The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 15, 1903, Page 4

ned at its mes mor that five tho: mobilizing at the ge, near Hambright, going to march across Asheville, demolish Gasto and hang the 2 committed him without @ or was a fake, but he was not HHe issued an order his own recognizance or to Hambright showered ry telegrams from every from Sallie + had not he general of delegates hine was not even If he he the Sta he th the grip of steel r ears s iger than ever was & cert of victory. he cnorm aironage of the Federal . their hands four e with 1k ed around pe atly he w . r he negro and s allies © for a generation. A red the conve: LY B ed an ovation, heartfe g rous i not re h the point f element in the calcula- - r prominent can- General Worth had ghly a sudden hush fell A few men in speak. All had power has come in negro from all time the w Hanover, Cr fes, the great sprang on th r of applause that shook d pandemonium _ broke great wave subsided an- minutes before while Gaston stood & the storm aring young man- _help admiring sdern world to stand mental manhood and to existence. He his messengers and rai- when Gaston began to words chained his at- While the t umult raised by his resolu- progress he lifted his eve ¥ and there just above ed toward the platform ret bride. His heart aceé was aflame with emo- flashing with love and pride. h her lips the tip of Jlew a kiss across the in- He smiled into her soul e, and with every nerve L tension resumed his r's stand. When the ed away he began a speech that Listory of a State for a thousand -]1.; resolutions hs 1 wrought the crowd ghest pitch of excitement, and r ing and deliber- with electrical he said, and the slight- | st whisper was hushed. “The history } of man is a ser of great puise beats, whose flood overwhelms his future and fixes its life. Like the qammed tor- a mountain side, it breaks the | m that holds it stagnant for ns and floods the world with its Eweep. Theories, creeds, and institutions heliowed by age, are cast as rubbish on the hilis that mark its course 1d is buried and a new one appears “The Anglo-Saxon is enterir | gentury with the imi ertal crd‘-‘vn‘“fif"fn'i ages on his brow and the scept infinite in his hands. S S he Old South fought against the stars heir courses—the resistiess tide of the g consciousness of nationality and worid-mission. The young South greets the new era and glories in its manhood. He joins his voice in the cheers of tri- umph which are ushering in this all-con- guering Saxon. Our old men dreamed of local supremacy. We dream of the con- | of the globe. Threads of steel have | it State to State. Steam and electricity | have silently transformed the face of the earth, annihilated time and space, and swepl the ocean barriers from the path of man. The black steam shuttles of com. | merce have woven continent to continent. | “'We believe that God has raised up our | race, as he ordained Israel of old, in this | world-crisis to establish and maintain for | . the principles of civil and rel fous liberty and the form < 81 l,‘l government. % e PE ity “In this hour of crisis our flag has ! raised over ten millions of wmi-barl:’:relrc‘ black men in the foulest slavepen of the Orient. Shall We repeat the farce of '67, reverse the order of nature, and make | these black people our rulers? If mot, | why should the African here, who is nof | ;32"4' equal, be allowed to imperil our | A whirlwind of applause | vuliding PP shook the “A crisis approaches in the hi: { the human race. The world is Sl:::r l%‘ it& consclousness to-day. The natfon must gird up her loins and show her right to ‘h\f;‘ 10 master the future or be mastered n the struggie. New question: us srfir solution. ¥ I uwn] “Shall this grand old commonwi beind and sink into the nnnn;::?léeguh 4] ation of a negrojd corruptios - | emn hour of the woraz . o ' this sol- “No! Ny screamed a thousand v “What i our condition to-day ;r?u;eh: @awn of the twentieth century? If we ! attempt to move forward we are literally rDh:(S:G to the body of a festering Black ath! « “Pifty of our great counties are agai under the neel of the negro. and the State §# in his clutches. Our city governments are debauched by his vote, inso- jence threatens our womanhood, and our children are beaten by negro toughs on the way to school while we pay his taxes. | Fhall we longer tolerate inspectors ©of white schools. and neeroes in charge of white institytions? Shall we longer tolerate the arrest of white women by ne- | gro officers and their trial before neml | magistrates? “Tet the manhood of the Aryan race with its four thousand vears of authentic history answer that n!" With blazing eyes and voice that rang ' with .the deep peal of defiant power Gaston hurled that sentence like a thun- derbolt into the souls of his two thou- Lo their feel and shouled back an auswer that maue the eartn tremuie. Lifgjug his hand for sueice he con- tinued: “'IL 15 no longer a question of bad gov- ernment. It 15 a guestion of impossible guvernment. We lag behind the age drag- Eng the uecaying corpse to wiich we aie | chained. “Who shall deliver us from the body of this death? ““Hear me, men of my race, Norman and Celt, Angie and Saxol, Dape and Krank, Huguenot and German martyr blood! ““fne hour has struck when we must rise 1 our might, break the cpains that bind us to this corruption, strike down the negro as a ruling power, and restorc 1o vur chilaren their birthright, which we received, a4 priceless legacy, from our fathers, “{ believe in God's-call to our race to| do his work in history. What other races tuiled to do. you wrought in this conti- neutal wilderness, fghting pestilence, hunger, cold, wild beasts, and savage horaes, until out »f it all has grown the mighuest nation of the earth. 1s the negro worthy to rule over you? sk history. The African has held one-fourth of this globe for 3000 years. He has never taken.one step in progress or rescued one jungle from the ape and the adder, except as the slave of & supe- rior race : “In Hayt and San Domingo he rose in servile insurrection and butchered fifty | will not submit to negro dominion another | thousand white men, women and children a hundred years ago. He has ruled these beautiful islands. since. Did he make progress with the example of Aryan civ- uization before him? No. But yesterday we received reports of the discovery of canniballsm in Hayti. He has had one hundred years of trial in the northern States of this Union with every facility of culture and progress, and he has not produced one man who has added a feather's weight to the progress of humanity. In an hour of madness the dominion of the ten great States of the South was given him without a struggle. A turnalia of infamy followed. “Shall we return to this? You must answer. The corruption of his presence in body politic 1s beyond the power of reckoning. We drove the caipel-bagger from our midst, but the scalawag. our native product, is always with us to fat- ten on this corruption and breed death to society. The carpet-bagger was a wolf, the scalawag is a hyena. The one was & highwayman, the other a sneak. “So long as the negro is a factor in eur political Jife, will violence and corruption #tain our history. We cannot afford longer to play with violence. We must re- move the cause. “Suffrage in America has touched the lowest tide-mud of degradation. If our cities and our Southern civilization are to be preserved, there must be a return to the sanity of the founders of this re- ublic. P government of the wealth, virtue and intelligence of the community, by the debased and the criminal. is a relapse to elemental barbarism to which no race of freemen can submit “Shall the future North Carolinfan be an Anglo-Saxon or a mulatto? the question before you. “Nations are made by men, not by pa- per constitutions and paper ballots. We are not free because we have a constitu- tion. We have a constitution because olir pioneer fathers who cleared the wilder- ness and dared the might of kings were freemen. It was in their blood, the tutel- age of generation on generation beyond the seas, the evolution of centuries of struggle and sacrifice. “If you .can make men out of paper, then if is possible with a scratch of a pen in the hand of a madman to transform by its magic a million slaves into a mil- lion kings. e grant the negro the right to life. liberty and the pursuit of happiness if he can be happy without exercising king- chip over the Anglo-Saxon race, or drag- ging us down to his level. But if he can- not find happiness except in lording it over @ superior race, let him look for another world in which to rule. There is not room for both of us on this conti- Again and again Gaston raised his hand to still the mad tumult of @pplause his words evoked. . “And we wiil fight it out on this line, if it takes a hundred years, two hundred. five hundred, or a thousand. It took Spain eight hundred years to expel the Moors. When the time comes the Anglo- Saxon can do in one century what the Spaniard did in eight. “We have been congratulated on our self-restraint under the awful provocation of the past Your years. There is a limit beyond which we dare not go, for at this point gelt-restraint becomes pusillanimous and means the loss of manhood. He then reviewed with thrilling power the history of the State and the proud part played in the development of the republic. He showed how this border wilderness of North Carolina became the cradle of American Democracy and the typical commonwealth of freemen. He played with the heart-strings of his headers in this close personal history as a great master touches the strings df a harp. His voice was now low and quiver- ing with the music of passion, and then £oft and caressing. He would swing them from laughter to tears in a single sen- tence, and in the next, the lightning flash of a fierce invective drove into their hearts its keen blade so suddenly the vast crowd started as one man and winced at its power. Through it all he was conscious of two blue eyes swimming in tears looking down on him from the gallery. The erowd now had grown so entranced, and the torrent of his speech so rapid. they forgot to cheer and feared to cheer lest they should lose a word of the next sentence. They hung breathless on every fiash of feeling from his face or eloquent gesture. “I am not talking of a vague theory of constructive dominion,” he continued, “when I refer to the negro .supremacy under which our civilization is being de- graded. 1 use words in their plain mean- ing. Negro supremacy means the rule of 2 party in which negroes predominatc and that means a negro oligarchy. “1 call_your attention to one typical county of over forty thus degraded, the county of Craven, whose quaint old city was once the capital of this common- wealth. What are the facts? The negro office-holders of Craven County include a Congressman, a member of the Legislu- ture, a Register of Deeds, the City Attor- ney, the Coroner, two deputy sheriffs, two County Commissioners, a member of the School Board, three Road Overseers, four Constables, twenty-seven Magis- trates, three City Aldermen and four po- licemen. There are sixty-two negro offi- clals in this county of 12,000 inhabitants, and their member of the Legislature is a convicted felon. The white people repre- sent 95 per cent of the wealth and intelli- gence of the community, and pay % per cent of its taxes and are voiceless in its government. “Would a county in Massachusetts sub- mit to such infamy? No, ten thousand times, no! There is not a county in the North from Maine to California that would submit to it twenty-four hours. Will_the children of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill-demand such submission from the children of Washington and Jef- ferson? No. The passions that gbscured | reason have subsided. The Anglo-Saxon race 15 united and has entered upon its | worla mission. “We will take from an unprofitable ser- vant the ballet he has abused. To him that .hath shall be given, and from him that hath not sh that which he At is the law of na- ture. It Is the law of God. “Yes, I confess it,” he continued, “I am in a sense narrow and provincial. I love mine own people. Their past is mine, their present is mine, their future Is a di- vine trust. I hate the dishwater of mod- ern world citizenship. A shallow cosmo- politanisth 15 the mask of death for the individual. It is the froth of civiliZation, as crime is its dregs. Race and race pride are- the ordinances of ufe. The true citi- zen of ‘the world, loves his country, His country is a part of God's world. “S8o T confess I Jove my people. the South—the stolid. silent South, that for a generation has sneered at paper- made_policies and scorned public opinjon, The South, old-fashioned, mediaeval, pr: vincial, worshiping the dead, and raising men rather than making money, family loving, home bullding, tradition ridden. e I love The South, eruel and cunning when fight- | ing a treacherous foe, with brief volcanic bursts of wrath and vengeance. The Bouth, eloquent, bombastic, romantic, chivairous, lustful, proud, kind and hos- pitable. The South with her beautiful ‘women brave men. The South, gener- ous and reckless, never knowing her own interest, but living her own ';fia in her own way!—Yes, I love her! In my soul are all her sins and virtues. And with it all she is worthy ta live. “The historian tells us that all thi pass in time. Wolves whelp and .h’fi: in the palaces of dead and ten civilizations. Memphis, Thebes and Baby- ‘lon are but names to-day. So New Or- leans and New York may explore That is | be taken away even | | sand hearers. The surging host sprang speculate upon their life; but we may | , safely fix upon a thousand centuries of | intervening time. On your shoulders now | rests the burden of civiiization. We must (face its responsibilities. For my part, 1 | belleve in your future. | [‘The courage of the Celt, the nobility of the Norman, the vigor of the Viking, the energy of the Angle, the tenacity of | the Saxon, the daring of the Dane, the | gallantry of the Gaul, the freedom of the | Frank, the earth-hunger of the Roman and the stoicism of the Spartan are all by the lineal heritage of blood, and dame through hundreds of generations and through centuries of cul- | ture. “Will you halt now and surrender to a mob of ragged negroes led by white cow- ards who at the first clash of conflict will hide in sewers? .l ask you, my people, freemen, North Carolintans, to rise to-day and make good your right to live. The time for platitudes s past. Let us men face the world and say what we mean. | “This is a white man's government, con- ceived by white men and maintained by white men through every year of its his- tory—and, by the God of our Fathers, it shall be ruled by white men until the | Archangel shall call the end of time! *“If this be treason, let them that hear it make the most of it. “From the eighth day of November we day, another hour, another moment! Back { of every ballot is a bayonet, and the red blood of the man who holds it. Let cow- ards hear, and remember this! Man has | never yet voted away nis right to a revo- 1 lution, | “Citizen kings, I call you to the con- sciousness of your kingship!"” Gaston closed and turned toward his seat, while the crowd hung breathless walting for his next word. When they realized that he had figished a rumble like the crash in midheaven of two storms rolled over the surging sea of men, broke against the girders (of the roof like the thunder of the Hatteras surf lashed by a hurri- cane. Two thousand men went mad. With one common impulse they sprang to their feet, screaming, shouting, cheering, shaking each other’s hands, (rying and laughing. With the sullen roar of crash- ing thunder another whirlwind of cheers | swept the crowd, shook the earth and pierced the sky with its challenge. Wave atter wave of applause swept the butlding and flung their rumbling echoes among the stars. These patient, kindly people, slow to anger, now terrible in wrath, were | trembling with the pent-up passion and fury of years. . What power could resist their wrath! Through it all Gaston sat silent behind the group of the majority of the platform | commitiee, with eyes devouring a beauti- ful face bending toward him from the gal- lery. ‘She was softly weeping with love and pride too deep for words. While the tumult was still raging, be- fore he was conscious of his presence, General Worth’s stalwart figure was bending over him and grasping his hand. "My boy, I give it up. You have beaten | me. I'm proud of you. I forgive every- thing for that speech. You can have my girl. The date you've fixed for the mar- riage suits me. Let us forget the past. Gaston pressed his hand muttering bro- keniy his thanks, and his soul sank within him at the thought of this proud old iron- willed warrior's anger if he discovered their secrét marriage. The general turned toward the side of the platform, for he had seen the flash of Sallie’s dress on the stairs of the balcony leading to the stage. He knew her keen eves had seen his surrender and his heart was hungry for the kiss of reconclliation that would restore their old perfect love, He met her at the foot of the stalrs and she threw her arms impulsively around his neck. _ “Oh! papa, dear! I am the happiest girl in the world. The two men of all men the only two T love—are mine forever! While the applause was still echoing and re-echoing over the sea of surging men, and thousands of excited people were crowding the windows from the outside and blocking the streets in every direction | clamoring for admittance, a tall man with gray beard and stentorian voice sprang on the platform. It was General Worth's candidate for Governor. He had not con- sulted the general but he had an impor- tant motion to make. The crowd was stilled_at last and his deep through the building: “Gentlemen, 1 move that the minority report offered by Charles Gaston’—again | a thunder of applause—'"be adopted as the platform by acclamation!” A etorm of *“aves” burst from the throats of the delegates in a single breath | m:- the crash of an explosion of dyna- mite. ““And now that our eves have seen the glory of the Lord, as we heard| his mes- senger anointed to lead his people, I move that this convention nominate by accla- mation for Governor—Charles Gaston!” Again two thousand men were on thelir feet shopting, cheering, shaking hands, huggingtone arother and weeping and velling ltke manfacs. A speech had been made that changed the current of history and fixed the status i of life for mliilions of people. CHAPTER XIV. THE RED SHIRTS. As soon as Gaston couid leave the throngs of friends who were congratulat- | ing him on his remarkable speech and his { Tertainty of election, he hastened to find Sallie. “My lover, my king!" she cried impul- sivel, s he clasped ber in his arms, “Your eyes kindled ghe fire in my soul and gave the power to mold that crowd t my will’” he softly told her. | It is sweet to hear you say that “Now, my love, we are in an awful situ- ation. What are we to do with the gen- eral storming around preparing for .a | grand wedding? out the news? him if he ever suspects anything.” | “Don’t worry, dear. I'll manage every- thing. We've fixed the wedding on the inauguration day—so you can’t be defeat- ed. We will be busy day and n'ght getting ready my trousseau and issuing our invi- tations. ceremony has been performed already. He need never know it until we are ready to tell him.” | “If he discovers it. he will swear I have tried to humiliate him )and he will never forgive it. Telegraph me if anything hap- pens and [ will come immediately. I can’t | see you for weeks in the campaign, but I will write you every day.” ‘His Excellency the Governor of North | Carolina!” she softly exclaimed, with a | dreamy look into his face. *My love | ““Don’'t make me vain. I may be the Governor, but I shall always be the slave of a beautiful woman who came one day to a jail and made it a palace with the glory of her love!” i glad 1 didn't walt for your suc- e, The campaign that followed was the most remarkable ever conducted in the history of an American commonwealth. In the dawn of the twentieth century a re- sistless movement was inaugurated to de- stroy the party in control of a State, and affilfated with the most powerful national administration since Andrew Jackson's, on the open declaration of their intention to nullify - the fourteenth and fifteenth | amendments to the constitution of the | republic. A | 'There was no violence except the calm demonstration in open daylight of omnip- otent racial power, and the deflance of any foe to lift a hand in protest. ‘When Gaston spoke at Independence five thousand men dressed in scarlet shirts rode silently through the streets in | solemn parade, and six thousand negroes watched them with fear. There was no cheering or demonstration of any kind. The silence of the procession gave it the | import of a religious rite. A thousand | picked men were in line from Hambright ffand Campbell County and they formed the guard of honor for their candidate for Governor.. Like scenes were enacted everywhere. Again the Anglo-Saxon race w: sed into a solid mass.. The result was a fore- gone conclusion. CHAPTER XV. THE HIGHER LAW, McLeod know from the day of that out- burst which followed Gaston's speech in the Democratic convention that no power an earth could save his ticket. To the world he put on a bold face and made his ht to the last ditch, predicting victory. {s secret anger against the preacher and Gaston, his pet, knew no bounds. Chagrined at his repulse by Mrs. Dur] and the attitude of contempt she had maintained toward him, his tongue "; ‘wag her 't“l'l?: t-l slander to "3 crowd of young satellites loafing around his of- fice fn Haml ht. e sald,” “th ¥ vll;nchor is t vy but wlg a great man, e l‘h".l&‘ of a gra: n s} y rlch’chcnnut hair. She , most. ‘beautiful mouth that ever tempted the soul of a man—and . my lips know “'what it means to touch it.” voice rang | What 1if that jaller gives | McLeod can get it out of | Papa will never dream that one | '"HE SUNDAY CALL. And when they stared with open eyes Al uus stacement, Mcueod sNVoK ws head, laugned ana whispeiea, “Bay nothing 4LOUL it—but facts are tacts!” McLeod ChUcaled over the certainty of the shame anu suffering that wouid wring e preacher’s neart when dirty gossips Of & Vinage hag magnined these worus nto a cowpiele drama of scauugal. Ko an preachers mMeLeod had a profound contempt, and he felt secure now from persunai harm. Ine uuy tne preacher first heard of these rumors was the occasion of Gas- ton's campaign aadress unuer the old vak in the square. He had looked forward to this day witn boyish pride mingled with a great fatherly love. It would be his triumph. He had surred this boy's aginauon and molaed his character in the pliant hours of his childhood. He had told himself that day he spent with go out till it blazed on ihe altar of a re- deemed country. And he was living to see that day. The streets and squares were thronged with such a multitude as the village had never seen since it was built. But the preacher was not among them at the hour the speaking began. A simple old friend from the country asked him about these rumors. He turned pale as death, made no answe? and walked rapidly toward his study in the | church where his library was now ar- ranged. He was dazed with horror. It | was the first he had heard of it. One thing in his estimate of life had always been as securely fixed and sheltered in his thought as his faith in God, and that was his love for his wife, and his perfect faith in her honor. He closed his door and locked it and sat | down, trying to think. Had he not grown careless in the cer- | tatnty of his wife's devotion, ‘and his own quiet but intense lové? Had he not for- ?otlen the yearning of a woman's hear or the eternal reception of love's lan- ¥ guage of sign and word? | “The tears were in his heart now, and | he felt that his heart would beat to death and break within him. He saw that his enemy had struck at | his weakest spot, and struck to kill. | _He lifted his face toward the walls in a | vague, unseeing look and his eyes rested on a pair of crossed swords over a book- case. They had been handed down to him from a long line of fighting ancestors. He arose, took them down mechanically and drew one from its scabbard. How snugly its rought hilt fitted his nervous hand- Erln! He felt a curious throbbing in this iit like a pulse. It was allve, and its spirit stirred deep waters in his soul that had never been ruffled before. 2 He recalled vaguely in memory things he knew had never happened to him and | yet were part of his inmost life. “Damn him!" he involuntarily hissed as he gripped the sword hilt with the in- stinctive power of the fighting animal that sleeps beneath the skin of all our culture and religion. And then his eyes rested on a quaint little daguerfeotype plature of his wife in her bridal dress, her sweet girlish face | full of innocent pride and warm with his i love. By its side he saw the portrait of | their dead boy. How he recalled now | every hour of that wonderful period pre- ceding his birth—the unspeakable pride and tenderness with which he watched over his young wife! He recalled the | morning of his birth, and the heartrend. ing, piteous cries of young motherhoo that tore his heart until the nails of hi own fingers cut the flesh and drew the blood. How the minutes seemed long hours, and how at_last he bent over her, softly kissed the drawn white lips , and gazed ‘with tearful wonder and awe on | | | the little red bundle resting on her breast. He recalled the tremor of weari- nest her voice when she drew his head down_close and whispered: “I didn’t mind the pain, John, though I couldn't help the eries. He's yours and mine—I am as proud as a queen. Now our souls are one in him—I am tired—I must sleep.” Evefy movement of his past life seemed to stand out in this crisis with flery clear- ness. He seemed whole vears in every detail of that close- ness of personal life that makes marriage a part of every stroke of the heart. | At last he set his lifs firmly, and said: | *Yes, damn him, will kill him as I would a snake!” He sat down and wrote his resignation 'as pastor of the church, left it on the desg and strode hurriedly from the study, leaving his door open. He purchased a | revolver and a box of cartridges walked straight to McLeod's o K The speaking was over and McLeod was | alone, writing letters. He looked up with scant politeness as the preacher entered and motioned him to a seat. Instead of seating himself he closed the door and, standing erect in front of it, said: infamous slander reflecting on the honor of my wife!"” “Indeed!” McLeod sneered, wheeling in his_chair. “T always knew that you were a moral leper’’— P‘Of course, doctor, of course, but don't get excited,” laughed McLeod. enjoving the marks of anguish on his face. “But that vour lecherous body should dream of invading the sanctity of mt: home, and your tongue attempt to smire! its honor, was beyond my wildest dream of your effrontery. How dare “Dare? Dare, preache interrupted McLeod, still sneering. y ‘Th Higher Law,’ of course. Ytouchlnk all your life that there are higher laws than paper-made statutes. You have trained this county In crime un der this beautiful ideal urely I may folllflw the teachings of a master in Is- rael?” x hat do you mean, you red-headed devil " “Softly, preacher,” smiled McLeod. Simply this. You expound ‘The Higher Law’ for political consumption. I apply it to all life. "There are but two real laws of man’s | nature, hunger and love — all others change with time and progress. These are the higher laws, in fact they are the highest laws. The stupid conventions that superstition has built around them may hodd back the weak. but the power | ful have always defied them. Your bril- liant exposition of the higher law in poll. {an to a complete emancipation from the slav- ery of conventionalism fn wh'ch fools havi held society for centuries. There are con- ventional laws and superstitions about | the little ceremony called marriage cher- ished by the weak-minded. There is a higher law of nature. The brave live this life of daring freedom, while coward: cling to forms. Do I make myself clear’ think that because T am a preacher T am a poltroon, and that you can play with me without danger to your skin. Well, T are some things deeper than the forms of religion, if you wish to push the higher law to its last application. found that quick in my soul, mine enemy! T have resigned my ehurch—to kill you. The;@ is not room for you and me on this eart] McLeod sprang to his feet, his soul chilled by the tone in which the threat was uttered. He started to call for hejp and looked down the gleaming barrel a revolver. 2 ‘Move now or open your mouth, and T kill you instantly. Sit down. T give you five ‘minutes to write your last message to this world.” McLeod sank into his seat trembling like a leaf, with the perspiration stand- ing out on his forehead in cold beads. | Now and then he glanced furtively at the ! stern face of blind fury towering over his crouching form. TUnable to endure the terrible strain. he sank to the floor whining, slobbering, begging in abject cowardice for his life. He crawled toward the preacher, reached out his hand and touched his foot. “My God_doctor, you are mad. You | will not commit murder. You are a min- ister of Jesus Christ. Have mercy. I am at your feet. Your wife is as pure as an angel. I only said what I did to torture you'"— C THE THIRTEENTH DISTRICT A NEW LITERARY MAS- TERPIECE OF LOVE AND POLITICS IN WASH- INGTON BEGINS IN THE NEXT ! SUNDAY CALL B / him in the woods tishing, that he had! kindled a fire in his soul that would not to_live in an instant | and i “Allan McLeod, you are the author of | you?'— | tics first set my mind to work, and led me | “Perfectly so, vou mottled leper. You ! was a man before T was a preacher. There | You have | “Get up, you snake!"” hissed the preach- until McLeod screamed with pain and scrambled to his feet cowering and whin- ing like a cur. “Finish your letter. You will never leave this room alive.” A long, pitiful sob broke the stillness, and McLeod was looking into the preach- er's face in vain for a ray of hope. Suddenly Gaston burst into the room, | trembling with excitement. “My God, | doctor, what does this mean?” he cried, | seizing the revolver. er, stamping his body with all his might | tient suffering trying to obey you,” she you marry that man now and have him sneer his triumph in my face. with felony without bail, is illegal, and pride. Your happines than all esse. e was crying in his arms. “But, papa, I waited five years of pa-| | protested. R@o, bring Chariie. ihe youngster has I had ‘rather see you dead than to see - I've tought « toeman wortay 1 | beacen me. of my steel. Ii's 1o wisgrace to 5 ender “We are v -married. Why talk | to hum. & e ¥ like xhntr?" ?fi:‘:fl-fi'fl: tearfully_) in a moment she !~d_uas.uy} inte the “I deny it. I am going to annul that | Foom and Lhe 5:14:5J|}51a>p:u nis pand marriage. Felony is ground for the d Young a h:(l :‘" 'f.’..\ u‘.;u‘ I;Tl:‘;_ solution of the marriage tie. A ceremony | SOme Y0u Lo LS aokse, POT It SO performed under such condlilons, when | YOU Call TUR tais pusce o St yourseio one of the parties is in prison charged | ve worked au @y, s up the ship to you “Generai, let me ass McLeod sprang toward Gaston, groan- | I'll show it. The lawyers will be here in e Bt b = |1ng and crawiing toward his feet. “Save |an hour and 1 will take action to-mor- | Warmest SOV o 0", hursi though { me, Gaston—the doctor's gone mad—he is | O " toward you. 1 shad be proud of you as | about to kill me!” “Néver. with my consent! she firmly | toward vou. & SR, O 0 -2 | ‘“Charlie, I must!” pleaded the preacher. : Feplied. She left the room, consulted With | 3%, 1) since the nrst .ay | looked “No, no, this is madness. I thank God | Ner mother, and hastily dispatched a| g, .c's face.” I am in time. I missed you at the speak- | (€legram to Hambright summoning Gas- | "y, fny ations st Gaston returned !ing, and, hearing a rumor of this slander, | ton to Independence immediately. .| immediately te Hambright, and on the 1 hurried to find you. I saw your study ;. When this telegram came he was if| p;4ryng of the Imausurativn. accom open and read your letter. 1 knew I'd | DiS office hard at work on his inaugural| ;.nieq by Bob St. Clare and the Chie find you here. Tl manage McLeod. |ddress, outlining the policy of his ad-| JUjiicc 7 the Supreme Court. he entered The preacher sat down erying. McLeod | Ministration. He was in a heated argu-|ip. grand oid mansion with its stately had crawled back to his desk and was | Ment With the preacher about the article | pijjarg and ciaimea his brige. ‘the ¢ e mopping his face. Gaston walked over to | o7 education. which followed his recom- | justice performed a eivll ,ceres | i Pans mald: with otow. trembiing. em. | Mendation of the disfranchisement of the | ;mony. ana tne party ~started ou s » negro. | S brocession to the Capital ne phasis: it " | a tnumphal proces " L e t's a mistake,” argued the preacher, generui was buocuiing over Wwith pride otrL Bive vou twelve hours to close this | «if the negro is_made master of the in‘ | the handsome appearance the Dride Y48 thy e e ta s dentai | Gustries of the South he will become the | and grocin made. anu tried to outdo him- 1n the meantime vou will write & denial ‘master of the South. Sooner than allow | eif in Kinauness towaid Gaston. & ls saln er satisfactory to me for pub- him to take the bread from our mouth “Come to thini it over. Governor.” he cation. If you ever open your mouth . ilc white men will Kill him here, as they | said to him after the inauguration, "it again about my foster-mother or put your do North, when the struggle for bread | was a brave thing in my uttle girl march- , foot in this county, I will kill you. 1 ex- | pect your letter ready in two hours.” H | Gaston took the prvacher by the arm | ,and led him down the stairs and back to | ! his study. In the reaction there was a pitiable breakdown. I *Oh! Charlie, you've saved me from an | unspeakable horror. Yes, 1 was mad. I was proud and willful. I thought 1 knew myself. To-day I have looked into the bottom of hell. I have seen the depths of my own heart. Yes, I have in me the | germs of all sin and crime. 1 am the brother of every thief, of every murderer, of every scarlet woman of the street: that ever stood in the stocks, or climbed | the steps of a gallows | “Hush, 1 will not listen to such talk. | You are a man, that's all,” interrupted | Gaston. * 1 “I have tried to live for my people and | 1 my country, not for myseif. failed to be a faithful husband, this is my plea to God, I have not thought of my- | seuf, or of my own, but of others."” After an hour he was quiet, and, turn- ing to Gaston, he said: “Charlie, go tell your mother to come here, 1 want to see her.” | When she came, and sat down beside | him with quiet dignity, she said, “Now, doctor, say what you wish; Charlie has told me much, but not all. Let us look into each other’s souls to-day.” * i “I only want to ask you, dear,” he said ' tenderly, “just how far your friendship for this villain may have led you. I kuow | you are innocent of any crime. I only want to know the measure of my own guiit.” i “You know, John,” she sald, using his first name, as she had not for years, “‘he has always interested me from a boy, and in’' the darkest hour of my heart's life, | when 1 felt your love growing cold and slipping away from me, and my faith in 11 things fading, he attempted to make : vulgar love to me. I repuised him with | corn, and have since treated him with | | contempt. You know that I kissed him yonce when he was a boy. I have told | you all. What do you propose to do?” | “What will I do, my darling?” he softly | | asked, taking her hand. ‘*Begin anew from this moment to love and cherish, | honor and protect you unto death. You | | are my wife. I took you a beautiful child, ! innocent of the world. If you have failed in the least, 1 have failed. If you have stumbled in the dark even in your | thought, I will lift you up in my arms and | soothe you as a mother would her babe. | If you should fall into the bottomless pit, into the pit and down to the lowest depths of hell I would go, and lift you in the arms of my love. To break the tie that binds is unthinkable. It has passed into | the infinite. Not only are our souls one in ! a little boy's grave, but there is something | | so absorbing, so interwoven with the hid- | den things of nature in our union that I i defy all the fiends in perdition to break it. | Love is eternal. And your love for me | was the great fixed thing in my life like my faith in the living God!” { “Oh, John, you are breaking my heart | | now, when I think that I doubted your | lovel 1 could have brooked your anger, | but this overwhelms me!” “It has always been my character,” he | gravely sald. | “Then I have never known you until now'—and in @ moment she was sobbing on his breast, the years had rolled back, and they were in the sweet springtime of life again. CHAPTER XVI. THE END OF A MODERN VILLAIN. Two days after McLeod's flight from Hambright the press -dispatches flashed | from New York a startiing two-column account of the attempted assassination "ut the Hon. Allan McLeod, the Republi- can leader of North Carolina, in the terri- | | fic campaign in progress, and that he was | compelled to flee from the State to save | his life. | Gaston was elected Governor by the largest majority ever given a candidate for that office in the history of North | Carolina. McLeod was promptly rewarded for his | long career of villainy by an appoint- | | ment as our Embassador to one of the | | republics of South America, and the Sen- | ate at once confirmed him. The salary at- | tached to his office was $15,000, and his| dream of *a life of ease and luxury had | come at last. : | “For six months he had been quietly going to_Boston, paying the most ardent court to Miss Susan Walker, whom he had | met at her college at Independence. She | was a matured spinster now approach- ing 60 years of age, and worth 3,000,000 !in_her own name. L He had easy sailing from the first. He joined her church in Boston, after a bril- jant profession of religion that moved | Miss Walker to tears, for he had told her it was her love that had opened his | eyes. And it was true. McLeod timed his last visit to Boston so that he arrived the day the clty was ringing with the sensaticn of his at- tempted assassination, and the desperate fight he was making to uphold law and order in_the South. When Miss Walker read that article in her &lper she resolved to marry him im- mediately. She ve McLeod a wedding present of a h: foillion ~dollars, He | wept _for Jo?v and gratitude, and kissed her with & fervor that satisfled her hun- fry heart that he was the one peerless lover of the world. alf CHAPTER XVIIL WEDDING BELLS IN THE GOVERN- OR'S MANSION. Two days after McLeod and his bride reached Asheville on their wedding trip, General Worth received a letter which threw him into paroxysm of rage. Sal- lie's wedding had been fixed for the day of the inaugauration of the Governor. The invitations were out and soclety in a flutter of comment and gossip over the romantic and brilliant career of young Gaston, and his luck in winning power, love and fortune in a day. The letter was from McLeod at Ashe- ville, informing him that his daughter | was already married and that Gaston was 1 simply seeking his fortune by.a subter- fuge, and showing his power over him by | humiliating him at the last moment be- fore the world. He enclosed a transcrip of the marriage record, signed by the Rev. John Durham and witnessed by Mrs. Durham and Stella Holt. This record was certified before the clerk of the court and bore his seal. There was no doubt what- ever of the facts. ‘When the general handed this letter to -Salile she fiushed, looked wistfully into bis face, saw its hard expression of speechless anger, turned pale and burst into tears. Her father without a word went to his room and locked himself in for twenty- tou; hours, refusing to see her or speak to he: B On the following day she forced her way into his presence and they had the last great battle of wills. All the iron power of his unconquered pride, accustomed for a lifetime to command men and receive |’ instant obedience, was roused to the pitch madness. 3 “If you m-.rry“ ’_o}‘:lh:zh‘lnewur to you a doorstep and you shall he'v':r“rr‘eolvo ;{ penny of my fortune. He is a gambler and an adventurer and seeks to make a laughing stock !sr the world!” n be further from !c has :‘u'?’t.l. loved and %flf our secret marriage.’ o n sharper than a umwmdeonamm becomes as tragic. matel “But we propose to ('ilrmlly in agriculture. o Gaston was gazing at the ceiling with an absent-look in his eyes and a smile | piaying around his lips. young rascal! your bride.” Gaston quickly saw the messenger boy, who standing several minutes with his tele- ram. He ‘read Sallie’'s message with amaze- 1f 1 have | TeRL | _““But God's mercy js great,” he went on. | & | man of terrific passions when his pride |is roused.” “I must go immediately."” He closed his office and train reached Independence he sprang fnto a carriage and ordered the driver to take him direct to Oakwood. pened he did not know and he did not His heart was singing with a great joy as he drove over the famillar avenue | through the deep shadows of the woods. and turning through the gate saw the | light gleaming from her room. “‘God bless her, she's mine now—I hope I can take her home to-night!” he cried. “What is it. dear?” “‘McLeod wrote him about our marriage, | and now he swears he will bring a suit | to annul ready to go with you in an hour.” “Queen of my heart!” “You are all mine at last! | She called her father from the library | into the parlor and stood on the very | spot where Gaston had writhed in agony | on that night of his interview with the | another step with these lawyers—if you m’I‘!Ll!e me or him another hour.” e stunned, his voice trembled as he replied: “Would you leave me so in an dear?” ““Yes, Charlie {s waiting there on the | p&rch for me now and his carriage is out- side. insult, nor allow any one else to do it.” The general sank heavily, into a chair and stretched out his hands'toward her in a gesture of tender entreaty. “Come, child, and kiss me—you know T can’t live without you! foolish things I've said in anger and marrying her tit? By George. i bloek! 1 don't The negro must ulti- leave this continent. You might well begin to prepare for it.". train him prin- We need millions ood farmers,” persisted Gaston. ing into that jJau alor lover in a prison, wa she's a chip off ti if the worid ac eneral, that w: a woman could d w it! bravest thing s the heroine “So much the worse, I tell you,” replied [ of the drama. I play ¢ the preacher. “Make the negro a scien- |, They did not wait long for tific and successful farmer, and let him |to know it. At 4 o'clock in the plant his feet deep in_your soil, and it|an extra appeared with a st Will mean a race war. | count of the fact that the Governor's | beautiful bride had braved the world and secretly married him when his fortunes were at ebb-tide, and he was a prisoner in_the Asheville jail That night when Sallie entered the banquet ha.d of the Governor's mansion, leaning proudly on Gaston’s arm, she was greeted with an outburst of homage and deep feeling she had never dreamed of receiving. When the Governor ae- knowledged the applause of his name, he bowed to his bride. not to the crowd. The preacher the “You are not listening to me now, you You are dreaming about | lowered his eyes and had been e to respond to ‘“What can that mean?’ He handed | (oast, “The ) er and the Mistress of the telegram to the preacher. | the Governor's Mansion,” and seemed to “It means he has discovered the facts, | pay no attention to the Governor, but | and there is going to be trouble. He is turning to Sallie, sald: “To the queenly daughter of the South, who had eyes to a glorious manhood behind prison bars, the nobility to stoop from wealth to poverty umd transform a jafl Into a palace with the beauty of her face and the spiendor of her love- to her, the heroine who inspired Charles saston with power to mold a million wills in his, change the current of history. d. his Jhe caught When after a hard drive. ‘What had hap- care. Of one thing he was now sure— | and become the Governor of the com- Sallie’s love and the swift end of their | monwealth—to her all honer, and praise, separation. | and homage. “My daughter, it 1s meet that our wealth and beauty should mate with the | genius and chivairy of the South. May it ever be so, and may your children's | children be as the sands of the sea! Sallie bowed her head as every eye was turned admiringly upon her. The Gen- She had walked down the drive to meet | eral trembled, and, when the crowd rose him. He leaped from the carriage, kissed | [0 their feet and re-echoed, ~To her all her and asked: | honor and praise and homage,” and the Governor bent proudly ing her hand, he bowed his head and wept. Her mother sitting by her side with shining eyes pressed her hand and whis- it. Leave your carriage here | and come with me. If he don't send these | PEred: ’ ! el S L L 1My beautiful daushter, now my work s done. As Gaston strolled out on the lawn with his bride after the banquet they found a seat in a secluded spot amid the shrub- bery. “My sweet wife!” he exclaimed. «“My husband!” she whispered, as they tenderly clasped hands e he whispered general. ' me now who was the author of He started at the expression on her face | ail those lies about me to your father™ and the tense vigor with which she held | “Why it, dear? You know Allan herself erect. His suit had not been pro | wrote the last letter.” gressing well with his lawyers. They had | “The dastard. 1 was sure of it from tried to humor him, but had dectined to | the first. Well, he had the facts in that express any hope of success in such an | last letter, didn’t he?’ action. He saw they were half-hearted | *Yes,” she answered with a smile and it depressed him. They rose to return to the maasion, “Now, papa,” she firmly said. “it will | roused by the stroke of midnight rrom not take us ten minutes to decide forever | the clock of the tower of the City Hall the question of our lives. If you take | ‘“From to-nig dear.” he said, with enthusiasm, do not dismiss them at once—I will leave | me all the honors and responsibilities of this house in an hour, go with the man | public life. of my choice to his home, and you wiil “No. my dear. I do not desire any part never see me- again. You shall not hu- |in public life except through you. are my world. I ask no higher gift 3od than your love, whethér you live in Governor's mansion or the humblest ¢ tage. 1 deésire no carcer save that of a wife—your wife”—she hid her face on hfs breast as a little sob caught her voice, “and T would not change places with t proudest queen that ever wore a crown She sald this looking up into his fa through a mist of tears. With trembling lips and dimmed eyes he stooped and kissed her as he replied: “And T had rather be the husband of such a woman than to be the ruler of the world.” (THE END.) eneral looked at her as though our, him to another 1 will not subject Forgive all the and JOE ROSENBERG'S. JOE ROSENBERG’S. THE AMERICAN BEAUTY The Empire Girdle shape, made of French ribbon tape......30e NEMO SELF-REDUCING CORSETS Wear longer, made of triple strip reinforcements. Models for the tall, medium or stout fi s TR T .....83.50 Fitting Rooms, Main Floor. HER MAJESTY CORSET Will not_stretch, bend or break; will make the waist longer and smaller, the stout woman's friend. If you break a steel in ninety days another corset free. Price .. $2.75 LA VIDA COISETS styles that they are equal in fit o e Bl Ay ey are to zny o order corset for | than 74 the price, boned with genuine whalebone. Price oreu Sdsasessasseassiose casveatissase SO0 aud §3.00 We make a specialty of fitting the hard-to-fit. LA GRECQUE CORSET Boned with double aluminoid boning, which is unbreakable, lattic ribbon effect, which prevents corset from stretching, new h: ' For tall, medium or stout ROYAL WORCESTER T ot e S Corsets Fitted Free by Experts JOE ROSENBERG °.-.cii Theer Mail Orlll'l_ Solieited. PHELAN BUILDING. The hi bias cut, Price .‘l.:l%l