not to be trusted. The militia was kept on a war 
 footing, a precaution rendered necessary by the 
 discouraging and threatening aspect of affairs. 
 
 A description of the deserter from Camp Morton 
 had been furnished Colonel Gore ; and the story 
 of the murdered deputy was all about the country. 
 Sheriff Hale had been in search of the murderer, 
 but up to the day Frank Neal met him on the street 
 in Crofton, and told him the story of the " ghost," 
 — with his own interpretation of the mystery, — he 
 had not had the slightest clue, and so he at once 
 made his plans quietly to investigate the affair. 
 
 The same afternoon this information was given 
 by Frank to the sheriff, Tapp appeared in Apple- 
 ton with a supply of tinware suited to the equip- 
 ment of soldiers, and he sought out the officer to 
 dispose of his wares. Immediately after his trans- 
 action with Colonel Gore, a guard of half a dozen 
 men was ordered to make ready as secretly as 
 might be for instant duty, to meet their command- 
 ing officer singly, at a place and time appointed, 
 that night. 
 
 Neither the colonel nor the sheriff were believers 
 in ghosts, and each strongly suspected this one 
 might materialize into the man he sought, and, 
 without being aware of it, they acted in concert- 
 Sheriff Hale set off late in the evening with 
 two constables. They rode horseback, on account 
 of the rough roads, which in places were impassable 
 for a vehicle, and they were joined by Frank at 
 
150 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 Kldgely. Colonel Gore had the benefit of vicinage, 
 and reached Bear Den Hollow just as the quiver- 
 ing gray of dawn displaced the darkness, before a 
 tinge of sunlight had brightened the sky. 
 
 The squad of men accompanying him defiled, 
 like Indians, on the narrow footpath edging the 
 stream. A tumultuous "branch" dashing into 
 the creek, as if glad to escape the gloomy precincts 
 of a large ravine, warned them they had reached 
 their destination. A cold wind made the men 
 shiver as they turned into the little canyon. On 
 the hilltop, a fox barked a sharp warning of ap- 
 proach ; buzzards sailed high, with a shrill swish of 
 wings, startled at the unwonted intrusion ; a song- 
 sparrow, which has few hours of silence, tinkled in 
 a hidden spot ; an alert squirrel darted up a tree, 
 tail lashing, chattering furiously, and continued 
 his flight in mid-air, sjiringing from bough to bough 
 to a place of safety deep in the woods. Further 
 up the glen, the brook threw itself headlong with 
 loud complaint down a tiny precipice, in haste to 
 quit the hateful place ; its ceaseless voice domi- 
 nated sounds of lesser volume. The search party 
 disturbed sleeping snakes, that glided away with 
 a hiss, and routed cold toads from their hiding- 
 places. They crashed through thickets of leather- 
 wood and spicewood, through brakes and ferns, 
 scaled the sides of the ravine with the sure-footed- 
 ness of goats, — rousing the owls to querulousness, 
 — and brought terror to a little world of insect 
 life, scurrying, flying out of their way. 
 
IN BEAR DEN HOLLOW 151 
 
 The sides of the ravine were walled with huge 
 flaked strata of sandstone ; and not infrequently 
 great slabs fell from their places and brought up 
 tilted at dangerous angles, checked in their down- 
 ward progress by boulders or tree-stumps. No 
 difficulty, however great, hindered them in explor- 
 ing every inch of the glen, but not a trace of 
 human creature could they find. 
 
 By a mere chance, the men came together again 
 at a point where a tiny rill told of a sequestered 
 spring. "Worried as fox-hounds that have lost trail, 
 jaded and thirsty, they followed up a fissure-like 
 opening to its head, where they discovered a spring 
 beneath a penthouse of rock, so placed that the 
 sun's rays never found it out. It spread in a wide, 
 shallow circle over a bed of white sand thrown up 
 momently in tiny jets, that gently crinkled its sur- 
 face. The men fell on their knees, hot and tired, 
 glad to drink as humbly as the wild denizens of 
 the place. 
 
 The first man at its brink was Tapp, and his 
 quick eye saw on the soft ground the fresh imprint 
 of a human foot ; large and firm was the foot that 
 had pressed that tell-tale mould. 
 
 The others were following in single file, the 
 colonel at their head. Tapp pointed down, and' 
 said to him : — 
 
 " I think your man 's here." 
 
 The colonel, well versed in Indian lore, stooped 
 and examined the tracks. 
 
 "Yes, they're perfectly fresh. He must have 
 
152 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 come just before we got here, and has n't had time 
 to get far away," he said, speaking softly so that 
 only Tapp heard. 
 
 The entire squad had collected at the spring, 
 and the colonel gave orders that some should 
 watch the head of this little ravine, while others 
 deployed right and left to scale its sides. The 
 mouth of the larger glen, debouching on the river, 
 was left unguarded, for it could be approached 
 only on foot, and had been searched until they were 
 perfectly satisfied no one was hiding there. The 
 hunt began again, and they gradually closed in to 
 the point agreed on, — the sombre spring, — peer- 
 ing under every bush, behind stumps and boulders, 
 even into fissures in the steep sides. Slowly and 
 warily they came together in a narrowing circle. 
 
 At last a sharp, surprised cry warned them the 
 quarry was run to earth. About a hundred feet 
 up the glen, wedged under a great slab of sand- 
 stone fallen from the wall above, and held totter- 
 ingly aslant by a shattered sapling, quivering to 
 further fall, crouched the murderer. A slight tilt 
 of the great rock would have released it and 
 crushed him ; but it was his sole chance, and, when 
 chances are narrowed to unity, men take desperate 
 ones. 
 
 Like a creature at bay, as the men surrounded 
 his refuge in response to his captor's cry, the pris- 
 oner sprang to his feet, cursing fiercely. He glared 
 at them from under his mat of tangled hair, like a 
 trapped beast. His face was pale from hunger, 
 
IN BEAR DEN HOLLOW 153 
 
 and his eyes hollow from sleeplessness. He stood 
 defiant with superb courage, determined not to be 
 taken, hopeless ?.s the situation was. The sheer 
 wall of stone behind him prevented surprise from 
 that direction, so that he had but to guard his 
 right and left hand from behind the perilous am- 
 bush of the rocking stone. 
 
 " Surrender ! " commanded Colonel Gore. 
 
 Not a word did Swazey say, but with a revolver 
 in each hand, as if determined to work as much 
 destruction as he could before he himself should 
 meet it, opened a rapid fire which flew wide of the 
 mark. Waiting for orders, the colonel's men did 
 not, at first, return fire. But one youth, with the 
 fighting passion for the first time roused, rushed 
 on Swazey as if to tear him from his ambuscade ; 
 a shot, and he sank down in his tracks, apparently 
 lifeless. At this, pitiless fury took possession of 
 the squad, who, deaf to the orders of their officer, 
 fell on Swazey as if to tear him from his den like 
 a hunted wolf. Ill-trained, untried as soldiers, 
 they forgot discipline, forgot their revolvers in 
 their holsters ; not a shot did they fire, but made 
 ready to use the weapons nature had given them, 
 their brawny fists. 
 
 The sharp report of Swazey's revolvers, which 
 the echoes repeated clamorously, filled the hol- 
 low until his ammunition was gone. At bay and 
 desperate, he turned to the cruel wall behind him 
 and tried to scale it, tearing the flesh from his 
 nails in his frantic grip. He managed to drag 
 
154 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 himself up a few yards, his chest heaving with his 
 sobbing breath. The rock above him would not 
 have furnished foothold for a bird. When he 
 realized escape was impossible, he beat his head 
 against the cliff again and again. His pursuers 
 were the better men, agile, sure-footed, and used 
 to climbing the steep sides of the ravine. Two of 
 them soon dragged him struggling to the ground. 
 
 " It 's McCune and no mistake ! " said Tapp, as 
 he looked the prisoner over. 
 
 " Who ? " asked Colonel Gore. 
 
 " The deserter — bounty-jumper — and ex-rebel 
 soldier that nearly brained the guard at Camp 
 Morton ! " 
 
 " It 's Jim Swazey, the blacksmith's hand, that 
 tried to kiU Frank Neal at the barbecue, and did 
 kill the deputy marshal," said another man. 
 
 The prisoner stood with a hand tightly gripped 
 by each of his captors, his lips working nervously 
 over his teeth, his chest heaving deeply, and his 
 wicked eyes glancing quickly from one to another 
 of the men surrounding him. He offered no resist- 
 ance, but seemed to have given up hopelessly. As 
 the last man finished speaking, he wrested his 
 right hand free, and quick as a flash drew a knife 
 from his breast and aimed it at the heart of one 
 of his guards. Tapp as quickly struck down the 
 miscreant's hand. 
 
 " We 've had enouah of this ! " cried one of the 
 
 men. 
 
 " Hang him ! hang him ! " 
 
IN BEAR DEN HOLLOW 155 
 
 " Yes, liang liim ! He 's had his chance ! " 
 And the rope which was to have bound him as a 
 prisoner was unwound for the fearful office of his 
 execution. 
 
 Tapp tried to prevent it ; he implored them to 
 let the law take its course, but all were against 
 him, even Colonel Gore. As well try to stop a 
 hurricane by a silken scarf as to check by rational 
 speech the wild passion of men whose blood cries 
 for blood. In an instant the hapless wretch was 
 bound, the noose was about his neck. One man 
 threw the end of the rope over the limb of a huge 
 pine-tree tha£ moaned distressfully in a passing 
 gust. Eager hands grasped it, and ran with it its 
 length, dragging the wretch off his feet till he dan- 
 gled in mid-air, plunging and writhing hideously, 
 even cursing till the tightening rope throttled him. 
 The noise and excitement of the fearful scene 
 made the men deaf to all other sounds, so that the 
 approach of hurrying feet was unheeded. The 
 sheriff and his men burst on them, horrified to be- 
 hold the body of a man spinning at the end of a 
 rope like a plummet. 
 
 " This proceeding is illegal ! " shouted Hale in 
 agitation. " The State of Indiana does not recog- 
 nize lynch law as anything more than murder." 
 
 " Sir, the State of Indiana authorizes, by a pro- 
 clamation of the governor, that this man shall be 
 taken dead or alive, and, further, I am authorized 
 by martial law to use my authority at discretion. 
 This is a sort of drum-head court-martial," said 
 the colonel grimly. 
 
156 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " Good heavens ! " cried Frank Neal. " Cut him 
 down quick ! Don't you see he 's nearly dead ? " 
 
 " Let him die ! " was the fierce answer, accom- 
 panied with curses. 
 
 " See what he 's done ! " and the men pointed 
 up the ravine where lay the body of the boy, for- 
 gotten till then. 
 
 The wretch at the end of the rope was now as 
 quiet as his victim, but for the pink-tinged froth 
 bubbling from his lips, and an occasional roll of 
 his bulging eyes and spasmodic drawing up of his 
 extremities. On this ghastly spectacle these men, 
 who were ordinarily peaceable and law-abiding cit- 
 izens, looked remorselessly, unmoved by Frank's 
 appeal or the sheriff's protest. 
 
 Suddenly Frank sprang forward and slashed the 
 taut rope with his pocket-knife, but too late. The 
 lifeless body fell to the ground in a limp heap, 
 hideously grotesque. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 TREATS OF FAILUEES 
 
 After the tragedy of Bear Den Hollow the 
 Knights kept in the background, impressed at last 
 by the fact that there was a terrific, silent power 
 opposed to them, which they in their infatuated 
 ignorance had arrogantly disregarded, — the Law 
 and the will of the determined but patient head of 
 the commonwealth. They were further disheart- 
 ened when the news of the ludicrous panic, satiri- 
 cally called the Battle of Pogue's Run, permeated to 
 their remote neighborhood. These rural Hoosiers 
 had their own stubborn idea of courage, and were 
 ashamed and disgusted at the poltroonery of their 
 leaders. Many, on being enlightened as to the 
 real ends of the order, which they had been taught 
 was for self-defense in view of certain contingen- 
 cies, deserted the cause. 
 
 On the convention of 1863 the Knights had 
 built their hopes, for they had carefully planned 
 to control it for their own ends. Governor Mor- 
 ton was fully informed of their plans through his 
 secret agents, and ready for any emergency ; and 
 when a great crowd had gathered in the State 
 House grounds, and, as Harv Wilson said, " every- 
 
158 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 tiling was comin' our way," tlie cadenced tread of 
 soldiery sounded above the strident voice of the 
 speaker spouting treason. A scene of ludicrous 
 panic ensued ; men fled in every direction. So de- 
 moralized were they, they did not stop to watch 
 the passage of the artillery, which did not halt, but 
 paraded with set faces and twinkling eyes, amused 
 at the laughable dismay of the foe in this the least 
 sanguinary battle in which they had taken part. 
 
 These fustian Knights returned to their homes 
 humiliated, but were not deterred from continuing 
 their plottings. They had been fully enlightened, 
 however, on certain points, — the thorough grasp 
 of the situation by the governor, and his inflexible 
 determination to crush them, quietly if possible, 
 forcibly if need be. Their deplorable failure to 
 carry out their designs in so small a matter as 
 seizing the State Democratic Convention convinced 
 them that the time had not yet come for the up- 
 rising urged by the leaders ; and a warning from 
 Governor Morton, that if they wished to keep their 
 heads from the noose they must abandon their trea- 
 sonable schemes, helped to these conclusions. 
 
 But another and even greater failure was to fol- 
 low. With wonderful prescience on the part of 
 the authorities, Morgan's raid had been anticipated, 
 and the Knights, who had hoped to turn this also 
 to their benefit, again failed through imperfect 
 organization. They were ready with their "Mor- 
 gan sign," but not with their assistance, for they 
 had not counted on the prompt action of the militia, 
 
TREATS OF FAILURES 159 
 
 and were disconcerted. About a week after the 
 lyncliing of Swazey, that intrepid guerrilla appeared 
 on the outskirts of Middle County and halted for 
 a moment at Harv Wilson's door for provender. 
 Morgan laughed contemptuously as Harv made 
 the fantastic sign agreed upon, and turned his jaded 
 animals into the flourishing cornfield to trample 
 at will, while his men feasted royally on the boun- 
 teous harvest-dinner spread, as if in waiting for 
 them, the guests having fled at the first sight of 
 the long, irregular line of galloping horsemen. 
 Morgan had been led to hope for cooperation from 
 the Knights, and when they failed him, either from 
 fear, or lack of dispatch in making ready, he did 
 not spare them. He singled them out for his con- 
 tempt and showed it plainly, the " Morgan sign " 
 aiding him. 
 
 The bold marauder came and went like a flash- 
 ing meteor, while his Hoosier allies stood agape, 
 surprised into total forgetfulness of the arms they 
 had secreted in their oat-bins, meal-chests, and 
 other unique hiding-places for this very emergency, 
 and they watched him vanish in clouds of dust, 
 astride their best horses, closely pursued by the 
 Home Guard. 
 
 But treason in Indiana died hard, and none of 
 these misadventures made a lasting impression, 
 nor taught them that there was a vigilance exercised 
 by the governor, strong as it was patient, which 
 neither slumbered nor slept. 
 
 When the terrible news of the lynching of Swazey 
 
160 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 was known in the neighborhood, then, indeed, they 
 were brought to a realization of their danger. The 
 Home Guard, up to that time, had been held in 
 contempt as too cowardly to fight with the armies 
 in the field, and too pusillanimous to be feared at 
 home. That they might use extreme measures had 
 never entered their minds. But force, rough bru- 
 tality, successfully applied, brings recognition with 
 a certainty which neither mild persuasion nor gen- 
 tle remonstrance can command. 
 
 For weeks the hanging was discussed stealthily, 
 as if the arm of military power was stretched out, 
 ready to throttle the first offender that dared speak 
 openly. 
 
 The timid members of the Vestibule dropped 
 off, with those who disapproved the designs of the 
 order, but the half dozen members of the " Third 
 Degree," of which Harv Wilson was one, were 
 more secret and active than ever. Their numerous 
 discomfitures crystallized their rather indefinite 
 plans into a definite aim of gigantic proportion and 
 incredible audacity. The name of the order was 
 now changed to the Sons of Liberty, to escape the 
 odium of the old designation, but it was of no avail ; 
 " Knights " they were, and " Knights " they were 
 to remain to the end of time. 
 
 The men who continued in the order took de- 
 sperate chances, — watched as they were by the 
 secret emissaries of the governor, — and trusted 
 only those who were bold, daring, and strong in 
 the cause. 
 
TREATS OF FAILURES 161 
 
 The autumn and winter passed away in the 
 vicinity of E,idgely without further hostile demon- 
 stration on the part of the Temple ; the Knights 
 were made the object of unceasing surveillance 
 by the officers of the peace, although they gave 
 no ground for complaint. Harv Wilson and a 
 chosen few made frequent trips to Indianapolis, 
 and Tapp disappeared from the neighborhood. 
 No one was surprised at this, however, for a rag- 
 peddler seldom braved the discomforts of winter 
 and bad roads to ply his trade ; he worked only 
 in summer. 
 
 The following spring, the absorbing questions 
 were the presidential election and the call for men 
 for one year's enlistment. The people feared an- 
 other draft, and the old antagonism was aroused to 
 even greater violence. In the early spring the 
 news reached this secluded hamlet of Ridgely of 
 the successful raid of the Peace Men in the ad- 
 joining State of Illinois, and the Knights gloried 
 over it as a victory for their cause. They resented 
 the degrading of McClellan and the promotion of 
 Grant, so that all things seemed to work together 
 for evil throughout that spring of 1864. It would 
 seem that complications were serious enough with- 
 out the added rancor of a campaign year. To fur- 
 ther involve the affairs of Indiana, the Knights of 
 the Golden Circle, masquerading under the name 
 of Peace party, ostensibly seceded from the Demo- 
 cratic party, yet nevertheless controlled it. 
 
 Apparently none of these events ruffled the stag- 
 
162 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 nant pool of life in and about Ridgely. But who 
 knows what riots and tragedies go on under the 
 turgid surface of such stagnation ? 
 
 When spring broke, it found the people in the 
 Neal neighborhood about their accustomed tasks. 
 Frank Neal had returned to the army, and was 
 soon to be mustered out, as his three years' term of 
 enlistment had nearly expired. 
 
 At the blacksmith's shop, the usual company 
 gathered to discuss " war news " to the ring of 
 Alec's anvil, — a company a little more poverty- 
 stricken and a little more discouraged than it had 
 been the previous spring, for they could see no 
 hope of peace. Grant was advancing on Rich- 
 mond, and they believed Lee invincible. 
 
 Swazey was never mentioned, and a boy of the 
 neighborhood took his place at the bellows. Alec 
 himself had quit the Knights after that night in 
 Harv's cabin, but remained faithful to his oath 
 not to betray them. 
 
 The old and young spinster had remained the 
 winter through in the lonely cabin, Lucetta study- 
 ing. Miss Abbot teaching ; and the bond of affec- 
 tion seemed to grow stronger each day between 
 the two, for whom no one else seemed particularly 
 to care. Lucetta had recovered sufficiently from 
 the loss of both parents to enjoy to the utmost her 
 books and the society of her wise friend. Her 
 formerly too serious air was tempered by gleams 
 of girlish brightness, but she could never be viva- 
 cious, so subdued was her spirit by years of hard 
 
TREATS OF FAILURES 163 
 
 drudgery and poverty. Her appearance had im- 
 proved : she was no longer so slight as to merit 
 Mrs. Stump's description of " slab-sided ; " slender 
 she would always be ; release from constant ser- 
 vice, and the good plain food Miss Abbot insisted 
 on, had rounded her figure prettily. Even the 
 contour of her face had changed, taking on a fine 
 oval ; her soft, dark eyes were lighted with eager 
 intelligence ; and her hair, glossily brown as the 
 " buck-eye " nut, shaded a low, smooth forehead 
 from which the lines of care had vanished. Alto- 
 gether, hers was a pleasing countenance to look 
 upon. 
 
 Mrs. Bowles and Liddy Ann had passed the 
 desolate winter months in the dreary task of cut- 
 ting carpet-rags, Liddy Ann's tongue babbling 
 like a mountain brook, Mrs. Bowles silent and 
 grim as the rock that walled its channel. 
 
 Who does not love life at each recurring spring, 
 whose glories are visible and are the archetype of 
 that never-ending existence, the sum of all our 
 hopes, the despair of certain knowledge ! 
 
 It was with joy the farm-boy turned the long 
 furrows in Mrs. Bowles's west field, and even that 
 grim creature felt faint stirrings of pleasure as she 
 followed the plough, dropping corn. But no sound 
 fell from her lips to show her sympathy with his 
 mood, which was of the blithest, for there was the 
 unforgotten ecstasy of the meadow-lark's song to 
 cheer him ; the odor of fresh-turned earth to float 
 about him ; the delight of faint green in the pasture 
 
164 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 to feast his eye ; the placid content o£ the cattle, as 
 they nibbled the short tender herbage, to add to his 
 content : all tutored him in thankfulness for the 
 common but bountiful pleasures Nature gives for 
 the mere taking in early spring. 
 
 At Neal's, life had moved on with its accustomed 
 placidity and lavish bounty. They planted their 
 corn and waited for the harvest, accepting serenely 
 good or bad. 
 
 Thus spring slipped away till the corn was 
 nearly ready to "lay by," and no storm had trou- 
 bled the life of Ridgely and its outlying farmsteads. 
 Not even the rag-peddler had intruded into its 
 calm, and they feebly wished he might come ; for 
 he did not drive hard bargains, and was lively and 
 " friendly," a homely word that meant much of 
 good-fellowship among them. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 AN OBJECT OF SUSPICION 
 
 Mrs. Bowles's spring-house, through which had 
 been led a sparkling brook, the outpouring of the 
 spring near by, was perhaps a hundred yards from 
 the kitchen door, halfway down the hillside. The 
 milk-crocks were sunk nearly to the top in its cold, 
 crystal water. Mrs. Bowles had been skimming the 
 cream for the churning, for the flighty Liddy Ann 
 was never allowed to intrude there. As she came 
 from her work to the house, her quick eye caught 
 sight of a white horse jogging down the road with 
 a hitch peculiar to an animal with the stringhalt. 
 
 It was fully a quarter of a mile away, down the 
 straight road, but she knew without a doubt it was 
 the tin-peddler's "nag" and van. 
 
 " Drat him ! " she muttered, as she gazed from 
 under her hand which shielded her eyes from the 
 morning sun. 
 
 " What 's he back here again for ? Nothin' 
 good, I swow ! " 
 
 It was only about six o'clock in the morning, 
 but all the neighborhood had breakfasted by that 
 hour, as a thin trail of blue wood-smoke from dying 
 fires testified, and had gone about their daily avo- 
 
166 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 cations. The sound of Liddy washing clothes in 
 the back kitchen ; the voice of the boy urging his 
 lazy horse as he ploughed for the last time before 
 the corn was " laid by ; " clucking, querulous hens 
 with their " second hatch " scratching around the 
 door-yard ; the bees busy loading their thighs with 
 pollen in the flaunting hollyhocks in the garden; 
 the entangled gnats shrilling from the gummy stalks 
 of the " painted ladies ; " the whetting of the scythe 
 from the oat-fields near by ; the faint rasping of a 
 cross-cut saw from the woods, — all told of a busy, 
 simple life of labor. 
 
 Suddenly a pea-fowl screeched discordantly from 
 the top of a tall pine-tree on the bluff. 
 
 " It '11 rain before another sun-up," muttered 
 Mrs. Bowles. For thereabout the cry of that bird 
 was firmly believed to be an unfailing sign of rain. 
 
 By this time the white horse and rickety wagon 
 had drawn so near that a tinkling could be heard, 
 and the ribs of the scraggy horse showed plainly. 
 
 " Drat that feller ! " she repeated. " Come back 
 here again, has he ? I don't trust him ! He 's 
 a-peddlin' for something more than tinware ! He 
 means mischief, or I lose my guess ! " 
 
 Her lips were closed tight as she watched him 
 open her gate at the far end of the long lane. She 
 took a sudden resolution, and with her to resolve 
 was to do, so that before he had fastened the gate 
 she was in the kitchen. She said to Liddy Ann : — 
 
 " I 'm a-goin' over to Josh Miller's. The baby 's 
 took awful bad ag'in ! They 've sent for me ! " 
 
AN OBJECT OF SUSPICION 167 
 
 « 
 "My! too bad! Who'd they send?" asked 
 
 Liddy eagerly, with an unquenchable curiosity to 
 
 learn the most trivial detail, peculiar to her. 
 
 Mrs. Bowles ignored her question, with her ac- 
 customed disdain of her handmaiden when she 
 considered her prying unwarrantable, but not the 
 slightest impression did it make on that irrepressi- 
 ble newsmonger. 
 
 " Mebby 1 11 be home to dinner, and mebby I 
 won't," said Mrs. Bowles, as she took from its 
 nail her light summer shawl of delaine. Putting 
 on her sun-bonnet, she passed out of the kitchen 
 door, leaving Liddy Ann baffled. In such narrow 
 lives, the slightest incident is of interest ; and when 
 one is born with an acute desire to know every- 
 thing, however trifling, as was Liddy Ann, disap- 
 pointment is real pain, and she sighed as she re- 
 sumed her work, with the comment : — 
 
 " Miz Bowles is that gosterin' and masterful ! " 
 
 Mrs. Bowles disappeared around the corner of 
 the house, and, what was surprising, into it again, 
 for she opened the front door of the sacred " par- 
 lor-room," disappeared, and closed it quickly after 
 her. 
 
 The house had been built before the township 
 road was constructed. Such roads are placed at 
 stated intervals provided for by the rectangular 
 survey of the State ; thus it happened that the new 
 one ran back of her dwelling, and the lane from it 
 led up to the kitchen, and the front of the house 
 was toward Honey Creek. 
 
168 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 The peddler came on, with his wares jingling 
 pleasantly. When he reached the little orchard 
 by the kitchen, he tied his lank beast to the palings 
 and walked with swift jauntiness up to the door. 
 Liddy Ann's loud rubbing on the washboard 
 drowned his approaching steps, which were light 
 to stealthiness, compared to the lumbering tread 
 of the men who walk always on the bosom of the 
 earth or in furrows. 
 
 " Howd'y, Liddy Ann ! " he called out cheer- 
 fully from the doorway. 
 
 The tin-peddler was a friendly soul, and had 
 adopted the customs of the community with sur- 
 prising quickness, one of which was to call every 
 one, from infancy to middle age, who was not ven- 
 erable enough to merit the prefix of " uncle " or 
 " aunt," by his Christian name, and he had been 
 given his from the first. There was an amazing 
 number of honorary "Uncle Johnnies" and "Aunt 
 Betties " in the community, and, with the sagacity 
 of a politician, Tapp knew them all and so addressed 
 them. 
 
 Liddy gave a scream and exclaimed : — 
 
 " My, how you flustered me, Oliver ! Why, 
 when did you come?" She left off work, and, 
 stripping the suds from her bare arms, pushed the 
 " scolding-locks " up from her neck with a sweep 
 of her puckered hand, preening as naturally as a 
 wet hen. She came toward him mincingly, as was 
 her manner in company. 
 
AN OBJECT OF SUSPICION 169 
 
 " I 'm powerful glad to see you ! Won't you 
 come in and rest your hat? " she asked. 
 
 " I just got inio the neighborhood this morning. 
 I can't come in, for I 've got to go nearly to Crof- 
 ton to-day. Is Mrs. Bowles well ? Thought I 'd 
 just stop as I was passing, to see if she wanted any- 
 thing to-day." 
 
 " My, it 's too bad ! Miz Bowles ain't home. 
 She had to go over to Josh Miller's. The baby 's 
 took bad ag'in. It do beat all how that baby gits 
 sick! Puniest thing I ever did see. Set down, 
 won't you ? " she urged, handing him a splint-bot- 
 tomed chair. 
 
 " Guess I will for a minute. It ain't often I 
 get such a chance as this, Liddy, to see you alone. 
 Most as good as sparkin', ain't it ? " he said auda- 
 ciously. 
 
 The delighted Liddy tittered and said : — 
 
 " Oh, go 'long ! None of your foolin'." 
 
 " You say Mrs. Bowles is gone ? " 
 
 « Yes." 
 
 " Well, I 'm not sorry, Liddy Ann. Are you ? " 
 
 " I never thought nothin' about it. But why 
 ain't you sorry? " she asked, jerking her head with 
 clumsy coquetry. 
 
 " As if I need to tell you ! But I 've got to go. 
 Got to stop at Alec's to have a shoe set. Wish I 
 could stay in such good company all morning." 
 
 Liddy Ann bridled and her face flamed, for 
 there is no woman, however great a fool, and how- 
 ever persistently overlooked by the other sex, that 
 
170 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 is not amenable to tender insinuations. Man's 
 flattery makes itself felt, if it comes from the right 
 person. 
 
 Poor Liddy had never had a " feller," and this 
 speech seemed promising. She trembled and gig- 
 gled, gratified and agitated. 
 
 The peddler could scarcely refrain a smile at her 
 undisguised elation. His keen eye watched her 
 simpering face attentively meantime, much as a 
 doctor watches a patient after administering a po- 
 tent drug, in order to carry out his purpose at the 
 critical moment. Any one less a simpleton than 
 Liddy Ann could have seen there was more delib- 
 erate intention than tender sentiment in the look 
 he bent upon her. At last, with an effrontery 
 that completed his triumph, he planted an explo- 
 sive kiss on her lips. Her delight was pitiable, 
 because his deceit was so apparent. He started 
 through the door, then turned back as if an after- 
 thought had prompted him. 
 
 *' Oh, Liddy Ann, I saw lots of young squirrels 
 in the woods this morning, coming along. Do you 
 like them?" 
 
 " Well, I just reckon I do." 
 
 " I 've got my gun along, but I ain't got any 
 powder. I 'low to get some at Crofton to-day. 
 Wish I had some now and I 'd shoot you a mess 
 of squirrels." 
 
 "Land sakes! Ain't that funny, now? Miz 
 Bowles 's got some. She keeps it in the feed-bin. 
 I found it t' other day when I went to mix shorts 
 
AN OBJECT OF SUSPICION 171 
 
 in the milk for the weanin' calf. I come a-dashin' 
 in, and sez I : ' La, Miz Bowles, here 's a bag of 
 sometliin' I found in the bin with the shorts,' " 
 and Liddy paused for breath. 
 
 " Queer place to keep it," interrupted Tapp. 
 
 " Yes, I thought so, too. But Miz Bowles, she 
 said 't was powder, — she used to shoot like airy- 
 man when she was a girl, she said, — and she 's 
 afraid to have it in the house, for fear a spark 
 might reach it some way." 
 
 " Where did she get it ? I 'd like to get some, 
 too," cautiously pumped the peddler. 
 
 " La, I can't say. I don't know what she wants 
 of it, noway. She ain't got no gun now, leastways 
 not as I know of. When I asked what 's the sense 
 of havin' such dangerous truck 'round, she up and 
 said she did n't reckon I could see sense in much of 
 anythin', seein' I was mighty scarce of it ; that it 
 was her business ; there was times when it might be 
 needed, deserters, soldiers, and bounty-jumpers run- 
 nin' 'round the country. And she brought some 
 of it into the house. An' me that skeered of it ! " 
 
 " You don't think you could let me have some, 
 do you ? " 
 
 " I reckon I might find you a little. But Miz 
 Bowles is awful sharp about missin' things. . So 't 
 won't be more than half a teacupful." True to 
 her domestic instincts, Liddy Ann measured by 
 what was most familiar. 
 
 " Oh, that 's enough ! A little will go a good 
 ways in this case ! " said Tapp, chuckling. 
 
172 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 Liddy Ann went to the old corner cup"board, 
 and, standing on a chair, reached to the top shelf, 
 and took down a cracked teapot, too worthless for 
 use, yet kept for some association, after the strange 
 manner of women. It was empty. She tried a 
 decrepit sugar-bowl with like results ; and lastly 
 peered into an old earthen jar, which likewise 
 proved empty. 
 
 " Why, they ain't none ! Whatever could Miz 
 Bowles ha' done with it ! She filled them things, 
 for I saw her." 
 
 Her vapid face grew blanker, and the peddler 
 looked disappointed. With a few words of part- 
 ing, Tapp went away, and Liddy resumed her in- 
 terrupted task. 
 
 No sooner was the peddler out of sight than Mrs. 
 Bowles softly opened the front door of the " parlor- 
 room " and cautiously took her way to the wood, 
 whence came the droning sound of sawing. Her 
 face was livid with some emotion that was not fear ; 
 it was that mingling of rage and disgust one feels 
 at the involuntary baffling by a fool, from which 
 there is no security when chance thrusts him into 
 one's plans. 
 
 The men. Alec Rush and Jake Burrows, were 
 sawing, with the deliberation that comes of practice 
 and promises long staying power. The bright yel- 
 low sawdust showered down in little heaps, and 
 the pungent odor of sap fi-om green logs filled the 
 air and gave premonition of future trouble for the 
 housewife from clouds of smoke. 
 
AN OBJECT OF SUSPICION 173 
 
 Hearing only the screech of the dull saw, they 
 were not aware of Mrs. Bowles's presence until 
 her harsh, dominant voice broke on their ears, 
 causing them to stop work so suddenly that the 
 saw quivered through its whole length in the heart 
 of the log. 
 
 '• Anybody here but you two?" she asked, with- 
 out preliminary greetings. 
 
 " Why, howd'y ! You pretty near sheered us, 
 Mis' Bowles," said Alec Rush, with a good-natured 
 laugh. " No, there ain't nobody here but us." 
 
 " I always told you men folks not to be so fresh 
 with that tin-peddler," she said, going straight to 
 the point. " But you are such blinkards, you can't 
 see an inch before your noses " — 
 
 " Oh, pshaw now, Mis' Bowles, you 're that sus- 
 picious," interrupted Jake. 
 
 " And you 're such a trustin' fool, Jake Burrows! 
 You '11 let anybody skin you out of your hide be- 
 fore you know it." 
 
 The man flushed angrily, but did not resent the 
 taunt, for his reputation was established by a deal 
 in " green goods," as he well knew. 
 
 "What 'sup now?" 
 
 " I told you a week ago to tell Harv Wilson to 
 come and take off that stuff that 's in my bin." 
 
 " La, now. Mis' Bowles, I clean forgot it ! I 
 did for a fact ! " said Jake, with affability that 
 exasperated Mrs. Bowles. 
 
 " I might 'a' knowed I could n't trust a man to 
 do anything ! " she said bitterly. 
 
174 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " What harm 's done ? " asked Alee, who with 
 Jake's assistance was getting out firewood. He 
 had allowed all his stock to be consumed, and in 
 consequence was obliged to suspend his usual labor 
 till his wife's wants were supplied, she having re- 
 belled against picking up chips to cook with, that 
 morning. 
 
 Mrs. Bowles stepped close to the men and said, 
 in a low, rasping undertone, " That man 's a spy ! " 
 
 The men laughed. 
 
 " Why, he knows all the ' grips ' clean through, 
 from the Vestibule to the Third Degree. He 's 
 helped institute every lodge in Middle County ! " 
 cried Jake, who ardently supported the " cause." 
 
 " And he 's got letters from 'em all, — even Val- 
 landigham ! " said Alec, who, although he had left 
 the order, knew their secrets and kept them invio- 
 late for potent reasons. 
 
 " We 're well acquainted with him," he said 
 emphatically. 
 
 " You 're well acquainted with him, but you 
 don't hnow him till you go in the house and shet 
 the door and live with him ! " she grimly insisted. 
 
 " Why, woman, he 's a ' high muck-a-muck ' ! " 
 
 " He ain't nothin' of the kind ! He 's a nigger- 
 lover ! a black abolitionist ! a spy ! — and I can 
 prove it ! " She then proceeded with a narration 
 of Tapp's talk with Liddy Ann. 
 
 " I 've always suspicioned him ! But you men 
 never pay no attention to weemen-folks. You 're 
 so much pearter ! " she said sarcastically. 
 
AN OBJECT OF SUSPICION 175 
 
 " Looks something like it ! " admitted Jake. 
 
 " Nobody knows what that fool Liddy Ann '11 
 do next ! And that powder and shot must be took 
 off this very night, and that there box marked 
 ' Sunday-school books ' too ! " 
 
 And Mrs. Bowles turned abruptly into the path 
 that led to Josh Miller's. 
 
 The two men left the saw in the log and walked 
 off toward the smithy. When they reached it they 
 closed and locked the doors, and, with that utter 
 lack of caution common to the unsophisticated, be- 
 gan to talk the matter over. 
 
 They had artlessly supposed that locking the 
 door would be sufficient security against eaves- 
 dropping or interruption. Moreover, Mrs. Rush 
 did not know of their return, and she had been in- 
 structed to tell any one in need of the blacksmith's 
 service that he had gone to get firewood, a very 
 valid excuse among them for suspending any task, 
 for the claims of the cook were paramount to ordi- 
 nary business, and time was not precious. 
 
 The two men continued to talk in subdued tones 
 compared to their robust, vehement ordinary out- 
 of-door voices, but not so softly that they might 
 not be heard by any one who cared to listen atten- 
 tively. Indeed, their voices drowned the jangling 
 of the harness as the peddler led his old white 
 horse up to the shop. He, being always on the 
 alert and quick of hearing, heard voices within and 
 instantly caught his own name. 
 
 Tapp paused and listened. 
 
 Alec Rush said : — 
 
176 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " If the old woman 's right, and Tapp is a spy, 
 it won't take Harv Wilson long to put him out of 
 the way." 
 
 " I reckon he '11 be at the meetin' at Harv's to- 
 morrow night." 
 
 " 'T won't take Harv that long ! He '11 do the 
 business to-night ! " 
 
 Tapp grasped the situation at once. He had 
 been spied on by that "she-devil," as he called 
 Mrs. Bowles, and he knew he must get away in- 
 stantly. He led the horse back to the wagon, a 
 quarter of a mile away, where he had left it in the 
 creek to soak its rattling wheels while the shoe 
 was being set. He harnessed slowly, to give the 
 conspirators time, then drove leisurely up to the 
 shop, singing loudly and blithely. His old horse 
 drew up before the shop, and by this time the 
 doors were standing wide open. 
 
 Without a change from his usual cordial man- 
 ner, Tapp called out cheerfully : — 
 
 " Howd'y ! Glad to see you again ! Got a job 
 for you. Alec. My horse has a loose shoe, and I 've 
 got to make Crof ton to-day. Can you set it now ? " 
 
 The smith looked somewhat red, and cast an 
 uneasy look at his companion. Hardly able to 
 control his embarrassment, he answered, "Yes, I 
 reckon I can," and got his tools ready. 
 
 Tapp laughed and jested till the shoe was set, 
 and then, driving off with a cheery good-day, he 
 resumed his tune, and was still singing as far as 
 they could hear him. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE RESCUE 
 
 As Tapp drove along the lonely by-road, the 
 urgent necessity for speedy departure presented 
 itself. 
 
 " I 've got to get out of here instantly, that 's 
 certain," he mused. " I must n't go to Crofton, 
 for that'll put them on the sheriff's plans. It 
 won't do to go to Neal's, for Frank is n't at home 
 and I won't bother the old man. There 's not 
 another loyal man I can look to in this section. 
 Guess I '11 have to ask Lucetta Whittaker's help, 
 as I once told her. She can pilot me in the dark 
 over the ' backbone ' to the Greensboro road, and 
 I can catch the midnight train. She 's brave and 
 loyal. I want to get off without leaving a trace 
 behind as to how or when I went. They '11 be after 
 me like bloodhounds to-night, but I 'm used to 
 throwing such brutes off the scent, and I '11 do it 
 now. I must report to the governor before twenty- 
 four hours." 
 
 Tapp drove two miles farther on the Crofton 
 road, when he reached a stretch of woods so densely 
 grown with underbrush as to be impenetrable. 
 Here he stopped, and, after carefully scanning the 
 
178 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 higliway up and down to assure himself no one 
 was in sight, he alighted from the wagon and 
 deliberately laid down the rail-fence and drove 
 through the gap he had made. 
 
 It was now about eleven o'clock, the universal 
 dinner-hour thereabout, where the people break- 
 fasted at break of day. Meals were the only things 
 they attended to with unfailing punctuality, and 
 the peddler knew that every one would be at din- 
 ner. He carefully replaced the rails, drove into 
 the woods as far as it was possible to make his 
 way, unhitched and removed the harness from the 
 old horse, which gave a great shake when free and 
 at once began cropping grass. He then took the 
 wagon and forced it deep into the coppice, till it 
 could not be seen from any point ; he even straight- 
 ened up the hazel boughs that he had bent, so as to 
 leave no trace of disorder that any chance passer- 
 by might notice. The sward was thick and left 
 no wheel-tracks. He patted the old horse on the 
 shoulder and said : — 
 
 " Old Pomp, I 've got to leave you now for 
 good, but you '11 not starve, and there 's plenty of 
 water." 
 
 Tapp walked straight on through the wood to 
 where the line of sycamores indicated the course 
 of Honey Creek. When he reached the creek he 
 followed it down-stream, keeping out of the way 
 of fishermen and persons in canoes, and losing a 
 good deal of time in taking these precautions. In 
 following the curves of the stream he walked nearly 
 
THE RESCUE 179 
 
 five miles, and it was mid-afternoon when he reached 
 the land whereon the Whittaker cabin stood. 
 
 Mrs. Bowles's pea-fowl had not been a false 
 prophet, for the sky was now overcast and a moist, 
 fretting wind had risen. 
 
 " If this wind lulls," mused Tapp, " it will rain 
 to-night and be black as pitch. Now, sometimes 
 girls are afraid of the dark when they are not 
 afraid of the devil. They 're such contrary crea- 
 tures ! " and he anxiously scanned the sky. 
 
 He climbed the steep, narrow path from the 
 landing, where Lucetta's canoe was bobbing gayly 
 in the current, keeping a wary outlook, and, as his 
 head came on a level with the field, gazed keenly 
 around before he ventured out of the ravine. The 
 stunted corn rustled in the teasing wind, birds flut- 
 tered anxiously about in expectation of the storm, 
 but there was neither sight nor sound of human 
 folk, and he walked as unconcernedly up to the 
 cabin as any other chance visitor would have done. 
 
 He found Lucetta hard at work with a slate and 
 algebra, for it had been definitely settled, by the 
 aid of friends, that she was to enter Waveland 
 Academy the second week of September to prepare 
 herself for teaching. 
 
 " Howd'y ! " he called out to the girl through the 
 open door. " Don't want anything in my line, do 
 you?" 
 
 " Not to-day. I 'm glad to see you. Won't you 
 come in ? " she said cordially, for they had long 
 since formed an acquaintance. 
 
180 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 He accepted the invitation, and asked with cheery 
 interest : — 
 
 " Are you all alone ? I 'd think you 'd have the 
 blue-devils here by yourself." 
 
 " Yes, I am alone. When I 'm busy I don't 
 get lonely." 
 
 " There 's no one about, then, but you ? " 
 
 She perceived a shade of anxiety in his manner, 
 usually so jocose and happy. 
 
 " No one. Nor has there been this whole after- 
 noon. Miss Abbot's gone to write a letter for 
 Uncle Billy to his son in the army." 
 
 "I'm glad of that. Miss Lucetta, for I'm in 
 a fix and no mistake. That old Bowles woman 's 
 turned informer, and the whole pack will be on me 
 to-night. Do you think you 've got enough grit to 
 help a hunted man escape ? " and he looked at her 
 smilingly, without the least show of fear. 
 
 " You 're joking," she said, unable from his 
 light manner to believe in his sincerity. 
 
 "Never was more in earnest in my life. You 
 remember what I told you the night of the jail 
 delivery ? Well, it 's come." 
 
 Lucetta started in surprise, and said hastily : — 
 
 " It was you, then ? I 've often thought so." 
 
 " Yes," said Tapp simply. 
 
 " And you were the man I saw under the oak- 
 tree, and the handkerchief was a signal to Frank in 
 the bushes ? I have suspected so since, but have 
 thought it safer not to know certainly about either 
 of you." 
 
THE RESCUE 181 
 
 " You are wise enough for a man to put his life 
 in your hands," he said admiringly. " If Oliver 
 Tapp don't get out of here this night, it 's all up 
 with him ! " 
 
 He then told her all that he had learned, and 
 she was far more disturbed than he. 
 
 " If you do fall into the hands of Wilson, he '11 
 show you no mercy. You don't know him." 
 
 " Don't I ! " said Tapp significantly. 
 
 " But what can you do ? I can't think of a plan 
 myself. Every road will be watched, even the 
 crossings at the creek," said the girl. 
 
 She meditated deeply a few moments. 
 
 " I think I can take you through the ' Shades.' " 
 
 " ' Shades ' ! That sounds rather ominous," in- 
 terrupted Tapp flippantly. 
 
 " I mean the wild glen, called the ' Shades,' three 
 or four miles down the creek, not far from Wil- 
 son's place. They '11 never think of your being 
 bold enough to come into their own territory. We 
 can go through that, and from there it is not far 
 to the Greensboro road, where you can reach the 
 railroad." 
 
 " That 's good ! I want to get to Indianapolis 
 as soon as I can. Must, in fact." 
 
 " Of course you '11 have to stay here till night." 
 
 " Yes, and the schoolma'am must n't know, 
 either. The fewer people in the secret the better, 
 besides being safer for Miss Abbot should she be 
 questioned, for they call her a ' Black Abolitionist ' 
 now, all over the neighborhood. You have never 
 
182 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 told your own exploits, I infer, or I should have 
 heard of it." 
 
 " Not to a soul ! Yes, you are right. I 'U keep 
 this secret, too. Well, you can hide in the hay- 
 mow till I come for you, and that will be when it 's 
 safe." 
 
 Tapp took up his hat to go, and Lucetta said : — 
 
 " Wait, let me get you something to eat. You 've 
 had no dinner. You'll need food for the long 
 tramp you '11 have to take." 
 
 " It would be welcome," confessed Tapp. " Just 
 fix it up so I can take it to my retreat." 
 
 At five o'clock Miss Abbot came home. The 
 gray clouds hung low, and a drizzling rain set in. 
 
 Lucetta had prepared supper, and after it was 
 eaten and the night work done they settled down 
 to their evening occupations, to which the pupil 
 gave her usual composed attention. By eight 
 o'clock, Miss Abbot, weary with the long day, 
 sought her bed, leaving Lucetta still busy with her 
 books. When she was convinced Miss Abbot was 
 sleeping soundly, Lucetta changed her apparel, put- 
 ting on the strong woolsey gown she wore about 
 her rough morning work and her heavy calfskin 
 shoes. She let herself out quietly, and when she 
 reached the log barn she called softly within : — 
 
 "Ready?" 
 
 " Ready ! " came the reply, and she heard Tapp 
 scramble down the side of the barn from the loft. 
 
 " I 've had a good nap, and feel up to anything," 
 he said cheerfully. 
 
THE RESCUE 183 
 
 Slie could not but admire the buoyant courage 
 of the man, which was prompted by genuine fear- 
 lessness and sincere love of duty. She surmised 
 that he was trusted in high places, from the fact 
 that he had been given this commission involving 
 disgrace, danger, even death, and that he accepted 
 it cheerfully with all the risks it involved, for the 
 good of the commonwealth. 
 
 But she could not know what almost superhu- 
 man effort it required to prevent the culmination 
 in revolution of the widespread schemes which he 
 had discovered. She supposed the most serious 
 disaffection to be merely local and comparatively 
 harmless, but not entirely without risk to those 
 who actively opposed the malcontents. Neverthe- 
 less, she took the part chance assigned her, and 
 its occasions seemed to meet her continually ; not 
 opportunities for the display of great valor that 
 would furnish subjects for triumphal song, but 
 obscure deeds that would never be known or re- 
 warded. 
 
 She and Tapp scrambled down the ravine path 
 to the creek. The sky was overcast with clouds, 
 which the rising wind marshaled like battalions, 
 but the night was dark, though not of the pitchy 
 blackness of a moonless sky ; for had that planet 
 been visible, it would have been seen to be on the 
 wane. 
 
 He spoke for the first time when she unloosed 
 the canoe. 
 
 " I 'm sorry I can't help you, but I can't manage 
 
184 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 a canoe, and I 've no notion of landing us both in 
 the water at this crisis." 
 
 " I know the canoe as well as a rocking-chair, so 
 leave it to me. You sit a little back of the centre, 
 and, when we pass the fords and get into the riffle, 
 sit quietly and be careful, or we '11 capsize." 
 
 When they were seated, Lucetta took up her 
 long paddle and shoved off, but kept well within 
 shore, under the blacker duskiness of the over- 
 hanging hemlocks, which here cast long shadows 
 across the creek when there was light, and intensi- 
 fied the obscurity. 
 
 Suddenly there was a whippoorwill's call, then 
 another and a third. 
 
 " It 's late for whippoorwills," Lucetta said 
 softly and unsuspiciously. " They call mostly at 
 dusk." 
 
 Tapp laughed a short, harsh laugh. 
 
 " You don't mean " — she asked breathlessly. 
 
 " I mean we 've got off just in the nick of time. 
 The hunt 's begun," he said coolly. " Rest on 
 your oar, let her go with the current. These coun- 
 trymen have ears as sharp as weasels'." 
 
 Lucetta did as he bade, using the paddle only to 
 escape obstructions. The cries of the whippoor- 
 wills grew fainter in the distance as they glided on. 
 
 " We are going away from the hunt toward 
 Harv Wilson's," Tapp observed. " They don't 
 expect the game to run into the dog's kennel." 
 
 " We leave the creek half a mile this side of 
 Harv's," she said. 
 
THE RESCUE 185 
 
 Once a long, wailing " O — a — k — houn " 
 sounded, weirdly terrifying. Then only did Tapp 
 seem in the least Impressed. 
 
 " Ah ! the ' Third Degree ' is out ! Something 
 like a slave-drive, minus the bloodhounds," he 
 muttered. 
 
 The drifting canoe was utterly noiseless, the 
 waterway was deserted for the highways and by- 
 ways by the man-hunters ; for it was well known 
 by them that Tapp could not manage a canoe, as 
 one attempt had ended in his ignominious ducking, 
 to their great enjoyment. 
 
 After hours, as it seemed to Lucetta, they 
 reached the sheer cliff that indicated the precincts 
 of the place known as the " Shades." At this 
 point the cliff rose straight from the water to a 
 height of two hundred and fifty feet, following the 
 windings of the stream. At first sight it appeared 
 to be an unbroken wall that it would be impossi- 
 ble to scale. It was bare of verdure or shrubs of 
 any kind. At the height of one hundred and fifty 
 feet, there overhung a shelf - like projection of 
 stone along its entire face, which, from the water- 
 course below, seemed a ledge too narrow to furnish 
 foothold for any creature but a bird. In one of 
 the inward curves of this wall was a narrow cleft 
 from top to bottom, which nature seemed to have 
 riven for the outpouring of a " spring branch." 
 But if one pushed through this narrow cleft and 
 followed the stream, it led into a deep, dark can- 
 yon on which the stranger came unaware, but 
 
186 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 which was well known to the inhabitants of that 
 region. Nearly halfway through the canyon, a 
 dome-shaped formation of stone filled up the pas- 
 sage from side to side, and down its face fell the 
 little brook, widespread in a thin, crinkled sheet 
 like glass, and, only for its gentle lisping, it might 
 have been taken for a crystal cap. The water did 
 not dash down the declivity, but slid gently over 
 with a soft murmur. A narrow, difficult track 
 led to the top of this dome, and a long grapevine 
 hung down accommodatingly to assist in the ascent, 
 which was partly through the water. At the top, 
 one path kej^t on to the spring in the head of the 
 gorge, and the other branched upward to the cliff 
 and led over the shelf on its face, which in some 
 places narrowed to a few inches, and in others 
 broadened to a width of several feet. On this 
 aerial pathway, almost in the centre of the cliff, 
 where the path turned inward in a sharp curve as 
 though for greater privacy, was a deep niche in the 
 stone wall, set as high above the path as a man's 
 head, which could be reached only by an effort. 
 Nature, in a pious mood, had seemingly fashioned 
 it for a shrine, for no man knew its origin. As if 
 to test the worshiper's sincerity, the path here con- 
 tracted perilously, and was made more hazardous 
 by the trickle of a thready rillet from a tiny 
 spring imprisoned in the rock. 
 
 But one person at a time could pass before this 
 shrine, and then only with due caution, for a mis- 
 step or a slip on the wet earth meant a fall of one 
 
THE RESCUE 187 
 
 hundred and fifty feet down the bare, rugged walls 
 to the water below, and from this inward curve 
 one could neither see nor be seen beyond it on the 
 track. This dangerous passage was a short cut to 
 the Greensboro road, and was in frequent use by 
 the people thereabouts. 
 
 Lucetta left the canoe in the weeds, a little way 
 from the mouth of the gorge, and took to the foot- 
 path. As she entered the canyon, she began to 
 explain her plan to Tapp, feeling now that there 
 was no need of perfect silence between them. 
 
 "This is a dangerous place at night, in one 
 sense, but the safest in the other," she observed. 
 
 They were well into the ravine, struggling up 
 the dome, and black and gloomy it looked. Their 
 nerves were at the highest tension, and the tum- 
 bling of a stone sounded like thunder to their 
 startled ears. The old moon, forlorn and weird, 
 made a faint showing from the parted clouds, as 
 they struggled up the steep incline and came to 
 the divergence of the paths. 
 
 " This is our way," said Lucetta, turning into 
 it. " Harv Wilson's home lies half a mile farther 
 down the creek, but they '11 hardly think of look- 
 ing for us here ; we 're five miles from home." 
 
 As she spoke, the shuddering cry, " O — a — k 
 — houn ! " came down the creek, and was an- 
 swered faintly far up the stream. 
 
 " Great God ! " cried Tapp, losing self-control 
 for the first time. " They 're right at our heels ! " 
 looking back toward the creek. 
 
188 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 He turned fiercely to the girl. 
 
 " Have you brought me here to trap me ? " 
 
 In a passion of momentary rage, he drew out 
 his revolver, but let the hand that held it fall to 
 the length of his arm. 
 
 " No ! I can't kill a woman, even if she is a 
 traitor. But if you were a man," he said violently, 
 " I 'd shoot you like a dog, and throw your cursed 
 carcass down there ! " 
 
 Horrified at his ferocity, Lucetta looked at him 
 and said in a startled voice : — 
 
 "You surely don't mean what you say? As 
 God is my witness, I am your friend. Trust me, 
 and I will help you out of this." 
 
 Ashamed of his brutality, and the weakness of 
 yielding to a natural fear, he said humbly : — 
 
 " Forgive me ! I trust you. Go on ; I '11 fol- 
 low, if you lead to hell ! " 
 
 " Remember," she said quietly, " it leads me into 
 the same danger." 
 
 By this time they had reached the ledge which 
 was the outlet to the safe road for him. They 
 hurried along it breathlessly, with hearts beating 
 thickly. When just under the shrine they paused 
 to get breath, and Lucetta warned him of the 
 danger of the path at this point. But an ominous 
 sound reached them that chilled the sweat on their 
 brows, and made the hair of their flesh to stand up. 
 Fear clutched at their hearts like a great hand 
 when they heard such noise in that lonely place. 
 Feet were scrambling up the track they had just 
 
THE RESCUE 189 
 
 left, while voices were heard in the other direction, 
 some distance beyond the curve that hid them. 
 
 " They promised to meet us here at midnight 
 with the white-livered hound, if they caught him," 
 said a savage voice Tapp knew to be Wilson's. 
 
 With fierce imprecations the same voice con- 
 tinued : " We '11 take care of the fellow if they get 
 him. A fall down here '11 break his cursed neck, 
 and such an accident 's likely to happen to any one 
 coming along here at night, 'specially a stranger." 
 
 Two or three voices joined in the laugh that 
 followed this speech. 
 
 " So," muttered Tapp, " that 's how you '11 take 
 care of me ! ' 
 
 Despairing of escape, but perfectly cool, he 
 leaned against the wall, while Lucetta seemed stu- 
 pefied for an instant. 
 
 The two parties of men were now heard advan- 
 cing slowly and carefully from each way. 
 
 " It 's of no use to jump from here ; it would 
 only be a worse death," thought Tapp. " A bullet 
 would be quicker." 
 
 He spoke the last words aloud, and the girl 
 raised despairing eyes to his and saw, as her 
 glance fell, the niche in the wall beside them. 
 
 " Thank God for his mercy ! " she whispered. 
 " I 'd forgot it." 
 
 She caught the desperate man's arm and pointed 
 to the niche. 
 
 " Get up there quick ! " she said in an agitated 
 whisper, " into the niche and drag me in after." 
 
190 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 He looked ; hope quickened his senses and made 
 him agile. Gripping the rocks till the blood 
 nearly burst from his finger-tips, he drew himself 
 up into the sanctuary, then fell to his knees, and 
 dragged up the girl. 
 
 The patter of loose stones as they were displaced 
 by on-coming feet sounded just below them. They 
 crouched close together in the narrow refuge, wait- 
 ing, spent with terror and exertion, as the men 
 passed in Indian file below them. The first one 
 slipped on the wet path, and swore savagely as he 
 caught himself by clutching at the rocks in the 
 wall. 
 
 " Look out, boys ! there 's a spring here ; it 's 
 as slick as the mouth of hell ! " 
 
 Each man, intent on passing safely, bent his eyes 
 to the path, — which was faintly lighted now by 
 the moon that shone fitfully on the other side of 
 the creek, — and gave no thought to anything but 
 his own peril. They met the other party at the 
 widening of the ledge, out of sight, but in full 
 hearing of Tapp and Lucetta, and reported their 
 failure. With curses and threats, the whole party 
 turned back toward Wilson's. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR 
 
 The governor sat late in his private office in 
 the State-house. He was talking quietly to three 
 gentlemen seated about the table with him. One 
 was the adjutant-general of the state militia, Gen- 
 eral Hovey ; the second, the provost - marshal for 
 the city. Colonel "Wells ; and the third, Brigadier- 
 General Carrington, in command of the district 
 of Indiana. Their conversation was desultory and 
 they had the appearance of awaiting some event. 
 
 Of the four men, Governor Morton's personality 
 was the most impressive, as it was likely to be in 
 whatsoever company. The massive nobleness of 
 his head at once attracted notice ; and his counte- 
 nance expressed strong intellectuality and inflex- 
 ible determination, tempered by benevolence. The 
 forehead was high and full, across which strands 
 of black hair fell, carelessly displaced by the rest- 
 less hand now stroking the full black beard ; the 
 eyes were dark and piercing, as if potent to see 
 far beyond the black wall of trouble and danger 
 that encompassed him ; the nose was too small to 
 be symmetrical ; and the chin unequally balanced 
 the brow and skull. 
 
192 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 Morton could weigh men's motives and gauge 
 their sincerity with marvelous accuracy. In these 
 days of peril and perplexity, caution to the point 
 of suspicion had to be exercised in the selection of 
 advisers, and his tact and acumen were equal to 
 the emergency. He acknowledged the patriotism 
 and loyalty of his political opponents by num- 
 bering them among his advisers, and trusting to 
 them the execution of his plans. Of strong polit- 
 ical convictions, he was no narrow partisan when 
 the occasion demanded the help of all loyal men. 
 Consequently he had their support and confidence 
 to such an extent that he brought the State of 
 Indiana through a crisis such as endangered no 
 other. He made a needful few the repository of 
 state secrets, but these he trusted entirely. 
 
 In his intercom'se with his councilors he was 
 the genial friend, but also the man of authority, 
 vested in him as the governor of a great State, 
 which he neither magnified nor disparaged. 
 
 He habitually used a low, well-modulated tone in 
 conversation. His voice was a wonderful organ, 
 the perfect instrument of an orator. In public 
 speaking it was clarion-like, piercing and far-reach- 
 ing. It rolled in tremendous vehemence over an 
 audience, and held it entranced by the flow of 
 rapid eloquence, or fell to pathetic sweetness that 
 swept over their heart-strings like the fingers of 
 Saul across his harp, and moved them to tears. 
 
 Splendid in invective, scathing in denunciation, 
 courageous to recklessness in the expression of 
 
THE REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR A93 
 
 his opinions, a master of facts, logical in argument, 
 never truckling from expediency nor shrinking 
 from duty, patient to long-suffering, and just, — 
 with such qualities Morton had few peers in state- 
 craft. 
 
 He was the greatest of that trio — Yates, Todd, 
 and Morton — on whom fell responsibilities, during 
 the Civil War, second only to those of the great 
 head of the nation. Whatever feeling of ill-will 
 was cherished then against Morton, time has left 
 nothing but grateful remembrance of faithfulness, 
 courage, and ability to govern wisely amid the 
 distractions of a second chaos. 
 
 The men who were the instruments chosen to 
 preserve us a nation were not from those living on 
 the highest spiritual plane, but from the strong, 
 intrepid worldlings accustomed to leading men by 
 craft and virile power. Ardent John Brown, ve- 
 hement Parson Brownlow, calm William Lloyd 
 Garrison, elegant Wendell Phillips, even peevish 
 Horace Greeley, took a minor part in precipitating 
 the conflict, but in the crisis made way for men 
 like Grant, Morton, Lincoln, — men of stronger 
 fibre, lustier energy. 
 
 As the governor sat at the table, he glanced once 
 or twice at the round-faced clock on the wall; 
 turning to General Carrington, he said : — 
 
 " Is n't it time Grundy was here to report ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir. He said at ten o'clock ; it lacks only 
 a minute or so of that hour." 
 
 All waited patiently for the interval to pass, and, 
 
194 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 before it was gone, a gentle rapping was heard on 
 the door which led into the outer office. 
 
 "Please open it, Hovey," said the governor. 
 
 Hovey unlocked the door, and the man awaited 
 entered. It was the tin-peddler, known about 
 Ridgely as Oliver Tapp, and to the governor and 
 his confreres as J. J. Grundy. After salutations 
 were exchanged, the four men drew closer to the 
 table where the governor was seated. Tapp laid 
 before Morton a number of papers. These he 
 examined carefully, and compared from time to 
 time with a memorandum he had at hand. He 
 then passed them to his colleagues, who glanced 
 over them. All looked serious ; but if they felt 
 depressed at the report of the agent of the secret 
 service, they made no remark. 
 
 Selecting one of the papers, the governor said to 
 Tapp : — 
 
 " I am afraid you are unnecessarily reckless, 
 Mr. Grundy, but you have certainly made a thor- 
 ough investigation of the affairs in Middle County, 
 and I thank you for it." 
 
 " Of course, there is more or less risk involved 
 in such a mission, and perhaps in some particulars 
 I exceeded my authority, but you remember, sir, 
 I was left to my own judgment. They were such 
 rank Copperheads that I was determined to get 
 into their most secret schemes. I therefore com- 
 menced at the ' Vestibule,' and went on up through 
 the Temple, taking the three highest degrees, and 
 I have the honor of belonging to the Grand Coun- 
 
THE REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR 195 
 
 cil. On my last trip to RIdgely I came near not 
 getting away," and he laughed his reckless laugh. 
 
 " How was that, Grundy ? " asked Hovey. 
 
 " If it had n't been for a girl, I 'd been a cold 
 corpse by now," and he detailed with much feeling 
 the part Lucetta had played in the stirring affairs 
 of the township and in his rescue. 
 
 " There are a few loyal men that can be trusted, 
 are there not ? " 
 
 " Yes, a few among the old men ; the young 
 men are in the service ; and there are a few women 
 as fearless and courageous as the men in the field." 
 
 " This Wilson," asked the governor, tapping a 
 paper he had just been considering, " is still at the 
 head of affairs in that county ? " 
 
 " Yes ; he and Coultiss, who is Grand Com- 
 mander of the County Temple, but Harv 's the 
 ' power behind the throne.' " 
 
 " They are in constant communication with 
 Grand Commander Dodd here ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and through him, with Supreme 
 Commander Vallandigham at Windsor." 
 
 *' You think the scheme for the uprising almost 
 perfected ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; complete to the most trivial point. 
 You would hardly credit them with inventing such 
 fantastic folly ; they have grips and signs, and a 
 distinguishing cry for each degree. Down in Rif- 
 fle Township, when they want to call a secret ses- 
 sion they put up a big tin star on a tree. Yes, 
 the time is set for the middle of August." 
 
196 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 Governor Morton's face was not moved from its 
 accustomed calm, but the others started in surprise. 
 
 " Tliey have learned nothing from the events of 
 last summer," observed Carrington. 
 
 " There is no school for fools," said the adjutant- 
 general. 
 
 "You think their plans are all formulated, 
 Grundy?" asked the governor. 
 
 " As well as they can be, until they meet the 
 approval of the Supreme Commander, and you 
 may not know that the meeting of the peace com- 
 missioners this week, at Niagara Falls, will be 
 utilized by the Grand Council to that end." 
 
 " Their present plans may be modified at this 
 meeting?" observed Morton inquiringly. 
 
 " Yes, unless the President remains firm in his 
 decision as to the terms of peace." 
 
 " Would it not be well if Mr. Grundy would 
 give us an outline of the scheme as he has learned 
 it. Governor ? " asked Wells. " He may give us 
 fuller information than we now have." 
 
 " Perhaj)s it would be as well," assented the 
 governor. " Proceed, Mr. Grundy." 
 
 " The day of the uprising was set for July 
 20, but they were not sufficiently organized and 
 equipped, so Wilson informed me, and it was 
 postponed. And that reminds me, there is an old 
 woman down there that has a hand in this last 
 business, — old Mrs. Bowles, as venomous a Cojj- 
 perhead as ever dragged on its belly ; last spring I 
 reported her to you, sir, as having received arms 
 
THE REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR 197 
 
 under the guise of a cutting-box, and myself deliv- 
 ering her caps and cartridges. This time she was 
 more discreet, and I could find little against her, 
 but she has evidently been at her old tricks," and 
 Tapp smiled at the recollection of the guileless 
 Liddy Ann. " But to return to Harv : he told 
 me every Temple in the State — and they are or- 
 ganized in forty-five counties — had been notified 
 to move at a moment's notice by the middle of 
 August. The plan in this State is to concentrate 
 the main body in Indianapolis. The arsenal is to 
 be seized. Camp Morton raided and rebel prisoners 
 released. And to-morrow night, sir," turning to 
 the governor, " at the Grand Council the Commit- 
 tee of Thirteen will be appointed, who will be em- 
 powered to select a Committee of Ten ' to take 
 care of the governor.' " 
 
 Morton's face relaxed slightly, but he made no 
 remark. 
 
 " What do they mean by that, Grundy ? " asked 
 the provost-marshal. Wells. 
 
 " Murder, in my opinion. He is to be held as a 
 hostage for prisoners taken during the insurrec- 
 tion ; failing that, he is to be made way with." 
 
 " Then it is n't definitely decided on whom this 
 dutyfaUs?" 
 
 " No, only on one of the Committee of Ten, and 
 that by lot, so that even they will not know the 
 person who draws it." 
 
 " It would be well to be present at that council, 
 Grundy," observed the governor. 
 
198 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " I intend to, sir. And one of that Committee 
 of Thirteen, if I can manage it." 
 
 General Carrington was not quite satisfied with 
 the information Tapp gave on one point, and 
 asked : — 
 
 " Did you learn the extent of the entire order 
 as a military organization ? " 
 
 " In the Grand Council of June 14 they re- 
 ported they could raise an invading army of three 
 hundred thousand. They have plenty of money ; 
 a haK-million dollars was sent by their agents in 
 Canada for arms. Indiana is divided into four 
 military districts, each under a general, and they 
 claim they can furnish from seventy-five to eighty 
 thousand men. Wilson says Middle County will 
 send nine himdred ; but it won't, by half that." 
 
 " Whom do they rely on to supply the rest of 
 this three hundred thousand ? " asked the provost- 
 marshal. 
 
 " They expect to be joined by Early from Ken- 
 tucky with forty thousand, and Price from Mis- 
 souri with thirty thousand ; the Temples of Illinois 
 promise fifty thousand ; Ohio does n't stipulate 
 an exact number, but has engaged to cooperate. 
 They have depots for arms in Cincinnati and New 
 Albany, and they are to be wagoned to the rural 
 districts. Old Dr. Bowles asked me if I could 
 get three thousand lances ; he seemed to think 
 them appropriate for Knights, — struck with the 
 romance of it, I suppose, but he did not propose 
 to rely on these altogether, for a revolver was to 
 go with each lance." 
 
THE REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR 199 
 
 " Was this information communicated to the 
 various temples in writing, Mr. Grundy ? " asked 
 the governor. 
 
 " Not to my knowledge, though possibly cipher 
 was used, but I think it was communicated to all 
 verbally by agents." 
 
 The governor spread before him a letter he had 
 taken from the table drawer. 
 
 " Are you familiar with cipher, Grundy ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I can read it, not readily, however." 
 
 " Transcribe this, then." And to Tapp's amaze- 
 ment he put into his hand the identical letter he 
 had seen two days before in Heffren's office in the 
 town of Salem. 
 
 " We have more than one way of obtaining in- 
 formation, Mr. Grundy," was all Morton said. 
 
 Tapp took the letter, and after some time laid it 
 before the governor, written out in full. 
 
 It ran thus : — 
 
 Headquarters 10th District, 
 
 Grand Marshal's Office. 
 
 Deputy Marshal, — We have 40 rifles and 100 
 pistols for your township. It is necessary that 
 they are placed in the hands of our brothers imme- 
 diately. Inform your company that the arms will be 
 ready on Wednesday night. Yours, 
 
 A. A. D. C. 
 F. W. 
 
 Governor Morton read it through deliberately, 
 then said to Tapp : — 
 
200 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " Your transcription tallies exactly with the one 
 Coffin made to-day." 
 
 Tapp looked in admiration at the man who was 
 slowly and patiently picking up the smallest threads 
 of the conspiracy, and winding them into a stout 
 coil by which to throttle the conspirators. 
 
 " There is one hitch in all these plans," said 
 Tapp. 
 
 " What is that? " inquired Wells. 
 
 "There is no reliable head. Vallandighara is 
 a rash enthusiast ; Dodd is a man of straw ; Bowles 
 is too old ; and Bullet 's in prison. Price and Early 
 would lose their heads in this sort of a thing." 
 
 " What about Jeff Davis ? " asked Hovey. 
 
 " Oh, he is fully informed by an agent sent to 
 Richmond, a fellow named Dickerson. He has 
 never had perfect confidence in the order ; and if he 
 fails them, as they now think, they will join forces 
 with the renegades in Canada and form a new 
 federation, and will call it the Northwestern Con- 
 federacy." 
 
 The governor smiled, and the other men received 
 this intelligence as prompted by their tempera- 
 ments. General Carrington laughed heartily at 
 the effrontery of it ; General Hovey's face flushed 
 with anger, and he muttered invectives wrathful 
 and profane ; Wells looked incredulous. The gov- 
 ernor alone remained unmoved ; for he had unrav- 
 eled so many plots and counterplots it had become 
 as easy as unraveling Mrs. Bowles's knitting. 
 
 " There is another matter of which I would like 
 
THE REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR 201 
 
 to speak, if you will pardon the personal nature of 
 it," said Tapp, with evident reluctance. " You 
 know I have visited all the disaffected districts, 
 and I find another grievance, and that exclusively 
 among loyal men, — extremists, I might say. They 
 strongly criticise your selecting as advisers, and 
 honoring with your confidence, men from the other 
 party, ' War Democrats,' and openly complain at 
 the trust you repose in them." 
 
 The governor listened attentively, and then said 
 firmly : — 
 
 " You were perfectly rfght to tell me, Grundy. 
 But, when I am convinced of his loyalty, I ques- 
 tion no man's politics in such times as these." ^ 
 
 The governor mused a few moments, as if con- 
 sidering this new source of trouble, then, rousing, 
 said : — 
 
 "It is growing late, gentlemen. I will detain 
 you no longer." 
 
 Mr. Morton remained alone in the state-house 
 
 an hour longer, busy at his desk. On leaving the 
 
 building, he had taken but a step or two into the 
 
 grounds, which were ill-lighted and full of shrubs 
 
 and trees, when a shot rang out and a bullet 
 
 whizzed by his head. He paused an instant and 
 
 looked about for the would-be assassin, then calmly 
 
 proceeded to the Bates House, where Carrington's 
 
 headquarters were, and reported the matter to 
 
 him. 
 
 ^ Verbatim. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 THE MEETING OF THE GRAIO) COUNCIL 
 
 The commanders of the county temples had 
 been notified in cipher that a meeting of the great- 
 est importance would be held in the printing-office 
 of Grand Commander Dodd, at Indianapolis, on 
 the evening of Tuesday, July 28, and such com- 
 manders of branch temples as might be useful in 
 a very serious crisis were ordered to be present. 
 The meeting was of such importance that not a 
 hint of it must be dropped to the masses of the 
 faithful, but kept inviolate by the chosen few. 
 
 Tapp had been duly notified of this meeting on 
 the first day of his arrival at Ridgely, before he 
 had gone to Mrs. Bowles's. He had met Wilson at 
 the little wooden post-office, in the presence of the 
 assembled loafers, who were tilted back in their 
 chairs against the side of the building, protected 
 from the July sun by the deep shadow it cast, and 
 chewing tobacco as placidly as cows do their cuds. 
 Occasionally a drowsy word was dropped as from 
 a man talking in his sleep, while the company 
 waited for the hack to bring the tri-weekly mail 
 from Crofton. The ring of horseshoes sounded 
 sharply from the rear of the smithy, where others 
 
THE MEETING OF THE GRAND COUNCIL 203 
 
 were playing quoits, and occasionally a somnolent 
 loafer would rouse and drag himself off to see how 
 the game was progressing. 
 
 In one of these slight diversions Harv said aside 
 to Tapp : — 
 
 " I want to talk to you. Can you drive my way ? 
 You go first." 
 
 Tapp replied, " All right," and set off on the 
 dusty street that dipped down the hill to Honey 
 Creek. Harv followed a few moments later and 
 overtook him at the ford, where he began abruptly : 
 
 " I had a notice from the General Secretary that 
 all of us commanders must be in Indianapolis the 
 28th. Something important up, I reckon. I can't 
 go ; I 've got threshing that day. But there 's 
 nothing in your way, so you'd better go. As 
 a member of the Supreme Council of Kentucky, 
 you'd be more than welcome. Coultiss can't go 
 neither ; he 's threatened with typhoid fever." 
 
 Tapp accepted the mission, and was given the 
 password and a line of recommendation. The next 
 night he was hunted like vermin by the very man 
 for whom he had agreed to stand substitute at the 
 meeting of the Grand Council. 
 
 Harv never dreamed of Tapp having the temer- 
 ity to carry out this plan of representing him ; 
 therefore he made no attempt to notify Dodd : nor 
 could he quite believe Mrs. Bowles's suspicions in 
 regard to him correct, although he had so far 
 yielded to her will as to try to apprehend him. 
 Not finding a trace of him, nor any other suspicious 
 
204 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 fact against him, he concluded it was only old Mrs. 
 Bowles's prejudice against Tapj) as a man, such as 
 she held, as they well knew, against them all. 
 
 The hour of ten o'clock on Tuesday night saw 
 Tapp climbing the narrow, dirty stairs that led to 
 
 the fourth floor of a dingy building on W street 
 
 in the capital. When he reached a door profusely 
 decorated with black thumb-marks in printer's ink, 
 he knew he was at the appointed place. 
 
 He was admitted to an outer room by a door- 
 keeper, with whom he entered into a short colloquy. 
 At the committee-room door the password was 
 demanded. 
 
 " Ba-YARD," said Tapp unhesitatingly, strongly 
 accenting the last syllable, which was the test of 
 membership. 
 
 When he entered this second room, — a dingy 
 private office, which was very small, with one win- 
 dow overlooking the street, — he found a company 
 of men gathered there. 
 
 The meeting was not a formal one, but had been 
 hastily called together for consultation, owing to 
 the serious failure of the plans of the week before. 
 Only Dodd, the Grand Commander, and Heffren, 
 Deputy Grand Commander, had authority to call 
 such a meeting. 
 
 Among those present were four generals of the 
 order, and the trusted heads of a dozen or more 
 county temples. Middle County was not repre- 
 sented, as Tapp was relieved to see. 
 
THE MEETING OF THE GRAND COUNCIL 205 
 
 Tlie meeting came to order, but the business 
 proceeded informally. The men were scattered 
 about the room, seated or standing. The air was 
 heavy with tobacco smoke and the smell of printer's 
 ink. Tapp took a position near the door of en- 
 trance, leaning against the wall. In front of him 
 stood a burly man who completely hid him from 
 view. 
 
 Dodd presided over the meeting, and Harrison 
 acted as secretary. The names of the Grand 
 Council were called, among them that of Harv 
 Wilson, who was absent. 
 
 " We are called together here," said Dodd, " to 
 decide a very serious matter. To-morrow an ex- 
 pose will appear in the ' Journal.' BuUett is even 
 now under arrest as a United States prisoner, ap- 
 prehended on information of spies. There 's a 
 traitor in the Council somewhere. The time has 
 come for prompt action. The meeting is open to 
 any gentleman who has anything to say pertinent 
 to the subject under consideration." 
 
 A tall, gaunt man arose and said : — 
 
 "You know I advised getting rid of Coffin at 
 the June meeting of the Grand Council. How any 
 one here could have admitted him to the Council 
 passes my understanding. I am convinced he is a 
 United States detective. He, and the one man 
 who, next to that monster usurper in the White 
 House, is our greatest enemy, — Morton, — should 
 be taken care of, put out of the way ! And I would 
 suggest that the Committee of Thirteen be empow- 
 
206 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 ered at once to appoint a Committee of Ten for 
 this purpose." And the gentleman subsided. 
 
 " But the trouble is, would n't that be regarded 
 as murder by most people ? " bluntly asked the 
 burly man in front of Tapp, who seemed unpre- 
 pared to go to the length of the speaker and such 
 fanatics as Bowles, Dodd, and Milligan. 
 
 " For the good of the cause, man, tyrants and 
 traitors must be removed ! " interrupted the chair- 
 man. 
 
 " Well, you may assassinate, if you like ; I 'm 
 not of that stripe. I 'm in for fair fight." 
 
 " Gentlemen, gentlemen, we must have ' union ' 
 among ourselves, if not the States, if we do effec- 
 tive work," said Heffren, with the Judas-like smile 
 and suavity characteristic of him. He might easily 
 have been a leader but for some weakness of his 
 moral fibre that caused him to yield under great 
 pressure. He was not strong enough to face 
 bravely the results of his own treason, and added 
 to cowardice the meanness of turning informer. 
 
 " I thought this organization was for the pur- 
 pose of resisting the draft and stopping this war," 
 observed Tapp, pacifically. 
 
 " So it was, young man," answered the gaunt 
 man that had spoken before, 
 
 " But there are greater issues behind it, Dodd," 
 he said, turning to him. " You 're fully posted ; 
 tell us exactly how affairs stand." 
 
 " Until this evening's paper came out, I thought 
 everything was going on all right," said Dodd 
 
THE MEETING OF THE GRAND COUNCIL 207 
 
 ruefully. "As you know, I went to the Peace 
 Conference at Niagara Falls and had a private 
 conference with Clay, Holcombe, and Saunders, 
 and we enjoyed many a laugh at the doddering 
 marplot old Abe sent. We managed to let Clay 
 and those fellows know a good deal, and they were 
 in full sympathy with us. I sent a full report of 
 our organization to the commander-in-chief of the 
 Confederacy by them." 
 
 "How did these men personally receive the 
 cause ? " 
 
 " Very kindly, and as furthering their own. 
 They did not offer their help, but would be glad 
 of ours. They agreed with President Davis that, 
 ' the war would end when their independence was 
 recognized, and that they would have or extermi- 
 nation.' " 
 
 " Selfish devils ! They care precious little for 
 our necks ! " interjected Tapp, who instantly saw 
 he had struck a false chord and tried another 
 move to restore harmony. 
 
 " You went from there to Chicago, Mr. Dodd ? " 
 
 " Yes. The secret meetings of that convention 
 did more effective work than the public ones. We 
 decided, for one thing, to set a date for the general 
 uprising of the order." 
 
 The news was received quietly by most, as if it 
 were long anticipated, but to a few it came in the 
 nature of a shock. 
 
 " What 's the date ? " asked Tapp's portly neigh- 
 bor. 
 
208 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " The 16th of August." 
 
 " How do you propose to accomplish it ? " asked 
 a frowzy man perched on a printer's stool, who 
 had hitherto been silent. 
 
 " Well, we '11 have to look to the individual 
 members of the order, especially the commanders 
 of the temples. They must be brave and prompt. 
 We '11 not let the country members in general 
 know too soon, for they might back out with too 
 much time to think about it. It 's got to be sharp 
 work ! The men must be in readiness to move at 
 a moment's notice, and will be collected in secret 
 camps the night before, when necessary. We will 
 concentrate the troops here." 
 
 "You will surely have some project to mask this 
 movement, to divert suspicion?" exclaimed Tapp, 
 surprised at Dodd's infatuation. " You don't think 
 the Home Guard or the Regulars will permit it 
 without opposition ? " 
 
 " Oh, I hope to influence the State Central Com- 
 mittee to call a mass meeting here for that date. 
 I will notify by circulars the commanders of the 
 Temples, who will be ordered to come, armed and 
 ready, as fast as possible. I will take it on myself 
 to release the prisoners at Camp Morton, who will 
 give us substantial help. We will seize the arsenal 
 and the person of the governor, whom we will 
 turn over to the Committee of Ten." 
 
 " How can you do all this on your own responsi- 
 bility?" asked Tapp quietly. 
 
 " By the power of my official capacity as Grand 
 Commander of this State ! " 
 
THE MEETING OF THE GRAND COUNCIL 209 
 
 " I was not aware it was so great," said Tapp 
 apologetically. 
 
 " Yes ; it is vested in me to lead the uprising in 
 this State," and his eyes shone with gratified vanity. 
 
 " When I stick my head in a hornet's nest," 
 said Tapp's neighbor, " I want to know how I 'm 
 goin' to get out without gettin' stung! Unfold 
 your plans further, if you please, Mr. Dodd." 
 
 " Oh, we '11 have plenty of outside help. While 
 we are at work here at Indianapolis, Captain Hines 
 will release the prisoners at Johnson's Island. 
 The southern districts will call their members to 
 arms to assist Buckner, who will come in from 
 Kentucky. Price will advance from Missouri, and 
 Illinois and Ohio will be ready at notice. Oh, it 's 
 thoroughly planned and cannot fail ! " 
 
 Tapp looked on him, astonished at his assurance. 
 He concluded he must be crazed, or a colossal 
 egotist, to imagine himself capable of successfully 
 executing so Napoleonic a scheme. 
 
 " Do you for an instant think you can accom- 
 plish this, with the military sleeping on their arms, 
 Morton fully informed, and an expose in cold type 
 at this moment ? " he asked, amazed at his fatuity. 
 
 " It remains to be seen how much they know to 
 expose. Probably it is not more than the disclo- 
 sure of the ritual, or signs and grips. That won't 
 amount to much. I '11 be sworn the grand object 
 is not known." 
 
 At this moment there was a fumbling at the 
 door, which caused some uneasiness, for several 
 
210 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 persons showed signs of taking sudden departure. 
 The door was opened to admit a newcomer, whom 
 Tapp was horrified to see was Wilson. Two or 
 three men took occasion to leave on his entrance, 
 and Tapp slipped out with them. So well screened 
 was he by his portly neighbor that he was not 
 observed by Harv, who eventually took the place 
 on the Committee of Thirteen Tapp had jocularly 
 chosen for himself, and that very night helped 
 name the Committee of Ten " to take care of the 
 governor." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 MRS. NEAL's guest 
 
 Frank Neal was duly discharged, and returned 
 home by the middle of July. He was somewhat 
 sobered by his experiences in the service, was more 
 manly, and had a closer grip on his impulses ; he 
 would hardly have repeated the scene in Liberty 
 Church now, even under provocation ; but nothing 
 could entirely change his active, lively tempera- 
 ment. His mother had looked forward to having 
 her boy with her, but he himself seemed to have 
 quite different plans. He was gone all day and 
 every day, and never explained the nature of his 
 occupation. There was a distinct separation at 
 this time between neighbors differing politically. 
 All the homely social gatherings had been aban- 
 doned ; the Fourth of July barbecue had not been 
 held. It was a time of intense political feeling, 
 for there were three distinct parties in the field. 
 McClellan was the ostensible candidate of the De- 
 mocracy, while Lincoln had been nominated for 
 reelection. Hundreds of War Democrats, fearfid 
 of a change of administration at what seemed the 
 critical point of the war, openly supported Lincoln. 
 Campaign meetings were almost riots. Something 
 
212 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 of stJlen brooding in the political sky gave portent 
 of a terrific storm, and, like the gathering of clouds 
 before the impact which lets loose the thunderbolt, 
 there was much hurrying to and fro of Harv's 
 fuglemen, over whom Harv's control was now com- 
 plete. Frank watched these men closely, and drew 
 his own conclusions of future trouble. 
 
 He had made, as in friendliness bound, several 
 calls at the cabin, and would have been more than 
 pleased at the outward change in Lucetta, had he 
 not been absorbed in other more exciting affairs. 
 The mental change in the girl had been quite as 
 great, but when did the mental graces of a woman 
 ever appeal to a man with the potency of physical 
 beauty ? The desire of the eye must first be grati- 
 fied ; and fools are quite as satisfying, if they be 
 pretty fools, at a certain stage of man's existence. 
 
 One day early in August, Frank came in to din- 
 ner and said, as if he were asking the most ordinary 
 favor, and without a sign of embarrassment : — 
 
 " Mother, I wish you would ask Miss Abbot and 
 Lucetta to spend the whole of next week here." 
 
 " 'T seems to me you see enough of the girl with- 
 out my doing that," said his mother, with the innate 
 jealousy a woman feels toward one of her sex in 
 whom her " men-folks " take too lively an interest, 
 and which, doubtless. Eve felt for her first daugh- 
 ter-in-law. 
 
 " Why, mother, I've hardly seen Lucetta at all 
 since I 've been home. You know I 've been too 
 busy." 
 
MRS. NEAL'S GUEST 213 
 
 " Yes, awful busy. Too busy to tell your own 
 mother what you 're doin'." Secrets were another 
 cause of discontent. 
 
 " Will it satisfy you, mother, if I say to you in 
 strictest confidence that, if I were to tell you what 
 I 'm doing, I would betray a trust fit to hang 
 me ? I have my orders, and those a soldier obeys. 
 As to Lucetta, I 've quite another motive for want- 
 ing her here, which you '11 find out soon enough. 
 Though I must say Lucetta 's got to be a mighty 
 good-looking girl," he added mischievously, watch- 
 ing her face cloud and her lips puff out in silent 
 disapproval. 
 
 Being fully aware of the condition of affairs in 
 the neighborhood, Mrs. Neal was able to guess 
 pretty accurately at Frank's motives. 
 
 " I should think it 'd be mighty unpleasant for 
 Lucetta to visit here when her pap all but mur- 
 dered us in our beds," she could not refrain from 
 saying, with a touch of resentful spite the unfor- 
 giving recipient feels toward an unloved benefactor. 
 She could not overlook Lucetta's parentage. 
 
 " Mother, you don't really mean what you seem 
 to. After all she did for us ! Besides, Lucy 's 
 done more than a dozen men for " — And he 
 broke off abruptly. 
 
 "If it comes to scolding your own mother for 
 that chit, I know what '11 come next. You '11 be 
 wanting to marry her, and disgrace us all." 
 
 " Marry ? marry ? I have n't heart to even give 
 it thought, when the country 's going to pieces, with 
 
214 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 cutthroats and traitors plotting its ruin at our 
 very doors," said Frank hotly. " Not that Lucy 
 is not a good enough girl for any man," he said 
 sturdily, an immense concession for one of his sex, 
 and his mother recognized it, and said aggravat- 
 ingly : — 
 
 " I thought so ! " 
 
 Frank, exasperated, said no more but turned to 
 leave the room, and, as he opened the door and 
 passed over the threshold, said coldly : — 
 
 " We '11 say no more about it, mother. Sheriff 
 Hale will take her in." And he walked off down 
 toward the road to the creek, leaving Mrs. Neal 
 vexed with motherly jealousy, and repentant with 
 motherly compunction. 
 
 Mrs. Neal thought intently for some moments 
 about their irritating difference, and then said 
 aloud : — 
 
 " It 's nature, I reckon. But I do hope Frank — 
 First that Swazey, then that Tapp, now — Well, 
 I '11 go and ask her myself," which was surely as 
 great a self -surrender as any one is capable of, 
 be she of high or low degree. Moreover, she was 
 a mother, — one who receives a most poignant 
 wound when she is supplanted in the affection of 
 her son by another woman. 
 
 Frank proceeded to the creek, where he got into 
 his " dugout," and by his strong use of the paddle, 
 to which irritation lent force, soon covered the half 
 mile to the Whittaker landing. 
 
 W hen he reached the door, Lucetta was sitting 
 
MRS. NEAL'S GUEST 215 
 
 within the room sewing busily, and until he spoke 
 was unconscious of his presence. 
 
 " AVhy, Frank, you walk as light as an Indian ! 
 I never heard you. Come in." 
 
 Frank entered, and when he was seated, asked 
 " if the schoolmarm was at home ? " 
 
 " No, she had to go to Crof ton to obtain her 
 license, and she thought she might as well visit 
 some of her friends in town before school begins 
 in September. She '11 be gone two weeks." 
 
 " And you 're not afraid to stay here alone ? 
 You ought to be a soldier, Lucy." 
 
 " I 'd like to be, Frank. If I were a man I 
 would be. How men can skulk and hide and be 
 so afraid of the draft passes me." 
 
 " That 's not the worst of it, Lucy," said Frank 
 gravely. " If they did n't skulk and hide for such 
 treasonable purposes, the mere matter of coward- 
 ice would n't count. The way the women have 
 taken it up, too, is a wonder to me ; there 's old 
 Mrs. Bowles ; she could have her neck stretched 
 for what she 's already done and intends to do. It 
 is n't a woman's business." 
 
 " That 's just where you are mistaken, Frank. 
 You men seem to think women can't feel patriot- 
 ism, or enthusiasm for a cause ; that such virtues 
 belong only to men. I never have read much, but 
 Miss Abbot has been teaching me history ; and 
 there never has been, no, nor ever will be, a war 
 that we women did not feel the right and wrong of 
 it as strongly as men. We must bear it passively, 
 
216 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 and stay at home in that suspense which often ends 
 in slow heart-break that is worse than death in 
 battle. Don't you know, Frank, if we could be 
 in the thick of it, we 'd feel the fighting frenzy as 
 keenly as you ? All men don't fight well. Ours 
 is the cruelest part in war, to receive the dead 
 and bury them from sight ; to see the danger and 
 ruin that threatens all around, and feel that we 
 are powerless utterly ! In such times, men push 
 women behind them, forget them or sneer at them, 
 and the flimsy veil of courtsey is dropped entirely." 
 
 Frank was abashed for a moment at this pas- 
 sionate outburst, and felt that his mission as pro- 
 tector of the weak was a sinecure. He did not 
 know that it was the overflow of thoughts which 
 had occupied her at her sewing, when a woman 
 who is at all reflective will ponder on all manner 
 of unforbidden themes that rarely find utterance. 
 Frank had unwittingly opened the sluice - gates, 
 and out rushed Lucetta's broodings in a vehement 
 flood. 
 
 But he rallied his manly vanity, and said pa- 
 tronizingly : — 
 
 " But you see, Lucy, they can't handle a mus- 
 ket or sword. Most of 'em faint at the sight of 
 blood." 
 
 " Yes, some do. But it is a woman's work to 
 wash away that blood and bind up those wounds, 
 — how well, you ought to know. The loyal women 
 of the North have helped the Union cause in this 
 dreadful war. Why, in this very county twenty 
 
MRS. NEAL'S GUEST 217 
 
 women are running their farms, ploughing, plant- 
 ing, and harvesting, just like men. It is n't ' their 
 work,' but they can do it when it must be done." 
 
 " That 's so, Lucy. If these cowardly brutes 
 about here who won't go to the front would stand 
 by the government half as well, — which they don't, 
 mind you, — this war would soon be over. The 
 rebels themselves have exhausted their resources, 
 and their only hope is help from these valiant 
 skulkers, the Knights of the Golden Circle. Well, 
 the test of courage and loyalty will soon come, 
 and that 's what I 'm here to talk to you about." 
 
 He proceeded to explain the existing conditions, 
 and the inevitable issue, at which Lucy showed no 
 surprise ; and he finished by saying : — 
 
 " It is n't at all safe for you, or any woman, to 
 stay here alone for at least two weeks. By then, 
 we think, the danger will be past." 
 
 " I shall stay," said Lucetta qviietly. 
 
 " But, Lucy, that is foolhardy, after all I 've 
 told you." 
 
 " That does n't affect me personally." 
 
 " But it may, and that vitally. No, you 've got 
 to go ! " he said sternly. 
 
 She looked at him steadily and answered : — 
 
 " That is a word no one on earth has a right to 
 use to me. I am over eighteen, and there is no 
 one to decide my line of action but myself. I 
 shall stay. Besides, I 'm not afraid." 
 
 " But, Lucy," he pleaded, — "I don't mean to 
 dictate ; I only had in mind your safety, — it 
 
218 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 will be like courting danger to stay here, even 
 with Miss Abbot ; but alone — If only mother 
 would " — 
 
 He stopped abruptly, warned by the flush which 
 rose to Lucetta's face that she had jumped to the 
 right conclusion, — his mother's unwillingness to 
 have her under her roof, even in time of danger. 
 
 " Confound it all ! " he said roughly, angry at 
 his own lack of tact. " Why don't you do what 
 I want you to ? First mother, then you ! It 's 
 enough to make a man hate you women, the per- 
 verse way you act ! Why, God only knows, — I 
 don't." 
 
 And he snatched his cap, and was ready to rush 
 from the house. At the door a sight met him that 
 made his jaw drop in ridiculous amazement. 
 
 Down the road, as far as his young eyes could 
 see, he spied an old horse jogging along easily, and 
 on its back a woman. 
 
 " I '11 be shot if it ain't mother ! " 
 
 And he subsided into a chair with a resigned 
 air that told plainly his inability to comprehend 
 the sex, 
 
 Lucetta turned her eyes toward the same object, 
 and, for some perplexing reason, began to cry. 
 
 " Good Lord, Lucy ! what 're you crying about 
 now ? You never shed a tear, I '11 be bound, that 
 night you warned the sheriff." 
 
 " You are so rough, Frank ! and besides you just 
 as good as told me your mother wouldn't have 
 me in the house." 
 
MRS. NEAL'S GUEST 219 
 
 " Why, I did n't do any such thing ! Here she 
 comes now, to invite you herself, I '11 bet a ten- 
 dollar greenback." 
 
 Lucetta looked down the road, and, as the rather 
 stern face of Mrs. Neal came well into view, her 
 own hardened, and she said coldly : — 
 
 " She is coming to say that I need n't expect 
 anything of the kind. I '11 go to the sheriff's first, 
 anyway, if I have to go." 
 
 Frank couldn't believe his ears. This gentle, 
 quiet girl, now so defiant, whom he had thought 
 almost spiritless, he had formerly passed by for 
 the "jolly" girls because they had more "go." 
 None of these would have stood out so resolutely. 
 He twirled his cap in perplexity. He began to 
 feel as if caught between two opposing skirmish 
 lines, and, expecting a lively engagement if Lu- 
 cetta and his mother came together, he meditated 
 retreat. 
 
 " You don't know anything about it," he said, 
 in reply to the first part of her last speech. " But, 
 if she asks you, promise me you '11 go." 
 
 He was so urgent, she looked into his eager face 
 and his clear blue eyes, which pleaded earnestly 
 with her, but expressed nothing more than anxiety 
 for her weKare. 
 
 " Believe me, it is for your safety I ask it. Will 
 you promise ? " 
 
 " Yes, if she asks me," was the reluctant answer 
 Lucetta gave, compelled in spite of herself. 
 
 " But, Lucy," demanded the boy, " why could n't 
 
220 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 you have said so in the first place and saved all 
 this fuss? I never was so nearly mad at you," 
 and he laughed blithely. 
 
 " I don't know why, Frank," replied the girl 
 simply. 
 
 By this time Mrs. Neal had reached the big gate, 
 and Frank hastened out to help her dismount. 
 
 " I 've sounded her, mother, and I don't think 
 she wants to come," he said craftily. " I wish she 
 would, to keep you company. I '11 have to be 
 away most of the week." 
 
 Now Mrs. Neal was a woman who, while not a 
 hectoring one, liked to have her favors gratefully 
 accepted when she took the trouble to offer them, 
 which usually she was more than willing to do. 
 But in this case something undefinable held her 
 back ; she felt a reluctance she could not account 
 for, or rather would not. She had long since for- 
 given the injury done to them by Lucetta's father. 
 It was wiped out by the good works of the daughter 
 and the death of the parent, but there had been 
 little or no intercourse between them since that 
 calamity, now a year past. 
 
 She dismounted and was soon in the house, and 
 Frank walked down the little footpath toward the 
 creek, whistling cheerfully. 
 
 "What's this Frank tells me?" were Mrs. 
 Neal's first words. " He says it 's dangerous, and 
 you goin' to stay here," as if her son were an oracle 
 whose words could not be disputed. " I 'd like the 
 best in the world to have you next week. It '11 be 
 
MRS. NEAL'S GUEST 221 
 
 lonesome-like, with Abner away thresMn' about the 
 neighborhood, and Frank gone, too. We '11 have 
 threshers, too, a Friday." 
 
 Both drew a little sigh of relief, characteristic of 
 women when an expected unpleasantness passes by 
 harmlessly. 
 
 They looked into each other's eyes, — the one 
 with anxious questioning, the other with timid ap- 
 peal. They understood, if Frank did not. 
 
 " If you want me, and I can help, I '11 go," 
 said Lucetta at last, gently. 
 
 "Might as well go now," urged Mrs. Neal, — 
 " while the horse is here. Old Vick carries dou- 
 ble." 
 
 Relieved at the way the affair had ended, Lu- 
 cetta quickly made her small preparations, packing 
 a change of clothing into a little carpet-bag, the 
 design upon which seemed made of one big red 
 flower. She covered the ooals, made fast the door, 
 and was ready. Soon they were ambling back to 
 Neal's, and Frank, catching sight of them as they 
 rode through the iron-weed standing thick in the 
 sandy creek-bottom, gave an exclamation of sur- 
 prise and said aloud : — 
 
 "Well, mother's a good one! It didn't take 
 her long to make the girl do what she wanted. 
 And Lucy, — well, Lucy 's a nice girl." 
 
 And he looked after them as they mounted the 
 gentle swell to the house. 
 
 The next week was the pleasantest Lucetta had 
 ever passed. The Neals were what is called in 
 
222 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 the neighborhood " well off " and " good livers," 
 and the visit was a welcome change. She was so 
 ready and helpful that, before three days had 
 passed, Mrs. Neal began to wonder what she should 
 do without her when she went home, and why she 
 had not missed her own girls when they married 
 and left her, one to live in Indianapolis, and the 
 other in the adjoining county. She did not take 
 into consideration that her strength had flagged 
 with advancing age in the decade during which 
 her girls had been established in their own homes. 
 Now Lucetta, whose nineteen years had been passed 
 in service for others, feU naturally back into her 
 former habit, and gave the old people a daughter's 
 ministration. Frank was away all day, and fre- 
 quently till late at night. But on the few evenings 
 spent at home, when they sat on the porch talking, 
 a completeness in the family circle made itself felt. 
 Frank was running over with liveliness ; the others 
 were cheerful. He told them stories of the bright 
 side of camp life, and the only thing that stopped 
 his flow of talk was when they asked about his 
 prison life. Of that he could never speak freely. 
 
 Lucetta was not a girl of superabundant spirits, 
 and, at that time, life for her was too serious ; but 
 now and then Frank could surprise from her a 
 girlish peal that mingled pleasantly with his father's 
 hearty laugh and his mother's shriller one. 
 
 Once, when they parted for the night, the young 
 people climbed the stairs together, Frank still 
 laughing and talking. 
 
MRS. NEAL'S GUEST 223 
 
 The old husband turned to the old wife, and, 
 jerking his head in their direction, said : — 
 
 " Frank might do worse." 
 
 " He ain't thinking of that," said Mrs. Neal petu- 
 lantly. "He don't think nor dream of anything 
 but war and soldierin'." 
 
 " That 's all right now, but he will after a while. 
 He will after a while." 
 
 " Why, Abner Neal ! have you forgot " — 
 
 " Yes, I have, wife. And so '11 Frank, I reckon," 
 said the old man sturdily. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 A PRISONER OF WAR 
 
 On the morning of the 15th of August, Ridgely 
 lay as stagnant as a mill-pond under the subdued 
 rays of the rising sun. A hush seemed to brood 
 over all the processes of nature ; the birds were 
 silent ; the waters of Honey Creek were low from 
 the midsummer drought, and flowed sluggishly in 
 their bed ; cattle cropped listlessly ; and the people 
 moved about as noiselessly as if on tiptoe with 
 expectancy. A feeling of suspense was in the air, 
 diffused as ethereally as the odor of flowers at the 
 dew-fall. 
 
 At the doors of many of the scattered cabins 
 and small wooden houses in the country and on 
 the outskirts of the village hung what, at first 
 glance, seemed a white cornucopia, such as idle 
 schoolboys make of the leaves of their copy-books. 
 A vagrant wind set them a-flutter, then straightened 
 them out with a smart crack to pass on and let 
 them fall limp again. But that brief trick of a 
 passing breeze displayed a tiny flag made of white 
 cloth, with a red ribbon running along the top and 
 carried down the sides, and hanging below like 
 streamers. 
 
A PRISONER OF WAR 225 
 
 Frank Neal was abroad early, on horseback and 
 on his way to Ridgely post-office, where he expected 
 important letters. 
 
 At first sight of these mysterious rags he was 
 startled and felt a twinge of fear ; the next moment 
 it was changed to fury that found vent in bitter 
 imprecations, and instead of keeping on to Ridgely 
 he turned back, and rode at an easy trot till out of 
 sight of the village, when his pace was changed to 
 a furious gallop. On he rode till he reached the 
 county-seat and reported to Sheriff Hale. He then 
 went to the telegraph office and sent a message to 
 the governor. 
 
 Shortly after noon that same day, the Crofton 
 idlers seated on the court-house fence in the shade 
 of the old locust-trees, some engaged in talking 
 over the prospect of Lincoln's reelection, others 
 lounging in chairs tilted back against the squatty 
 brick " Treasurer's Office," were attracted by a 
 curious measured sound, which grew louder mo- 
 mently until it resolved into a steady tramp, tramp. 
 Then came the clatter of arms and jangle of can- 
 teens, the flash of bayonets carried at " rest ; " then 
 a cloud of dust, and a company of soldiers passed 
 down Main Street and turned the corner out of 
 sight before they had recovered from their surprise 
 at the apparition. 
 
 A quick command to halt was given at the town 
 pump ; an order to break ranks and fill canteens ; 
 and, in as few seconds as it took to execute the 
 order, a crowd had collected about them, and they 
 
226 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 were plied with questions as to why they were 
 there, and where they were going, questions they 
 either could not or would not answer. 
 
 " Them blamed Butternuts down in Honey Creek 
 Township is up, I reckon ! " said one citizen, spit- 
 ting out his tobacco in order to express himself 
 more freely. " Some of Harv Wilson's devilment, 
 I bet!" 
 
 The soldiers bandied jests by way of reply. 
 After the yoimg lieutenant in command had held 
 a short conference with Sheriff Hale, the order to 
 " fall in " was given, and the company formed in 
 line of march and set off, followed by several farm 
 wagons, whose owners had volunteered to transport 
 them to their goal. They were also accompanied 
 by old Jason Cory with his cannon, — the pride of 
 every boy in Crofton, — which hitherto had had 
 no more warlike duty than to fire a salute on the 
 Fourth of July or Washington's Birthday. But 
 the old gunner was a loyal man, and eagerly lent 
 his service and that of his ancient gun, which he 
 loved as if it were alive. Frank Neal piloted them, 
 and almost before the people of Crofton had recov- 
 ered from their surprise the company was gone. 
 The men kept in ranks till well out of town, then at 
 the command of their officer marched in irregular 
 order over the dusty roads, or availed themselves 
 of the jolting wagons. The march was leisurely, 
 as they wished to reach Eidgely under cover of 
 dusk, and encamp before the enemy knew of their 
 presence on the field. They had no tents, but set 
 
A PRISONER OF WAR 227 
 
 out, like seasoned veterans as they were, in light 
 marching order, each man with a blanket on his 
 back in which to roll himself as he couched on the 
 ground. 
 
 Frank conducted them to a retired spot by the 
 secluded road that skirted the creek back of his 
 home. Eidgely was not visible from that point, 
 and here the troops would remain till they could 
 come up with the enemy under cover of darkness. 
 When Frank, who rode ahead as a scout, came in 
 view of their own landing, he saw the canoe shoot 
 swiftly out from the shore and down-stream as fast 
 as the sturdy strokes of a girl could paddle it. 
 The gay young soldiers made bets on her progress, 
 or remarks of admiration on her supple grace. 
 Frank wheeled and rode back to the young officer, 
 with whom he exchanged a few words. The com- 
 pany halted, and he dashed ahead as fast as his 
 jaded animal could go. His object was to inter- 
 cept the girl at the landing nearest the viUage ; 
 and he was there, and had fastened his horse to a 
 scrub sycamore out of her sight, before she could 
 tie up the canoe, which she ran into a sheltered 
 place in the willows, as if to hide it. Her cheeks 
 flamed with two red spots ; her fingers trembled so 
 she could hardly use them ; she looked anxious and 
 agitated. 
 
 Frank stepped out before her as she mounted 
 the narrow river-path to the village, now in sight 
 from the high bank, and spoke to her before she 
 realized his presence. 
 
228 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " Where are you going, Lucy ? I thouglit you 
 were to stay with mother." 
 
 She started guiltily, but words would not at 
 once rise to her lips. 
 
 " Have you turned traitor, too ? " said Frank bit- 
 terly. " By Heaven ! I 'd drown you in the creek 
 if I thought so ! " 
 
 " No, no ! " she cried breathlessly. 
 
 " You were going to that Copperhead camp to 
 warn them?" 
 
 " Oh, Frank, it was only that I might prevent 
 bloodshed. I thought I might get them to go 
 home if they knew the soldiers were actually here. 
 I tried to persuade them to, early this morning, 
 but they would n't listen to me. I saw you gallop 
 off, Frank, and I guessed that what I feared — 
 the uprising — had come." 
 
 " Then you knew what I 'd gone for, and would 
 have betrayed me, too ? " 
 
 "I did not think of betraying you, Frank. I 
 only thought of the murder that would be done, 
 when Tim Cull came in and told us Harv Wil- 
 son had a hundred and fifty men camped in the 
 meadow back of Bolser's. Then I knew you 'd 
 gone for the soldiers." 
 
 " And you would save them at the expense of 
 my life?" 
 
 "No, no!" 
 
 " By violating the honor of your State, then ? " 
 
 " The honor of my State is as dear to me as to 
 you, or to our governor himself. But don't you 
 
A PRISONER OF WAR 229 
 
 understand ? How could I let these poor fools, 
 duped and led into this by Harv Wilson and such 
 men, be killed by the soldiers, or, worse, arrested 
 and hanged as traitors for this insurrection ? They 
 are my neighbors, and were my father's and mo- 
 ther's friends. I have known them all my life. 
 What do they know of the principles involved in 
 this war? I didn't know myself till Miss Abbot 
 told me. They are as ignorant as children, and 
 as impulsive. Their prejudices are worked on by 
 the leaders, who as you know are bad or fanatical 
 men," pleaded Lucetta. 
 
 " They know enough to be rank traitors, and 
 are eager to ruin our cause and break up the 
 Union. If they are dupes, and I admit most of 
 Wilson's followers are, they need a little sense 
 put into them, and a bullet is as good a means of 
 doing it as anything I know. The cursed hounds ! 
 Infernal Copperheads ! Have I any reason to 
 spare them? Your friends would have burned 
 us all in our beds, and for what? Because we 
 were loyal ! They would have shot me because 
 I wore the blue uniform !" he urged passionately. 
 And you '11 not warn them. Miss ! " — with a sud- 
 den descent from the grandiose, — " and you '11 
 just turn round and go home ! " said Frank, with 
 that irritating air of command which men at their 
 wits' end assume toward women ; and he untied his 
 horse and led it into the path where he and Lu- 
 cetta had stood talking. To his intense vexation, 
 she continued down the path in spite of his re- 
 
230 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 monstrance, liis command, he following until they 
 came into the road, fenced on the meadow side by 
 a " stake-and-rider." 
 
 Across the hilly field he could see smoke from 
 the dying camp-fires rising in the calm, moist air. 
 It was now twilight, and the insurgent camp lay in 
 profound quiet, snugly hidden, and betrayed only 
 by the trail of blue vapor. By climbing the rail 
 fence it could be reached by a short cut. Frank 
 urged Lucetta no farther, but led his horse close to 
 the fence, and stepping on a lower rail said shortly : 
 
 " Climb up here and I '11 point out the camp of 
 your precious friends, if you must go to them, 
 house-burners, assassins, cutthroats as they are ! " 
 
 " Frank, I feel it my sacred duty to warn them." 
 
 She looked firmly into his eyes, shining with 
 anger. Both were determined and actuated by 
 their ideas of duty and honor ; a man's will pitted 
 against a woman's ; neither willing to yield. He 
 sat on the top rail, with one leg thrown across the 
 fence, looking down at her expectantly. An in- 
 sidious smile broke the gravity of his young face 
 for an instant, which as swiftly grew stern. Her 
 mood was one of calm exaltation, which exasper- 
 ates a man when opposed to his own, and utterly 
 routs all his powers of persuasion. 
 
 "Well," said Frank shortly, "give me your 
 hand ; now step up. Wait till I get on the top 
 rail." He stood up where the rails crossed, and 
 reached down his hand to her. His horse stood 
 with drooping head close by. 
 
A PRISONER OF WAR 231 
 
 Lucetta, embarrassed by his help offered in an 
 act she had performed alone all her life, did as she 
 was told. 
 
 With a sharp jerk he brought the horse along- 
 side, flung himself into the saddle, and, before she 
 had time to realize his intent, clasped Lucetta, who 
 was on the top of the fence, in both arms, lifted 
 her to a place before him on the saddle, and hold- 
 ing her fast, said exultantly : — 
 
 " You 're a prisoner of war ! All 's fair in love 
 and war, Lucy, and there 's a little of both in 
 this ! " 
 
 With a shake of the bridle he was off, and when 
 they reached the house he coolly locked her in a 
 room up-stairs which had but one window, and that 
 one from which it would be dangerous to jump. 
 He knew too well Lucetta's firmness when the 
 idea of duty possessed her, and he had no other 
 resource but to make her a veritable prisoner. 
 He passed through the kitchen to find his mother 
 and inform her of his capture, but she was busy 
 with the milk at the spring-house and he failed 
 to see her. He returned to the soldiers, and, in 
 the excitement of pitching camp, entirely forgot 
 his irritation, Lucetta, everything, indeed, but the 
 present occupation. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE UPRISING 
 
 With much shrewdness, Harv Wilson had se- 
 lected the position for his camp. His sole pur- 
 pose had been to keep out of sight ; but he had 
 not taken into consideration, as a trained soldier 
 would have done, its possibilities of successful de- 
 fense in case of surprise from an enemy. 
 
 He had chosen a horseshoe-shaped dell, about 
 fifty yards across, covered with a fine thick turf of 
 blue grass eaten short by the cattle. It was sur- 
 rounded by hills, which rose in a gentle ascent to 
 the right and left, but almost like an escarpment 
 in the rear, where its green walls reached the 
 greatest height. One standing at that point could 
 look down on the camp and see its every move- 
 ment. The opening of the horseshoe was quite 
 narrow and was the outlet to the road. Within 
 its confines were encamped about one hundred and 
 fifty men, for the most part farmers and laborers, 
 closely crowded between the green walls. Just 
 what was expected of them, none knew intelligibly 
 except the leaders, whose knowledge was not too 
 clear. 
 
 The expose had not proved serious, as Dodd had 
 
THE UPRISING 233 
 
 predicted ; it had not penetrated to tlie innermost 
 secrets, nor laid bare the purposes of the organiza- 
 tion ; so that the original intention of an uprising 
 for August 16th was not abandoned. 
 
 The Knights of Riffle and Honey Creek town- 
 ships had gone into camp, as ordered by the Grand 
 Council, and were waiting to be joined by Price 
 from the West and by Buckner from the South ; 
 and they were in constant expectation of a courier 
 to inform them of the advance of one or both of 
 these forces, or of orders to march to the capital 
 independently of these, and fall in with other 
 Knights whom they might overtake. They had 
 reached a state of such fanaticism that they enter- 
 tained no doubt of success. 
 
 As the sun sank behind the hills across Honey 
 Creek, it was a picturesque sight to see their blaz- 
 ing camp-fires ; for the August nights were chilly 
 and the mists from the creek cold. The white 
 walls of several large tents were fitfully displayed 
 in the flickering light. The floors of these tents 
 were thickly overlaid with fresh straw, and each 
 man found for himself a bed in any one he fan- 
 cied, or lay under the wagons that had transported 
 the camp fittings. Those who disliked the too 
 close quarters of the tents rolled themselves in a 
 blanket and lay on the ground. Worn out with 
 unusual excitement, the men soon sought their 
 beds. 
 
 Harv Wilson had grown more and more anxious 
 as the evening advanced and no courier had ar- 
 
234 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 rived. He called about him two or three men, 
 who were his inferior officers, and said : — 
 
 " I don't know what to make of this. I was 
 ordered by Dodd to be ready to move at sundown. 
 He said he 'd send Captain Athon to lead us 
 where he wanted us." 
 
 " Somethin' seems wrong," observed the first 
 lieutenant, who flourished a corn-knife for a sword. 
 
 " 'Pears like, " observed the second lieutenant. 
 " What ye goin' to do, Harv?" 
 
 Harv, who was now captain, frowned at this 
 breach of discipline and said : " Go to bed ! I 'm 
 goin' to." 
 
 " What ! without sentries ? " exclaimed the first 
 lieutenant, who had been in the army and dishon- 
 orably discharged. 
 
 " See to postin' 'em yourself ! " said Harv an- 
 grily. " I 'm goin' to bed." 
 
 As the camp settled into repose, the low murmur 
 of voices fell into silence, and gave place to the 
 loud insistent fiddling of amorous katydids, and 
 the shrilling of crickets. Occasionally the bark of 
 a restless dog was heard. Over them hung a black- 
 blue sky, into which they gazed as from a well at a 
 circle of star-studded space. About midnight the 
 waning moon rose above the highest hill enclosing 
 the camp. The movement of sentries could be 
 heard, but later they too fell asleep, unused to 
 watching, and worn out by unwonted excitement. 
 
 Up the side of the hill to the northeast three 
 men crept cautiously. They climbed it obliquely 
 
THE UPRISING 235 
 
 to the highest point that hung above the encamp- 
 ment. This reached, they threw themselves prone 
 on the ground, peering into the stronghold of the 
 enemy. 
 
 They were Frank Neal, a young corporal, and 
 the young lieutenant in command. 
 
 Frank rapidly and accurately explained the posi- 
 tion, and the lieutenant laid his plans accordingly. 
 They then returned to their own bivouac, half a 
 mile away, as secretly as they had come. 
 
 At four o'clock the mist from Honey Creek filled 
 the valley ; like a moist veil, it fell over hills and 
 woods, leaving nothing clearly visible. The cocks 
 were crowing shrilly and jays were screaming, but 
 these were the only signs of dawn. Yet in the en- 
 campment on the by-road there were quiet move- 
 ments of some kind. A small squad of men defiled 
 to the right, and disappeared in the mist as silently 
 as ghosts. Another followed in a few moments, 
 and was swallowed up in the same mysterious 
 way. A third moved to a position in front of the 
 horseshoe behind which lay Harv's slumbering fol- 
 lowers, and formed in line across the opening. 
 
 All these movements were completed before the 
 first sun-rays streaked the sky. The sun rose a 
 little after five, but the heavy mists delayed the 
 dawning, which deepened into gray light slowly. 
 
 A sound of furious galloping bestirred the slum- 
 bering camp, for the sensitive mist-charged atmo- 
 sphere carried sound into the little dell with loud 
 reverberance. 
 
236 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 The young lieutenant had placed two sentinels 
 two hundred yards down the road, behind the great 
 white trunks of some sycamores, which hid them 
 from the camp, but gave them full view of the 
 road. One of these was Frank Neal. As the 
 sound of the galloping drew nearer, the men looked 
 to their arms, and, as a jaded horse came in sight 
 at a forced gallop from which speed was spent, 
 they sprang from their places, threw the horse on 
 his haunches, and forced him to halt. Before the 
 amazed rider could realize his situation, a gun was 
 thrust in his face through the mist, a challenge 
 given, and strong hands dragged him to the ground. 
 
 " Vallandigham," the horseman answered, un- 
 hesitatingly. 
 
 " I guess you 're the fellow we want, if you don't 
 give the right password ! I 've orders to search 
 him, corporal," said Frank to the other soldier. 
 
 He rapidly examined the courier, and found a 
 slip of paper, which there had been no attempt to 
 conceal. On it was a single sentence : — 
 
 " Look out for a drove of mules." 
 
 " Ah, cipher ! " said Frank. " My young man, 
 we '11 call on you to read the riddle." 
 
 " I refuse ! " said the bearer sturdily. 
 
 " I guess you 'd better think over your refusal," 
 said Frank, placing a revolver to the fellow's head. 
 " I '11 give you two minutes ! " 
 
 The courier was not a soldier, and gasped out in 
 horrified astonishment : — 
 
 " Why, you would n't shoot a feller, would you ? " 
 
THE UPRISING 237 
 
 " That 's orders ! " said Frank grimly. " This 
 is war ! War of your own making, too ! So talk 
 up briskly, my man." 
 
 "It was from Colonel Heffren, of the 3d, to 
 warn Harv Wilson Abe Lincoln's soldiers were 
 comin.' " 
 
 " Oh, they 're the ' mules,' are they ? " said 
 Frank. The fellow grinned and nodded an assent. 
 
 The horse, freed, slackened its pace to a weary 
 walk, and, by the time Frank had made his capture, 
 it had crept between the lines into the camp of the 
 insurgents, from whence it had caught the neigh of 
 one of its kind and feebly answered. This startled 
 the camp like a loud alarm. 
 
 As if by preconcerted signal, the men sprang 
 from their tents, formed into confused groups, 
 ready for they knew not what, just as the sun shot 
 up over the hill, lifting the baffling cloud of mist. 
 
 Before their astonished eyes, at the mouth of the 
 dell, was planted a cannon, and, as it seemed to 
 their startled senses, there stretched endlessly a 
 line of blue-clad soldiers, with guns at "ready," 
 standing still as if carved in stone. They turned 
 mechanically to climb the less steep hills, to find 
 there also a line of soldiers, with bayonets fixed, 
 thrown round the dell. So skillfully had the 
 troop been placed that it commanded every point 
 of escape, as Harv Wilson was quick to compre- 
 hend. 
 
 He had no means of finding out their numbers. 
 He was no coward, but was shrewder than his fol- 
 
238 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 lowers, and he advised them to lay down their 
 arms and make peaceable surrender. 
 
 This counsel had a curious effect, for it roused 
 most of them to frenzy, and they rushed toward 
 the line of soldiery, armed with corn-knives, pitch- 
 forks, billets of wood, anything they coidd catch 
 up. Those who had guns shot recklessly, and for 
 a few moments the wildest commotion ensued. A 
 quick volley from the troops, fired over their heads, 
 had a calming effect. Seizing the opportunity, 
 Wilson went among them, cursing the mutinous, 
 encouraging the timid, until by degrees he brought 
 them under his control and made them understand 
 the uselessness of resisting trained soldiers. 
 
 *' We '11 have help inside of an hour from Price 
 or Buckner. Just keep cool, and let 'em think 
 we 're beat," Harv exhorted. " That horse is 
 Billy Hines's, and he was to bring the word as 
 soon as they had crossed the state line." 
 
 This encouraged those who were in a mood to be 
 reasoned with, and they stood in sullen groups, not 
 yet fully able to grasp the situation. 
 
 In the midst of it all, Frank Neal came into 
 camp, and, going up to Wilson, said, so that all 
 might hear : — 
 
 "Harv, I 've a communication for you," and he 
 passed over a dirty scrap of paper. 
 
 Harv read it, and his bloated face turned pale, 
 as a visionary noose dangled before his eyes. But 
 there was a heroic strain in him, and he bore it 
 well and stanchly. 
 
THE UPRISING 239 
 
 " It's all up with us, boys ! " he said to his fol- 
 lowers. Then he turned to Frank and asked : — 
 
 " Who 's your commanding officer ? " 
 
 " Lieutenant B " 
 
 " He 's played it smart. Tell him I surrender. 
 But, Frank, use your influence with him to let 
 these fools go home. Don't half of them know 
 what they're here for." 
 
 " I don't know what Lieutenant B 's orders 
 
 are on that point, but I '11 carry your message to 
 him." 
 
 Frank scaled the steep hill opposite the point 
 where the cannon was planted, and found the 
 young officer standing there, watching the scene 
 below. He was laughing softly as Frank came to 
 his side. 
 
 " It seems to be a bloodless victory, Neal," he 
 observed. 
 
 " Yes," assented Frank. " But they would not 
 have yielded so easily but for this." And he 
 handed him the bit of paper that had so affected 
 Harv Wilson. 
 
 The officer read it and remarked, "Well?" 
 questioningly. 
 
 " The fools were really in earnest," exclaimed 
 
 B . " I knew there was devilment of some 
 
 sort afoot. We are sent out every week or so to 
 suppress local troubles. But, by Heaven, I did n't 
 think it would reach insurrection in such an out-of- 
 the-way place as this ! " 
 
 The lieutenant descended the hill and took for- 
 
240 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 mal possession of the camp. Acting on orders 
 from headquarters in such cases, he dismissed the 
 rank and file to their homes, frightened and crest- 
 fallen, with an indeterminate sentence hanging over 
 them. Harv would be held as a prisoner of war, 
 carried back to Crofton, and placed in the jail 
 there, to be held till wanted by the authorities. 
 Athon and Miller, his lieutenants, had a like sen- 
 tence. 
 
 In the midst of breaking camp a diversion was 
 made. In some inscrutable way the news had 
 flown far and wide that the soldiers had come, and 
 on the road a crowd of tearful women, and fright- 
 ened children, and a few silent men had gathered. 
 Suddenly these made way for some one. It was 
 old Mrs. Bowles, roughly crowding the women and 
 trampling the children in her haste to reach the 
 camp. She passed the sentinels In contempt, in 
 spite of bayonets presented, to which she gave no 
 more heed than so many hickory goads. 
 
 She marched straight up to Harv, who was a 
 prisoner under guard, violently shook her fist in 
 his face, and raged like a lioness. 
 
 " We might 'a' known we could n't trust you, 
 Harv Wilson. You never had no sand In your 
 craw. You make a big splashin' In shallow water. 
 All you 're fittin' fer is to bully men like Whitta- 
 ker, and rob widders aJawIn'. You deserve the 
 gallows, and thank God you '11 git your wages. 
 You never was true to the cause, an' I spit on 
 
 you!" 
 
THE UPRISING 241 
 
 She violently did so, before two soldiers could 
 lay hands on her to lead her out of the lines, jerk- 
 ing and raging. 
 
 The young officer had a keen sense of the ridic- 
 ulous, and had watched this scene with amused 
 astonishment, till he recovered sufficiently to have 
 her removed. 
 
 " It seems the women would fight ! " he remarked 
 with emphasis that caused "Wilson to shoot an 
 envenomed glance at him. 
 
 After a hasty breakfast the troops set out for 
 Crof ton with their three prisoners, who were turned 
 over to Sheriff Hale, and the great uprising in 
 Middle County ended without a drop of blood being 
 shed. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 CAPTIVE AND CAPTOR 
 
 It was with a feeling o£ utter humiliation that 
 Lucetta saw the door closed and locked, and Frank 
 depart without a word o£ excuse or regret. She 
 heard him run noisily down the stairs, slam a door ; 
 then silence. The next few hours she passed in 
 abasement so great she hardly moved a muscle or 
 uttered a sound. The thought of the indignity to 
 which she had been subjected kept running through 
 her mind faster than the water in Honey Creek, 
 whose fretting she could distinctly hear as it crossed 
 the riffle at the ford. 
 
 As the hours passed on and the house grew 
 quieter and no one came to her rescue, she realized 
 with intenser shame, if possible, that Frank had 
 forgotten her. She had no means of knowing he 
 was in camp with the soldiers. 
 
 Lucetta's dealings with men had given her little 
 knowledge of them that would apply to one like 
 Frank, who, compared to the dwellers in this out- 
 of-the-way place, had seen life, busy, active, stirring 
 life. Her father was the least virile of his sex, 
 although springing from sturdy Scottish stock ; and 
 she may have dimly realized this lack of manly 
 
CAPTIVE AND CAPTOR 243 
 
 vigor, though a merciful Providence never permits 
 a daughter the unsparing view of strangers in such 
 cases. A large charity covered all Zeb's shortcom- 
 ings, and only a remembrance of his unfailing gen- 
 tleness and natural courtesy remained ; this had 
 been cherished and idealized in his daughter's 
 memory. Strangely enough, his weakness had no 
 effect in shaping her belief of what a man should be. 
 
 If it were possible for men to catch a spiritual 
 glimpse of those ideals of maidenhood which girls 
 create and endow from their own pure hearts, how 
 warped and ignoble the real would seem ! Nothing 
 human could fill them. They rise to the stature 
 of gods, whose devotees are so engaged in looking 
 up that their glance rarely falls upon the feet of 
 clay. Lucetta had unconsciously endowed Frank 
 with heroship. 
 
 She could not sleep, but after hours of endur- 
 ance her torturing mood of abasement passed like 
 a paroxysm of pain. She felt a softer one take its 
 place in her heart and wondered at it, and, with 
 self -questioning peculiar to lonely women, analyzed 
 it with painful accuracy. She realized that she 
 was not as angry with Frank as she should have 
 been, and a new fear and shame tormented her ; 
 she cherished no delusions concerning his regard 
 for her, but she had fostered others, unwittingly, 
 in regard to herself. 
 
 Lonely, unsought, set apart for service from 
 childhood like a Vestal, no man had felt for her 
 the delicate tenderness, the special affection her 
 
244 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 fastidious nature demanded, which, if she could 
 not attain, she was strong enough to forego. The 
 coarse advances of a man like Swazey disgusted 
 and terrified her. She realized with an abashing 
 clearness that she coveted Frank's regard ; she 
 even confessed to herself, in that dreary vigil, a 
 longing to inspire in him a feeling finer than a 
 mere boy-and-girl fondness, which on her part was 
 a fondness that had sprung to the full stature of 
 love. In the flash of revelation she saw it, and 
 shut it in, for she could not thrust it out of her 
 pure, unselfish, longing heart. This night's rough 
 treatment plainly proved that Frank had no ten- 
 der feeling for her. His mind and soul were filled 
 with ambition and the lust of fighting, and he 
 longed for success in war, not love. She experi- 
 enced a woman's resentful jealousy at being over- 
 looked and neglected, while she chid herself for 
 harboring the unlawful thought. 
 
 Frank's nature was as open as the day ; he pos- 
 sessed quick sympathy, easy forgetfulness of an- 
 noyance, a rollicking gallantry that induced him to 
 make laughing love to every pretty girl he met. 
 The soldier's assurance made him confident of their 
 admiration, and not many disappointed him. Yet 
 there was a strong side to his character not often 
 roused, — the heritage of a high sense of duty, and 
 that puritanical conscience which occasionally called 
 for self-abasement. 
 
 The development of the sentimental side of his 
 character had been arrested by the hard realities 
 
CAPTIVE AND CAPTOR 245 
 
 of war and the absorbing demands of military- 
 ambition. If he had ever thought of Lucetta, it 
 was with gratitude for her timely help, and to 
 pity her, superjfieially, for having such a worthless 
 father and sickly mother, — and, now that Prov- 
 idence had removed them, there was no longer 
 reason even for this compassion ; sympathy for her 
 loneliness was now his strongest feeling. As a 
 schoolboy, he had defended her against the rough- 
 ness of other lads ; but he had been unequal to 
 the task of protecting her from the sly flings of 
 the girls, of which, indeed, he was ignorant, and at 
 which he would probably have laughed with the cal- 
 lousness of a boy unsuspecting a girl's sensitiveness. 
 But Frank was one of Nature's lance-breakers, and 
 the object was always a secondary matter. 
 
 In the shriving Lucetta gave her heart that 
 night, she did not overlook one bitter fact. When 
 Frank was rough, and had forcibly prevented her 
 carrying out her intention, and disdained her idea 
 of duty, she was angry because he did it ; in an- 
 other, she would have passed it by without resent- 
 ment or resistance. When he had laughingly 
 called her strong-minded, as she timorously un- 
 folded her plans for seK-improvement to him alone, 
 she was wounded that he was not more sympa- 
 thetic. He regaled her with the pranks that had 
 engaged him at college, and she had thought him 
 lacking in love of knowledge, and was disappointed 
 in him. But when he related enthusiastically his 
 war experiences, showing greater desire to defeat 
 
246 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 the enemy than devotion to the principles involved 
 in the war, she was shocked, and the escapades in 
 camp and on the march sounded coarse, even bru- 
 tal ; but she put it all out of her mind. She con- 
 doned the fault because of the sinner. She had 
 not realized that her imaginary hero had taken on 
 mortal form until the harrowing fact was revealed 
 in the long hours of her imprisonment, and the 
 shame of the consciousness of unsought love was 
 hers. Self - contempt and stern resolution would 
 not banish from her mind the face that had looked 
 at her as he thrust her inside the door with rough 
 haste. Cheeks flushed with excitement, eyes shin- 
 ing with satisfaction, his lips smiling with exulta- 
 tion at his success in frustrating her design, — that 
 was all she saw. The crowning insult was the only 
 good-by he had given her : — 
 
 " You '11 not meddle with what don't concern 
 you, in here." 
 
 As the hours of her imprisonment grew longer, 
 her pride, — heaven's most precious gift to woman 
 to sustain her against the hurt of the indifference 
 or cruelty of man, — till then latent, came to her 
 help. Instinct taught her on the instant that a 
 show of preference from her would be received by 
 him with contempt, dislike, even hate. 
 
 Tired out, she slept fitfully for an hour or so. 
 At dawn she heard the quick volley from the 
 camp, and the confused sounds that followed, and 
 every other emotion was swallowed up in fear for 
 Frank's safety. 
 
CAPTIVE AND CAPTOR 247 
 
 As the day advanced to evening again and she 
 was not released, her feelings underwent another 
 change. She resented the neglect that kept her 
 a prisoner twenty-four hours without food or drink. 
 The house was large ; the little room was remote 
 from the living-room, and seldom used except when 
 they had company. She was certain Mrs. Neal 
 knew nothing of her presence under her roof, for 
 she had told her that she would stay the night 
 with Mrs. Rush. 
 
 Resentful stubbornness dislodged every tender 
 emotion, and she resolved to remain there, without 
 making outcry or appeal for release, till Frank him- 
 self remembered her, though she starved ; and very 
 real pangs of hunger reminded her how painful 
 such a fate would be. 
 
 At six o'clock Frank came home, tired and tri- 
 umphant, and, as he wiped his face on the long 
 roller towel in the kitchen, he vivaciously recounted 
 to his father and mother the outcome of the famous 
 battle. 
 
 His mother said at the conclusion : — 
 
 " I hope Lucetty ain't scared to death ! She 
 went to see Mrs. Rush yesterday evening after 
 supper, and told me she did n't know when she 'd 
 come back." 
 
 " Lucetta — Lucetta! " stammered Frank. " Good 
 Lord ! I 'd forgotten all about her ! "^ And he 
 dashed out of the room, fumbling for the key in 
 his pocket, not heeding his mother's cry, — 
 
248 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " Why, is the boy crazy ? " 
 
 He rushed up the stairway to the little room, 
 turned the key in the lock, but on trying the door 
 found he could not get in. It was fastened on the 
 inside, and he remembered how he had put the 
 old-fashioned bolt on the door because his sister 
 Sally had been afraid of burglars when she came 
 home on a visit. 
 
 " Lucy ! Lucy ! " he called. There was no an- 
 swer. 
 
 " She could n't have jumped out of the window. 
 It would have broken her neck or crippled her," 
 he meditated. Then he shook the door vigorously, 
 but to no purpose. 
 
 " Open the door ! Don't be such a fool ! " he 
 called, exasperated. 
 
 Silence. All he heard was his mother calling to 
 know what he meant. 
 
 He waited a little longer, then said aloud, ap- 
 prehensively : — 
 
 " She could n't have died of fright. Girls are 
 such cowards! " 
 
 A recollection of Lucetta's deeds of courage 
 flashed through his mind and disproved this opin- 
 ion. 
 
 " This one is n't," he mused, " but they are all 
 stubborn ! " recalling contests of will with his sis- 
 ters. 
 
 " Lucy," he said, with sweet persuasion, " please 
 open the door ; I 'm sorry I forgot you." No reply. 
 
 " Damn it all ! I '11 break down this door if you 
 
CAPTIVE AND CAPTOR 249 
 
 don't open it ! " And a series of vigorous kicks 
 gave proof of the sincerity of his threat. The gal- 
 lant soldier had turned bully. He heard the bolt 
 click, and he expected a different sight from the 
 one that met him. He knew girls cried. " Sniv- 
 eled " he called it. But this one did not. She 
 was exceedingly pale, but perfectly composed, and 
 her eyes rested on his coldly. With compressed 
 lips she passed him, and started for the stairway 
 in unbroken silence. 
 
 Her cold glance made him feel as if a sabre had 
 slashed him, and he involuntarily winced from the 
 imaginary wound. His nature was demonstrative 
 and must find outlet in words, which were wont 
 to overflow from his lips as easily as the spring 
 branch over its banks in a freshet. 
 
 " Lucy, I 'm sorry you 've been shut up twenty- 
 four hours. Why did n't you call mother ? She 
 would have given you something to eat over the 
 transom." Amused at the idea, he laughed. 
 
 Lucy passed down the hall, but he intercepted 
 her. 
 
 "You don't mean that you are really mad at 
 me ? " he asked, his Irish blue eyes looking as sad 
 and appealing as they had been merry and amused 
 the moment before. 
 
 The sealed lips did not unclose, nor the cold 
 eyes change. 
 
 "Won't you speak to me, Lucy?" he pleaded 
 in that winning way that had melted many a girl 
 before. 
 
250 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " Yes, this once. Then I '11 never speak to you 
 again ! You ridiculed my ideas of duty ; you 
 impeached my loyalty ; you believed me a traitor, 
 for you said so ; you insulted my womanhood " — 
 
 Frank tried to interrupt her, but she would not 
 be stopped. 
 
 " No, don't try to make idle excuses ! Like 
 other men, you cheapen a woman's patriotism ; you 
 regard her idea of duty as a whim ; her love of 
 country as child's prattle, to be listened to with in- 
 dulgence and checked when grown tiresome. You 
 have no real respect for me, and treated me with 
 violence almost ruffianly ! After all this, you ex- 
 pect me to act as though you had done nothing ! 
 No, I '11 not have anything to do with you nor 
 your people. Your mother hates me ; and yester- 
 day your father said, ' Thank God, my girl, you 're 
 not like your father ! ' He despises me ! But you 
 — you do aU that, and more ! " 
 
 She ran down the stairs, leaving Frank in greater 
 disorder than if he had met the enemy and had 
 been worsted. Before he recovered she had left 
 the house. 
 
 When he crept crestfallen into the kitchen, it 
 was to find his father chuckling at his defeat, and 
 his mother dazed and frightened, looking after the 
 girl resentfully. 
 
 Frank then explained, whereupon old Abner 
 said : — 
 
 " No wonder the girl 's mad ! But, 'pears to me, 
 she licked you worse 'n you did the Butternuts ! " 
 
CAPTIVE AND CAPTOR 251 
 
 " It 'pears to me," said Mrs. Neal tartly, " she 's 
 an ungrateful hussy ! " 
 
 " That 's the last word that should be applied to 
 Lucy, mother ! " Frank said warmly, and he took 
 his way to the barn with his hands in his pockets, 
 whistling softly between his teeth, to think it over. 
 And his mother exclaimed, " Did you ever ! " 
 
 This outburst of Lucetta's surprised Frank and 
 made him feel uncomfortable, but it created in 
 him the respect she had found wanting, and he 
 recognized with a boy's slow perception that per- 
 haps a girl might be brave ; might have earnest 
 convictions ; and that her compassion for the igno- 
 rant dupes of Harv Wilson was, after all, praise- 
 worthy. With his characteristic impulsiveness, he 
 wanted to tell her so, and resolved to do it the 
 next day. 
 
 But in that he was disappointed, for the latch- 
 string of the cabin was not out, nor could he find 
 it so on the days that followed. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 CAPITULATION 
 
 During tlie fortnight after the "battle," as it 
 was thereafter called in that vicinity, Frank's time 
 was taken up with the necessary legal proceedings 
 against the insurgents. Notwithstanding his pre- 
 occupation, he had tried many times to make his 
 peace with Lucetta, but in vain. He had even 
 written to her imploring recognition, at least ; for 
 she had passed him in the road as she would have 
 done a total stranger. He sent the note by Zeke, 
 the bound boy, but it had been returned intact. 
 Opposition of this kind acts differently on men of 
 dissimilar temperaments. It rouses the pertinacity 
 of some, kills the interest of others. In Frank it 
 had the first effect ; but, to his infinite amazement, 
 he had found one woman who was not amenable to 
 his wishes. For a youth of his age, Frank had had 
 no small share of flirtation, " sparking " they called 
 it in the vernacular. It dated back to the time of 
 his first fine Sunday suit presented on his sixteenth 
 birthday. It was such gay, honest, open trifling 
 that he had won the reputation of " meanin' no- 
 thing," and the neighborhood belles repaid him in 
 kind. After entering coUege his manner toward 
 
CAPITULATION 253 
 
 them turned to friendliness, for he could no longer 
 enter into their roi-gh fun with his former zest, 
 and when he enlisted in the army his interest in 
 them dwindled to the smallest. But he was per- 
 fectly aware that there was no decline in their 
 admiration for him, and he accepted it carelessly. 
 
 The girls, on their part, felt something lacking 
 in their present relations, — but what, they were 
 not ^cute enough to discover. They accepted the 
 change without resentment, and, had not Frank 
 enlisted at the most opportune moment, he stood a 
 fair chance of becoming that most odious of crea- 
 tures, a woman-spoiled man. 
 
 Frank's taste in the matter of female character 
 and deportment had been modified insensibly dur- 
 ing his four years in college by association with the 
 daughters of the professors, whom he met at " mite 
 societies" and sophomore and senior class-parties. 
 The contrast was to the immense advantage of the 
 latter, but Frank was too kindly and loyal to his 
 earlier friends to own it. 
 
 He had always heard Lucetta spoken of by the 
 neighbors as "old for her age," without really 
 knowing what they meant by the phrase. The 
 girls had called her " uppety," which was clearer 
 to him ; but he good-naturedly defended her from 
 that accusation, which could have hardly been 
 made worse, for it included everything they re- 
 sented, — lack of humility, lack of sociability, and 
 too good an opinion of one's self to the unspoken 
 disparagement of others. 
 
254 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 Discriminating taste in the quality of woman's 
 character is almost the last thing very young men 
 acquire ; some never do acquire it, and it was to 
 Frank's credit he was so discerning in this case. 
 He recognized in Lucetta a natural refinement and 
 a delicacy which made it impossible to treat her 
 with the rather bold freedom of manner he dis- 
 played toward the other girls in the neighborhood. 
 He had been, hitherto, a sort of conquering hero 
 to them, and that Lucetta should defy him, for 
 some painful idea of duty, irritated and surprised 
 him into a roughness toward her that made him 
 first ashamed and then remorseful. If she had 
 forgiven him at once, he would have forgotten ex- 
 peditiously the offense and even the pardon ! But 
 when she would have nothing to say to him, and 
 declined to listen to his speeches, his impetuous 
 nature carried him to the other extreme, and he 
 determined to force from her that clemency which 
 had never been denied him before by her sex. 
 Her cold repudiation of his efforts at reconciliation 
 chafed and fretted him, and strengthened his de- 
 termination that it should be accomplished. His 
 father's acrid gibing kept him to his resolution, 
 which otherwise would have surely flagged when 
 new interests came up, incident to the arrest and 
 imprisonment of the prime movers of the insurrec- 
 tion. He had given more earnest thought to Lu- 
 cetta in these two weeks than to all the girls he 
 had ever known, put together. 
 
 He was aware of her ardent ambition and stead- 
 
CAPITULATION 255 
 
 fastness in following a course which had led her at 
 last to the goal of hev aspirations. He depreciated 
 her tendency to strong-mindedness, as a very young 
 man does in the case of young women who have 
 not the patience to wait for him to pick and choose, 
 before embracing ambitious projects. 
 
 Meantime he had determined to reenlist for a 
 year, in accordance with the new call of the Presi- 
 dent. True to his Celtic blood, there was for him 
 no keeping out of the fight as long as it raged. 
 Now there was a fair prospect for promotion, and 
 he hoped to become a lieutenant. He set Satur- 
 day to go to Crofton, where there was a recruiting 
 officer, to carry out his purpose. Early that morn- 
 ing he stopped at the blacksmith's to have a bolt 
 tightened in his buggy, which Zeke, who was with 
 him, was to bring back home. 
 
 While Alec was busy with the job, he joined in 
 the trifling gossip going on in the pauses of the 
 game of quoits, the invariable amusement at the 
 smithy. 
 
 " Going back to the army, are you, Frank ? " 
 asked the "hand," as he beat the sparks from a 
 shoe he was shaping. 
 
 " Yes ; I start as soon as Alec finishes this job." 
 
 " Should think you 'd had enough o' war ! Three 
 years is 'nuff for most folks." 
 
 " Well, to tell the truth. Alec, it unsettles a 
 man, after he has once tasted the excitement of its 
 risks and constant change. It 's life ! This is 
 stagnation ! " 
 
256 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 " No danger of you settlin' down on the farm 
 with a nice, hard-workin' girl ! " laughed Alec. 
 
 " None, that I see at present." 
 
 " You and Lueetty quittin' the neighborhood 
 the same day seems kind o' queer ! " observed Alec 
 tentatively. 
 
 By this time, the whole neighborhood knew the 
 smallest particulars of their affair. 
 
 " Is she going to-day ? " he asked with surprise 
 and interest. 
 
 " Yes ; schoolma'am 's come to board with us 
 this winter. She 's up to the house now, cryin' fit 
 to kill." 
 
 " Lucy has n't gone already ? " 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Laws Moore took her and her 
 trunk in the little spring wagon at sun-up. He 's 
 carrying some peaches to town, too. Like 's not 
 he '11 get her left. Rock 's so turrible slow." 
 
 " Where 's she going ? " 
 
 " She 'lows to go to Crofton, and take the stage 
 for Waveland. She 's goin' to the Academy to 
 learn to be a teacher." 
 
 " Miss Abbot 's at your house now, you say ? 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Guess I '11 step up and see her. Hurry up 
 that job, Alec ! " 
 
 Frank started up the hill to the house, and 
 Alec's meditative eye followed him as he quickly 
 climbed it. 
 
 " 'Pears like there is somethin' nearly as inter- 
 estin' as war to that chap, after all. I heerd she 
 
CAPITULATION 257 
 
 would n't speak to him after the rumpus ! Lu- 
 cetty 's gritty," and Alec laughed softly. 
 
 Frank reached the open door and found Miss 
 Abbot just within the tidy sitting-room, swaying 
 to and fro in the little rocking-chair, mournfully 
 musing. 
 
 It was barely seven o'clock, but all the morning 
 work was done, and Mrs. Rush was busy with her 
 soap-boiling in the back yard. 
 
 " Good morning. Miss Abbot. Alec tells me 
 Lucy 's gone. Is it true ? " said Frank, rushing 
 to the point with his usual impulsiveness. 
 
 Before answering, Miss Abbot wiped her eyes, 
 which were deep pink around the lids. 
 
 " Yes, she went with Uncle Laws at half past 
 five." 
 
 " She — she did n't leave any word for me, did 
 she ? " he asked hesitatingly. Frank had sent her 
 a long letter two days before, informing her of his 
 intention to reenlist, begging her forgiveness in 
 view of the fact that they might never meet again, 
 and had received no answer whatever ; but he felt 
 hopeful, for, this time, she had not returned it. 
 
 " No," said Miss Abbot with faint surprise. 
 
 " I might as well tell you. Miss Abbot, if Lucy 
 has n't already," and he paused, — " she 's mad at 
 me ! " He said it so frankly, and was so openly 
 troubled. Miss Abbot would have smiled had she 
 not been so sorrowful herself. 
 
 " She told me nothing about it ; she has never 
 mentioned you to me." 
 
258 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 Frank was a little mortified, but relieved too, 
 and reflected that Lucetta had the rare virtue of 
 keeping her affairs to herself. 
 
 " You say she went with Uncle Laws ? At the 
 rate old Rock travels, they must be almost to 
 Chambers' Mill," said Frank reflectively. 
 
 The foundation of Rock's reputation was just 
 the reverse of Flora Temple's, but in that vicinity 
 his fame was wider spread. 
 
 " So Lucy is determined to be a teacher ? " he 
 said. 
 
 " Yes, and I know of no one who has as many 
 of the qualities that go to make a good one," said 
 the spinster. " So gentle, yet so firm, patient, 
 and intelligent, and with such perseverance. She 
 studied so faithfully and learned so quickly and 
 thoroughly. She was a model daughter, and " — 
 faltered Miss Abbot tearfully — " she was so kind 
 to me ! I don't know what I '11 do without her." 
 
 " I 'm afraid you '11 not find many friends here 
 as congenial," said Frank warmly. " But I must 
 go. I expect Alec 's got my buggy ready by this 
 time. I'm going to town myself. Miss Abbot. 
 If I should overtake them, and it 's likely I will, 
 have you any message for Lucy ? " 
 
 Miss Abbot seemed to remember something, for 
 she went to the bureau and took from the top of 
 it a white envelope. 
 
 "Yes; tell her she left this," and Miss Abbot 
 waved before Frank's mortified eyes his repentant 
 letter. 
 
CAPITULATION 259 
 
 " She could n't have read it, as It Is n't opened," 
 lie thought. 
 
 " I '11 be sure to catch up with them. Give it 
 to me, and I '11 deliver it to her," he said aloud. 
 
 He took it from Miss Abbot's hand, and, thrust- 
 ing it into his breast pocket, went back to the 
 shop, where he found the repairs finished. In a 
 few moments he was whirling along the same road 
 Lucetta had taken two hours before. It was the 
 first week of September, and the air was fuU of 
 that languorous heat which ripens the late fruit. 
 The atmosphere was of the pale-yellow glow so 
 characteristic of that month. It was what Alec 
 in his utter satisfaction had called a " big yaller 
 day." The tops of the distant trees that " kept 
 company" with Honey Creek were swathed in 
 pale-blue haze, which softened their jagged out- 
 lines into tenderest beauty. From the woods on 
 either hand came the fragrance of ripe wild grapes 
 and the unique odor of maturing pawpaws. Whiffs 
 of pennyroyal were borne on dewy puffs of wind 
 that stirred the beeches under which it grew. The 
 birds were a-tune again after their August silence. 
 The " bottoms " were gorgeous with the kingly 
 color of iron-weed and the glowing yellow of gold- 
 enrod. 
 
 But Frank was not interested In anything na- 
 ture had to exhibit that lovely morning. He drove 
 rapidly in mortified silence, grunting by way of 
 answer to the garrulous boy beside him. He kept 
 his eyes on the sandy road ahead, and flicked the 
 
260 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 lines on the back of his willing mare, urging her 
 to greater speed. When he reached the top of 
 the long steep hill where the track led down to 
 the creek, he checked his horse to a walk. The 
 road that descended the hill was an old Indian 
 trail, and gradually "sidled," as cows do, instead 
 of plunging straight down to the creek. For this 
 reason the ford was hidden for the greater part of 
 the descent, and it was not until Frank had nearly 
 reached the bottom of the hill that a sight pre- 
 sented itself which caused him to splash quickly 
 through the stream, and brought from him an ex- 
 clamation : — 
 
 " Hello, Uncle Laws ! In trouble ? " 
 
 Uncle Laws was pounding with a stone on the 
 tire of one of his front wheels, the pair of which 
 spread out as if making ready to squat on the 
 ground. 
 
 Lucetta had dismounted and stood near, anx- 
 iously watching the results of his labor. But the 
 old man could do nothing with it; the antique 
 vehicle was too frail to withstand the sturdy blows 
 he dealt ; and the wheel collapsed and left the 
 wagon a-tilt on the other three, utterly useless for 
 the time. 
 
 " Too bad. Uncle Laws ! We '11 have to put a 
 rail under it, and you can drag it back home," 
 said Frank, who had alighted and was examining 
 the wreck. 
 
 " Yes," quavered Uncle Laws. " I ain't a-carin' 
 for me and the peaches, but Lucetty here wants to 
 
CAPITULATION 261 
 
 ketch the stage for Waveland that goes oat 'bout 
 noon from Crofton." 
 
 Frank looked toward Lucetta, and said, after a 
 little hesitation : — 
 
 " I can take Lucy on in my buggy, and maybe 
 we can fasten the trunk on behind." 
 
 The trunk in question was a tiny old-fashioned 
 one, covered with cowhide, on which the dark-red 
 hair had been left, and was thickly studded with 
 brass nails. 
 
 " I 'd go back with Uncle Laws if — How 
 far are we from home ? " Lucetta asked. 
 
 " About four miles," said Frank, so gravely that 
 it led one to suspect he was making an effort to 
 keep from laughing at Rock's gait. 
 
 " Yes, Lucetty," said the old man, " you jist git 
 in with Frank. It 's too bad to disappoint you. 
 It don't matter about me and the peaches." 
 
 " We can crowd the peaches in, too, Uncle 
 Laws," said Frank kindly. " What do you want 
 done with them? " 
 
 The old man explained, and Frank listened at- 
 tentively, promising to fulfill his behests. 
 
 This kindliness was a new phase of Frank's 
 character to Lucetta. Though unwillingly, she 
 could not but admire it, and this, together with her 
 urgent wish to catch the stage, overcame her obdu- 
 racy, and induced her to accept a seat in Frank's 
 buggy. He was perfectly aware of her reluctance, 
 but ignored it, satisfied that she did accept it on 
 any terms. It seemed a step toward reconciliation. 
 
262 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 They crowded the bag of peaches under the seat, 
 and strapped the little trunk on behind with one 
 of Uncle Laws's lines. After Frank had helped 
 the old man, and had seen him and Zeke safely up 
 the hill, they, too, set off. 
 
 At first there was silence between them, but 
 a man as impulsive as Frank could not keep his 
 tongue still very long. 
 
 " Bad for Uncle Laws, but lucky for me," he 
 observed, with an attempt at jocularity which was 
 belied by his evident nervousness. 
 
 Lucetta made no reply. 
 
 " Lucky for you too, Lucy, only you won't ac- 
 knowledge it. You 'd have caught the stage about 
 three o'clock at the speed old Rock was making." 
 
 Unwillingly Lucetta smiled faintly, but it was 
 a breaking up of the stern gravity of her face and 
 emboldened Frank. 
 
 " Look here, Lucy ! You might forgive me. 
 I 've done everything a fellow can do in the way 
 of apology. You know I 'm sorry." 
 
 " You know you are not," she replied, with a 
 burst of rash heat. " You know you 'd do it again, 
 if you had the chance." 
 
 A grievance aired, like some chemicals at the 
 first exposure to the atmosphere, boils over before 
 it can reach a pacific state. The situation between 
 Frank and Lucetta was such as to induce an ex- 
 plosion at the first reopening of the dispute between 
 them. However, anything, in Frank's opinion, 
 was better than deadly passivity : given the oppor- 
 tunity of speech, he could defend himself. 
 
CAPITULATION 263 
 
 "Well," lie said, "it was a soldier's duty to 
 carry out orders, if possible ; as such I was bound 
 in honor to do it first of all. I 'm sorry to have 
 offended you, Lucy, but it had to be done, because 
 it was the right thing to do," said Frank resolutely. 
 " The only thing I am sorry for is to have made 
 you mad at me." 
 
 " And you forgot me and left me shut up twenty- 
 four hours — a thing you would not have done to 
 the meanest rebel prisoner. You did not think 
 enough of me even to ask if I 'd starved to death," 
 she said coldly, nullifying his plea. 
 
 "Well, I know I did," he acknowledged stur- 
 dily, " but you know I had some excuse for it. I 
 had the confidence of men high in authority that 
 I could not violate, and, more, the honor of the 
 State was at stake. If it had been my own mother 
 — and even you can't say I don't care for her — 
 it would have been the same, — duty first." 
 
 They were both silent while the horse climbed 
 the hill, and on the level at the top Frank said, 
 earnestly and diffidently : — 
 
 " But you 've had your revenge. You ought to 
 be satisfied. There has hardly been an hour since 
 that I have not thought of you. You know how 
 I tried to see you, and how you 've treated me. To 
 paraphrase your own words, you wouldn't have 
 treated the meanest Copperhead so. Sent my let- 
 ters back unread. Why did n't you read the last 
 one, when you kept it ? " looking at her keenly. 
 
 He was rewarded by seeing her start slightly, and 
 a flitting of red stain the pale cheek next him. 
 
264 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 "We are more than even, Lucy. You know 
 you are unjust. Even tliese Copperhead knights 
 will be given a hearing, a thing you are not fair 
 enough to grant me," he pleaded artfully, appeal- 
 ing, as he well knew, to one of her strongest char- 
 acteristics, an unfaltering sense of justice. 
 
 " I did not mean to be unfair to you, Frank. 
 But it hurt me so, the contempt, the anger, and 
 all you did to me." 
 
 Frank made no reply to her accusation, but 
 asked : — 
 
 " Will you read my letter now?" 
 
 " How can I ? " 
 
 He drew it from his pocket, crumpled with his 
 hasty thrust, and laid it on her lap with the address 
 uppermost. 
 
 She looked at him in startled surprise. " How 
 did you get it ? " she stammered. 
 
 " Eead it first," he demanded stubbornly ; " then 
 I '11 tell you." 
 
 She seemed no longer able to resist his will, 
 which was like iron under his seemingly light, 
 careless exterior, and she tore the letter open and 
 read it. It was a manly, straightforward appeal 
 for forgiveness, and a warm plea for a renewal of 
 her friendship, and it expressed his conviction of 
 his duty as a citizen and a soldier. " You women 
 forget," he concluded, "that, while we fight, you 
 stand in the most sacred lodgment of our hearts. 
 It is for you, after aU, that men accomplish any- 
 thing that is worthy ; put forth their best efforts 
 
CAPITULATION 265 
 
 for your approval ; risk their lives in great causes 
 to save their homes where you abide ; without you 
 there would be no high endeavor. Life with only 
 men in it would soon be a struggle for brute supre- 
 macy. Few men love each other ; they like, they 
 admire, they respect, if you will, but rarely love. 
 You are the only things in creation they really 
 love. And if, under great stress, their coarser na- 
 ture rises uppermost — where the softer is impotent, 
 useless, — and they fail in minor matters toward 
 you, your finer ones should be patient and forgive." 
 
 Lucetta felt like a " damsel possessed of divi- 
 nation " that had found the purest spring of his 
 nature. It was so unlike what she had expected 
 from the gay, reckless, boyish Frank, she coidd 
 make no comment on it, and tears came to her eyes 
 so she dared not raise them. 
 
 " Now teU me why you would n't read it," in- 
 sisted Frank. 
 
 " I was afraid to, Frank," she said, so faintly he 
 could hardly hear her, 
 
 " Afraid ? " he said, amazed. " Why ? " 
 
 She could not dissemble, and said in almost a 
 whisper : — 
 
 " Because I was afraid I would forgive, to my 
 shame. It was too easy." 
 
 " What a strange reason ! " 
 
 His blood leaped faster when he realized what 
 such a speech might imply. A girl of less integrity 
 would never have made the admission, but from 
 one less conscientious it would never have moved 
 
266 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 him. He would liave passed it by as a speecli of 
 little import. 
 
 " Is there another reason ? " he insisted, his face 
 flushing with ardor. 
 
 She raised her startled eyes to his face, and they 
 mutely implored him not to be cruel and force from 
 her a revelation that to her seemed shameful. 
 
 But at that look the tide of passion rose in him 
 which broke through all barriers of maidenly re- 
 serve. He must know ! She must tell ! The 
 horse was walking sedately. He dropped the lines 
 to the dashboard, and roughly pushed his arm about 
 her. 
 
 " Tell me, is n't there ? Tell me ! tell me ! " 
 
 " I never wiU ! " she said desperately, virgin 
 shame making her as cold as ice. 
 
 He tightened his grasp about her, and, throwing 
 his other arm over her shoulder, held her in a close 
 embrace, while he took by storm what he had not 
 the patience to gain by slow advances, — the first 
 kiss of passion ever snatched from Lucetta's lips ; 
 and he left her wounded like a doe from a death- 
 bolt. Such utter shame was never felt since the 
 First Mother felt it, as an emotion unknown to her, 
 at creation : the poignancy, the humiliation of it 
 only her daughters can know ; it is the inheritance 
 of the chaste. She sighed a heart-broken sigh in 
 his rough embrace, and her eyes were full of an- 
 guish, which Frank read aright as soon as he re- 
 covered his senses. He gathered up his lines again 
 with one hand, but still kept the other about Lu- 
 
CAPITULATION 267 
 
 cetta's shrinking body. He felt her tremble, but 
 waited in silence for her to become a little accus- 
 tomed to the situation before he spoke. It was 
 not an unusual position for his free arm when rid- 
 ing with any of the girls he took driving in his new 
 buggy on Sunday afternoons. He felt contrition 
 now that it had ever enfolded another woman. 
 
 " You do not respect me, Frank," she faltered at 
 last, " or you would not treat me so ! " 
 
 " Of course not ! " said he, with assumed levity, 
 " I never thought of such a thing ! For you see, 
 Lucy, I love you so much that it means all that a 
 man can feel for his sweetheart ! " 
 
 He leaned down and looked into her agitated 
 face, but her eyes avoided his. 
 
 " I surrender, Lucy ! I 'm as much your pris- 
 oner as you were mine ! " he laughed, and said pro- 
 vokingly, " but I '11 be sworn you will not forget 
 me ! Is n't it so ? Own up, Lucy, and we '11 sign 
 a truce to last through life ! " 
 
 " Frank," she said agitatedly, — " you never 
 thought of this when you set out this morning ! " 
 
 With any other girl he might have made a de- 
 nial, but Lucetta's absolute honesty made him hon- 
 est, and he answered cheerfully, — 
 
 " Why, of course not ! Neither did you, I 
 reckon ! " 
 
 The beguilement of this speech made her set 
 face slacken to a slight smile. 
 
 " That 's right, Lucy ; now we can talk things 
 over." 
 
268 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 He felt her rigid body relax within his encir- 
 cling arm, and he smiled in her face with trium- 
 phant fervor as he drew her closer to his side. 
 
 The rest of the way, on the lonely unfrequented 
 road, they talked as lovers do, and planned for that 
 future which, for the gallant soldier, might never 
 be. 
 
 Frank fully approved Lucetta's plan of educat- 
 ing herself, for he had learned among other things 
 at Wahoo University that, while women's minds 
 might not be quite equal to the curriculum for 
 men, the ancient and time-honored theory that they 
 ceased to develop after eighteen was a fallacy, 
 like curing witchcraft by burning the witch, or 
 the king's evil by touching the king. He was wise 
 enough to recognize that an educated wife would 
 better fit into his ambitious schemes for the future 
 than an ignorant one, while, to do him justice, he 
 was proud of the pluck and perseverance that had 
 led Lucetta to the realization of her dreams. He 
 told her that after the war he should study law, 
 and his aspirations were such as to carry him into 
 the halls of national legislation. But if he gave up 
 his life in battle he would have done his duty, and 
 that was all a man coidd do. 
 
 His hopes and fears he unreservedly poured 
 into her willing ears, and only too speedily the 
 spires of Crof ton came into view from the top of 
 the last hill above the town. 
 
 " Lucy," he said, " little did I think this morn- 
 ing that I 'd be nearly the happiest man in Middle 
 
CAPITULATION 269 
 
 County. I did not dream of going off to war and 
 leaving the dearest, noblest sweetheart a soldier 
 ever left behind. I '11 never laugh again at the 
 fellows that used to steal away and hide to read 
 certain letters the rest of us used to joke so irrev- 
 erently about, for I '11 know how to sympathize 
 when I get yours. One thing more would make 
 me the very happiest man alive." 
 
 "What is it, Frank?" she asked ingenuously, 
 and, looking up into his ardent eyes, she read his 
 desire therein. 
 
 " Oh, I can't, Frank ! " she faltered, and shrank 
 from him. 
 
 " Can't you give me one kiss of your own ac- 
 cord? It will be the last good-by, dear, that we 
 take here, for you know you would n't like public 
 demonstrations. Just kiss me once ! " he pleaded. 
 
 She looked up, quickly dropped on his lips the 
 first kiss she had ever bestowed on a lover, then 
 buried her face on his breast, trembling and crying. 
 
 He dimly wondered why this most chaste of 
 women had been reserved for him, whose lips had 
 hitherto showered kisses with careless prodigality ; 
 it was like asking a Vestal to quit her high office ; 
 the young soldier felt it, and knew Lucetta could 
 never have bestowed that kiss without her faithful 
 love. 
 
 " God bless you, dear, and make me worthier of 
 you ! " he said fervently. 
 
CHAPTER XXVni 
 
 THE TREASON TRIAL 
 
 After the soldiers had withdrawn from the 
 mimic battlefield at Kidgely, comparatively little 
 punishment followed on this act of insurrection. 
 The governor's leniency in this particular was a 
 matter of surprise to every one, and to none more 
 so than to the Knights themselves. With rare 
 wisdom, he made no autocratic display of power at 
 a time when it would have been most hazardous to 
 do so. Such a course would certainly have firmly 
 united the scattered forces of " Butternuts," and 
 led to a more effective organization. He placed 
 the responsibility on the leaders. One by one they 
 were apprehended, until Milligan, Bowles, Dodd, 
 Heffren, and Coultiss were imprisoned. Such men 
 as Harv Wilson were held in the jails of the 
 county seats in which they lived, and were ulti- 
 mately released on bail. The rank and file were 
 left to the torment of their own fears, dreading 
 yet expecting hourly arrest, followed by worse 
 punishment, regarding which their untutored im- 
 aginations ran to extremes, and they were in an 
 agony of suspense. The more cowardly members 
 ran away from the State ; others were in hiding 
 
THE TREASON TRIAL 271 
 
 in caves and secret places in the ravine near their 
 homes. 
 
 The preparation for the uprising of August 16th 
 had been simidtaneous in all the Temples through- 
 out the State. But Governor Morton was fully in- 
 formed, and prepared at every point. When well 
 convinced that an insurrection was imminent, with 
 matchless forbearance he ordered written notices 
 sent to the leaders that, if they were found en route 
 to Indianapolis on August 15th and 16th, they would 
 be held personally responsible for resulting dis- 
 orders. 
 
 The leaders, fully convinced of the futility of 
 insurrection, sent cipher messages far and near to 
 the commanders of the County Temples, who, in 
 turn, were to notify the Branch Temples of the 
 discovery of their plans, and the danger of persist- 
 ing in attempting to carry them out. The small 
 outposts remote from telegraphic communication, 
 that received mail only two or three times a week, 
 were informed by couriers, and the message chosen 
 was the one Frank Neal had intercepted on its 
 way to Harv Wilson, " Look out for a drove of 
 mules ; " for, to meet any emergency, troops had 
 been ordered into the localities where greater dis- 
 order was anticipated, — those well-known strong- 
 holds of treason on which the governor had kept a 
 vigilant eye, in the midst of terrible harassment. 
 
 Three expeditions in wagons actually succeeded 
 in reaching the city limits of the capital, but were 
 met by officers and ordered to return home, or be 
 
272 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 taken prisoners to be treated as enemies ; and they 
 promptly retreated, nor stood upon the order of 
 their going» 
 
 If lenient toward the masses, Governor Morton 
 was swift to punish the leaders. 
 
 It was a solemn hour when, for the first time in 
 her history, the Commonwealth arraigned six of 
 her citizens for the monstrous crime of internecine 
 treason. These six, in their own persons, stood for 
 some thousands whom they had instigated to trea- 
 sonable acts. 
 
 On that morning in September when the com- 
 mission first met, the dingy old state-house was 
 the centre of interest to the entire State, indeed to 
 the nation. Within the court-room a crowd had 
 gathered. The seven commissioners and the judge 
 advocate were in their places, and before them, on 
 trial for life, were to be brought the heads of the 
 conspiracy. The usual preliminaries were gone 
 thi'ough, and, when the actual trial began, interest 
 and suspense had reached painful intensity. 
 
 Dodd was the first of the conspirators called to 
 trial. His air of supreme fanaticism still hung 
 about him. He seemed incapable of realizing his 
 position, and sat unmoved on the witness-stand, 
 with eyes filled with burning ardor, and a visible 
 exaltation of countenance. Lingering on the edge 
 of the crowd were Harv Wilson, who was out on 
 bail, and had come secretly to the trial, and some 
 of his confreres. There is a majesty in the law 
 and its slow execution that makes itself felt by a 
 
THE TREASON TRIAL 273 
 
 mere display of its machinery, stately, relentless, 
 cold, and incorruptible. Brought face to face with 
 it in issues that involve life and death, these 
 offenders recognized its immense potency with fear 
 and trembling. For the first time, they felt actual 
 terror of the power of the law and its executive. 
 
 A deep silence prevailed in the court room as 
 the bailiff brought forward the first witness for the 
 State. The rustling of law papers could be dis- 
 tinctly heard. Even Dodd was impressed, and cast 
 down his eyes, while through his fanatical mind 
 flashed forebodings of mortal peril. An absolute 
 hush followed. When the oath was administered 
 to the witness, and his soft Southern voice answered 
 distinctly and reverently, there was a straining of 
 eyes and a rising on tiptoe to see him. Dodd 
 lifted a startled glance to the face of the witness, 
 and gazed bewildered on the man who held his 
 every secret, and, as the thought penetrated his 
 confused senses that this man held his life in his 
 power, that he was his familiar adviser, his coad- 
 jutor in the most outrageous schemes of treason, 
 and held in his grasp every thread of the conspi- 
 racy, he was unmanned. 
 
 He blinked as one does on coming from grateful 
 darkness into painful light, scarcely believing in 
 the evidence of his own eyes. He looked again. 
 There was no mistaking the tall, slender fellow, 
 the red-blonde hair, the marked accent, the ready 
 speech, of his ally the " Secretary of the Grand 
 Council of the State of Kentucky." At that in- 
 
274 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 stant Dodd lost all hope of escape from the doom 
 of a traitor. His gaze traveled over the cold com- 
 posed faces of the commission, then turned to the 
 people, who were agape with curiosity, and who 
 had no knowledge of the tragic drama played by 
 the two actors before them. But there was no- 
 thing to cheer him in the aroused faces of the 
 multitude. 
 
 As Grundy with terrible accuracy laid bare the 
 facts of the conspiracy, from the stupendous 
 schemes of Vallandigham to the meetings in the 
 cabin on Harv Wilson's farm, the evidence be- 
 came more damning, and the ghastly phantom of 
 death more real to the man who listened while the 
 smooth stream of revelation poured upon the ears 
 of the astounded people. 
 
 After one amazed glance, Harv, who had risen 
 to stare over the heads of those in front of him, 
 sank down to his place panic-stricken, and cursed 
 under his breath, when he recognized in the wit- 
 ness the rag-peddler, Oliver Tapp. He muttered 
 savagely, " The old hell- witch was right after all ! " 
 and lost no time in leaving the court room. 
 
 He crossed the canal, where he and two or three 
 confederates had mean lodgings, and reported to 
 them the terrifying incident that gave so dramatic 
 a turn to the trial, and then unfolded his own plans. 
 One of these men, Lattam, had been a rebel officer 
 and was bold and defiant ; Pearson, the other, had 
 been on the staff of the Supreme Commander, but 
 neither was well known in Indianapolis. 
 
THE TREASON TRIAL 275 
 
 Zerfus had followed Harv up from the country 
 with the servility of a serf. 
 
 " It 's all up with us," said Harv, " if we 're 
 caught ! That fellow knows everything. The best 
 thin 2: we can do is to light out for Canada this 
 very night." 
 
 Zerfus, of course, agreed with Harv, but Lat- 
 tam and Pearson were experienced in intrigue, had 
 a reckless love of adventure, and were incautious 
 to a point where life had no value. They both 
 repudiated the idea. 
 
 " And leave these men without help ? " 
 
 " It 's likely they can get out of a military 
 prison guarded day and night, ain't it ? " sneered 
 Harv. 
 
 " When they have friends outside, they 've been 
 known to do it ; that is, friends that are n't afraid 
 to risk something," said Pearson scornfully. 
 
 Harv was tasting the humiliation of a craven, 
 for his companions had discerned his utter selfish- 
 ness. They suspected, if an emergency should 
 arise, that to save himself he would turn informer. 
 
 They said nothing more, however, and a week 
 passed. During that time Grundy had related, 
 bit by bit, with wonderful accuracy, the details of 
 the wildest scheme of modern history, — a wide- 
 spread, ill-planned attempt at revolution not unfit- 
 ting the invention of a knight of old who broke 
 lances against harmless windmills ; and he proved 
 himseK the most patriotic, reliable, acute, and cour- 
 ageous man in the employ of the government, and, 
 
276 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 moreover, conscientiously earnest in breaking up 
 internecine treason, from which he himself had 
 suffered greatly. His knowledge of the part each 
 of the six heads of the conspiracy had taken was 
 perfect and convincing, and fell on their ears with 
 the fatal finality of the cry of the doomsman. 
 
 During this interval Harv's associates came in, 
 and Pearson said to him : — 
 
 " Well, Wilson, we 've found a way to be of use 
 to our Grand Commander. Will you help ? " 
 
 Harv gave a grudging assent and said : — 
 
 " But I 'd like to know your plans." 
 
 " Well, we went to Dodd's brother," said Lat- 
 tam, " and told him to use his influence with the 
 authorities to get him removed from the military 
 prison to better quarters, and the fools did it ! " 
 All three laughed derisively. 
 
 " You ain't jokin' ? " exclaimed Harv incredu- 
 lously. 
 
 " No. Dodd 's now in a room in the third story 
 of the Post-office Building." 
 
 " It beats me how he managed it," observed 
 Harv. 
 
 " Well, he gave his parole of honor he would n't 
 try to escape, and his brother pledged all he was 
 worth to the same end, and that clinched it. 
 Moved he was." 
 
 " Precious fools they were," said Lattam con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 " Well, I don't see that it 's any easier to get 
 him out there. I reckon he 's guarded." 
 
THE TREASON TRIAL 277 
 
 " There 's not a guard outside," said Pearson 
 slowly, as if to impress his hearers with the egre- 
 gious folly of the authorities. " They depend on 
 the police." 
 
 " Well, I don't see how he can get out of the 
 third story anyway ; he ain't got wings," Harv 
 said doggedly. 
 
 " No, but he 's got a ball of twine," laughed Lat- 
 tam, " which won't be so awkward for him to han- 
 dle." 
 
 " Sometimes they come in handy. Go on and 
 tell me your plan. I see you 've got one, though 
 I 'm blamed if I see how you '11 work it," said 
 Harv skeptically. 
 
 " Well, this afternoon three of his dear friends 
 got permission to visit him ; I was one of them. 
 We were n't allowed to stay long. When we 
 went away we left behind a ball of twine, and I 
 had previously prepared a little note telling him to 
 look carefully for it after we were gone, and de- 
 tailing the whole plan of escape. I shook hands 
 last with him, and left the note in his hand." 
 
 " What 's the next step in the game ? " asked 
 Harv, more interested and hopeful. 
 
 He recognized in Lattam a fellow of greater 
 craft and sterner resolution than himself ; a leader 
 by right of ability to prevail in the face of desper- 
 ate obstacles ; his spirit, broken by failure, yielded 
 him fealty. 
 
 " My plan is simple and easy enough. To-mor- 
 row morning about three o'clock we will try to get 
 
278 KNIGHTS IN FUSTIAN 
 
 a rope to him. At our signal lie will let down the 
 twine, and when the road is clear he can escape 
 down the rope. Pearson will watch at the alley 
 for the policeman to pass on his beat, and will then 
 turn out the gas that lights it. These October 
 mornings are as black as hell, and the alley will 
 be as dark as a coal shaft. If he can get down 
 the rope the rest is easy." 
 
 "A good plan, if you can work it," observed 
 Harv dubiously. 
 
 " We '11 work it all right, only Piatt 's got drunk 
 and jailed, and we have n't any trusted man to be 
 ready with the carriage." 
 
 Harv saw what vms expected of him, and re- 
 sented the implication conveyed by Lattam in not 
 asking him boldly. 
 
 To right himself in their esteem, he covered up 
 his chagrin and said heartily : — 
 
 " I 'm your man ! " 
 
 " All right," said Lattam, so cordially that Harv 
 felt he was in favor again. 
 
 At the appointed hour these three men, Lattam, 
 Pearson, and Wilson, grown subtile in conspiracy, 
 were at their posts. And the next morning the 
 city rang with the escape of the prisoner, Dodd. 
 
 Harv secretly returned home, a defeated and 
 crestfallen man, whose influence in the neighbor- 
 hood was dead. Bold villany can be forgiven, 
 but not weak failure, and Harv tasted to the full 
 the ignominy of deposed leadership. 
 
 The flight of Dodd had the effect of making the 
 
THE TREASON TRIAL 279 
 
 surveillance over the other prisoners more constant, 
 and perhaps influenced the severity of their sen- 
 tence, which was death. 
 
 At Ridgely, reports of the trial were received 
 with eager concern, the testimony of Tapp and 
 Frank Neal being of special interest. The revela- 
 tion of Tapp's identity was received with amaze- 
 ment. Every peculiarity of the man was can- 
 vassed, every speech recalled with that minute 
 attention to details the most trifling peculiar to 
 country neighborhoods. In the mean time he was 
 exalted to heroship with Frank. But there was 
 consternation when a rumor reached there that 
 Bowles and Milligan were writing confessions, and 
 implicating men whose names hitherto had been 
 unmentioned, or who had escaped with slight pun- 
 ishment, and there was an exodus to Canada that 
 bade fair to depopulate the county. Harv Wilson 
 was one of the first to flee ; but old Mrs. Bowles 
 stood her ground — defying everybody, from the 
 governor down to the constable. 
 
 Later on, when they heard of the assassination 
 of Lincoln, — grown pure and exalted by high and 
 noble purposes until fitted for the martyrdom he 
 met, — there came to them the realization of the 
 true meaning of domestic treason, and the influ- 
 ence of the order was broken. To this day, there 
 are no claimants in Middle County to the spurs of 
 the Knights in Fustian. 
 
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