by Thomas Dixon
CHAPTER II
THE FIERY CROSS
The clansmen with their prisoner skirted the village and halted in thewoods on the river bank. The Night Hawk signalled for single file, and ina few minutes they stood against the cliff under Lover's Leap and salutedtheir chief, who sat his horse, awaiting their arrival.
Pickets were placed in each direction on the narrow path by which the spotwas approached, and one was sent to stand guard on the shelving rockabove.
Through the narrow crooked entrance they led Gus into the cave which hadbeen the rendezvous of the Piedmont Den of the Clan since its formation.The meeting-place was a grand hall eighty feet deep, fifty feet wide, andmore than forty feet in height, which had been carved out of the stone bythe swift current of the river in ages past when its waters stood at ahigher level.
To-night it was lighted by candles placed on the ledges of the walls. Inthe centre, on a fallen boulder, sat the Grand Cyclops of the Den, thepresiding officer of the township, his rank marked by scarlet stripes onthe white-cloth spike of his cap. Around him stood twenty or more clansmenin their uniform, completely disguised. One among them wore a yellow sash,trimmed in gold, about his waist, and on his breast two yellow circleswith red crosses interlapping, denoting his rank to be the Grand Dragon ofthe Realm, or Commander-in-Chief of the State.
The Cyclops rose from his seat:
"Let the Grand Turk remove his prisoner for a moment and place him incharge of the Grand Sentinel at the door, until summoned."
The officer disappeared with Gus, and the Cyclops continued:
"The Chaplain will open our Council with prayer."
Solemnly every white-shrouded figure knelt on the ground, and the voice ofthe Rev. Hugh McAlpin, trembling with feeling, echoed through the cave:
"Lord God of our Fathers, as in times past thy children, fleeing from theoppressor, found refuge beneath the earth until once more the sun ofrighteousness rose, so are we met to-night. As we wrestle with the powersof darkness now strangling our life, give to our souls to endure as seeingthe invisible, and to our right arms the strength of the martyred dead ofour people. Have mercy on the poor, the weak, the innocent anddefenceless, and deliver us from the body of the Black Death. In a land oflight and beauty and love our women are prisoners of danger and fear.While the heathen walks his native heath unharmed and unafraid, in thisfair Christian Southland our sisters, wives, and daughters dare not strollat twilight through the streets or step beyond the highway at noon. Theterror of the twilight deepens with the darkness, and the stoutest heartgrows sick with fear for the red message the morning bringeth. Forgive oursins--they are many--but hide not thy face from us, O God, for thou artour refuge!"
As the last echoes of the prayer lingered and died in the vaulted roof,the clansmen rose and stood a moment in silence.
Again the voice of the Cyclops broke the stillness:
"Brethren, we are met to-night at the request of the Grand Dragon of theRealm, who has honoured us with his presence, to constitute a High Courtfor the trial of a case involving life. Are the Night Hawks ready tosubmit their evidence?"
"We are ready," came the answer.
"Then let the Grand Scribe read the objects of the Order on which yourauthority rests."
The Scribe opened his Book of Record, "_The Prescript of the Order of theInvisible Empire_," and solemnly read:
"To the lovers of law and order, peace and justice, and to the shades ofthe venerated dead, greeting:
"This is an institution of Chivalry, Humanity, Mercy, and Patriotism:embodying in its genius and principles all that is chivalric in conduct,noble in sentiment, generous in manhood, and patriotic in purpose: itsparticular objects being,
"First: To protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenceless from theindignities, wrongs, and outrages of the lawless, the violent, and thebrutal; to relieve the injured and the oppressed: to succour the sufferingand unfortunate, and especially the widows and the orphans of ConfederateSoldiers.
"Second: To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, andall the laws passed in conformity thereto, and to protect the States andthe people thereof from all invasion from any source whatever.
"Third: To aid and assist in the execution of all Constitutional laws, andto protect the people from unlawful seizure, and from trial except bytheir peers in conformity to the laws of the land."
"The Night Hawks will produce their evidence," said the Cyclops, "and theGrand Monk will conduct the case of the people against the negro AugustusCaesar, the former slave of Dr. Richard Cameron."
Dr. Cameron advanced and removed his cap. His snow-white hair and beard,ruddy face and dark-brown brilliant eyes made a strange picture in itsweird surroundings, like an ancient alchemist ready to conduct some daringexperiment in the problem of life.
"I am here, brethren," he said, "to accuse the black brute about to appearof the crime of assault on a daughter of the South----"
A murmur of thrilling surprise and horror swept the crowd ofwhite-and-scarlet figures as with one common impulse they moved closer.
"His feet have been measured and they exactly tally with the negro tracksfound under the window of the Lenoir cottage. His flight to Columbia andreturn on the publication of their deaths as an accident is a confirmationof our case. I will not relate to you the scientific experiment whichfirst fixed my suspicion of this man's guilt. My witness could not confirmit, and it might not be to you credible. But this negro is peculiarlysensitive to hypnotic influence. I propose to put him under this powerto-night before you, and, if he is guilty, I can make him tell hisconfederates, describe and rehearse the crime itself."
The Night Hawks led Gus before Doctor Cameron, untied his hands, removedthe gag, and slipped the blindfold from his head.
Under the doctor's rigid gaze the negro's knees struck together, and hecollapsed into complete hypnosis, merely lifting his huge paws lamely asif to ward a blow.
They seated him on the boulder from which the Cyclops rose, and Gus staredabout the cave and grinned as if in a dream seeing nothing.
The doctor recalled to him the day of the crime, and he began to talk tohis three confederates, describing his plot in detail, now and thenpausing and breaking into a fiendish laugh.
Old McAllister, who had three lovely daughters at home, threw off his cap,sank to his knees, and buried his face in his hands, while a dozen of thewhite figures crowded closer, nervously gripping the revolvers which hungfrom their red belts.
Doctor Cameron pushed them back and lifted his hand in warning.
The negro began to live the crime with fearful realism--the journey pastthe hotel to make sure the victims had gone to their home; the visit toAunt Cindy's cabin to find her there; lying in the field waiting for thelast light of the village to go out; gloating with vulgar exultation overtheir plot, and planning other crimes to follow its success--how theycrept along the shadows of the hedgerow of the lawn to avoid themoonlight, stood under the cedar, and through the open windows watched themother and daughter laughing and talking within----
"Min' what I tells you now--Tie de ole one, when I gib you de rope," saidGus in a whisper.
"My God!" cried the agonized voice of the figure with the doublecross--"that's what the piece of burnt rope in the fireplace meant!"
Doctor Cameron again lifted his hand for silence.
Now they burst into the room, and with the light of hell in his beady,yellow-splotched eyes, Gus gripped his imaginary revolver and growled:
"Scream, an' I blow yer brains out!"
In spite of Doctor Cameron's warning, the white-robed figures jostled andpressed closer----
Gus rose to his feet and started across the cave as if to spring on theshivering figure of the girl, the clansmen with muttered groans, sobs, andcurses falling back as he advanced. He still wore his full Captain'suniform, its heavy epaulets flashing their gold in the unearthly light,his beastly jaws half covering the gold braid on the collar. His thicklips were drawn upward in an ugly
leer and his sinister bead eyes gleamedlike a gorilla's. A single fierce leap and the black claws clutched theair slowly as if sinking into the soft white throat.
Strong men began to cry like children.
"Stop him! Stop him!" screamed a clansman, springing on the negro andgrinding his heel into his big thick neck. A dozen more were on him in amoment, kicking, stamping, cursing, and crying like madmen.
Doctor Cameron leaped forward and beat them off:
"Men! Men! You must not kill him in this condition!"
Some of the white figures had fallen prostrate on the ground, sobbing in afrenzy of uncontrollable emotion. Some were leaning against the walls,their faces buried in their arms.
Again old McAllister was on his knees crying over and over again:
"God have mercy on my people!"
When at length quiet was restored, the negro was revived, and again bound,blindfolded, gagged, and thrown to the ground before the Grand Cyclops.
A sudden inspiration flashed in Doctor Cameron's eyes. Turning to thefigure with yellow sash and double cross he said:
"Issue your orders and despatch your courier to-night with the oldScottish rite of the Fiery Cross. It will send a thrill of inspiration toevery clansman in the hills."
"Good--prepare it quickly!" was the answer.
Doctor Cameron opened his medicine case, drew the silver drinking-coverfrom a flask, and passed out of the cave to the dark circle of blood stillshining in the sand by the water's edge. He knelt and filled the cup halffull of the crimson grains, and dipped it into the river. From a saddle hetook the lightwood torch, returned within, and placed the cup on theboulder on which the Grand Cyclops had sat. He loosed the bundle oflightwood, took two pieces, tied them into the form of a cross, and laidit beside a lighted candle near the silver cup.
The silent figures watched his every movement. He lifted the cup andsaid:
"Brethren, I hold in my hand the water of your river bearing the red stainof the life of a Southern woman, a priceless sacrifice on the altar ofoutraged civilization. Hear the message of your chief."
The tall figure with the yellow sash and double cross stepped before thestrange altar, while the white forms of the clansmen gathered about him ina circle. He lifted his cap, and laid it on the boulder, and his men gazedon the flushed face of Ben Cameron, the Grand Dragon of the Realm.
He stood for a moment silent, erect, a smouldering fierceness in his eyes,something cruel and yet magnetic in his alert bearing.
He looked on the prostrate negro lying in his uniform at his feet, seizedthe cross, lighted the three upper ends and held it blazing in his hand,while, in a voice full of the fires of feeling, he said:
"Men of the South, the time for words has passed, the hour for action hasstruck. The Grand Turk will execute this negro to-night and fling his bodyon the lawn of the black Lieutenant-Governor of the State."
The Grand Turk bowed.
"I ask for the swiftest messenger of this Den who can ride till dawn."
The man whom Doctor Cameron had already chosen stepped forward:
"Carry my summons to the Grand Titan of the adjoining province in NorthCarolina whom you will find at Hambright. Tell him the story of this crimeand what you have seen and heard. Ask him to report to me here the secondnight from this, at eleven o'clock, with six Grand Giants from hisadjoining counties, each accompanied by two hundred picked men. In oldentimes when the Chieftain of our people summoned the clan on an errand oflife and death, the Fiery Cross, extinguished in sacrificial blood, wassent by swift courier from village to village. This call was never made invain, nor will it be to-night, in the new world. Here, on this spot madeholy ground by the blood of those we hold dearer than life, I raise theancient symbol of an unconquered race of men----"
High above his head in the darkness of the cave he lifted the blazingemblem----
"The Fiery Cross of old Scotland's hills! I quench its flames in thesweetest blood that ever stained the sands of Time."
He dipped its ends in the silver cup, extinguished the fire, and handedthe charred symbol to the courier, who quickly disappeared.