Front matter (continued 3)

When Ruth reached home at 8:30 she was informed by her aunt that Mr. King had called. She went at once to the 'phone and called him up.

"Mr. King? This is Ruth Babcock speaking. I am very sorry that I was not at home when you called."

"If it will not inconvenience you I would like to have you come tonight."

"No, it isn't too late."

"I don't like to bother you if you are busy, but I would like very much to talk to you."

"Of course if you don't want to come——"

"I'll expect you in a few minutes."

She ate a lunch and was in readiness to receive him when he called. She noticed that he carried an injured air, and proceeded to explain at once why she was not back early as she expected. (After her explanation his feelings were considerably mollified.)

"Ruth," he said, "I am leaving on the four-forty train in the morning. I am going to the state capital."

"Will you be gone long?"

"Only a day or so. I have a chance for a big job there—a hotel. If I am fortunate enough to land it, I shall have to make several trips up there."

"I certainly hope you land it. You richly deserve to."

"Thank you."

"Pardon the intrusion," said Mr. Babcock, as he entered. "How are you, Mr. King? You are certainly looking fine." Ruth had thought so too but had not told him.

"I am feeling fine. I hope you are feeling better."

"Not much change in my condition. I am reading 'Macbeth.' I just stepped in to get a commentary on Shakespeare. 'Macbeth' is a great play. Duncan and I had very bitter experiences with the man whom we trusted. Duncan was murdered by his kinsman, Macbeth, whom he had honored and in whom he had implicit confidence. I was robbed by a man whom I trusted and to whom I was foolish enough to teach the combination to my safe."

When he had left the room Ruth remarked, "Poor, dear father, he tries so hard to remember. The other night when he was reading 'Macbeth' he looked up from his reading and remarked, 'It seems to me I have read this play before.' He was only in the second act then and he laid the book down and spent the rest of the evening trying to recall the remainder of the play. He worried about it and I had a hard time to persuade him to give it up and retire at eleven-thirty. I am so anxious to take him to Dr. Lilly, and it's only going to be a little while until we can go. I have two hundred dollars in my special fund now, and when I save fifty more I am going to take him."

"I sincerely hope Dr. Lilly can help him."

"Don't you think he can, Harold?"

Harold had but little hopes of Dr. Lilly's being able to help her father and feared Ruth would be disappointed in the end, yet her heart was so set on it that he did not have the heart to discourage her. "It may be he can. I have read of some wonderful cures he has made," he replied.

"What do you think of the coming election?" she asked.

"I think that the Klan is going to be an important factor. It will not have as much influence as it would have had if that Rastus Jones affair had not happened."

"You think that negro affair is hurting the Klan's influence?"

"I am sure it is. I heard a good man say the other day that he intended to vote for Dan Brown, the Klan candidate for sheriff, until this affair came up. I am convinced that Klansmen did not have anything to do with it, but it is hurting the Klan influence, nevertheless."

"I am certainly sorry if it does hurt the Klan," she said, her conscience smiting her.

"There is no question about it hurting; it has already hurt. You see there are so many who want to believe things of that kind about the Klan, and they use this episode to work on the fears of others."

"Excuse me a moment, please." She left the room and soon called him to come into the dining room. "I ate a lunch very hurriedly tonight and am hungry; won't you eat a lunch with me?"

"With the greatest of pleasure."

They sat down to the table together, and while they ate Harold did most of the talking. Ruth's mind was preoccupied. When they had finished eating Ruth picked up the wish bone and held a prong of it toward Harold. "Let's wish," she said, "the one who gets the biggest piece wins, and gets his wish."

"All right," he replied, taking hold of the prong.

"I tell you, let's have it that the one who wins shall have his three best wishes."

"Could one little chicken wishbone secure so much desire?" he asked.

"Yes, if we both agree to it, it can."

They both pulled and the bone broke close to his fingers. "There, I won. I'll get my wishes!" she exclaimed.

"Tell me what you wished?"

"Oh, no; they wouldn't come true if I were to tell."

"Won't you ever tell me?" he asked.

"Yes, when they come true."

When he had told her good-night she called after him, "Good luck on the trip."

His spirits were all together different when he entered his room for the second time that night. He set his alarm so that he might not miss the early train. Harold had a habit of reading something every night before retiring. He picked up a volume of "The Rhymes of Ironquill" and read a few short poems, selecting them at random. He turned to Ironquill's version of Aesop's Fables. He read "The Swell," Fable No. 9.

"On the walk a hat did lie, And a gallus chap sailed by, And he cut a lively swell— He was clerk in a hotel." "So, he gave that hat a kick, And he came across a brick— Now upon a crutch he goes, Minus half a pound of toes." Moral. "When you see a person thrown By misfortune or by vice, Help him thrice or seven times thrice; Help him up or let alone. If you give the man a kick You may stumble on a brick, Or a stone. Fate is liable to frown, And the best of us go down; And in just a little while She is liable to smile. And the bad luck and the vice Seem to scatter in a trice, And to hunt their holes like mice. And the man you tried to kick Now has changed into a brick."

"I believe Fate is beginning to smile," he mused, "and here's hoping that the bad luck will scatter in a trice, and it may be that some of these fellows will find some day that the man they tried to kick has turned into a brick." With this pleasing thought on his mind he retired and was soon fast asleep.

Chapter XVI

She was a slip of a girl—not more than sixteen years of age. She had boarded the early morning train at a little station and took a seat on the east side of the coach where she sat looking at the first rays of approaching day, oblivious of the other passengers in the coach.

A man of perhaps twenty-eight or thirty years walked through the coach several times looking attentively at the women passengers. He was well dressed and of medium size. The bill of his cap was pulled well down and shaded his weak eyes. There was a narrow, pinched look about his mouth and chin.

After several trips up and down the aisles he stopped in front of the seat in which this young girl was seated and asked, "Miss, is this seat taken?" The girl turned her face suddenly from the window and hesitatingly replied, "No, it's not taken." The man sat down. He at once proceeded to engage the girl in conversation. At first she was very shy, but gradually her timidity wore off and she talked freely.

She told him that she was an orphan, her mother having died when she was five years old. She had been raised by her grandmother in a little country town. Her grandmother had recently died and left her without any living relatives. She had worked for two weeks in the restaurant in the little town and had decided to go to the city to seek employment.

"Do you know where you are going to work?" he asked.

"No, I don't."

"Have you any acquaintances in the city?"

"No, I do not know anyone there. I am afraid I will feel pretty much alone."

"A pretty girl like you ought not to be long in getting some friends."

"I never was in a city and I am a little afraid."

"I live in the capital city," said the man. "I am well acquainted there. I can help you get a job. Not long ago I helped a girl who was a stranger in the city get a good job. I landed it for her the next day after she arrived. She thinks I'm the 'hot stuff' and she's a cute little dear—just about your size but not so pretty as you are. Say, girlie, it's lucky you met me, for I can sure land you a good job."

"Oh, thank you! I am so glad, for I have money to keep me but a short time without working."

"Do you know where you are going to board?"

"No, I want to get a good clean place that is not too expensive."

"There is a good room vacant where I board. It's the best place in the city for the money."

"How much is the board per week?"

"Seven dollars a week for both room and board."

"That's cheaper than I hoped to get it."

"I tell you there is not another place like it in the city."

"Is it a respectable place?" she asked.

"Oh, yes; it's the finest kind of a place. The land-lady is very particular whom she takes in. I'll recommend you and you'll get in all right."

She felt more comfortable now that she had found someone who was acquainted where she was going and would help her.

He talked to her of the city and the things of interest. Especially did he dwell on the attractiveness of the cabarets and the public dance halls. After a half hour of this talk intended to inflame her imagination and stimulate a desire for the amusements of the city, he said, "Do you know I never before met a girl I thought so much of in so short a time. It's a case of love at first sight with me, dear." He took her hand in his. She drew it away gently.

In the seat behind them was a young man who had heard the entire conversation. This young man was a very different type from the one in the seat in front of him with the girl. He was of a stronger build, his face more refined and intellectual. His eyes were not dull and lids drooping, as were the other's, but wide open and bright. This young man was clean of mind and attractive in appearance. He had one sister who was about the age of this girl when he last saw her. (That had been several years ago.) He remembered that his mother had said, "Son, remember to treat every girl like you would want your own sister treated." A man never gets entirely away from the influences of a Christian home and the teachings of a good mother. This young man had recently had another experience that had made a profound impression. He had taken a solemn and sacred obligation to protect pure womanhood. Kneeling beneath the star-lit heavens his life had been dedicated in prayer to the service of Christian civilization, and among the things enumerated to which he dedicated his life was the protection of women.

Harold King, the Klansman, spoke, "Young lady, do you know this man?" The man in the seat with the girl turned and cast a side glance at Harold from under the bill of his cap.

"No, sir," she answered.

"Never saw him or heard of him until he sat down beside you?"

"No, sir."

"Then my advice to you is to let him alone."

"I'm jest wantin' to help the girl," the man in the seat with her drawled.

"Young lady, my advice to you is that when you get to the union station you place yourself under the protection of the police woman and ask her to see that you get to the Y.W.C.A. headquarters. The secretary of the Y.W.C.A. will help you find a boarding place and secure employment."

"Thank you."

Harold leaned back in his seat and there was silence in the seat ahead. After a time the man with the girl whispered something to her that Harold could not hear, and got up and went into the smoker. The news agent came through the car calling the morning paper. Harold purchased one and was soon absorbed in its pages and thought no more of the girl and the man who had the looks and used the methods of the procurer.

When the porter called the union station the girl was soon out of her seat and well down the aisle so that when Harold stood to leave the car there were several people between them.

When Harold stepped off of the coach he saw the weak-eyed, pinched face man, who had been one of the first off the smoking car, approach the girl and offer to take her grip. She informed him that she could carry it, but he took hold of it and fairly pulled it away from her. With the other hand he took her by the arm as he said, "Come on, dear, you mustn't try to get out of here alone. I will take care of you." She pulled back and he was pleading with her to go with him when Harold interfered. "You let go of that girl and hand her back her grip at once," he demanded.

The man dropped the girl's arm and faced Harold. "Is this any of your damn business?" he asked.

"It certainly is, and my advice to you is to go while you are all together and have your freedom of action." Harold spoke in a voice that convinced the offender that he meant business. He glanced at Harold's athletic proportions, then turned and hurried down the gangway.

Harold conducted the girl to the station police woman in whose charge he left her after being assured that the police woman would see that she had a safe escort to the Y.W.C.A.

Harold found Mr. Welty an affable business man, and he had not conversed with him long until he had gained his confidence. Mr. Welty was pleased for the most part with the plans which Harold submitted, but asked that some changes be made. Harold went to his room at the hotel and went to work. The next day he had completed floor plan drawings according to Mr. Welty's directions. When he showed him the revised drawings, Mr. Welty was greatly pleased.

"That's fine, Mr. King; there are just one or two minor changes to be made and you can do that when you get up the complete plans. Now if we can get together on terms we are ready to build a hotel."

When Harold King boarded the train for home that night he was happy. He had landed a job that would pay him twelve thousand dollars, and on the trip had rendered protection to a friendless girl. He felt the joy that comes to one who has acted honorably from unselfish motives. The Klan motto, "Non Silba Sed Anthar" (Not for self but for others), was growing in its significance for him as mottoes and principles always grow as they are worked out in acts.

When Harold got off of the train at Wilford Springs he met the Reverend Earl Benton. "Hello, Harold, how are you?"

"How are you, Doctor? I am feeling fine. Just had some good luck."

"Is that so? I am mighty glad to hear it."

"Yes. I just landed a big job. I am going to do the architectural work for a big hotel in our capital city."

"Fine, fine! Allow me to congratulate you." The minister wrung his hand earnestly. "Are you just returning from the city?"

"Yes, I have been gone a couple of days."

"Have you heard the news?"

"What news?"

"The facts about the mobbing of Rastus Jones."

"No; what about it?"

"It was nothing but a prank pulled off by a girl."

"How do you know?"

"The young lady made an affidavit stating that she was the perpetrator of the joke and published the affidavit in The Eagle."

"Who was the young lady?"

"Let's see. I don't recall her name just now. She works in the Wilford Springs Central State Bank."

"It surely wasn't Miss Babcock?"

"Yes, that's the girl—Ruth Babcock."

Harold felt a dizzy sensation. Could it be possible that Ruth had been the one who had subjected the Klan to all this criticism. He couldn't believe it.

"There must be some mistake," Harold ventured.

"No, there's no mistake. It has made Springer the laughing stock of the town."

"What do—the—the Klansmen think of Ruth, I mean Miss Babcock?"

In this last question Harold revealed anxiety, and the minister's quick perception told him that there was an interest, other than his interest in the Klan, back of the question.

"Oh, the boys think that it is great of her to have the courage to come out in the paper and put the Klan in the clear."

"But what about her having pulled this stunt in the first place and thereby brought reproach on the Klan? Do they criticize her for that?"

"No. Everybody knows that she did not do it for that purpose."

"Where can we get a paper?" Harold asked.

"There's a news stand in the middle of the next block."

When they reached the news stand Harold asked for the Eagle of the previous day's issue. The news dealer informed him that he was sold out, that he could have sold twice as many Eagles of the issue asked for if he had had them.

"Let's go into this jewelry store and see if they have one," said the minister.

"Have you a last night's Eagle?" Harold asked.

"I believe there is one around here some place," the jeweler replied.

After a brief search he found it. The article read:

"A circumstance which occurred recently has been erroneously reported by the press, and an organization which is in no sense responsible for this incident has been blamed. Being in full possession of the facts in the case and not wishing to injure a worthy organization or the public, I feel it is my duty to tell under oath the facts concerning the Rastus Jones affair which occurred on October 3, 1922."

Ruth Babcock.

Then followed the oath:

"Ruth Babcock appeared before me, a notary public, and first being duly sworn, deposes and says:

"On the night of October 3rd, 1922, I hid behind the elevator in the Wilford State Bank for the purpose of frightening one Rastus Jones, a negro. I was clad in my usual attire with the addition of a sheet wrapped around me and a mask made of a pillow slip over my face. When Rastus Jones came down the corridor and was near the elevator I stepped in front of him and he uttered an exclamation and began to back off. I followed him. I was not armed with a revolver or any other weapon. I did point my finger at him under the sheet. I did not threaten his life. I referred to some church trouble of which I had heard him speak. I told him I would give him one more chance but did not threaten to injure him in any way. I was entirely alone. My only motive was amusement. No one but myself was directly or indirectly responsible."

Ruth Babcock.

"Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the County of Rush, this 12th day of October, 1922."

John P. Snider.

"My commission expires January 1st, 1924."

When Harold had finished reading, Reverend Benton remarked, "That certainly puts the Klan in the clear."

"I should say so," said the jeweler, "but it gives Springer a black eye as a news agent."

"His report of this incident was just about as reliable as most of the news reports found in his paper," Harold remarked.

Isaac Goldberg, whose place of business was next door to the jewelry store, had dropped in about the time Harold was through reading the affidavit. "I tell you vat I dink—the Klan or some von hired that girl to make the affidavit?"

Harold whirled around and faced the Jew, his face flushed and an angry light flashed from his eyes. He felt a strong desire to knock him down, but he controlled himself, and looking the little Jew straight in the eye, said, "Goldberg, I know this girl, and there isn't any man or group of men who could bribe her to make an affidavit to an untruth, and I warn you that you better not make a statement of that kind in my presence again or where it reaches me."

"Oh, of course I knows notings, notings at all about the young leddy. I shust think there is sometings wrong." The Jew gestured excitedly with both hands.

"You are like a great many others who speak from prejudice and not from knowledge," said Harold.

"No, no, no," said the Jew, "I have not prejudice." Turning to Reverend Benton, he said, "You are a Klansman. I shust like to ask you von question."

"Very well. What is it?"

"Vy have you this Klan that won't admit Jews?"

"Before I answer that I want to ask you one. Why have you Jews the B'nai B'rith organization that does not admit Gentiles to membership?"

"The B'nai B'rith is a strictly Jewish fraternity."

"And the Ku Klux Klan is a strictly Gentile organization. It is necessary to be a native born American Gentile who believes in the tenets of the Christian religion to become a member of the Ku Klux Klan, just as it is necessary to be a Jew in order to join the B'nai B'rith, a Roman Catholic to join the Knights of Columbus, or a negro to join the African Brotherhood."

"I must go back to mine store," said the Jew, and he hurried out.

"Harold," said the minister, as they stepped out on the street, "this affidavit is going to be a great help to us in the approaching election. A lot of good people will have their suspicions removed by that affidavit."

"There is no doubt of it," Harold replied. "I turn off here. Good-night, Doctor."

"Good-night."

Chapter XVII

When the Reverend Benton crossed under a street light soon after saying good-night to Harold King a large car stopped, the driver opened the door and asked, "Reverend, are you going home?"

"Yes."

"Come and ride with me."

"Thanks." The minister got in the car and seated himself beside Agnew.

"It is a fine evening, Reverend."

"Yes, the air is just cool enough to be bracing."

"The autumns in this Western country are certainly fine. I believe they are the most delightful seasons of the year."

"I quite agree with you."

"It is not going to be long now until the election. There is certainly a great interest being taken. There is a great deal of speculation as to what the Klan influence will be. The Governor has come out strong against the Klan, condemning it as a lawless organization. While I am a Roman Catholic and naturally not a supporter of the Klan, I do not agree with the governor when he states that it is a lawless organization. I have for several years been reading of charges that the Klan had been guilty of mob violence and various outrages, but I have never seen where one of these charges has been substantiated. The Journal made a big to-do about this Rastus Jones affair, and now it turns out that it was only a prank played by a girl. One of my own girls might have done the same thing. I am now of the opinion that the Klan as an organization does not take the law into its own hands."

"I am glad you have come to this reasonable conclusion, Mr. Agnew."

"Reverend, I am trying to be fair. The good Book teaches that we should judge only as we expect to be judged, and, Reverend, I am trying to be careful of my judgments."

"That's not only commendable but safe," the minister replied.

"Some of our people condemn the Protestants for creating a secret organization that is exclusive, but I do not. We Catholics have our Knights of Columbus and I am willing that the Protestants should enjoy the same privilege, but I think the Klan has a mistaken view of the attitude of Roman Catholics on many questions."

"Will you please cite an incident in which the organization is mistaken in this respect."

"Well, in the matter of education. I have heard a number of lecturers for the Klan assert that the Catholic Church is unfriendly to education in general and antagonistic to the public school system in particular."

"Isn't that true?"

They had now reached the minister's residence. "If you are not in a hurry we will sit here in the car and discuss this question in a friendly way."

"I will be only too pleased to do so, and if we cannot discuss our differences in the right spirit we had better not discuss them at all."

"The history of the Catholic Church would lead us to the conclusion that it is not friendly to education. It has opposed scientific investigations and everywhere erected barriers to intellectual progress."

"Reverend Benton, you have made an assertion, but assertions are not arguments."

"I am aware of that. I simply wanted to make the general statement first and then give the facts. Copernicus, a German astronomer, lived from 1473 to 1543. He was a great student of the heavens and advanced the theory that the sun is the center of the solar system, reducing the earth to the position of a planet (Ptolemies and Brahe had placed the earth in the center of the universe) and declared that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun. The essential features of the Copernican theory are accepted at the present time."

"Copernicus was not punished or in any way interfered with by the Catholic Church for advancing this theory, was he?"

"No; he dedicated his book to the pope, and it is said that the first copy of the book in which he submitted his findings to the pope came from the printer the day that Copernicus died.

"His proofs were not accepted by the church. Copernicus' theory was outlawed by the Jesuits.

"Galileo, an Italian astronomer, who lived from 1564 to 1642, was an inventor as well as an astronomer. He invented the barometer, the thermometer, discovered the laws of the pendulum and hydraulic machines, the compass, the telescope and the microscope. Looking up at the skies Galileo discovered that the milky way is a host of stars. Looking at Jupiter, he saw that it was attended by small stars. He saw the rings of Saturn. In a book, 'A Message from the Skies,' he stated his discoveries, which substantiated the theory of Copernicus that the sun is the center of our planetary system, that the earth turns on its axis and revolves around the sun.

"The Catholic Church taught that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun and stars revolved around it. The church taught that the stars were in all probability spiritual lights. The church held that the scriptures taught these doctrines and that the popes alone had the right to say what the scriptures taught. Those who agreed with Galileo were declared to be heretics.

"Galileo was summoned to appear before the grand inquisition in Rome and was advised, on the penalty of imprisonment, to assert that he did not believe in the Copernican doctrine and that he would abide by the teachings of the church. He promised to obey. Later he yielded to the urgings of the truth that was within him and published his ideas. He was again summoned by the inquisition to appear at Rome. On his knees he was forced to abjure the doctrine that the earth moves.

"Bruno, an Italian philosopher, was burned at the stake at Rome by the Catholic church because his philosophy was declared by the church to be heresy."

"Reverend Benton, that is all true, but that was many years ago. The Catholic Church has changed. It does not now teach that the sun revolves around the earth."

"No, the Catholic Church does not teach that now, but it does teach that the pope is infallible in all matters of faith."

"Yes, the pope is infallible in all matters of faith."

"Then if a scientist makes a discovery that the pope thinks is in conflict with his interpretation of the scriptures, it would be the duty of the Catholic Church to oppose that scientific discovery and for any Catholic to believe it would be heresy."

"Yes."

"Isn't that placing the human mind in chains?"

"No, because the pope is infallible. His statement would be correct."

"But popes who were thought to be infallible taught that the earth was the center of the universe and the stars were spiritual lights."

"But, Reverend, that was long ago and the popes do not teach that now."

"Then there have been popes who were not infallible or the popes now are not."

"Your argument would make it appear so. While there may have been a time when the Catholic Church opposed scientific discoveries it is now highly in favor of education."

"Mr. Agnew, what system of education does the Catholic Church favor?"

"We support the public school."

"I know you do in this country; you are taxed to support it."

"I believe in the public school system. I educated my children in the public schools, and two of my daughters are teachers in the public schools."

"I do not doubt that you do believe in the value of the public schools, and undoubtedly there are many other Catholics who think as you do, but what system of education does your church as a church encourage?"

"The Catholic Church favors parochial schools."

"Then if the Catholic Church could control America we would have parochial schools as the only means of promoting general education."

"I don't think so—in America. I think the church would continue the public school here if she had the power to dictate the system of education in this country."

"Would I be warranted in assuming that what the leaders of your church say is the policy of the church?"

"Yes, if the leaders you refer to are officially recognized by the church."

"Pope Pius IX said, 'Education outside the Catholic Church is damnable heresy.' Cardinal Gibbons refers to our system of public schools as 'A vicious system of education that undermines the religion of youth.' Cardinal McCrosky says, 'We must take part in the elections, move in solid masses in every state, against the party pledged to sustain the integrity of the public schools.' I do not think it's necessary to quote more of the statements of your leaders. Do you wonder that some of us believe that the public schools would not fare well in the hands of Catholics?"

"Reverend Benton, I do not wonder at it. I think you have reasonable grounds for your suspicions, but what I think these men mean is that parochial schools under the supervision of the Catholic Church would be a better system. Personally, I do not agree with them."

"Nor can any other man who knows the facts. In Italy, which has been the home of the Papacy since the fourth century, 37 per cent of the population is illiterate, and America, with her free public schools, has only 7.7 per cent. Spain, the most Catholic country in the world, has 58 per cent of her population illiterate, while Protestant England has only 1 per cent. These show a fair average of the difference of illiteracy in Catholic and Protestant countries."

"I suppose these church leaders are thinking of the spiritual and character side rather than the intellectual."

"Do you suppose the citizens of these Catholic countries, with their high per cent of illiteracy, are more kind, honest, industrious, and law-abiding than the people of the Protestant nations, where there is a lower per cent of illiteracy?"

"No, I don't think they are. Understand, Reverend Benton, I am for the public school system."

"I am sure you are, as you have always shown yourself to be a progressive citizen."

"I thank you for the ride home," said the minister as he got out of the car.

Agnew drove away thinking as he had never thought before.

Chapter XVIII

"Ruth, I am surprised at you! What did you mean by publishing that affidavit?" asked Stover the next morning after her affidavit appeared in the paper.

"I meant just what my statement said," she replied.

"Didn't you know that you were doing a very wrong thing?"

"I just did it for fun. I did not think that it might injure the Ku Klux Klan."

"I don't care how much it injured the Ku Klux Klan; it deserves all the criticism it gets. What I dislike about it is that it causes comment about one of my employees and subjects my friend Springer to ridicule."

"Oh," she said, laughing, "I'm not shedding any tears over Springer. He should be a little more accurate in his reports. If he had reported the incident accurately and without prejudice he would not have been embarrassed by the exposure."

"Don't let anything like that happen again around here."

"I promise you I'll not."

Rastus tried to avoid Ruth. Next to Springer he was the worst beat man in town. When he saw Ruth enter one door of the president's office he would go out the other door. If he was in the banking room near the part of the room where she entered he immediately had business over on the other side of the room. It was almost noon when she met him face to face in one of the doors. "How are you, Rastus?" she said and then added, "Haven't been visited by any more Kluxers, have you?"

"No'em, I ain't. You all thought you had a good joke on me, but I ain't sech an ignoranimus as what you all might think. I spicioned all the time that it was you, Miss Babcock."

"If you suspected all the time that it was I, why did you become so frightened?"

"Me sca'ed! Well, I guess not. When you all stepped out from behind that elevator I says to myself that's Miss Babcock tryin' to play a joke on me and I says I'll have to hep her to have a little fun, so I jest 'tended like I'se sca'ed, jest to please you, Miss Ruth."

"Is that so, Rastus?"

"'Deed, it is. I'se a good spo't, I is."

"I thank you very much for the pleasure afforded me," she said, laughing.

"Yas, 'em, you's welcome, but I ain't gwine to give you sech pleasure no mo'."

"That's all right, Rastus. I consider that you have made your full contribution."

It was the middle of the afternoon. Ruth had not been busy for a half-hour. She had been reading a novel. It was a story of a girl who was about to marry a man who was in every respect a cultured gentleman—intelligent and refined in thought, dignified in manner, and of magnetic personality. A few weeks before the date set for the wedding the girl received a shock. She was informed that the man whom she was about to marry was one-sixteenth negro. She was furious and could scarcely restrain her hands from clutching the throat of her informant. "It's a lie, it's a lie!" she shouted. She was sure that the story had been invented by a jealous rival who wished to torment her. The next time she was with her lover she could not but think of this. She thought that she saw a slight olive tint to the skin, that there were dark circles at the base of his finger nails and that his nose was slightly flat and nostrils a little broad. Surely she imagined these things. She continued to worry until the man persuaded her to tell him the cause of her distress. The man admitted that it was the truth and offered to release her from the engagement. The author then shows a great conflict in the mind of the girl between social standards and love. In the end love triumphed and the girl married the man with the strain of colored blood in his veins.

When Ruth reached this point in the story she threw the book violently on the floor and exclaimed, "Rot, rot, that makes me sick!"

"That's treating the book rough." She turned and saw Pearl Gardner, one of the bookkeepers, standing in the door.

"Come in, Pearl, and have a chair."

"I wasn't busy and thought I would come in and see what you were doing. I arrived just in time to see the demonstration. I didn't know that you ever struck fire like that, ha, ha, ha."

"Now, you quit laughing at me. I got so disgusted at that story."

"What was it?"

"A girl was in love with a man, and just before their marriage she learned that he was part negro."

"Did she give him up?"

"No, that's the disgusting part of it. She married him."

"He must have been pretty white if she didn't know it."

"He was only a sixteenth negro."

"I don't blame her then if she loved him."

"What! You don't mean to say that you would have had her marry a man with negro blood in his veins, do you?"

"Why not, if she loved him? Isn't love the greatest thing in the world?"

"Yes, love that is rightly directed, is the greatest thing in the world; but love that violates the great racial instincts, that runs counter to the experience of mankind, that does violence to the highest social standards—is love run wild and does not lead to the greatest good."

"I don't see that it would do any harm if the man was so white that the girl did not know it when she fell in love with him."

"It would violate the racial instincts within her as well as the social standards of the race. The white race, even if it desired to do so, could not absorb the negro race in the United States through intermarriage. There is an inevitable reversion to type. If you had a race seven-eighths white and one-eighth negro you would have a race that was essentially negro in its physical structure and racial tendencies."

"Ruth, I believe you must be getting ready to become a lecturer on the race question. Of course, I don't believe intermarriage would be a good thing for the country, but I don't think we should try to keep the negro down. I heard my father say last night that one objection he had to the Ku Klux Klan is that one of its purposes is to oppress the negro."

"The Klan advocates the supremacy of the white race. I do not understand that that means to oppress anyone that is a member of another race. I recently read a good article on 'The Necessity of Keeping the White Race Supreme in the Affairs of the World.' Anyone of average intelligence who would read that article would certainly believe that there is need of the white race presenting a solid front against the rising tide of the dark skinned races. This article stated that in insisting on the maintenance of white supremacy the Klan is insisting on the preservation and propagation of the ideals and institutions that experience has shown to be the best for the race. Democracy is born of the white race. It has found its greatest advocates among the Anglo-Saxon peoples. It has reached its greatest development in America. It was spread to Europe, dethroning kings, and is now making inroads into the caste system of Asia. The great mass of the dark skinned races are subservient to kings and emperors and are of such a temperament that autocratic governments have flourished among them, consequently we cannot trust our democratic institutions in their hands. He states that white men should rule in democracies because they have shown the greater capacity to govern themselves and establish democratic institutions. The American home is a home that is based on the love of one man for one woman and requires a freedom of choice in marriage which is seldom found among the dark races.

"Christianity was born of the white race and promoted by them, and while it is destined to become universal, yet if the institutions which support it should be controlled by pagan people the source of the supply of missionaries and Christian teachings would be destroyed.

"The white race has aims and ideals that are different from the other races, as we believe, superior; and when the Klan declares for white supremacy it declares for the preservation of those ideals and institutions that have been found the most helpful in the development of life. That these should survive will, in the end, prove advantageous to all races.

"Pearl, he made plain to me that the Klan is not wanting to oppress inferior races but to help them to a higher development; but in order to do that the white race must protect itself. If I can find that article I would like to have you read it. I am not sure whether I kept the paper or not."

"Don't go to any trouble to find it. I'm not much interested in such questions. I'd rather read a wild-west story or a good love story. Say, Ruth, what do you think! Last night I was out riding with Mr. Golter and he said that he had a letter from his sister that had just returned from New York, and she said that they are beginning to wear the skirts longer. Of course if they are wearing them longer in New York it will only be a short time until they wear them longer here."

"I wouldn't object to their being a little longer, but I hope they won't go back to the long skirts that swept the streets," Ruth remarked.

"I hope they won't get them down to the heels, but if it gets to be the style what can you do but wear them? One mustn't be out of style."

"One does not need to wear the extreme styles in order to keep from looking odd. You see I do not wear them to my knees, neither do I intend to wear them sweeping the streets. I am going to dress, so far as possible, so that I will not appear odd nor be uncomfortable either in mind or body."

"I don't agree with you. You'd just as well be dead as out of style. Say, girlie, I had some ride last night. We rode about fifty miles and did some real speeding. Mr. Golter's a real man and has a real car. You know he's been wanting to go with me for some time."

"No, I did not know that," said Ruth.

"Well, he has, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to believe that I wanted to go with him. Last night I consented and found him better company than I had expected. Today I had to go to his desk for some records while he was out of the room and I saw a letter which he was writing to his sister. I saw my name, and I didn't do a thing but look. Oh, boy, he was sure writing some nice things about me. I think that's a pretty good way to find out what a fellow thinks of you, don't you?"

"You might find out that way if you were sure he hadn't left it there on purpose for you to see."

"Oh, I'm sure he didn't intend for me to see it."

Mr. Stover called Ruth to take dictation, and the conversation came to an abrupt close.

That evening as Ruth was leaving the bank Golter stopped her and asked the privilege of taking her to dinner and to the opera. She made as polite an excuse as possible. While she was conversing with him, Pearl Gardner was watching them closely, endeavoring to catch every word.

Chapter XIX

When Ruth reached her home she found her father worrying a great deal because of his inability to remember past things. "Ruth," he said, "it's a shame that you have to work so hard to support Clara and me and I can't do anything to help, can't even remember who it was that stole my money."

"Don't worry, daddy, I will soon have money enough to send you to Dr. Lilly—I have about an hour's work to do tonight, and you know that every cent I earn from this extra work goes into the fund to send you to the specialist."

He placed his arm about her and she pillowed her head on his breast. "Ruth," he said, "you are one of the best daughters that ever lived, and your daddy appreciates what you are trying to do for him, but don't build on it too much, for the doctors here say there is no hope for me."

"They don't know everything, and Dr. Lilly has made some wonderful cures. I can't help but believe that he can do something for you."

Aunt Clara announced dinner, and they went into the dining room. "I am glad you are having dinner early, Aunt Clara," said Ruth.

"Are you hungry, Ruth, or have you an engagement with that Mr. Golter?" her aunt asked.

"I am not very hungry and I haven't a date with anybody, but I have some work to do."

After the meal was over Ruth worked for an hour and a quarter. After her work was finished she went out alone for a walk. She had walked about half way to the business section when she was agreeably surprised to meet Harold.

"Well, when did you get back?" she asked.

"Just got in, and was coming out to call on you."

"I was just taking a walk. Will you walk with me, or shall we return to the house?"

"I would just as soon walk. I have been riding on the train so long that I need to stretch myself."

"How was the luck?" she inquired.

"The finest kind. I got the job, and now it's up to me to make good."

"I am sure you will do that," she said.

"Ruth, it helps a lot to have someone who has confidence in you. Especially when that someone is one in whom you are interested—someone whom you think of as a real friend."

"I am glad on your account that you landed this big job, and I am pleased that you will show Mr. Stover and McBryan that you can succeed without any of their help and in spite of them."

"Ruth, I received a shock when I got off the train tonight."

"Did you touch a live wire?"

"No, worse than that. I heard of your affidavit in the paper, and I couldn't believe it until I got the paper and read it."

"You shouldn't be shocked at a little thing like that."

"I was afraid that you would be subjected to adverse criticism and that Stover would make it unpleasant for you at the bank."

"He wasn't any too well pleased. He wanted to know why I did it. I told him I did it for fun; that I had no intention of injuring the Klan. He said that he did not care how much it hurt the Klan."

"Oh, he didn't! That shows a lack of principle at which I am not surprised."

"Mr. Stover has been good to me and was always a good friend of father's, but he has certainly done and said some things of which I cannot approve. These things have caused me to lose confidence in him to some extent, but, Harold, I can't help but believe that he thought that the only chance to secure the city job for you was to induce you to give up the Klan and that he really believes that it is a bad organization."

"I think you are mistaken. I am of the opinion that Stover is just what he showed himself to be in his attempt to bribe me to turn traitor to the Klan and in this statement he made to you—a crook."

"I don't think that. But—well, I don't know just how to explain it."

"What did he object to about the prank that you played on Rastus?"

"He said that he did not like to have one of the bank's employees the subject of comment and his friend Springer subjected to ridicule."

"He's very solicitous about Springer's feelings."

"I told him that I was not going to shed any tears over Springer; that if he had given an accurate account of the incident without prejudice he would not have been caused any embarrassment by my affidavit.'"

"Good for you! I hope he tells Springer what you said."

"Mr. Stover told me not to do it again and I promised that I wouldn't—but, say, it was lots of fun."

"Tell me about it."

She gave him a full account of the escapade and of the negro's declaration that he was feigning fright to please her. They both enjoyed a good laugh.

After a walk of half an hour or more they returned to the house and he requested her to play and sing. She went to the piano and ran her fingers lightly over the keys and then, turning to him, asked, "What do you prefer?"

"Oh, you know that I like the old Southern melodies. These present-day songs have so little to them."

She had a good soprano voice, and as she sang the songs of the Southland for him, he drifted out on the beautiful sea of finer sentiments. When she had finished singing he walked over to her and took one of her hands in his. "Ruth," he said, his voice vibrant with emotion, "I love you and if you can give me your love I will be the happiest man in the world."

"Harold," she replied, "we have been such good friends that I am afraid that we may destroy that relation in a desire to establish a more satisfactory one. I have heard that friendship is above love. Our friendship has been such a beautiful thing that I would not want to mar it by——"

"You don't believe that stuff even if such a noted philosopher as Plato did say it, do you Ruth? I know that it isn't true. My heart tells me it isn't true. You don't believe it, do you?"

"Plato was a very wise man," she said, and then dropped her eyes. With the disengaged hand she began to toy with the lace on her dress.

"Ruth, if you would only tell me that you love me I would be thoroughly happy." He spoke with great earnestness.

"You should be very happy anyway. A young architect who has just landed a twelve thousand dollar job certainly should be happy."

"I am delighted to have the job, but my heart craves a greater happiness. If you will only——"

The door between the dining room and living room was thrown open and Aunt Clara entered. Harold dropped Ruth's hand and blushed profusely.

"Good-evening. I hope you will pardon the intrusion. I have just been reading an article, and I wanted to ask Mr. King what he thought about it. It was on 'Intolerance in the United States.' The writer went on to say that the Ku Klux Klan is fighting religion. Don't you think it is terrible, Mr. King, that we have an organization in the United States that fights religion?"

"That would be unfortunate if it were true. Did he state what religions the Klan is fighting?"

"Yes, the Jewish religion and the Catholic."

"I am sure the author of that article is wrong. There are a great many people who are making similar statements. No doubt some are misinformed but others desire to misrepresent the purposes of the Klan in order to impede its progress."

"My Catholic neighbor gave me one of her papers to read the other day, and I am sure that the Catholics believe it is an intolerant organization."

"I suspect that's because they can't join it, Aunt Clara," said Ruth.

"The Klan is not anti-Catholic, anti-Jew, anti-negro, or anti-anything else. The Klan is pro-Christian, pro-public schools, pro-America. If the Catholics take offense because the Klan insists on the maintenance of our public schools, the separation of church and state, and allegiance to the United States over and above any foreign allegiance, then so far as I am concerned they will have to be offended. If the Jews construe the adherence to the principles of Christ as an attack on their religion and desire to suppress the organization that adheres to these principles, then it is plain to see that the Jews are most intolerant."

Aunt Clara had made up her mind that the Klan was an undesirable organization, and when she had once made up her mind to anything, like many other folk, she was hard to change. "Members of the Klan wouldn't vote for Catholics for office, would they?" she asked.

"It's the privilege of every American citizen to cast his ballot as he sees fit, and he should always vote for what he believes to be the best interests of the public. If a Klansman or any other citizen believes that a candidate for office would not stand for the best interests of our American institutions, what is his duty as a citizen?"

"Why, to vote against him, to be sure."

"If you vote against a Methodist, a Baptist or a Catholic in the next election because you believe that he is not in harmony with Americanism; that vote could not reasonably be construed as interfering with his freedom of worship, could it?"

"Certainly not, but I think it's a bad thing to arouse so much bitter feeling."

"It isn't pleasant to have bitter feelings aroused, but if standing for things that are essentially American incurs the enmity of groups of individuals we had best arouse such opposition and resist it. I am not in favor of 'peace at any price.'"

"I was talking with Mr. Golter when he called for Ruth a short time ago, and he says that while the principles of the Klan sound well enough the character of the men who belong are such that it is the duty of all good citizens to oppose them."

"The Klan requires that those who become members of the organization be of good moral character. Of course an organization whose members number three million will, in spite of all precaution, get some unworthy members. Whenever a member commits any serious offense he is expelled from the Klan. I am safe in saying that there is no other secret organization in the world with a better personnel of membership than the Klan. The membership is made up from all walks of life—laborers, farmers, doctors, ministers, judges, small business men and big business men."

"If what you say is true, why all this opposition? We scarcely pick up a paper but there is something against the Klan."

"Every great movement has had its opponents, Aunt Clara. You know the early Christians were persecuted, and the Masonic order in the early history of its growth met with just such opposition as the Klan is meeting now," remarked Ruth.

"What you say is quite true," said Harold, "and the opposition to the Klan, in addition to the Catholics, Jews and negroes, consists of the law violators, denizens of the underworld, politicians, misinformed individuals and newspapers that are subsidized by some opposing factor or that are edited by politicians."

"Well, the Klan may be all right, but I have my doubts." The Klan was now dropped and Harold hoped that the aunt would soon retire from the room, but she enjoyed conversing and brought up the subject of Coue's theory and discussed it at such length that Harold excused himself and went home. One statement made by Aunt Clara stuck in Harold's mind and kept him awake the greater part of the night. He tried to dismiss it, but the statement, "When Mr. Golter called for Ruth a short time ago," would not down, but shouted itself in his ears whenever he tried to find sleep. The statement from the aunt, he was quite sure, explained why Ruth could be only a friend to him. This thought tormented him until the light of day broke in the east and Morpheus brought relief.

Chapter XX

Stover called a caucus of the faithful. They met in the rear room at Hennesy's place. The curtains were drawn on the two windows next to the alley. Stover, Hennesy, Goldberg, McBryan and Springer were present. Stover was elected to act as president of the caucus. They did not intend to keep a record of their proceedings, consequently they did not need a secretary.

"Hennesy," said McBryan, "since you are the host here, wouldn't it be in keeping with the rules of good society if you were to serve refreshments?"

"You can have anything you want. Nothing would please me better than to 'liquor up' my friends. What will you take?"

"Whiskey for me," said McBryan. "I believe I'll take a leetle whiskey, too," Goldberg chimed in. Springer ordered beer. Stover remarked, "Boys, you know I never drink." Hennesy then stepped to the door connecting the bar room with the rear conference room. "Jim," he called to his porter, "bring two whiskeys and two bottles of beer."

After the liquor had been consumed they were ready for business.

"Boys," said Stover, "something must be done or we are going to lose this election."

"Vat make you tink so?" asked Goldberg.

"There is no getting around the fact that the Klan is strong in this county and section of the state. They have strong candidates. You stand out on the street any day and listen to the conversations on political matters, and about two out of every three men who express themselves are for the Klan candidates," Stover replied.

"You are right," said McBryan. "I heard a bunch of fellows talking down at Zala the other day, and it's the same thing down there."

"I thought you tell us in the Journal there was only a few Klansmen. Hey, Springer, vat you say?"

"Goldberg, you don't suppose I would add to the influence of the Klan by telling the public through my paper that there are between eight hundred and a thousand Klansmen in Wilford Springs."

"You have brains, Springer, almost brains; that would have been poor bezness, very poor bezness," exclaimed Goldberg.

"There are a lot of people who want to be on the winning side, and if they thought that the Klan had any strength they would line up with them. Keep on telling the people that there are only a few of them here," remarked McBryan.

"Stover," said Springer, "you want to see to it that the mayor doesn't allow the Klan to pull off a parade here. It makes too much of an impression on the public for a thousand of those masked devils to march through the streets," said Springer.

"I'll 'tend to that," replied Stover, "don't you worry for a single minute about the Klan's having a parade or a public speaking within the city limits."

"If those 'night gown boys' with the pillow slips over their heads get to parading here some of us had just as well shut up shop. A lot of our men are scared now. If you want to throw a scare into the average bootlegger all you have to do is mention Kluxers," Hennesy remarked.

"Well, boys, now is the time to get rid of this foolishness, and if we whip these midnight riders right good in this election we will have gone a long way in checking them. On the other hand, if they succeed in electing a majority of their candidates they are going to be wonderfully strengthened, and it is liable to be very unpleasant for certain lines of business." As Stover delivered this speech he rubbed his hands together, as was his custom when anything of importance was being discussed.

"Vat have you to suggest; vat will help mit the eleckshun?" Isaac Goldberg asked.

"I believe it would be a good plan," said Springer, "if we would get Governor Slydell to make a speaking tour in this part of the state. While the Governor is not himself a candidate, he is backing Perdue strong for governor, and Perdue has announced that he will carry out Slydell's policies if elected."

"I am of the opinion that your suggestion is a good one, Springer. Sam Slydell is a good campaigner, and he is strong against the Klan. He will do us some good if we can get him to make half a dozen speeches in this part of the state, but that isn't enough—we must do something more than that if we win," remarked McBryan.

"Can't you get Father Rossini busy lining up all Catholic voters whom you cannot reach through the Knights of Columbus?" asked Stover.

"Father Rossini is already busy," replied McBryan. "Last week the bishop called all the priests in this diocese together for a conference. Here are the candidates they endorsed." McBryan reached in his pocket and drew out a slip of paper. "Every one of them is anti-Klan and five of them are Catholics. Father Rossini says that all of the priests went home from the conference enthusiastic for these men. You can count on the solid support of all Catholics. What we do not get through the Knights of Columbus the priests will look after."

"Goldberg, what plan have you for lining up the Jews?" Stover asked.

"That's easy, easy, Mr. Stover—we have the B'nai B'rith organization. In twenty-four hours I gets in touch wid every Jew in the state. In forty-eight hours every Jew in the United States can be informed of any matters our great organization vish to put pefore them. I will see that every Jew in this congressional district receives instruction tomorrow. I tinks that you can't work any faster through your Knights of Columbus than that." He directed this last remark to McBryan.

"That's all well enough," said McBryan, "but you must remember that this Ku Klux Klan is a powerful organization. It's an un-American organization purposing to control politics and keep Catholics and Jews out of office. I feel that we would be warranted in using extreme measures to defeat them."

"Have you anything else to suggest?" Stover asked.

"I think we should do something to cause the general public to turn against the Klan. The mayor of Freeburg is a Catholic. What would be the effect if between now and election a number of Kluxers would take him out and whip him?"

"That would make bezness goot for our candidates," said Isaac.

"What do you mean, McBryan?" asked Springer.

"I mean—just suppose some Klansmen would take Mayor Krouse out and whip him, what would the public say?" asked McBryan.

"The public would say that it was a damned outrage," said Springer.

"Can it be arranged? Would Krouse stand for it?"

"Of course he will. He is a Catholic and a fourth degree Knight of Columbus. I can arrange it with him all right," assured McBryan.

"It will not be necessary to actually whip him," said Hennesy. "A few stripes made with a little paint across his back and a photograph made by Croskey and the witness of a few of the boys whom we can trust, is all that we need."

"Fine! Hennesy, your head is working," said Springer.

"That's a fine idea. Krouse being a foreigner and a Catholic, the public will never question that the Klan did it. Mac, you make the arrangements with Krouse. When this thing has been pulled off, Springer, you will have a chance to tell the public of the outrage. I will ask Governor Slydell to make a speaking trip through this part of the state. Hennesy, you must look after the dealers in 'wet goods.'" As Stover spoke his skinny hands were busy with each other and his most assuring smile played about his mouth.

"I'll have no trouble with the liquor fraternity. They know that if the Klan candidates are elected their 'cake is dough,'" Hennesy remarked.

Hennesy ordered whiskey and all but Stover drank to the success of the campaign, before separating.

Chapter XXI

Golter entered the banking room attired in a natty business suit. There was nothing unusual about Golter's being well dressed. He was always neatly attired. The unusual thing about Golter on this particular morning was that he carried a bouquet of rosebuds in his hand.

Pearl Gardner did not see Golter when he entered the room, but was soon conscious of his presence. (Lately she was constantly conscious of his presence if he was anywhere around.) She looked up from her work and gave him one of her sweetest smiles. "Good morning, Mr. Golter."

"Good morning, Miss Gardner," he responded.

She was at once interested in the bouquet which he carried. Surely, she thought, he intends those rosebuds for me. I do not see why he doesn't give them to me at once. He placed the roses on his own desk. Perhaps, she thought, he is waiting until we are alone to give them to me. A number of times both the teller and cashier had stepped out, but the roses still remained on Golter's desk. When Pearl returned to work after the noon lunch they were gone. Later in the day she located them on Ruth's desk. During the rest of the afternoon things did not go well with her—she got her figures muddled and had to work an hour overtime that evening to get her books to balance. Before leaving the bank she stepped into the office of the president.

"Mr. Stover," she began, "I have a matter I wish to speak to you about, that is, I feel that it is my duty to speak to you about it. I don't like to tattle on anyone, but there are some things that are of such importance to your employer that I think it is one's duty to tell, even though it exposes a fellow employee."

"Certainly, Miss Pearl, certainly. If you are in possession of any information that your employer should have it is your duty to inform him. What is it?"

"Did you know that you have an employee who is a Klan sympathizer?"

"I did not. Who is it?"

"Ruth Babcock."

"Is that so! What does Ruth say about it?"

"She has a lot to say in favor of the Klan. She makes a regular lecture on white supremacy. She's strong for the Kluxers."

"Thank you, Pearl. I'll take care of Miss Babcock. No one can work in this bank and talk in favor of that bunch of outlaws."

Pearl started to leave the room and then turned back. "Mr. Stover, I wish that you would not mention my name in connection with this."

"No. I'll not say anything about where I got my information."

When Stover entered the bank room after this information had been imparted to him he found his nephew, Chester Golter, preparing to leave.

"Just a minute, Chester, before you go. I wish to speak to you."

"All right, Uncle Jim."

"I just heard that Ruth Babcock is talking in favor of the Klan. Have you ever heard her say anything that would indicate that she is a Klan supporter?"

"Yes. I have. I heard her say that if she were a man she would be a Klansman."

"Did she say that?"

"She certainly did."

"You know that I informed the men of this bank long ago that I would not retain in my employ any man who joined the Klan. Now, I will not retain a man or woman in my employ who talks in favor of the Klan or lends his influence to it in any way. Ruth will have the pleasure of looking for another job."

"Uncle Jim, I don't believe that Ruth is to blame so much as is someone else."

"Who?"

"Harold King."

"What has King to do with it?"

"Ruth runs around a great deal with King, and you know that he is a Klansman."

"Yes, and I know that he is an impudent puppy, too."

"I am satisfied that Ruth is influenced by King. If she would quit associating with King I believe she would be all right."

"I'll fix King. I have just been waiting for a chance to land on that young upstart."

"I wouldn't like to see Ruth lose her job," Golter remarked.

"I'll give her a chance."

"Thank you, uncle."

Ruth had scarcely removed her wraps the next morning when Stover called her into his office.

"Ruth," he began, "I have tried to be a friend to you."

"Yes, I think you have, Mr. Stover."

"I wouldn't give you wrong advice any sooner than I would my own daughter, and what I shall say to you now is for your own good." He spoke in his most paternal voice.

"I am always glad to receive good advice."

"I thought you would be or I would have dismissed you without saying a word." (Ruth's eyes opened wide and the color left her cheeks.) "I thought you would be sensible." He laid his hand in a fatherly way on her shoulder. She shrank from his touch.

"I have heard that you are talking in favor of the Klan?"

"I have said some things in favor of the Klan."

"And you know that I am unalterably opposed to these midnight riders."

"I know you are opposed to the Klan."

"And yet you talk in their favor?"

"If I want to I do. This is a free country, and I, with the Klan, believe in the freedom of speech." She spoke with spirit.

Matters were taking a turn that he had not anticipated. "Of course, of course you have a right to say what you please about this matter, but you understand that I have a right to employ whom I please."

"Certainly, and if you do not want me in your employ I am ready to quit."

"Now be reasonable, Ruth. You know that I am an old friend of your father and want to do the right thing by you. At the same time I do not want to injure my business. You see that I have a great many customers who are opposed to the Klan. If you are talking in the bank in support of the Klan you are liable to injure the bank's business."

"I don't think I have been discussing the Klan in the bank. The only thing that I remember saying here was in a conversation with Pearl Gardner, in which I was telling her of an article that I read and indorsed that explained the Klan's position on the race question. If you do not want this question discussed in the bank I agree not to do so, but I reserve the right to discuss this question or any other when off duty and hold to whatever opinion I please."

"I grant that you have that right, but it would be good policy for you to refrain from saying anything commendable of the Klan any place. You see I'm interested in you, Ruth. Now there is a more serious matter that it is my duty to speak to you of. I understand that you keep company with Harold King."

"Yes. Mr. King is a friend of mine."

"As I said to you a moment ago, I am going to advise you as I would my own daughter. You can't afford to receive attention from a man like King."

Ruth was dumbfounded. For an instant she sat and stared at Stover. When she had partially recovered herself she asked, "What do you mean? What is wrong with Mr. King?"

"Well, he is a young man of poor judgment. He has a habit of being insolent to men who are his superiors and who are in a position to help him and who would help him if he had sense enough to be courteous to them. (Stover was now rubbing his hands together.) King has no standing in the community. I wouldn't loan him a dollar. He has also branded himself by joining the Klan. Now I wouldn't think of allowing one of my own daughters to associate with King. If you retain your position in the bank it will be necessary for you to discontinue your relationship with this man."

"Do I understand that I must quit going with Mr. King or give up my position in the bank?"

"Yes, that's it. I am acting for your good. If I wasn't an old friend of the family I wouldn't give you this chance. I have always dismissed my employees at once when I discovered that they were keeping bad company."

"Right here is where I quit," she said, her eyes flashing.

"Now, Ruth, don't be foolish. You have your father to think of." She stood before him a type of noble womanhood. Her chest raised, her little hands clenched and thrown down and back of her body line, she looked Stover in the eyes and defied him.

When she spoke her voice was full of resentment and determination, and her words were words of courage and loyalty:

"I will take care of my father who, I am sure, would not want to have me stay here on the terms that you have named. As to Harold King—I wish to inform you that he is a gentleman of noble mind and heart. He refused to sell his honor to you, and you, whom I am now beginning to think have no honor, call him insolent. You say he has no credit with you, and I tell you he has a twelve thousand dollar job and needs none. You say he is branded as a Klansman. If he is a Klansman that is evidence that the organization is composed of good citizens, for Harold King would not belong to an organization that was not." She stepped into the stenographer's office and secured her coat and hat, and without waiting to put them on, walked out with her head held high.

Ruth spent the rest of the day trying to find employment but was unsuccessful. It was a difficult thing for Ruth to inform her father that she was out of employment. He was worried, as she knew he would be, and she did her best to comfort him. "Don't worry, daddy; I'll soon find other employment."

"I'm not worrying on my own account, but I am sorry, Ruth, to have you worried about getting a job. If I had the money that man took from my safe we wouldn't need to worry, or if my head would only get right so that I could work I wouldn't care so much about the loss of the money."

When Ruth saw Harold she told him that Stover had discharged her or, rather, had asked her to consent to terms which she could not accept, if she remained. She told him that Stover objected to some remarks she had made favorable to the Klan. She did not tell him that Stover had demanded that she break off her associations with him.

Chapter XXII

"Paper. Morning paper! All about the whipping of the mayor of Freeburg, by members of the Ku Klux Klan," shouted the newsboys in the ears of the business men as they went to their offices and stores one morning in the latter part of October. The papers sold rapidly, and men devoured the account of the reported whipping with great avidity. All day men gathered in groups on the streets of Wilford Springs and Zala discussing the account of the alleged whipping of Mayor Krouse. Usually the first sentiment expressed by those not Klansmen was a condemnation of the Klan. However, on second thought, the more conservative began to question whether it was reasonable to suppose that the Klan had committed this crime on the eve of election. Perhaps it was a frame-up. Politically the Klan would have nothing to gain and everything to lose by its commission, they reasoned, while the opposition might believe that they could create in this way a stampede from Klan candidates.

When the Wilford Springs Klan assembled it voted to offer a reward for evidence that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the parties who whipped the mayor. Judge Rider, the Exalted Cyclops, said: "Klansmen, the Klan is an organization which stands for law enforcement. It is opposed to all forms of lynchings. If it is found that members of this organization committed this offense against the peace of this man and the laws of the state they will be banished from this organization or I will withdraw at once."

Governor Slydell made the speaking tour through the section of the state known as the stronghold of the Klan. He denounced that organization in scathing terms. The principal part of his speeches was devoted to a denunciation of the Klan and the remainder to extolling the virtues of Perdue. He would wave his arms frantically when denouncing the Klan, telling the audience that he would soon arrest Klan officers. He boastingly told how he had prevented the Klan from holding a parade in one town. He positively stated that the Klan had whipped Fritz Krouse, the mayor of Freeburg; that he had put his detectives on the job, and when sufficient evidence was secured the offenders would be severely punished.

When the governor spoke at Wilford Springs he faced a large audience of representative citizens. The audience gave the best of attention during his introductory remarks and while he praised Perdue and told the people that if elected Perdue would carry out his policies. When he launched his tirade against the Klan, about two-thirds of the audience arose and quietly passed out.

The general feeling was that the governor's speeches condemning the Klan as a lawless organization and not furnishing one fact to prove that the Klan had committed a single act of violence was making votes for Dawson, whom the Klan was supporting for governor.

A few days before election a traveling salesman who had recently visited the towns in which the governor had made speeches was eating at the same table in a hotel with Frank Perdue, candidate for governor.

"Perdue," said the traveling salesman, "do you expect to be elected governor?"

"Yes, sir, I do," Perdue replied.

"If you expect to be elected, in order that you will not be greatly disappointed, you had better take Governor Slydell by the nape of the neck and the seat of the trousers and pitch him into the river."

"Why so?"

"Every time the governor makes a speech he is making thousands of votes for Dawson."

"I would rather the governor would not make speeches for me, but when Slydell wants to talk you can't stop him."

Election day dawned bright and fair. There was an unusually heavy vote cast. When the polls were closed both parties were claiming the election. The following morning the administration papers conceded the election to Dawson by a plurality of 20,000 over Perdue, who had the support of the administration. Dawson was the only member of his party who was elected to a state office; thus the effect of Governor Slydell's speeches was shown. The candidate for Congress in the district in which Wilford Springs is located won by a large majority. All county officers endorsed by the Klan in Rush County were elected by overwhelming majorities. In analyzing the vote, Springer, in the Journal, stated that certain local matters had a big influence on the county and district election. He quoted Governor Slydell as saying that his attack on the Klan was not responsible for Perdue's defeat, but that the people were restless and desired a change.

The evening after election Harold called Ruth over the 'phone. "Bring your father and aunt uptown about eight o'clock this evening," he said.

"Why, what is going to happen?" she asked.

"There is going to be an election jollification."

There were no bills put out announcing the celebration, neither did the papers carry any notice, but about seven o'clock the streets were jammed with people. Every available parking space in the business section was occupied by a car. Everywhere there was an air of expectancy. No one could or would give any information as to why the great crowd had gathered. Such questions were common: "Why all this crowd?" "What's going to happen?" "Why are all these people coming to town?" Occasionally someone would state that he had heard that there was to be an election celebration. One old colored woman exclaimed, "Fo' de Lawd sake! Am all the peopel in de world a comin' to Wilford Springs?"

At eight-fifteen, "There they come," "there they come," was passed along the front ranks of those who lined the street pavements. Around the corner at the intersection of Market and Broadway came a white robed figure carrying the stars and stripes. Just behind him came two others carrying a fiery cross. Behind these came others marching eight abreast—all wore white robes and were masked. There were thousands of them. There was no interference by the police. The first five hundred marched through the crowds on the street without any demonstration from the onlookers. Finally a banner carried by the marchers bearing the words, "The Klan Stands for 100 Per Cent Americanism," brought forth an applause from the crowd. Another banner which read, "Mr. Bootlegger, Your Days Are Numbered," was lustily cheered. A float representing a school house had a banner on each side with the inscription: "The Hope of America. We Want Protestant Teachers in Our Schools." This float was roundly cheered by the Protestants, who composed ninety per cent of the crowd. The banner which provoked the most mirth was the one carried at the rear of the procession. It read:

"Someone page Governor Slydell."

"Pat McBryan needs the smelling salts."

The crowd went wild. Hennesy had stood in the door of his place of business and watched the entire parade. When the last of the white robed marchers had passed he took out his handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat from his face. Two negroes who had watched the parade from the alley walked farther down the alley from the lights and engaged in earnest conversation. They were bootleggers and for years had been doing a thriving business, carrying their goods on their hips. "Mose," said Pete, "what you all think of these damn Kluxers?"

"Pete," replied Mose, in a suppressed tone, "you's mighty ca'less of that isthmus of youse."

"Niggah, what youse mean by 'isthmus'?"

"Ma go'graphy sa'd that an isthmus is a narrow neck connectin' two la'ger bodies."

"Well, what you mean 'bout me bein' ca'less of my isthmus?"

"I means dat youse stands a mighty good chance of gettin youah isthmus stretched when youse refers to dem gente'mens as 'damn Kluxers.' When I speaks of dem gente'mens I's gwine to say Mistah Kluxers. You get me, Pete?"

"Yes, I duz, and I 'spects it's goin' to be pow'ful unhealthy round heah for gente'men of ouah profession. If them damn—I means 'Mistah' Kluxers would jest take them masks off we'd know who to keep away from."

"Youse right, Pete. The legislater an govenah shuah ought to make 'em take them masks off, and then we'd know who to stay way from when we's transactin' ouah bizness."

"Youse right, but Govenah Slydell's man wa'n't elected, so we can't count on that."

"Well, Pete, what's you gwine to do?"

"What's I gwine to do? Well, suh, I'se gwine to leave on that twelve o'clock train tonight."

"And I'se gwine with you less—less——"

"Less what?"

"Less thar's a train goin' fo' that time."

Chapter XXIII

Ruth watched the want ads in the papers and made many inquiries in her effort to secure employment. It was now three weeks since she had quit her job at the bank, and she had not as yet secured a position. She did all the public stenographic work she could secure but was unable in this way to earn enough to provide for the current expenses of the family. She was forced to draw on the special fund that she had been so carefully guarding in the hopes that her father might become a well man. Now she was forced to use some of this money—they must have fuel and provisions. Every time she took a dollar from this her heart ached, because she felt she was giving up her father's chance to regain his health.

Ruth, who was naturally optimistic, at times became quite despondent. She frequently cried herself to sleep. Harold King was now prospering in his profession. He had, since securing the big job at the capital, secured two other jobs in Wilford Springs. He now employed a draughtsman in the office. He offered Ruth a position as his stenographer. She knew that he did not need a stenographer and declined.

One day Ruth saw an ad in the paper asking for a stenographer. The ad had been inserted by the R.G. Wing Mortgage Company. She lost no time in going to their office.

She found Mr. Wing a very pleasant appearing man.

When he entered the room where she was waiting she introduced herself and made the object of her visit known.

He was in need of a stenographer. Had she had experience? She informed him that she had. When he asked where she had formerly worked she hesitated slightly before telling him that she had worked for the Central State Bank of Wilford Springs. He dictated a letter and had her transcribe it on the typewriter. He was well pleased with the test. It was entirely satisfactory.

"Would you be satisfied with a salary of one hundred twenty-five dollars per month to start with?" Mr. Wing asked.

"Yes. That would be all right."

"I will let you know tomorrow. I think I shall want you."

Ruth left with a lighter heart than she had carried since she had lost her place at the bank.

That afternoon Mr. Wing was transacting some business at the Central State Bank. "Stover, you had a stenographer here by the name of Ruth Babcock?"

"Yes, she was my former stenographer."

"Is she competent?"

"Yes. She's a good stenographer so far as her ability is concerned."

"Why did she quit you?"

"I discharged her."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Ruth is all right so far as doing the work is concerned, but she would get out and run around with a disreputable young fellow. I gave her a chance to quit going with him and retain her job, but she refused to stay away from him. While I would like to have helped her I could not afford to keep a girl in the bank who was keeping questionable company, especially when she absolutely refused to promise to quit him."

"Well, I'm glad you told me that. I do not want a girl whose reputation is bad or who is conducting herself in a way that it is likely to become bad."

The following morning when Ruth received the mail her eye at once caught the R.G. Wing Mortgage Company in the upper left hand corner of one of the letters. Eagerly she tore it open. Disappointment, black and hideous, rose from the ruins of a shattered hope and obscured the sunlight with a cloud of despair. How could she ever stand so much ill fortune! She was almost driven to desperation. The note read:

"Dear Miss Babcock:

"I regret to inform you that I cannot use you as stenographer.

"Yours truly, "R.G. Wing."

Ruth rushed to her room and her tense and overwrought nervous system found relief in tears—nature's safety valve.

Charles Wilson went to the office of R.G. Wing Mortgage Company for the purpose of securing a mortgage for one of his clients.

"How are you, Mr. Wing. How is business?"

"I am very well, Mr. Wilson, but I am away behind with my work. My stenographer quit a week ago and the work has been piling up ever since, waiting for her successor, whom I have not yet been able to find. I thought the other day that I had found a peach of a stenographer, but later I learned that she isn't just what she should be."

"Character bad?" queried Wilson.

"If it isn't bad she seems to be doing all she can to make it bad. I understand that she keeps bad company."

"Who is the girl?"

"Her name is Babcock. She used to be the stenographer at the Wilford Springs Central State Bank."

"I had her do some work for me once when my stenographer was gone and she did good work."

"I'm satisfied that she can do the work all right, but you see I can't afford to have a girl in my office whose reputation is bad or whose associations are questionable."

"I hadn't heard anything wrong about the girl. Are you sure that there isn't some mistake about this?"

"I got it straight. Stover told me himself."

"Did he tell you who her evil associates are?"

"No. I didn't ask him. He said a disreputable fellow."

When Wilson returned to his own office he rang Central.

"684," he called.

"Hello, is this Harold?

"Can you come over to my office for a few minutes?

"Yes. It's important."

In a few minutes Harold King arrived.

"Haven't got a thousand dollar check for me?" he asked as he came in.

"I am sorry to say I haven't, but I heard something a little while ago that I thought you should know. I was over at the office of the Wing Mortgage Company and Wing told me that his stenographer has left him and he is having trouble finding another."

"I'll tell Miss Babcock."

"She has already applied, but someone has been doing some knocking."

"If anybody has been knocking on Ruth it is that whelp of a Stover."

"Evidently you are not in love with Stover," Wilson commented.

"Could you love a rattle snake?" Harold asked.

"I didn't call you over here to discuss Stover. I called you to tell you what is between Miss Babcock and the job."

"What is it?"

"You."

"Me? What do you mean?"

"Wing has heard that she is keeping company with a disreputable fellow. You are the fellow, aren't you?"

"Yes," answered Harold as he started for the door.

"Wait a minute. Where are you going?"

"I'm going down to 'mop up' on Stover."

"Just hold on a little bit. I haven't told you that it was Stover who told Wing."

"It was Stover, all right. I recognize his hand."

"Very well, it was Stover; but he did not say it was you."

"He meant me, all right."

"Maybe this girl has been keeping company with some other fellow."

"I am the only man she has kept company with since she came to Wilford Springs except she has been with Golter, Stover's nephew, a few times."

"You'd better make sure of that."

Harold picked up the 'phone and placed the receiver to his ear. Central did not answer promptly and he rang impatiently.

When he at last got Ruth on the line he said, "Ruth, this is Harold. I want to ask you some very personal questions. I am sure you will understand that I have some good reasons for asking or I would not do so."

"All right, Harold, if you do not ask my age, I probably will be willing to answer," she replied.

"How many times have you gone with Chester Golter?"

"Oh, I suppose about a thousand." Then came a rippling wave of laughter over the wire.

"Ruth, I am not joking, I really want to know."

"Maybe Golter would like to know how many times I have been with you."

"I have a good reason for asking. It's to your interest to answer me seriously."

"Well, if I must be serious and confess to my father confessor, it was five times."

"Have you since coming to Wilford Springs ever gone with anybody else?"

"No other young man."

"That's what I mean. Girls don't count."

"Oh, thank you for the information that girls don't count," she said with a tone of injured pride.

"Then Golter is the only man you have kept company with in Wilford Springs besides myself and you were with him only five times?"

"Yes, that is true, but why do you ask?"

"I have a good reason for wanting to know. I will tell you all about it later."

He hung up the receiver without the customary "good-bye" and rushed from the room with Wilson shouting after him, "Be careful what you say and do."

Harold lost no time in getting down to the Central State Bank. Stover was in the banking room when Harold entered. Harold informed the cashier that he wished to speak to Stover. The cashier called Stover, who came to the cashier's window. "Stover," said Harold, "I want to talk to you in private, and I want to talk to you right now." There was no mistaking the anger and determination in his voice.

"This is private enough if you speak low," said Stover, as he put his face close to the bars that protected the window.

"All right, if it's private enough for you it is for me. What I want to know is what you mean by telling Wing that Miss Babcock keeps bad company?"

"Well, young man, I don't know that this is any of your business, but if you would like to know I will tell you that I meant exactly what I said. I discharged her from my employ for that reason."

"Stover, do you mean to call me disreputable?"

"I didn't say anything about you to Wing."

"You said that she associated with a disreputable young man. You didn't mean Golter, did you?"