The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 15, 1903, Page 3

THE SUNDAY CALL the limitations of provincialisms, or national prejudices. He had begun to dream of the day he Wouid ask this Godlike man for the privi- ege of addressing his daughter. great meeting at Cocper Union brought this dream Lo a sudden reso- Lowell had outdone himself that With merciless invective he had unced the inhuman babarism of the th in these lynchings. The sea of er faces had answered his appeals as water the breath of a storm. He felt its mighty reflex influence sweep back on his soul and lift him to greater heights. He demanded equality of man on every inch of this earti’s sofl above ra “I demand this perfect equality,” he cried, without reservation or subter both in form and essen- tial reality. It is the life-blood of de- mocracy. It is the reason of our exis- tence. Without this we are a living lie, 2 stench in the nostrils of God and humanit A cheer from & thousand negro throats rent the air as he thus closed. The crowd surged over the platform and for ten minutes it was impossible to restore order or continue the programme. Young Harris pressed his patron’s hand and kissed it while tears of prids and grati- tude rained down his face. The s ch made a national sensation. It was printed in full in all the partisan papers where it was hoped capital might be made of it for the next political campaign, and the National Campaign tee of which Lowell was a member ed a million coples of it printed for ution among the negroes. nen Lowell and Harris reached Bos- , as they parted at the depot Harris 1 you be at home to-morrow, Mr. like & talk with you in the on a matter of grave importance. at nine o'clock?” me right into the library. ere, George.” a and strength. him he paced library and 1 with firm elt he could in the face down on him from s. They had call- itions and a strenuous olence had pleaded for diletta ism of a fruitless s father nad cultivated his , dreamed and done nothing. grim-visaged, eagle-eyed an- called _him to a life of nd he had heard their voices. ght his name was on a million door of the TUnited States opening at his touch and s loomed in the future. of gratitude for the stately old home and its s, Its roots struck of a thousand years, the ocean to that He felt his heart d home, g pride behini fe. pride beat with t he was adding new honors to that f: history, and adding the soul treasures his daughter's ldren Se ch W ted & next morning Har- smbarrassed. He tempts to begin the ned aside with some un- what is the problem you £o grave this morning?”’ €ll with kindly patronage. s hour had come, and He leaned forward in steadily down at h his hands I wish to say to you that ight me the greatest faith h in my fellow man with- r no faith in God. d as a man as I with the brutality ce is almost versally ever know ¢ received has sim- d my capaci- inspiration of ave ended my . I raw a great y made in the soul train- ng the weak dare to call or unclean in caste, of God clean » my head and said, one such i from infamy. It's live in & world honored man, for he is the prophecy me a moment, fidgeted with a [ d picked up from the ned at a loss for a word. wned on Lowell what he at. He supposed, as a mat- e, he was referring to his es and was going to ask for promotion in a government depart- at Washington~ I'm proud to have been such an in- spiration to you, George. You know how I think of you. What is on your " he asked at length. have hidden ft from every human I am atraid to breathe it aloud I have only tried to sing it in song in an impersonal way. Your won- 3 1 words of late have emboldened me to speak. It is this—I am madly, des- perately in love with your daughter.” Lowell sprang to his fest as though a of lightning had suddenly shot down backbone. He glared at the negro ith wide dilated eves and heaving breath as though he had been transform- ed into a leopard or tiger and was about to spring at his throat. Before answering, and with a gesture commanding silence, he walked rapidly to the library Woor and closed it. “And 1 have come to ask you,” con- tinued Harrls, ignoring his gesture, *if I may pay my addresses to her with your ent.. Harris, this is crazy nonsense. Such en idea is preposterous. 1 am amazed that it should ever have entered your head. Let this be the end of it here and now, If you have any desire to retain my friendship.” Lowell seid this with a scowl, and an emphasis of indignant rising inflection. The negro seemed stunned by this swift biow in his very teeth, thal seemed to lace him outside the pale of a human eing. s driving of cc great speec som Why is such a hops unreasonable, sir, to & man of your scientific mind It 1is =@ question of taste,” snapped Lowell. “Am I not a graduate of the same uni- versity with you? Did T not stand as high, and age for age, am I not your equal in cuiture?” “Granted. Nevertheless you are a negro, and I do not desire the infusion of your blood in my family.” “But I have more of white than negro blood, sir.” “So much -the worse. It is the mark of shame.” ‘But it is iL.e one drop of negro blood at which your taste revolts, is it not?” “To be frank, it is.” “IWhy is it an unpardonable sin in me that my ancestors were born under tropic skies where skin and halr were tanned and curled to suit the sun's fierce rays?” “My God, sir, you can't kick me out of your home like this when you brought me to it and made it an issue of life or death!” “I tell you again you are crazy. I have brought you here against my daughter's shes. She left the house with her friend this morning to avoid seeing vou. Your presence has always been re- pulsive to her, and with mfe it has been a political study, not a social pleasure.” “I beg for only a desperate chance to overcome this feeling. Surely a man of your profound learning and genius can- not sympathize with such prejudices? Let me try—let her decide the issue.” “I decline to discuss the question any further.” “I can't give up without a struggle!” the negro cried with desperation. Lowell arose with a gesture of impa- tience. “Now you are getting to be simply a nuisance. To be perfectly plain with you, I haven't the slightest desire that my family, with its proud record of a thousand years of history and achieve- ment shall end in this stately old house in a brood of mulatto brats!" Harris winced and sprang to hi feet, trembling with passion. “I see, he &neered, “the soul of Simon Legres has at last become the soul of the na- tion. The South expresses the same luminous truth with & little more clumsy brutality. But their way 1s after all more merciful. The human body becomes unconseious at the touch of an oil-fed flame in sixty seconds. Your methods are more refined and more hellish in cruelty. You have trained my ears to hear, eyes to see, hands to touch and heart to féel that you might torture with the denial of every cry of body and soul and roast me in the flames of ible desires for time and eter- “That will do now. There’s the door!” thundered Lowell with a gesture of stern impatience. “I happen to know the important fact that a man or woman of negro ancestry, though a century re- moved. will suddenly breed back to a pure negro child, thick lipped, kinky headed, flat nosed, black skinned. One drop of your blood in my family would push it back three thousand years in history. If you were able to win her consent, a thing unthinkable, I would do what old Virginius did in the Roman Forum, kill her with my own hand, rather than see her sink in your arms into the black waters of a negroid life! Now go!” CHAPTER IX. THE NEW AMERICA. Another year of struggle and suffering, hope and fear, Gaston had passed, and still he was no nearer the dream of real- ized love. If anything had changed, the general's pride had added new force to his determination that his daughter should not marry the man who had defled him, His chief rellance for Gaston's defeat was on time, and the broadening of Sal- lie's mind by extended travel. He had sent her abroad twice, and this year he sent her to spend another three months in Europe. These absences seemed only to intensify her longing for her lover. On her return the general would burst into a storm of rage at her persistence. She,had ceased to give him any bitter answerS, only smil- ing quietly and maintaining an ominous silence. He had a new cause now of dislike for the man of her choice. Gaston had be- come a man of acknowledged power in politics and was the leader of a group of radical young men who demanded the complete reorganization of the Democratic party, the shelving of the old timers, among whom he was numbered, and the announcement of a ragical programme upon the negro issue. Radicalism of any sort he had always hated. Now, as advanced by this young upstart, it was doubly odious. The general had never given much time to his politi- cal duties, but his name was power, and he gave regularly to the campaign com- mittee the largest cash contribution they recelved, He tried in a clumsy way to put Gaston off the State Executive Committee, but failed. He saw Gaston quietly laughing at him. Then he opened his pocket-book and worked up a machine. It was a for- midable power, and Gaston feared its in- fluence in the coming convention. While this fight was in progress, and Sallie was in Europe, the destruction of the Maine in Havana harbor stilled the world into silence with the echo of its sullen roar. There was a moment's pause and the nation lifted its great silk battle- flags from the Capitol at Washington and called for volunteers to wipe the empire of Spain from the map of the Western world. The war lasted but a hundred days, but in those hundred days was packed the harvest of centuries, War is always the crisis that flashes the searchlight into the souls of men and na- g their unknown strength and the changes that have been silently wrought in the years of peace. ctionalism and disunity had been the most terrible realities In our national his- tory. Our fathers had a poet leader whose soul dreamed a beautiful dream called E Pluribus Unum. But it had re- mained a dream. New England had threatened secession years before South Carolina in blind rage led the way. The Union was saved by a sacrifice of blood that appalled the world. And still mil- lions feared the South might be false to her plighted honor at Appomattox. The ghost of Secession made and unmade the men and measures of a generation. Then came the trumpet call that put the South to the test of fire and blood. The world waked next morning to find for the first time in our history the dream of union a living fact. There was no North, no South—but from the James to the Rio Grande the children of the Con- federacy rushed with eager, flushed faces to defend the flag thelir fathers had once fought. And God reserved in this hour for the South, land of ashes and tombs and tears, the pain and the glory of the first offering of life on the altar of the new nation. Our first and only officer who fell dead on the deck of a ‘warship, with the flag above him, was Worth Bagley of North Carolina, the son of a Confederate soldier. The gallant youngster who stood on the bridge of the Merrimac, and be- tween two towering mountains of flaming cannon, in the darkness of night blew' up his ship and set a new standard of Anglo- Saxon daring, was the son of a Confed- erate soldier of North Carolina. The town of Hambright furnished -a whole company of eighty-six men, a cap- tain, three lieutenants and a major, who EW service in the war. "hen they were drawn up in the court- house square under the old oak, the preacher stood before them and called the roll from four browned parchments. They were Campbell County Confederate ros- ters. Every one of the eighty-six men was a child of the Confederacy. And the immortal Company F, that was wiped out of existence at the battle of Gettys- gurs, furnished more than halfthese chil- ren. “Ah, boys, blood will telll” cried the preacher, shaking hands with each man as they left, A single round from the guns, and it was over. The yellow flag of Spaln, lit with the sunset splendor of a world em- pire, faded from the sky of the West. A ‘new naval power had arlsen to dis- turb the dreams of statesmen. The Ore- gon, that flerce leviathan of hammered steel, had made her mark upon the giobe. In a long black trail of smoke and ribbon of foam §he had circled the earth with- out a pause for breath. The thunder of her lips of steel over the shattered hulk of a European navy proclaimed the ad- vent of a giant democracy that struck terror to the hearts of titled snobs, He who dreamed this monster of steel, felt her heart beat, saw her rush through foaming seas to victory, before the pick of a miner had struck the ore for her ribs from a mountain side, was a child of the Confederacy — that Confederacy Wwhose desperate genius had sent the Ala- bartia spinning round the globe in a whirl- wind of fire. - America, united at last and invincible, waked to the consciousness of her resist- less power. And, most gmarvelous of all, this hun- dred days of ar had reunited the Anglo- Saxon race. "This sudden union of the English-speaking people in friendly alli- ance disturbed the equilibrium of the world, and confirmed the Anglo-Saxon in his title to the primacy of racial sway. CHAPTER X. ANOTHER DECLARATION OF INDE- PENDENCE. Almost every problem of national life had been illumined and made more hope- ful by the searchlight of war save one— the irrepressible conflict between the Afris can and the Anglo-S8axon in the develop- ment of our civilization. The glare of war only made the blackness of this ques- HSnile The weibaritiea le the wel negro regul; led by white officers, acquitted mmm' with honor at Santiago, the negro volun- teers were the source of riot and disorder wherever they appeared. From the first it was seen by thoughtful men that the negro‘was an impossibility in the newborn Unity of national life. When the Anglo- Saxon race was united into one homo- geneous mass In the fire of this crisis the negro ceased that moment to be & ward of the nation. A negro regiment had heen in camp at Independence during the war and was still there awaiting orders to be mustered out. Its presence had inflamed the pas- sions of both races to the danger point of riot again and again. The negro who was editing their paper at Independence had gone to the length of the utmost license in_seeking to influence race antagonism. When the regiment of which the Ham- bright company was a member was mus- tered out at Independence, Gaston was invited to deliver the address of welcome home to the soldiers, and a crowd of five thousand people were present, one-half of whom were negroes. While Gaston was speaking in the Equare, a negro trooper passing along the street refused to give an inch of the side- walk to & young lady and her escort, who met him. He ran into the girl, jostling her roughly, and the young white man knocked him down instantly and Beat him to death. The wildest passions of the ne- Bro regiment were roused. McLeod was among them that day seeking to increase his popularity and influence In the coming election, and he at once denounced Gas- ton as the cause of the assault, and urged the leaders in secret to retaliate by put- ting a bullet through his heart. The white regiment had been mustered out and their guns in most cases had been retained by the men. The negro troops ere to be mustered out the next day. Late in the afternoon Gaston had re- ceived information that a plot was on foot to kill him that night, when a negro mob would batter down his door on the pretense of searching for the man who had assaulted the trooper. The colonel of the regiment just disbanded heard it, and that night his men bivouacked in the yard of the hotel and slept on their guns. A little after 12 o’clock a mob of 50 ne- groes attempted to force their way into the hotel. They met a regiment of bayo- nets, broke, and fled in wild confusion. This event was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. In the morning paper a blazing notice in display capitals cov- ered the first page, calling & mass meeting oHluwhns citizens at noon in Independence The little city of Independence was one of the oldest in the nation. It boasted the first declaration of Independence from Great Britain, antedating a year the Phil- adelphia document. The people had never re-tfil tamely under tyranny nor accepted nsult, The McLeod Negro-Farmar Legislature had remodeled the ancient charter of the city, and under the new instrument a com- bination of negroes and criminal whites had taken possession of every office. One-half of these office-holders were incompetent and insolent negroes. The Chief of Police was an ignoramus in league with criminals, and their Mayor & white demagogue elected by pandering to the lowest passions of a negro constit- uency. Burglary and highway robbery were al most daily occurrences. The two larg- est stores in the city and four residences had been burned within a month. Ap- peal to the police became a farce, and it was necessary to hire and arm a force of private guards to patrol the city at night. When arrests were made, the ser- vile authorities promptly released the criminals. The incendiary organ of the negroes, a newspaper that had been noted for its virulent spirit of race hatred, had pub- lished an editorial defaming the virtue of the white women of the communi At 11 o'clock the quaint old hall, built in Revolutionary days to seat five hun- dred people, was packed with a erowd of elght hundred stern-visaged men stand- ing so thick it was impossible to pass through them and thousands were massed outside around the building. Gaston, whose ancestors had been lead- ers in the great Revolution, was called to the chair. In the deification of the un- shackled negro,which had been started under the Legree regime Gaston saw the cloud that now hung like a black pall on the South. The speech-making was brief, fiery, and to the point. Within one hour they unanimously adopted this resolution: “‘Resolved, That we issue a second Dec- laration of Independence from the infamy of corrupt and degraded government. The day of negro domination over the Anglo- Baxon race shall close, now, once and for- ever. The government of North Carolina was established by a race of pioneer white freemen for white men, and it shall remain in the hands of freemen. ““We demand the overthrow of the crim- inal and semi-barbarian regime under which we now live, and to this end serve notice on the present Mayor of this city, its Chief of Police, and the s negro al- dermen and their low white associates that their resignations are expected by nine o’clock to-morrow morning. We de- mand that the negro anarchist who edits a paper. in this city shall close his office, remove ifs fixtures and leave this county within twenty-four hours.” S A committee of twenty-five, with Gas- ton as its chairman, was appointed to en- force these resolutions. y four o'clock an army of two thou- sand white men was organized and placed under the command of the Rev. Duncan McDonald, pastor of the First Presbyte- rian Church of the city, who had been brave young officer in the Confederat army. Every minister in the county was enrolled in this guard and carried a musket on flcket duty or in a .reserve camp that night. At six o'clock Gaston summoned thirty- five of the more prominent negroes of the county, including two of the professors in Miss Susan Walker’'s college, to meet the Committee of Twenty-Five and- receive its ultimatum. Stern and hard of face sat the twenty-five chosen representatives of that world-conquering race of men at one end of the room, while at the other end sat the thirty-five negroes, anxious and fearful, realizing that their day of dominion had ended. Gaston rose and handed them & copy of the resolutions. X ‘“We give you till seven-thirty to-mor- row morning, as the leaders of your race, to carry out these demands,” he sald gravely. “But we have no authority, sir,” replied the negro preacher to whom he handed the paper. “Your authority is equal to ours—the authority of elemental manhood. If you cannot execute them in peace, we will do it by force.” “We must decline such responsibility unless”—the negro started to argue the question. 2 “The meeting stands adjourned!” qulet- ly announced Gaston, taking up his hat and leaving the room, tollnwetr by his committee. At seven-thirty next morning no answer had been received. Gaston called for seventy-five volunteers to execute the de- crees. ‘Within thirty minutes five hundred men swung into line at eight o'clock and marched four breast to the office of the negro paper. It was promptly burned to the ground, its editor pald its cash value, and with a rope around his neck escorted :o ’lht depot and placed on a northbound rain. As_ Gaston handed him his ticket for Washington he quietly sald to him: - “I have saved your life this morning. If you value it, never put your foot on the soll of this State again.” “Thank you, sir. I'll flot return.” While this guard, ugder strict military discipline, was execu! this decree, a mob of a thousand ed negroes con- cealed themselves in a Nedgerow and fired on them fram ambush, killing one man and wWounding six. Gaston formed his men in line, returned the fire with dead- :‘y effect, charged the mob. put them to light, driving them into the woods out- side the city limits, and placed the town under informal but strict martial law. By ten o'clock the resignation of every city and county officer was In_his hand, and the Mayor and Chief of Police were at his feet begging for mercy. He posted a notice over the county warning every negro and white associate that no further insolence or criminality ‘Wwould be tolerated. -The county and municipal election was but three days off, and there was but one ticket in the field. When the white men elected were sworn in, the guards went to the woods and told the terrified and half-starving negroes they could return to their homes. A competent police force was organized, ‘and the volunteer organ- ization disbanded. Negro refugees and their assoclates once more filled the ear of the National Government with clamor for the return of the army to the South to uphold negro power, but for the first time since 1867 it fell on deaf ears. The Anglo-Saxon race had been reunited. The negro was no longer the ward of the re- public. Henceforth he must stand or fall on his own worth and pass under the law of the survival of the fittest. This event made a tremendous impres- sion on the imagination of the people. It increased the popularity and power of Gaston, its intended victim. The general was more thari ever deter- mined to destroy Gaston's power in the convention which was to meet in a few weeks. He had his candidate for Gover- nor well groomed and he had captured the largest number ff pledged delegates. There were three other candidates, but none of them apparently were backed by . Gaston. Thé general was puzzled at, his methods, and failed to discover his pro- gramme, though he spent money with liberality and exhausted every resource at his command. A strange thing had occurred that had upset all calculations. Beginning at In dependence a race fire had broken into re- sistless fury and was sweeping along the line of all the counties on the South Caro- lina border and over the entire State with incredible rapidity. Everywhere the white men were arming themselves and parading the streets and public roads in cavalry order, dressed in scarlet shirts. This Red Shirt movement was a sponta- neous combustion of inflammable. racial power that had been accumulating for a generation. The Democratic Executive Committee was called together in haste and made the most frantic efforts to stop it. But there was no head to it. It had no or- ganization except a local one, and it spread by a spark flying from one county to an- other. % McLeod laughed at the address of the Democratic committee and swore Gaston was the organizer of the movement. He determined to nip it in the bud by putting Gaston under a cloud that would destroy his influence. He did not dare to attack him for his part in the revolution at In- dependence. He preferred to belittle that affair as a local disturbance. But at an election for Congressman to fill a vacancy, the Democratic candidate had won by a narrow margin in a cam- paign of great bitterness under Gaston's leadership. - Charges of fraud were freely made on both sides. McLeod determined to util- ize these charges, and by producing per- jured witnesses before a packed court, place Gaston in jail without bail until the convention had met. He had every advantage in such a con- spiracy. The United States Judge whom he intended to utilize was a creature of his own making, a trickster whose con- firmation had been twice defeated in the Senate by the members of his own party on his shady record. But he had won the place at last by hook and crook, and Mc- Leod owned him body and soul. Accordingly Gaston was arrested with a warrant McLeod had obtained from his Judge, arraigned before him and commit- ted without bail. He was charged with a felony under the election laws, taken to Asheville and placed In jail. The audacity of this arrest and the ve- hemence with which McLeod pressed his charges created a profound sensation in the State. It was rumored that the graver charge of murder lay back of the a if felony and would be pressed in e time. A murder had been committed in the district during the exciting cam- patgn and no clew had ever been found to its perpetrator. McLeod knew he had no evidence connecting Gaston with this event, but he knew that he had hench- men who weuld swear to anything he told them and stick to it. CHAPTER XI THE HEART OF A WOMAN. A week after Gaston’s imprisonment Sallie Worth arrived in New York from her last trip abroad. She had cut her trip short and cabled her father of her return. i She was in an agony of suspense and uncertainty about her lover. Gaston's letters had failed ¥o reach her for a month by reason of the war, which had demoralized the mail service. Her own letters had falled to reach Gaston for a similar reason. he general hastened to New York to feet his wife and daughter and persuade Sallie to remain in the North until De- cember. He was hopeful now that her long absence and Gaston's absorption in politics, his bitter opposition to him per- sonally, and the cloud under which he rested in prison, would be the final forces that would give him the victory in the long conflict he had waged for the mas- tery of his daughter’s heart. Before informing Sallie of the stirring events at Independence and the part Gas- ton had taken in them, or allowing her to learn of his imprisonment, the general sought to find the exact state of her mind, “I trust, Sallie,”” he began, ‘‘you are re- covering from your infatuation for this man. You know how dearly 1 love you. I have never taken a step in life since 1 locked into your baby face that wasn't for you and your happiness.” She only locked at him wistfully and her eyes seemed to be dreaming. “1 want you to have some pride. Gas- ton has attempted to kick me out of the councils of the party, and become the dic- tator of the State. His course {s one of violence and radicalism. I regard him as a dangerous man, and I want you to have uothing to do with him.” She was gravely sllent. “Do you believe he has been falthfully dreaming of you in your absence?”’ asked the general. t es, 1 do "Then let me disabuse your mind. It is not the way of strong men. He is abso- lutely absorbed in a desperate political struggle in which his personal ambitions are first. I have seen him paying the most devoted attentions to the daughter of our rival down East, whose influence he wants, and it is rumored among his friends that he has proposed to her.” ““Who told you that?” she asked impet- uously. “I had it first from Allan, but I've heard it since from others.” “I do not believe a word of 1t,”” she de- clared. : ¥ “That's because you're a woman and hold such silly ideals. I tell you, he wants you only because he knows you are rich, and he wishes to browbeat me. Such a man will try to whip you before you have been his wife five years. I know-that kind of a man. Why can’t you trust my judg- ment?” .V “1 had rather trust my heart's intui- tions, papa. I cannot be deceived in such a question.” “Well, you are being deceived. He is anything "but a languishing lover. At present he is a political tiger at bay. Un- less you hold him to you by some pledge he has given, he will forget you and marry another in two years. I am a man - and know ~men. I thought 1 was desperately in in love twice before I met your mother. I got over both attacks without a scratch, fell in love with her, married a have lived happily ever since. You have over- estimated your own importance to him and your influence over him.” A great fear awed her into silence. For the first time in all her struggle with her father the sense suddenly came into her heart of her dependence on Gaston's love for the very desire to live, and for the first time she realized the possibility of losing him. What if he should press his great ambitions to successful issue while she stood irresolute and tortured him with her indecision? If he could win the world’s applause without her, might he not, when successful, cease to need her? Her breast heaved with the tumult of un- certainty. What if another woman saw and loved him, and drew near to him in his hours of soul loneliness and struggle. and he had learned to see her face with Joy! The conviction came crushing upon her that she had not responded bravely to this powerful man's singular devotion into which he had poured without reserve his deepest passion. Had he weighed her and found her wanting in some dark hour in her absence? Her heart was in her throat at the thought! The general watched her keenly for several moments, and thought at last he had broken the spell. He believed he could now tell her of the cloud that hung over Gaston. “I sald, Sallle, that I belleved Gaston @ dangerous man. I did not speak lightl: ‘We have had terrible riots In Indepen ence while you were absent In which Gas- ton was the leader of an armed revolu- tion which overturned the city and county government. Two thousand men were under arms for a week and several were killed and wounded on both sides. The results were good as a whole, I confess. We have had a decent government and we have security of property and life, but such methods will lead to clvil war.” Her face grew tense, and she looked at her father with breathless interest dur- ing this recital. “Was he in danger in those riots?” she slowly asked. ‘“Yes, and I expect him to be killed at an early day if he continues his present methods. A mob of flve hundred negroes attempted to kill him. This was one of the causes that led to the revolution. She was on her feet now, pale and trembling with excitement. “Where is he?" she gasped. “Now, my dear, it's useless to get ex- cited. The trouble is all over and a new Mayor and police force are in charge of +the city. But he is resting under a seri- ous cloud at present. He is held in jail at Asheville on a charge of felony, and a charge of murder is being pressed.” “In jail! In jail!” she cried incredu- lously, while her eyes filled with tears. Yes, and Allan believes these ugly charges will be proved in the United States court and he will be convicted.” 5 She did not seem to hear the last sen- ence. “In jail!” she repeated, “my lover, to whom I have given my life, and you, my father, while I was three thousand miles away, stood by and djd not lift a hand to help him?” ‘‘Has he not been my bitterest enemy, seeking to insult me!” thundered the gen- e No, he never insulted you, or spoke one unkind word about you in his life. Oh! this 1s shameful! God forgive me that I was not here!”” Tears were stream- ing down her face. “You hold me responsible for the crazy young scamp's career?’ cried the general indignantly. “Not_another word to me!” claimed. presence.” The general was afraid of her when she used the tone of voice in which she ut- tered that sentence. He had heard it but once before, and that was when she told him she was a free woman, twenty-one years old, and he bhad broken down. He looked at her now, fearing to speak. At length he said: “I have engaged a suite of rooms for you here at the Waldorf-Astoria, my dear, for the winter. I hope you will enjoy the season. Let us change this painful subject. “I do not want the rooms,” she firmly replied. “I am going to Asheville on the first trai The general stormed and raged for an hour, but she made no reply. Her mother was suffering from the effects of the voy- age and took no part in this storm. “But your mother will not be able to accompany yow. Surely you will not dis- grace me by visiting that man in jail™" “I will. And when he is released I will return. I will visit Stella Holt. I shall have ample protection.” ‘The general was afrald to oppose her in this dangerous mood, and begged her mother to try to prevent her going. Sal- lie sent Gaston a letter that she was com- ing. In obediegce to the general’s request her mother cafled her into "her room that night and they had a long talk and ery in each other’s arms. Mrs. Worth did not try very hard to persuade her not to go. Down in her own woman's soul she knew what she would do under similar conditions, and she was too honest.-with her child to try to deceive her. She only made love to her mother-fashion. CHAPTER XIL THE SPLENDOR OF SHAMELESS LOVE. When Gaston received her telegram in jail he was seated by a window looking out through the bars on Mount Pisgah’s distant peak looming in grandeur amid a sea of smaller blue mountain waves, He read the message and his soul was filled with a great peace. At last! at last! they are good. I could kiss them. never be grateful enough to my enemi He had taken his prison as a joke from the first, sneering at the Judge who had comimitted him. He knew that every day he stayed in that jail he was becoming more and more the master of the people. If McLeod had tried he could not have played mto his hands with more fatal certainty. Five hundred citizens of Inde- pendence had wired him their congraula- tions and offered him any assistance he desired, from unlimited money for de- fense to a delegation to tear the jail she ex- ‘These prison bars, n lown. He declined any assistance. He knew the storm would break over their heads soon enough, and they would be delighted to get rid of him. In the meantime he gave himself up to his thoughts about the woman he loved, and wondered what change had suddenly come over her to send him that message. He felt sure the great crisis in her life had come. What would it be? A sorrowful surrender on her part to her father’s iron will and a tearful good-by forever, or the full sur- render of her woman's soul and body to the dominion of his love? 4 He was glad the hour had struck that should decide. He trembled at the im- port of her answer,-but he was ready to receive it. A carriage rolled into the jall enclosure and two young ladies alighted. One of them stopped in the sitting-room for vis- itors, and he heard the tramp of & man's heavy feet on the stairs and after it the tread of a woman like a soft echo. The key grated in the lock, ‘the door opened. She looked into his eyes for just an instant of searching soul revelation, saw the yearning and the grateful tears, and with a glad cry sprang into his arms. ‘;Ydou do love me!” she passionately cried. “Love you? I drew you back across the sea with my love. I knew you would come. I willed it with a power you couldn’t resist.” ! “I never got your letters, and I was hungry to see you,” she whispered. “And 1 never got yours, and drew you back by the power 'of a great heart pur- pose.” e “Forgive me for being away from you when you were in danger.” “1 was glad you were safe. Don't let this jail alarm you. I'll be out too soon for my good, I'm afraid.” “No other woman bas come into your heart to cheer it even with her friendship since I've been away, has she?” “What a silly question. I've never looked at any other woman since the day I first saw you!" “Tell me you love me again!” \ “I—love—you, unto the uttermost, in }’Kei in geath, forever!” he whispered ten- lerly. She sighed and smiled. “The sweetest music the ear of a woman ever heard!" ‘You shall not abuse him in my ., she half laughed, half cried. “Now, my dear, you are full-grown woman in the beauty of 'ect woman- hood. For five years more I have waited and suffered. My life is an open book before you. en are you going to end this suspense? You must decide now whether your father's will shall rule your life or my lovs “Must I decide to-day?” she asked tremblingly. “Yes,” he answered. “It is not falr to torture me longer.” “Then I give up!” she tearfully ex- claimed. *“God forgive me if I am doing wrong! I cannot resist you longer. I do not desire to—I will not! I am all yours, forever—soul, body, will, honor, life—all! I cannot live without you. I love you. I love you!—Kiss me!—again—ah, your lips are sweeter than honey! Am I bold to say 1t? I do not care, I am yours. Your arms are the bonds of my slavery, and they are sweet!” Gaston was trembling with the joy that flooded his being with these the first ‘words of perfect faith and submissive love that had come- from her lips. And he winced at the memory now of those hours of dissipation when he had doubted her. He tried to confess it and receive her ab- solution, “My dear, my joy is too It 1s pain, as well as joy. In the dark days of our first year of separation I thought once you had forgotten me. I went away into two weeks of debauchery. Your perfect love crushes me with its beauty and puri- ty. I mugt confess this wrong to you. I must not deceive you in the smallest thing in this hour.” She placed her hand over his lips, “I will not hear it. I ought to have been braver and fought for my rights and yours. I will not hear one word of hu- miliation from you. I love you. I would love you #f you were a murderer on the gallows. I cannot help it. I do not wish to help it. I will follow you to the bot- tomless pit or to the throne of God and say it without fear to devil or angel Kiss me again—Thers, do not cry—let me see your beautiful brown eyes. I'll kiss the tears away. Tears are for my e not yours!™ “Then you will fix the day, dear?" he l“;rhen I fix to-day,” she sald impuls- vely. “‘What, here in this jall?" “Yes, where you are is heaven to me. 1 haven't noticed the jail,’ sald soberly. He looked at her a moment, stralned her to his heart and brushed the tears of Joy from his eyes. “My beautiful queen! This hour is worth every pain and every throb of an- guish I have suffered. Its memory will encompass life with a great light.” “1'n fio with Stella, see Dr. Durham, who is here looking after your case, have him get the license, and we will be back in half an hour!” The preacher greeted her with delight. “Ah! Miss Sallie, if I had known a little thing like this would have brought you back I would have hired Jail for him long ago and put him in “Doctor, I want you to get the license and marry us now. Will you do it?" “Will 1? Just watch me. I'll have the documents and be ready for the ceremony in fifteen minuteg!" cried the preacher as he hurried to the office of the Register of Deeds. Sallle ran up to Mrs. Durham's room, told her, and asked her to be one of the witnesses, “Of course, I will, Sallle. You are the one girl in the world I have always want- ed Charlie to marry.” The keeper of the jail treated Gaston with every consideration and arranged for the marriage to take place in the lit- tle sitting-room where he allowed him to come on parole. The bride wore a plain traveling dress in which she had come from New York. She had driven from the depot past Stella 1fl‘?‘lt’- Jhome, and with her straight to the Gaston thought her the fairest vision that ever greeted the eye of man as he stood by her side; for ne had seen that day the soul of a radlantly beautiful wo- man in the splendor of shameless love. His own soul was drunk with the joy of it ; all and his eyes now devoured her with their intense light. Standing there before the preacher o whom he loved as his father, and the fos- ter-mother whq had wrapped his little ¢ n shivering body In the warmth of a great ' heart that night the light of life went out C in his own mother's room, with Stella \\C Holt's sympathetic face reflecting her friend’s happiness, the marriage ceremony 5) was performed. He took Sallie’s tremb- < ling hand in his and promised to love, honor and cherish her as long as life en- dured. And under his br g he added, “Here and hereafter—forever.” And then she looked into his smiling face with her blue eyes full of unspeakable love, and in a volce low and soft as the note of a fluts, { gave to him her life. And the preacher sald, “What God hath éoln'ed together, let not man put asun- er!"” She stayed there with him until the gathering twilight. “Now, I must hurry back to my fath and win him. I will not come to you a beggar. My father shall not distnherit D AR :ne. .1 am going to bring you my fortune, 00, ‘‘Oh, curse that fortune, dear! TI've feared it was that keeping us apart so long.” 8 “Don’t curse it. T like it, and T am go- ing to win it for you. You are a man of - genius. Your success is as sure as if it were already won. I will not come to you a helpless pauper. I have never been taught to do anything. I should like to cook for you if I knew how, and I am going to learn how. I am going to make you the most beautiful home that the heart of a woman can dream. I'd rob the world for treasure for it. I am going to rob my dear old father. He has sworn to disinherit me if I marry without his con- sent. He shall not do it.” “Then, don’t be long about it. You are my treasure. I can build you a snug lit- tle nest at Hambright.” “I will only ask four weeks. Now do what I tell you. Bit down and write papa a letter telling him I am your affanced bride and ask his consent to the celebra- tion of our marriage within three weeks. That wiil produce an earthquake, and lom;lh!n‘ will surely happen within four weeks."” He wrote the letter, and she looked over his shoulder. “You see, dear,” she sald as she kissed him good-bye, “I love papa so tenderly. You can’t understand how close the tle is between us, perhaps some day In our own home of which I'm dreaming you may understand as you cannot now,” she ldd'xghd :o‘my. 3 “Then for your e, dearest, I hope can win him. But I'm afraid of lhllm of yours.” “Leave it with me for a month, do just as I tell you, and then I'll obey you all the rest of our lives,—if your orders suit me,” she playfully added. (% She returned to Stella Holt's, and Gas- ton went back to his jail room and dreamed that night he was sleeping In the Governor’s palace. A SPEECH THAT MADE HISTORY. ‘When General Worth recelved Gaston’s brief and startling letter the wires were hot between New York and Asheville for hours. His last message was a peremp- tory command to his daughter to join him immediately at Independence. When Sallle arrived at Oakwood the general was already there, and the storm broke in all its fury. At every hbitter word she only quietly smiled, until the general was on the verge of collapse. Day after day he begged, pleaded, raged and finally took to hard swearing as he looked into her calm, happy face. In the meantime McLeod and the hench- man on the Judge's bench had seen a new light. The excitement over the arrest of Gaston seemed to have fanned the flames the Red Shirt of movement into a fonflb- 0