ALEXANDER IRVINE
 
 THE MAGYAR 
 
 A Story of the Social 
 Revolution 
 
 BY 
 
 ALEXANDER IRVINE 
 
 THE SOCIALIST PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 GIRARD, KANSAS
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY 
 ALEXANDER IRVINE 
 
 THE ViiL-Biu.ou Co. 
 Binghamton, N.Y.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I A HOUSE DIVIDED 1 
 
 II STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES 9 
 
 III A DANGEROUS NEOPHYTE 19 
 
 IV THE MENACE OF IDEALISM 27 
 
 V " AND A MAN S ENEMIES " 35 
 
 VI A FAIR PROPAGANDIST ENTERS 43 
 
 VII MUCKERS IN THE MUSCLE MARKET 51 
 
 VIII THE LAW OF THE FOREST WRIT IN LEAD . . 61 
 
 IX " TILL ONE MAN is DEAD OH OUT " .... 72 
 
 X THE UNDERWORLD OF THE STOCKADE .... 82 
 
 XI " THOUGH I MAKE MY BED IN HELL, BEHOLD THOU 
 
 ART THERE" 92 
 
 XII JIM WHITECOTTON S LAST LOAD 101 
 
 XIII A DYNAMITE EXPLOSION AND A DASH FOR LIBERTY 107 
 
 XIV VOICES FROM THE ABYSS 116 
 
 XV IN WHICH MRS. RUDEN GETS A FULL DRAUGHT 
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE 124 
 
 XVI TROUBLE IN BLACK AND WHITE 135 
 
 XVII A RACIAL PARIAH AND A SOCIAL OUTCAST . . 138 
 
 XVIII GOD, THE LAW OF THE LAND AND " LONE STAR " . 145 
 
 XIX THE PLANTER S WIFE SEES A LIGHT 
 
 XX LiJAH OF THE STOCKADE .... 
 
 XXI A COMMUNITY OF FATHERLESS CHILDREN 
 
 XXII A WOMAN S VENTURE IN ETHICS 
 
 XXIII A MAKER AND BREAKER OF CODES 
 
 XXIV LIJAH FINDS A CAVE OF ADULLAM 
 
 155 
 
 161 
 170 
 176 
 182 
 194 
 
 15JM802
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 XXV THE REVENGE OF " LONE STAR " 
 
 XXVI IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLINKING BEAST 
 
 XXVII "THE SNOW CHILD" 
 
 XXVIII NIHILISM OR SOCIALISM WHICH ? 
 
 PAGE 
 . 205 
 . 212 
 . 223 
 29 
 
 XXIX "JUST MARA" 240 
 
 XXX THE CAFE COSMOPOLITE 251 
 
 XXXI A DEDICATION IN THE GHETTO 258 
 
 XXXII A MIDNIGHT CONFERENCE 263 
 
 XXXIII LIGHT AFTEB DARKNESS . 271
 
 DEDICATION 
 
 "I am convinced that the ideas of humanity and civ 
 ilization would be better served if the torch were applied 
 to every jail in Alabama. It would be more humane 
 and far better to stake the prisoner out with a ring 
 around his neck like a wild animal than to confine him 
 in places we call jails that are reeking with filth and 
 disease and alive with vermin of all kinds. They are 
 not only harbingers of disease, but they arc unquestion 
 ably nurseries of death. 
 
 "If the State of Alabama wishes to kill its convicts it 
 should do it directly not indirectly." 
 
 DR. SHIRLEY BRAGG, 
 
 President of the Convict Board of the State of Alabama, 
 1906. 
 
 To my brothers and sisters white and black in the 
 stockades and other hells of Alabama, hundreds of whom 
 I have seen in this slow inhuman process of murder, I 
 dedicate this book. 
 
 ALEXANDER IRVINE. 
 Happy Hollow Farm, 
 
 Peekskill, N. Y., 
 April, 1911.
 
 THE MAGYAR 
 
 A STORY OF THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A HOUSE DIVIDED 
 
 "My dear," said the minister s wife, "you are per 
 fectly welcome to your nearness to the heart of the great 
 unwashed but I want something more sanitary!" 
 
 "No one ever accused you, dear," he retorted, "of 
 any hankering in that direction and if I am welcome 
 to it, why this fuss every time we talk about it?" 
 
 "I have no objection to your preaching to them," she 
 said, "but to bring them here as your guests is a little 
 more than a refined taste can stand." 
 
 "Are they offensive?" he asked. 
 
 "Yes," she replied sharply, "very offensive!" 
 
 He smiled as he spread over his knees the evening 
 paper. 
 
 "It isn t so much what occurs here," she continued, 
 as what it leads to ; they invite you to all sorts of dis 
 agreeable mass meetings and protest gatherings and 
 you attend them all ! " 
 
 "You don t object to a Chamber of Commerce feed 
 where we wear our finer} , my dear; and if my con 
 science 
 
 "Oh, yes," she said, interrupting him, "there goes 
 your conscience again. I, too, have a conscience ; but 
 I see to it that it doesn t rob my children of food, cloth 
 ing and an education!"
 
 2 THE MAGYAR 
 
 ""We might differ, also, on what constitutes an edu 
 cation," he suggested. 
 
 "Yes we undoubtedly might as we do on all other 
 things; but " 
 
 "Well, let us not go over it again 
 
 "I have one request to make," she said seriously. 
 I hope you will not be stubborn, but grant it : you will 
 not get mixed up in that affair at the City Hall, will 
 you?" 
 
 "Our annual church meeting occurs the same night, 
 and my first duty is there, of course; but if we finish 
 our business in reasonable time, I shall have to accept 
 the challenge of the labor men." 
 
 "A challenge?" 
 
 "Yes. To you it s an invitation; but to me a chal 
 lenge ! Goodman sent the circular and penciled a post 
 script: Shall we have one minister out of fifty? ; 
 
 Stephen Ruden and his wife were having their usual 
 heart to heart talk after the retirement of their three 
 children. He was forty, of strong athletic build, and 
 handsome. His wife was the daughter of a New York 
 business man. She was thirty-five and considered beau 
 tiful. She had tasted some of the pleasures of society, 
 but, as the wife of a clergyman who had little taste for 
 such things, she found it increasingly difficult to sat 
 isfy her social ambitions. They had been married ten 
 years and had three children two girls and a boy. 
 They had occupied the parsonage of the Fairport 
 Church in a suburb of New Oxford, Connecticut, for 
 five years. He was popular, but considered an im 
 practical dreamer by the business men who were his 
 most intimate friends. He was something of a prophet, 
 a good deal of a scholar, but very little of a pastor. 
 
 Mrs. Ruden saw the trend of the conversation it
 
 A HOUSE DIVIDED 3 
 
 had gone that way so often. She tried a more concili 
 atory method. 
 
 "Stephen, dear," she said, looking into his hazel 
 eyes, "are \ve forever to run atilt to the thinking of the 
 best people?" 
 
 A low chuckle in reply annoyed her. 
 
 "Sweetheart," he said a moment later, "your best 
 people do not think they run atilt of those who do." 
 
 "Do your labor men think?" 
 
 "Not over much." 
 
 "Who, then?" 
 
 "A few who can afford it." 
 
 ~"Yes " she said sarcastically, "a few and you 
 are one of them ; a privileged few Avhose wives and chil 
 dren pay the price with starved and naked bodies." 
 
 "Madeline, dear, don t get excited. Let us talk with 
 out irritation. Whom do you mean by the best peo 
 ple? The Sloans, the Withertons? They are the 
 moneyed people. Best means character and intelli 
 gence. Most of your mushroom aristocracy have 
 neither. Is there a man or woman in that crowd that 
 ever read a good book ? Their intellects are of the cash 
 register variety, and as for religion my dear, I don t 
 want to be unfair but you know deep down in your 
 heart that they don t know what it is!" 
 
 "That is a fine comment on your five years preach 
 ing, isn t it?" 
 
 "It may be and it may not you can t make a silk 
 purse out of a sow s ear." 
 
 "Why do you stay then?" 
 
 "The answer is simple. I give them what they want 
 a literary discourse on Sunday morning delivered 
 with some degree of dignity and the ordinary trim 
 mings, and I am at liberty to preach to what we are
 
 4 THE MAGYAR 
 
 pleased to call the masses in the evening, and go 
 where I am needed the rest of the week." 
 
 Stephen, I know you get a crowd ; but what do you 
 give them? Literary criticism, ethical culture, and 
 moral discourses! Do you call that the gospel? : 
 
 "We won t discuss that, my dear. I know you think 
 I have lost my faith but I have only sloughed off some 
 superstitions that befog the soul." 
 
 "And have acquired a few opinions that beggar your 
 family and keep your friends apologizing for you every 
 time they go into society ! 
 
 "This embarrassment of my friends is new I have 
 not heard of it before." 
 
 "Why, at the Chesters the other night, Mr. Chester 
 said he believed you were drifting into Socialism!" 
 
 "Poor Chester!" 
 
 "Poor Chester indeed! He stands for something 
 in the community." 
 
 "What, for instance?" 
 
 He is President of the Chamber of Commerce ! 
 
 "I know he is. And he lives in a sixty thousand dol 
 lar house, owns a fifteen thousand dollar automobile, 
 has his name in the Connecticut Blue Book; but a man 
 may have all these things and only a thirty cent soul 
 with which to enjoy them!" 
 
 It seems to me that a minister who characterizes his 
 parishioners as thirty-cent souls needs to restudy his 
 Bible." 
 
 "My dear, I haven t so characterized them. I have 
 in my parish some of the finest souls in the world. 
 There s the widow Ellsworth on the hill, as worthy of 
 a biography as Florence Nightingale. There s old 
 Mrs. Lines whose hands are like the claws of an eagle 
 from opening oysters. Much less holy women have
 
 A HOUSE DIVIDED 5 
 
 been canonized. There s the cripple Barnet who runs 
 the peanut stand at the bridge. He s a saint of God. 
 I could name a score of such all of them profoundly 
 religious, but afraid to open their mouths in church 
 matters because they can t show up big at the annual 
 pew auction. On Sundays they sit under the gallery, 
 out of sight." 
 
 "Stephen, I am so tired of hearing you talk of that 
 pew auction every time we mention church matters. 
 Why don t you preach against it or find a parish where 
 there is no such thing?" 
 
 "I have preached against it; but it s the one chance 
 in the year for Waddell to palm off his stale jokes, and 
 for the Chesters, Sloans and Withertons to outbid each 
 other for the choice lots in the house of God." 
 
 Mrs. Ruden was irritated. She had heard all this 
 before. 
 
 "I don t care what you say to the contrary," she al 
 most screamed, "I want to be among people who suc 
 ceed people who are dominant. There is a funda 
 mental lack in these anaemic saints of yours!" She 
 arose and went toward the door hesitated for a mo 
 ment with the knob in her hand. Her face was 
 flushed, and her lips trembled. She had a final word 
 with a keen edge with which she desired in her passion 
 to end the controversy. 
 
 "Say it, my dear; it will relieve your tension," he 
 said quietly, as he watched her. 
 
 Stephen she said, blood tells ! You have in 
 your veins the blood of the foreign proletariat and 
 with all your learning and exquisite manners, you can t 
 quite hide the fact that you are different that in your 
 veins flows the blood of a strange race!" 
 
 Ruden slept in his library. They had forgotten to
 
 6 THE MAGYAR 
 
 arrange his couch. He arranged it himself, and pre 
 pared to retire. This combination of library study and 
 bedroom was small, and every available inch of space 
 was covered with books and pictures. The largest pic 
 ture in the room was a copy of a painting the work of 
 a Norwegian. It was a group Jesus, in the garb of a 
 mechanic with a square paper hat on his head, stands 
 talking by the wayside to a couple of laborers. A 
 priest is passing, and as he passes, he looks over his 
 shoulder at Jesus. There is contempt and a sneer on 
 the priest s face. The minister stood before it in deep 
 contemplation. 
 
 "He was despised and rejected of men a man of 
 sorrows and acquainted with grief!" he muttered as 
 his eyes filled with tears. Then he stole quietly to his 
 wife s room. She was lying on a sofa, pressing a hand 
 kerchief to her eyes. He knelt, bent over and kissed 
 her lips, muttering softly in a trembling voice "Peace 
 troubled soul peace of God to you ! He retreated as 
 softly as he had entered. 
 
 "Stephen!" she called, as he reached the door, 
 "Stephen!" 
 
 He returned, sat down on the edge of the sofa. 
 
 "There is a mystery about you," she said, "and I 
 have not been able to solve it in twelve years!" 
 
 "The mystery deepens every time I find it impossi 
 ble to agree with you, doesn t it?" he asked. 
 
 "That is your usual subtle way of driving me back 
 upon myself; nevertheless there is an orientalism about 
 you that you seem unable or unwilling to explain satis 
 factorily. 
 
 "My dear," he said, "what s the use of arguing? 
 You are tired, and it s late.- Let s be content with the 
 battle as it ended in mv den. ;
 
 A HOUSE DIVIDED 7 
 
 "What is your conception of life, anyway?" she 
 asked, in a calmer manner. 
 
 "It s a different thing to different people, dear. It s 
 a blessing to some, and a curse to others. To one 
 man it s a mission; to another, a joke; to a third, a 
 problem, and to a fourth, the mere struggle of the 
 beast to exist." 
 
 "What is it to you, Stephen?" 
 
 "I hardly know, dear, a journey, perhaps. The 
 road is at times rough then smooth. I have four trav 
 eling companions you and the children. There is work 
 to do as we go along ; burdens to be borne for the heavy 
 laden, joys and sorrows to be shared with pilgrims we 
 meet on the way. Sometimes the sky overhead is blue 
 and sunshine floods the road; sometimes heavy clouds 
 hang low and cast deep shadows. Parts of the road are 
 besprinkled with flowers, and others with thorns that 
 annoy and sharp stones that cut the weary feet of the 
 travelers. 
 
 "And the destination?" 
 
 "Ah, yes, the destination the theologians put all 
 the emphasis there and have neglected the road. When 
 I first met you, I was doing that myself, and much of 
 our lack of harmony is due to the fact that I have 
 abandoned speculation about future heavens and hells 
 peopled with gods and demons!" 
 
 "And what have you left?" 
 
 "I have the road!" 
 
 "Stephen, you tire me so with your parables and 
 dreams. I wish you would get down to earth and be 
 practical. What on earth do you mean by the road ?" 
 
 "Life, my dear, the common Me!" 
 
 "I don t like to have you use that word common 
 every time you speak."
 
 8 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "I know, dear; with others you have the itch to be 
 uncommon to possess what others cannot possess, to 
 do what others cannot do. That is w T hy you so stoutly 
 defended Mrs. Bowen when she donated a set of silver 
 individual communion cups so that she wouldn t have 
 to take the symbol of the blood of Christ from the same 
 cup as her neighbors who w r ere ditchers, diggers and 
 oyster-openers ! 
 
 Mrs. Ruden arose like a flash, and cried, "Stephen, 
 how can you say what you know is not true? It was 
 
 because she had to drink after old Deacon T who 
 
 comes to every service with tobacco in his mouth!" 
 
 "Don t get excited, please. Sit down, and I will tell 
 you what I understand by the road. 
 
 "Oh it s hopeless it s hopeless! I can t stand it!" 
 She stretched herself again on the sofa, and sobbed. 
 
 "I sympathize with Mrs. Bowen on the tobacco 
 question," he said, "but I have my own version from 
 her. Anyway, that s unimportant. Let me talk to you 
 quietly a few minutes, and then we will retire." 
 
 "No, I don t want to hear your platitudes about the 
 sufferings of your common people. I m tired of it. 
 Talk to me of success not failure ; of beauty not ugli 
 ness ; of intelligence not stupidity ! 
 
 "No, dear, I ll go to my den, beaten; you have the 
 last word, anyway, that s something."
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES 
 
 "STEPHEN," said Mrs. Ruden in a jocular vein a few 
 days before the annual parade of church statistics to be 
 held May 1st, 1905, "I m going to play politics myself 
 at the annual meeting." 
 
 "Good!" he said, "will you let me in on the plot?" 
 
 "How can I when you are the subject of it?" 
 
 "I ll meet you half way, Madeline, I ll give you 
 my plan of campaign if you will give me yours. How s 
 that?" 
 
 "You ll play fair, Stephen?" 
 
 "My dear" 
 
 "Hush!" she put her hand playfully over his 
 mouth of course, you will ! 
 
 "Well, since it s your play, what s your trump card, 
 Madeline?" 
 
 "First a bean supper at the church it won t be 
 ready on time. The meeting will open with prayer 
 Deacon Thurston will pray whether you ask him or 
 not. I ll report for the Ladies Guild my report takes 
 half an hour to read; then, I ll make a few remarks. 
 The meeting at the City Hall closes at ten and it 
 takes twenty-five minutes to get there so!" 
 
 "So " he repeated, smiling, "that s your plot, is 
 it?" 
 
 "Yes now 7 for yours." 
 
 "Mine s more simple: let things take their natural 
 
 9
 
 10 THE MAGYAR 
 
 course, or, even take your unnatural and political 
 course; and, as I said before, if we finish in time to 
 take the car to City Hall." 
 
 "But if you can t get there before ten what s the use 
 of starting?" 
 
 "Look here, Madeline, I ll make a simpler compact 
 with you: if the chairman of the standing committee, 
 the treasurer or the secretary are at the church meet 
 ing, I will give it up and come home with you ! If 
 they are absent, you will not object to my going, will 
 you?" 
 
 "Are they to be at the City Hall?" 
 
 "I think so." 
 
 "To watch you?" 
 
 "No to watch their financial interests!" 
 
 "Impossible!" 
 
 "Do you agree to the compact?" 
 
 "Are they stockholders?" 
 
 "All of them; and if they have time only for one 
 meeting, why shouldn t I take time for both?" 
 
 "Then I ll call off the bean supper," she said 
 slowly. 
 
 "And Deacon Thurston s prayer also?" 
 
 "I suppose so." 
 
 "Don t! Call off the prayer let the bean festival 
 go on. It s the only healthy normal thing in the line of 
 church festivals. 
 
 "Stephen!" 
 
 "I mean it. Everybody is at home around a bean- 
 pot. They smile and converse freely and relax and 
 unlimber. There s a democratic atmosphere around an 
 ecclesiastical bean-fest that I find nowhere else. At 
 other festivals they assume sainthood; they sit like 
 gravestones and envelope themselves with outward and
 
 STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES 11 
 
 visible signs that are out of touch and keeping with an 
 inward natural life." 
 
 "You are diverting my attention, Stephen. I dread 
 your appearance at that City Hall meeting. I am 
 worrying myself ill over it." 
 
 "Let us agree, then, that if the principal officers of 
 the church are not at the annual meeting that you will 
 offer no objection to my attending the latter part of it." 
 
 AVell, I suppose that is all there is left for me to do. 
 
 The minister attended the meeting and made a speech. 
 
 Next morning, in a little stove store near the Fair- 
 port church, a group of churchmen met and talked the 
 situation over. A few nights later the minister had a 
 call from a lawyer who represented the discontented. 
 
 "Of course, I come as your personal friend," he said, 
 by way of introduction. 
 
 "Yes," Stephen said, "I know go on." 
 
 "They are hot!" he said. 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 "You know these men of means." 
 
 "I don t know name them." 
 
 He named the men who had been at the City Hall 
 meeting, and told of their deliberations in the stove store. 
 
 So they think I am a Socialist, do they ? 
 
 "They have no doubt of it now r ; and, as your friend, 
 I want to clear the matter up." 
 
 "I don t know \vhat Socialism is," said the minister. 
 "I have never read a book on it none of my friends 
 are Socialists ; but if what I said at the City Hall is 
 Socialism, I plead guilty." 
 
 A week later Dr. Bacon was called to the parsonage 
 to attend the minister in one of his monthly attacks of 
 chills and fever; for ten hours he had been in its 
 grip. The only rest of the day came about six o clock.
 
 12 THE MAGYAR 
 
 Husband and wife in the twilight were talking over the 
 effects of the public hearing, when Ned Carolan was 
 announced. Ned was the Diogenes of New Oxford, 
 and had come to congratulate the parson on his public 
 spirit the second time Carolan was ever known to do 
 such a thing. 
 
 "The doctor has given positive orders," said Mrs. 
 Ruden to Ned, "that Mr. Ruden is to be on no account 
 disturbed. 
 
 "Will ye do something for me, madam?" 
 
 "With pleasure," said the minister s wife, in her 
 most pleasant vein. 
 
 "Tell the doctor to go to - 
 
 "Mr. Carolan!" 
 
 "Yes, that s me. Tell him 7 said it!" 
 
 Mrs. Ruden was about to shut the door when Ned 
 planted his number ten inside. "No you don t!" he 
 said. "I want to see Ruden an ye can bet yer old 
 shoes I m a-goin t do it see?" He clamped upstairs 
 purposely making a noise and shouting, as he ascended 
 "Ruden! where are ye?" 
 
 "Come in, Ned," said the minister. 
 
 Ned looked at him. "Ye look as if ye d swallowed a 
 butcher s knife sick at the gizzard, eh?" 
 
 I ve been shaking the house to its foundations, Ned ; 
 but I m getting over it now." 
 
 "Never mind the house," said the visitor. "Shake 
 up these mealy-mouthed suckers in yer church ! 
 
 Ruden laughed. 
 
 "See here, Ruden," he said, "I ll be gettin th toe 
 of yer ol woman s boot in a minute. She s sputterin 
 like a wet hen so what I ve got t say, I 11 say hot off 
 th bat. These holy water company men in yer church 
 will boot ye out in a few weeks, an I want t give ye a
 
 13 
 
 tip. I ve got a contract for a sewer, an I ll give ye a 
 job at a dollar an two bits a day. Ye ve swung a 
 pick?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Good! it s a sight better job than spoutin for a 
 livin among these daylight robbers of Fairport. I 
 know em they re oysters that s what they are and 
 they ve ate so many of their kind that their busums 
 heave an swell wi th tide! Good night!" 
 
 A minute later there was a noise like the report of a 
 blast of dynamite Ned had shut the door -and was 
 gone. Madeline, pale with rage, entered. 
 
 "Is your friend, Mr. Carolan, a walking delegate?" 
 she asked, in a tone of bitter irony. 
 
 "No," Stephen said, laughing, "he s a walking 
 dynamo ! 
 
 "Stephen, it sent a cold chill through me to see a 
 glow on your face while that uncouth man was talking 
 to you ! If Mr. Sloan had called you would have shut 
 your eyes and feigned sleep." 
 
 "There is a difference." 
 
 "I should say there is. It s a pity a few of our lady 
 friends were not here to entertain Mr. Carolan." 
 
 "No, dear, ladies are not in Ned s line. He s a 
 priest a social priest and is the agent of God to 
 watch the gang of rascals that misgovern New Oxford. 
 They throw him out of the door and he clambers in 
 through the window; they shut the committee-room 
 door, and he plants himself on the skylight!" 
 
 "It s too ( bad that one of your deacons or one of 
 your prominent church members couldn t so distin 
 guish himself." 
 
 "It is, dear," he said, taking her seriously; "but 
 I m afraid that is hopeless. They have preserved their
 
 14 THE MAGYAR 
 
 lives in respectability, and lost their souls in the 
 process." 
 
 There was a knock at the study door. 
 
 There s about fifty gintelmin in th parlor t see 
 Mister Ruden," said Nora, the Irish servant. 
 
 "It s your entire standing committee, Stephen!" 
 said Mrs. Ruden on her return from greeting them. 
 "Y\ T hat on earth can they want?" 
 
 : They Ye come to inform me of a raise in my salary, 
 he said, smiling. 
 
 "They ve come to raise Cain, judging by their 
 looks," said the woman, who hated slang. 
 
 In the five years of his pastorate, there had been 
 very few disagreements of any kind. The minister 
 had no apprehension. 
 
 "Tell them I ll be down in a few minutes." 
 
 Ten minutes later, pale and trembling, the pastor 
 greeted eleven stalwart spiritual leaders of his Fairport 
 parish. 
 
 "Parson," said Jed Brewster, "we ve come to hev a 
 friendly chat with you, an they ve asked me to open 
 up." 
 
 "AYell, open up, Jed!" 
 
 A mild titter went around. 
 
 "Them sermons on th prophets you ve been givin 
 us lately they re a triile odd for you ! 
 
 "Too near the earth, Jed?" 
 
 "Waal I guess that s about it. But I m only one," 
 continued Jed; "there is ten others here they ll hcv 
 to speak for themselves." 
 
 So they spoke one after another. 
 
 "AYell, if you ll excuse me," said Deacon Saunders, 
 "I hcv a habit of speakin m mind, an it strikes me 
 like this: Them prophets away back there done a
 
 STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES 15 
 
 heap of screamin agin riches. Now, I ain t rich, so 
 can t be accused of standin up for myself; but folks 
 who hev some of this world s goods in our church hev 
 been mightily affronted at what s bin said." 
 
 "At what I have said, or the prophets?" asked the 
 minister. 
 
 "P hans both of ye!" said the deacon, with a thin 
 smirk. 
 
 I may be dull," said Brother Davisnn, "but I 
 never could understand that Old Testament. It s out 
 of my depth. There s so much fightin ;:n hate there. 
 1 like the New Testament, where it s all love love for 
 mine every time!" 
 
 "How many more have ye in the course, parson?" 
 asked the church treasurer. 
 
 "Two more." 
 
 "The reason I ask is because if they were strung out 
 much longer, we wouldn t have enough income to pay 
 the coal bills much less the pastor s salary!" 
 
 There was a long pause. 
 
 "Brother Stimson," said Jed, "let s hear from 
 you." 
 
 "I m not so particular about sermons," said Stim 
 son; "but that sermon on They shall walk with me in 
 white suited me down to the ground. 
 
 "Ye can t do much with human nature when it s all 
 riled up," said Deacon Bowen, when it came his turn 
 to speak. "It s all right for an evangelist t nettle us, 
 for he s only here for a short spell as ye might say; 
 but it s sure to go hard with a regular pastor, who s 
 sot down among us for life." 
 
 "Now understand, parson," said Jed, "we re not 
 here to put up a kick, but just t sorter speak so s ye 11 
 know what s in th air, ?
 
 16 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "That s so," broke in Stimson, and several others 
 nodded approval of the suggestion. 
 
 Hans Peterson was a member of the governing 
 board by virtue of his office as president of the young 
 people s society, and when they had all spoken, he said : 
 
 "Them sermons seem t have hit you, brethren, where 
 the rent does. They struck me as bein th best talks 
 I ve ever heard; but, of course, I m no judge." 
 
 There was another pause. Each man had delivered 
 himself. It was the minister s turn. His wife sat 
 in the next room within hearing distance, but out of 
 sight. 
 
 "Well, parson," said Jed Brewster, "we d like t 
 hear from you. You know what we think of you 
 perhaps we re all wrong ourselves." 
 
 "No " said Ruden slowly, "I haven t a word to say. 
 I ve been in bed most of the day; but even if I were 
 well, I think I should be at a loss for words." 
 
 They looked at each other. 
 
 "P raps we can talk it out later?" Stimson sug 
 gested. 
 
 "P raps so," said Jed. 
 
 They aro.se, one after another each in turn shak 
 ing hands with Ruden, and trying to smile as they ex 
 pressed in a, maudlin manner their sympathy for his 
 physical condition. 
 
 "Gentlemen " said Ruden, as they neared the door 
 through the hall, "may I remind you that none of you 
 have mentioned the name of God to-night, nor has any 
 one suggested that the situation might be helped by 
 prayer. " 
 
 "That s so!" said Jed, who was the ever-ready 
 spokesman of the nonplussed delegation. 
 
 They filed back into the parlor, knelt on their knees
 
 STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES 17 
 
 and besought God for the health of the "beloved pas 
 tor." 
 
 My God ! exclaimed Madeline, as the door closed. 
 "What a stupid lot!" 
 
 "My dear," said Euden, "be careful! They are 
 the stewards of the Church of Christ ! 
 
 "Poor Christ!" she said indignantly. "How 
 weary he must feel ! 
 
 The minister dragged himself to his couch. His 
 wife made a cup of tea and set it beside him. They 
 were both silent for a long time. Mrs. Iludcn was dis 
 tressed with conflicting emotions. She saw herself ob 
 jectified in the complaint of the church board. They 
 were a mirror in which she saw herself, and the pic 
 ture annoyed her. 
 
 "Do you know, Stephen, I had to hold my chair 
 tightly to keep from breaking in on that committee. 
 I was wild with rage!" 
 
 "My dear, if you see my point of view, I am satis 
 fied." 
 
 "Oh I do, and I don t. At times I feel you are 
 right, and again, I feel as if I simply cannot stand 
 you any longer. I don t know what to do or think. 
 If I was only sure of your past your childhood, boy 
 hood and all, I would be more at rest. It s all a mys 
 tery to me." 
 
 "It is to me, also, a.s I have told you a hundred 
 times; but, Madeline, you have known me twelve years 
 these years have not been years of mystery!" 
 
 "Yes I think they have. You have mysteries of 
 mind that I cannot fathom. You have a kinship with 
 the underworld that sickens and discourages me!" 
 
 " There is some mystery in it I cannot fathom my 
 self I don t understand it. At times I feel as if, in
 
 18 THE MAGYAR 
 
 order to satisfy you, I must sacrifice everything in life 
 to the discovery of my father or the record of my birth 
 and parentage; but, Madeline, this anchor holds me as 
 an anchor holds a ship in a storm ! He led her to the 
 crib side of their golden-haired boy. He bent down, 
 pushed back the curls, and kissed the little brow. "lie 
 holds me to irksome duty ; he binds me to you and daily 
 fastens me as if by ropes of steel to God and the cause 
 of the poor." 
 
 There were tears as woll as wonder in her eyes when 
 the minister took her in his arms and kissed her good 
 night.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 A DANGEROUS NEOPHYTE 
 
 "ETHEL is coming to-night, Stephen," Mrs. Ruden 
 said next morning; "what shall I get for dinner?" 
 
 "I don t know, dear, and I m sure Ethel doesn t 
 care." 
 
 "How do you know?" 
 
 ""Well, we ve known her for five years. She s the 
 most cultured young woman in the parish, and culture 
 includes good sense." 
 
 Ethel Ainsworth was the only daughter of the rich 
 est man in the parish. She was a "Wellesley graduate 
 and had just closed her second year in a New York 
 Law School. She was twenty-five and accounted very 
 handsome. She was interested in social questions, and 
 had spent a summer vacation in the Chicago stockyards 
 investigating the manner in which her father made 
 his money, as he was a large stockholder in the biggest 
 packing concern in the country. 
 
 Mrs. Ruden had inherited a New England kitchen- 
 mindcdness from her mother, so spent the entire day 
 getting ready for the evening meal. When Miss Ains 
 worth arrived at five, mistress and maid were about ex 
 hausted. The children were dressed with painful 
 rigidity and neatness. They considered themselves in 
 pound for the rest of the day. 
 
 "For pity s sake, get dressed, Stephen," Mrs. Ru 
 den said, as she passed him in the hall. "Dinner will 
 be ready in a few minutes." 
 
 19
 
 20 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "I am dressed, dear," he said. 
 
 "You haven t changed your collar!" 
 
 "Madeline, have you noticed how Ethel is dressed?" 
 
 "Yes, what of it?" 
 
 "Well, its artistic and sensible." 
 
 "She doesn t have to slave along on two thousand 
 a year with three children at her heels from morning 
 till night." 
 
 "But even if you had thirty of them dragging at 
 your heels, you might arrange your dress with less 
 stiffness and formality. I speak, my dear, for your 
 own comfort not mine." 
 
 "You told me to make myself at home," Ethel said, 
 as the Rudcns came down, "so I have been helping 
 Nora for half an hour." 
 
 "The idea, Ethel!" 
 
 "Isn t it a good one?" 
 
 For you to think of it, yes ; hut for Nora to allow 
 you, no!" 
 
 "My dear," said Ethel, "we do the same thing our 
 selves. Mother fusses and fumes for ten straight hours 
 every time Mr. Ruden comes to tea ! I used to hate 
 the sight of a preacher, but I have more important 
 things to talk over to-night. You ve had a visit from 
 the official board, haven t you?" 
 
 "Yes " said Ruden, "I wondered what you would 
 think of it." 
 
 AV ell we ll talk it over later." 
 
 Miss Ainsworth helped the children through the or 
 deal by telling the story of Siegfried. After dinner, 
 she played selections from Grieg and Chopin on the 
 piano, concluding with the singing of "My Rosary." 
 
 "Let us go up to the study," Stephen suggested. 
 
 "I have a few things to attend to, Ethel. You go
 
 A DANGEROUS NEOPHYTE 21 
 
 to the study with Stephen, and I will join you in a 
 few minutes." 
 
 "What are you going to do?" she asked the minis 
 ter as soon as they were seated. 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 "Oh perhaps I ve begun at the wrong end." 
 
 If you have important news, wait a few minutes 
 until Madeline comes." 
 
 "There are a few things I want to say before she 
 comes!" Ethel said in a way that startled the preacher. 
 
 "Go ahead, then!" he said. 
 
 "Three years ago you awakened my dead soul 
 that only happens once in a lifetime. Since that day 
 I have been as devoted to you and your interests as 
 ( hire was to Francis. All of that is a preface to this: 
 I know the battle you are fighting it is in the city, in 
 the church and in your home. I know it all every 
 detail. In a year, somehow, somewhere I will take 
 my stand by your side. The vision is one, the fight the 
 same 
 
 "My dear," said Stephen, as his wife entered, "I 
 have stemmed the tide of Ethel s gossip until you ar 
 rived." 
 
 "Good; now, dear girl, lift up the flood-gates." 
 
 "I wonder if either of you people really know what 
 is going on in the parish? I don t think you do. As 
 you know, the committee was merely the mouth of the 
 interests. Money doesn t need a mouth it s cheaper 
 and saves trouble to hire one. My old Dad has been 
 in a storm ever since the public hearing. Other men 
 of the front-pew kind have been at our house. They 
 have discussed pro and con; then the poor dupes who 
 hold office were told to act and they came here like 
 poodle dogs.
 
 22 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Mr. linden, they have decided that you are a So 
 cialist, and A\ r addell is the tool to be used to oust you 
 and to rob you of four hundred dollars of your salary ; 
 and, as they know that church membership will sup 
 port you, they fear a meeting or a vote so it s a case 
 of starving you out. It s cut and dried, so don t delay! 
 Read your resignation next Sunday, and give the 
 church a chance to act on it before the interests can 
 make a move that will embarrass you!" 
 
 "But, my dear girl," said the minister s wife, "why 
 do you so violently oppose your father in this matter?" 
 
 Ethel looked at her for a moment in astonishment. 
 
 There s a passage in the Bible somewhere," she 
 said, "which speaks of a time when those who have 
 wives shall be as though they had none Mr. Ruden 
 can quote it correctly but it may be that the same is 
 true of daughters and fathers. If a burglar was on 
 the way to rifle your house of its contents and I gave 
 you warning, would you ask me why I betrayed the 
 burglar?" 
 
 "I was thinking, dear, of what it must cost you to be 
 true to your conscience ! 
 
 "It doesn t seem to me that you fully grasp the 
 situation, Mrs. Ruden," Ethel went on. "Here, for 
 five years your husband has taught and led his people. 
 There never was a whisper of complaint. lie could 
 stand there in the pulpit and smash their faith in God 
 in a life beyond. He could do what thousands have 
 been burned at the stake for, and they would still love 
 him ; but the moment he touches the economic question, 
 his work is done it is done noAV ! 
 
 This man, AYaddell, for whom your husband has 
 done so much, explained to my father the other night 
 how he had led your husband into a trap. He laughed
 
 A DANGEROUS NEOPHYTE 23 
 
 as he told it. He told how he came to the pastor and 
 explained to him that the society could only raise six 
 teen hundred, but that the church would raise the bal 
 ance. He bit! cried this Fairport Iseariot, and what 
 you call the best people are saying Well, then. 
 legally he can t collect the four hundred, can he? lie 
 even suggested to father what could be done with the 
 money that ought to clothe your children. It s to 
 paint and repair the parsonage for your husband s 
 successor!" 
 
 Madeline stretched herself on the couch and sighed. 
 
 "Oh," she said, "I m so sick of it all gossip, 
 intrigue and double-dealing everywhere ; and in the 
 church they assume their vilest shapes!" 
 
 "My dear," said Stephen, "we might better adjust 
 ourselves to such things if we were ready to recognize 
 their existence." 
 
 "Well, if you will bear children and look after them, 
 1 11 recognize and adjust myself to conditions around 
 me. I ll have time then," she replied. 
 
 "Adjustment to the gods is the first essential, it seems 
 to me," said Ethel. "In teaching me that, Mr. Ruden 
 gave to my butterfly life an incentive an outlook; 
 and the first thing my opened eyes observed was the 
 intellectual paralysis of this community. I saw the 
 women around me toying with clothes and jewelry, and 
 sweating half their entire lives over what they should 
 eat and wear. It was so vulgar; so animal like. In 
 the brutal language of the vulgar rich money talks 
 in our suburb." 
 
 "Ethel, my dear," Mrs. Ruden said, sitting erect, 
 "talk is easy and cheap. We are now practically out 
 of an appointment, and we haven t a dollar in the 
 world. We have to eat and we have to feed and clothe
 
 24 THE MAGYAR 
 
 our children; if we could cash our virtues or draw on 
 a rich father, we could afford to take it as easy as you 
 do!" 
 
 "Look here, Madeline," Ethel said with flashing 
 eyes, "last summer I spent July and August in the 
 stockyards of Chicago among the people who made my 
 father rich and are making him richer, and from the 
 day I left that inferno, I have not used a dollar of his 
 money not a dollar. In this I have scorned the advice 
 of your husband he told me I had a duty to my father; 
 I told him I had a larger duty to my own soul. My 
 brothers objected to my friends because they w r ere poor 
 solely because they were poor and couldn t wear 
 the same kind of clothes; but I am a person, a human 
 soul. I have a life to live I must live it alone before 
 God and my own conscience. By these eternal stand 
 ards, I stand or fall!" 
 
 "You ought to be ordained, my dear, " 
 
 "And married, too, you will say when I tell you what 
 I have in my soul about another matter. Mrs. Ru- 
 dcn, you talk about bearing children as if you were an 
 old hen laying eggs!" 
 
 Madeline stood erect for an instant, twitching nerv 
 ously. She had something cutting to say, but hesi 
 tated. What she did say was a modification of the 
 thought. 
 
 "Sit down, please, dear, and let us talk this out 
 quietly," Stephen said soothingly. 
 
 "I will not be insulted without at least a protest!" 
 
 Ethel arose now, and they stared at each other for 
 an instant. "I am but a girl compared to you, Made 
 line, but I have the mind of a woman. If you were 
 as careful about insulting others as you are about be 
 ing insulted, you would whine and grunt less to your
 
 A DANGEROUS NEOPHYTE 25 
 
 husband about the terrible burden of bearing children! 
 You would think twice before insulting your children 
 by constantly regretting their existence." 
 
 "You seem deeply interested in my husband!" 
 
 "I am but not as a husband. I am interested in 
 him because he is following in the bloody footprints of 
 the Christ without even a Bethany home where he might 
 get his feet washed with love. He is alone, and as he 
 is my father in God, I demand the right to comfort and 
 encourage him!" 
 
 Madeline raised her voice "Sometimes these fath 
 ers in God become husbands in the devil!" 
 
 "For God s sake change the drift of this conversa 
 tion," Stephen said. "Nothing can be gained by per 
 sonalities." 
 
 Without taking her eyes off Madeline, and as if she 
 had not heard the minister speak, Ethel Ainsworth 
 said: 
 
 "If that becomes true in this case, it will be because 
 you were false to your marriage vows, false to the 
 ideals of your husband, false to God, and a panderer 
 to the vulgar tastes of the characterless people of the 
 community ! 
 
 Madeline arose and hastily left the study. The min 
 ister and his guest arose simultaneously and looked into 
 each other s eyes. What they saw, eternity only can 
 reveal but each saw something they had never seen 
 before. 
 
 "I am sorry," he said, but he could get no further. 
 
 "You are not!" Miss Ainsworth said. "You are 
 glad you know you are; don t be a coward!" 
 
 ; Then I am glad you expressed yourself and that it 
 is over!" 
 
 "It is not over. Such things are over when life is
 
 26 THE MAGYAR 
 
 over. Shake the dust of the community from your feet. 
 If there is a God, He will support you. If there be any 
 virtue left, it will rally to your aid; but whatever you 
 do, don t let any man nor woman nor circumstance blur 
 that vision. The vision you have shown me must not 
 fail you in your hour of need!" Before he could speak, 
 she was gone and the front door had just closed when 
 Madeline entered. She was pale and excited. 
 
 "I don t want to be unreasonable, Stephen I have 
 only myself to blame. I told Ethel s mother in confi 
 dence some of the things she hurled at me to-night! 
 I feel the ground slip from under my feet I feel every 
 thing moving away from me. I am losing you no, 
 not your body, but your soul of fire that swept me off 
 my feet years ago! Help me help me! Oh, Stephen, 
 for Christ s sake help me!" 
 
 She put her arms around his neck and wept. He 
 laid her gently on the lounge, and said : 
 
 "Sweetheart, we take ourselves and the world too 
 seriously ! Let us try to live simply for a big principle 
 for a while; if we don t succeed, we ll try something 
 else." 
 
 "It is you, Stephen you take yourself too seri 
 ously!" 
 
 "AY ell, then, let s try again to get some fun out of 
 life as well as service. Let us try to live as well as get 
 a living!" 
 
 AYhen he kissed her good-night, there was an under 
 standing or an understanding and a half.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE MENACE OF IDEALISM 
 
 THE departure of the minister from the Fairport 
 Church almost immediately after the annual meeting 
 \vas accompanied by a series of protest meetings of a 
 more or less violent nature. The working men intro 
 duced to the church membership by the pastor were 
 incensed but powerless. They had a voice in matters 
 oF a religious nature but were voteless on questions of 
 management. The saints talked ; the sinners attended 
 to the business. The going or coming of ministers is 
 a matter of business and church members as such have 
 no voice in such things. 
 
 Mr. Ruden moved his family to a small farm on the 
 outskirts of the city. It was an abandoned farm with 
 a former orchard. There were sixteen acres, but about 
 fourteen of them were stones. Arriving about the mid 
 dle of June and having neither tools nor capital, the 
 cry "back to the land" meant very little to him. A 
 discredited minister is dead wood on a lecture list, and 
 most of his engagements were cancelled. While he was 
 enjoying the fruit of respectability in Fairport, the 
 Colonial Union, a debating society of the University, 
 had scheduled him for a lecture on "The Changing 
 Social Order," but as the time drew nigh to deliver it, 
 there was considerable dissatisfaction among the patri 
 otic students. Being accuse^ of being a Socialist, he 
 gave diligent study to the matter and the thing he 
 
 27
 
 28 
 
 feared came upon him. The thing gripped and held 
 him. 
 
 "Who got this fellow to lecture?" asked an indig 
 nant student on the campus on the afternoon preced 
 ing the lecture. 
 
 "Stirling got him," said a bystander. 
 
 "Does Stirling know he s an anarchist?" 
 
 "By Jove," said young Oglethorpe, "if he s an 
 anarchist or Socialist we ought to give him a warm re 
 ception!" 
 
 "Let s hunt him up," said Sleesberger, one of the 
 bystanders. 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 "Stirling!" 
 
 Off to Old South Middle went four youths who had 
 suddenly made themselves guardians of "the univer 
 sity s good name." 
 
 "What are you fussing about?" Stirling asked, as 
 the fellows inquired with a grouch what it all meant. 
 
 "Look here, Oglethorpe what do you know about 
 this preacher?" 
 
 "Everybody knows he s a Socialist or an anarchist, 
 don t they?" answered the Southern youth. 
 
 "One at a time," said Stirling, as three of them 
 spoke at once. 
 
 "You first, Ogle, what is a Socialist do you know?" 
 
 "Any fool knows!" 
 
 "Then tell me!" 
 
 "Get a dictionary," suggested Ryan. 
 
 "No, let the dictionary alone until we get through." 
 
 "Well," said Oglethorpe, "a Socialist is a man who 
 wants to divide up the world s property." 
 
 "Is that all?" 
 
 "Be damned! no, it isn t. They all believe in free
 
 29 
 
 love and all sorts of fool vagaries. "We ll have a mass 
 meeting to protest to-night as sure as hell!" 
 
 "I m not a Socialist," said Stirling, when the boys 
 had sufficiently demonstrated their ignorance; "but 
 when a man writes a book that gives him a place in 
 literature, or stands for a big principle, I want to find 
 out why he is a Socialist. I think it s an opportunity." 
 
 The five of them stood on the steps for a minute 
 and looked at each other. 
 
 "Say, Ogle, : said Stirling, as he led him aside, 
 "wouldn t it be a joke on you if the specialist who is 
 treating you is a Socialist and at the meeting to 
 night?" 
 
 "What the h 1 has that to do with it?" 
 
 "It is a commentary on your hypocritical fear that 
 Socialism will lead to free love ! 
 
 The reference to the "Dr." incensed Oglethorpe, and 
 he managed to stir up a number of like minded scions 
 of the successful to open revolt. Half a dozen mem 
 bers of the Faculty caught the contagion of fear and 
 discussed the affair together informally, but decided 
 to take no actual part in the matter. 
 
 There was a stormy meeting of the executive com 
 mittee of the Union, and a wrangle over which of them 
 should preside. Ruden s best friend a local minister 
 had been asked to perform that function, but it was 
 now the opinion of both the Faculty and their Union 
 that he should be eliminated. Who would call him off? 
 The president refused, but was willing to preside in his 
 stead. Notice of a mass meeting in Alumni Hall had 
 been circulated, and Vanderlip, a freshman, member 
 of the executive committee, was appointed to state the 
 ease for the Colonial Union. 
 
 About a quarter past eight, old Alumni Hall was
 
 30 THE MAGYAR 
 
 well filled with undergraduates most of them wonder 
 ing what it was all about. Lew Oglethorpe of Alabama 
 walked up the aisle, wheeling around when he reached 
 the front of the hall. 
 
 "Fellows," he said, "this is not only a patriotic 
 meeting, but it is a meeting in the concern of the honor 
 of old Colonial. The Colonial Union composed of 
 freshmen who have not been long enough here to under 
 stand have invited a prominent Socialist or anarchist 
 here to deliver a lecture, and we are here to protest 
 against having any such person address us. I can t 
 make a speech, but I love my country and don t want 
 one of its worst enemies to have any honors showered 
 on him here." 
 
 "Oh, you Ogle! " someone shouted. 
 
 "Ogle" smiled and sat down. There was a pause. 
 Oglethorpe jumped to his feet, and said: 
 
 "I regret this incident because the reverend gentle 
 man is a friend of my family." 
 
 It was Vanderlip s turn : 
 
 "The Colonial Union is composed of Freshmen, it is 
 true; but we are not to assume from that that all the 
 virtues and patriotism of Colonial resides in the Sopho 
 more class. It was like this: Mr. Ruden was asked 
 to lecture under our auspices some months ago, now 
 it just happens that since we secured him he has become 
 a Socialist. I don t know what a Socialist is, but I 
 would like to know. Some of these wise Sophomores 
 are chasing rainbows. The great American Republic 
 and old Colonial will survive this shock we feel sure ! 
 
 Sleesberger came next. Patriotism was boiling in 
 him. He grew enthusiastic and thumped the back of 
 a chair as if it were a punching bag. 
 
 "I don t care what a man s title is!" he roared.
 
 THE MENACE OF IDEALISM 31 
 
 "It s the man that counts. These foreigners come here 
 and after they ve got a good living, they want what 
 other men have sweat for" a whack at the chair 
 created a cheer, and four men standing by the door 
 yelled, "Slees Slees Slees! Oh, you Sleesberger !" 
 
 The fact that Sleesberger was the son of a rich packer 
 who himself had come as a poverty stricken emigrant 
 from Southern Europe was well known. This, with the 
 knowledge the students had of his profligate life, dis 
 pelled whatever seriousness there was, and the student 
 body was on the edge of a ludicrous dispersion when one 
 of the assistant professors took a hand in the debate. 
 He counseled patience ; said the engagement was made 
 and couldn t be called off, but that it should be a lesson 
 to those in this case involved. "A lecture here on So 
 cialism or anarchy is a virtual indorsement ; if not of 
 the ism, then of the ist the man who delivers the lec 
 ture. " This gave the meeting a serious vein, and half 
 a dozen young patriots expressed their fears for the 
 country and the "integrity of the American home." 
 
 "To use a parliamentary phrase," said a pale-faced 
 youth, " there is nothing before the house no defi 
 nite proposition. Most of those who have spoken have 
 unloaded the prejudices of environment. I am of those 
 who speak in public for the first time I ask for the 
 same patience accorded others in the discussion." lie 
 was in the front seat, and as he began to speak, he faced 
 the audience. The hall was filled at that time to over 
 flowing. 
 
 "Louder! Louder!" shouted several near the door. 
 
 "That s Skinny the grind, " somebody said half 
 aloud. The speaker raised his voice. 
 
 "A few months ago the papers of New Oxford told 
 the story of a man who went insane in one of our big
 
 32 THE MAGYAR 
 
 slaughter houses. He was what is called a header. 
 For ten years he cut off the heads of a thousand hogs 
 an hour. That was the work of a muscular arm, light 
 ning rapidity, and a clean blade. Multiply that num 
 ber by the hours he worked, and you have ten thousand 
 a day. He came home to eat gulp down a meal 
 take off his bloody shirt that stuck to his skin, and, 
 like a beast, lie down to sleep. He lost few days in 
 ten years. If he became ill, the firm put two men in to 
 take his place and docked him for every hour. If a 
 few minutes late, he was docked an hour. If he cut 
 his finger, he was docked for the time it took to bind 
 it up. His family grew and his wages fell. He felt 
 himself in the iron clutch of circumstances similar to 
 those that smashed his family life when he was a child 
 sending parents in one direction and helpless chil 
 dren in another. The cord snapped one day, and he 
 went mad ! He ripped his keen blade through five men 
 in about as many minutes. He was adjudged insane 
 and taken away to a madhouse and the company paid 
 his wife for as much of that bloody day as he decapi 
 tated hogs, and no more. The papers gave no details. 
 They could not tell what I am telling, because the busi 
 ness, the churches and the press are owned by the same 
 people. 
 
 "I am that man s son. You wonder why I am hero 
 in Colonial. I will tell you: because the daughter of 
 a big stockholder in the slaughter business of which 
 the abattoir on Long AMiarf is a branch, went to Chi 
 cago a few years ago to investigate how her father made 
 his money, and she found thousands of slaves like my 
 father wallowing all their lives in blood, and she re 
 fused any longer to live on the blood money; so she 
 singled out our family, took my name, and against it
 
 THE MENACE OF IDEALISM 33 
 
 in the Bursar s office put that money to educate me. 
 What for? To help remedy these conditions. 
 
 "Gentlemen, I never knew what that woman meant 
 until this afternoon when I heard Sleesberger, Ogle- 
 tliorpe and Hancock talk of the purpose of this meet 
 ing. These young men are concerned about American 
 institutions, about religion and patriotism. Some of 
 you smile I feel like weeping. I tell you what they 
 are concerned about: they are afraid the beasts will 
 arise and devour them, or worse still, make them work 
 for a living! 
 
 "Young men, the shirts on your backs were bought 
 by the red blood of my father and tens of thousands of 
 other boys fathers. And we are tired of hunger and 
 exposure and rags, that you you three, particularly, 
 that I heard talk this afternoon that you should revel 
 in lust and luxury while we go into your fathers 
 slaughter houses to slaughter and be slaughtered! My 
 mother has had one dress in ten years. She paid nine 
 dollars for it. About once a year the New Oxford 
 papers tell in detail what your mothers wear. They 
 describe minutely the silks, satins and jewelry ! 
 
 "You are full-blooded, strong and healthy! All my 
 brothers and sisters are weak and physically deficient. 
 1 have scarcely enough body to support my mind. 
 You sneer, Hancock! The Insurance Company of 
 which your father is president, took my father s money 
 for nine years his policy was paid up until the last 
 minute. AYe went hungry and naked to pay it; but 
 when my father went insane, the company was tech 
 nically relieved of responsibility. Out of such pen 
 nies of the poor, your father built his yachts and sent 
 you here ! Sneer again ! sneer at our tears, and laugh 
 at our groans!
 
 34 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Strange, isn t it, that I should ever have gotten 
 my neck out of the yoke ; but I have and as I stood 
 listening to your gush this afternoon, my life of misery 
 and the misery of my class passed in review. I saw 
 a long drawn out procession of white slaves, slaves 
 with stunted bodies and twisted limbs, naked, 
 dirty and ignorant ! I heard their wail of despair, and 
 from the padded cell of my father came a cry that 
 pierced my very soul. And it struck me that Socialism 
 must mean the end of white slavery and injustice; and 
 I swore by the sacred name of Christ that I would fol 
 low Euden and use the education I get here to accom 
 plish the dream of the ages, or give my life in the at 
 tempt!" 
 
 During the last few words, the boy gripped the back 
 of a chair, but his strength was gone and he slid down 
 the side of the chair to the floor. The meeting dis 
 solved as if by magic. A couple of students carried 
 him to the campus, where, in a few minutes, he regained 
 consciousness.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 "AND A MAN S ENEMIES 
 
 Two hours before the lecture, Stephen Ruden sat in his 
 study in the farm house, quieting himself after a 
 stormy colloquy with his wife. His elbows were on 
 the table and his face was buried in his hands. The 
 patter of little feet in the hall aroused him. A mo 
 ment later the children pounced upon him and fought 
 for position on his knees. Sacha climbed on his back. 
 They were dressed for bed and had come for prayers 
 and a good-night story. It was a group that might 
 have charmed the heart of any woman. Stephen Ru 
 den loved his children with an unusual love. It was 
 in their innocent lives he found comfort when the out 
 side world frowned upon and disowned him. The 
 children s hour was the sunshine of his life. It was 
 his encouragement his hope. lie never had been in 
 such dire need of human aid as when they found him 
 in a deep reverie the night of his University lecture. 
 
 Mrs. Ruden followed the children into the room. 
 She was silent and sat apart by the window while the 
 children listened with rapt attention to a parable of 
 the barnyard, composed more for the ears of the mother 
 than the children. It was a picture of social condi 
 tions, with a suggestion of a way out. It was full of 
 the most subtle satire and engaging humor. The chil 
 dren laughed at the antics of the aristocratic old rooster 
 who introduced the wage system among the hens and 
 
 35
 
 36 
 
 almost wept at the fate of the young cockerel who 
 came to the rescue of the chickens who starved on a 
 worm a day. At his knee the children knelt and re 
 peated their prayer. Then they kissed him good-night 
 and were led away by their mother. 
 
 "Stephen," she said, when she joined him again, 
 "I m sorry I lost my temper when I spoke to you after 
 dinner. I want to talk to you calmly now for a min 
 ute before you go to your lecture." 
 
 "Well," he said, "I ll listen as calmly as you talk." 
 
 "The title of your lecture, The Coming Crisis, gives 
 you all the latitude you need to show the people of 
 this city that you are not as radical as you are sup 
 posed to be." 
 
 "But, my dear, I am more radical than anyone sup 
 poses me to be." 
 
 ""Well, I ll put it in another way you decide by 
 your lecture to-night whether you keep or reject your 
 wife and children whether you remain a respectable 
 member of society or become a nondescript disturber of 
 the peace. I can stand it no longer I must know be 
 fore you go out just what you intend to do." 
 
 She spoke as she had promised calmly but with 
 a determination he had never seen in her manner be 
 fore. 
 
 "I don t think it a choice between a social nonde 
 script and the gangrene of this town s respectability," 
 he said, "but if it were I would rather be a pariah than 
 a Bourgeois nonentity." 
 
 "Pardon me," she said, interrupting him. "We 
 have gone over this often enough tell me now, please, 
 are you going to advocate Socialism, or announce your 
 self as an advocate that s a simple question I want 
 you to answer it!"
 
 "AND A MAN S ENEMIES 37 
 
 "I understand," he said; "then I answer in the af 
 firmative, just to suit your convenience, but let me say 
 to you that I shall remain the father and guardian of 
 my children despite you or society or the powers 
 of hell arrayed against me ! 
 
 She lay down on the study lounge and sobbed. He 
 sat silent. Then she arose and said in faltering tones, 
 "I will try not to hate you, but you have spoiled my 
 life ruined it. I take what is left and make the most 
 of it. Good-bye!" 
 
 She went out of the room quickly and he could hear 
 her sob as she descended the stairs. The minister 
 sighed as he put the notes of his lecture in his pocket 
 and went out into the night with a sadder heart than 
 he had ever known. 
 
 Three thousand people crowded into Davenport Hall 
 that night to see and hear the man who had given the 
 newspapers so much to do in an otherwise dull season. 
 His friends and enemies both came. 
 
 An inane youngster introduced him with the usual 
 platitudes. The customary hand-clapping reception 
 was omitted. His enemies would not, and his friends, 
 feeling that they were in the enemies camp, could not, 
 at least they did not try. 
 
 "Socialism is a state of mind," was his opening sen 
 tence. "Political economists have approached it as if 
 it were the framework and bones of a Brontosaurus. 
 Spiritual things are spiritually discerned it takes a 
 soul to see a soul, and therein lies the secret of the stu 
 pidity that thinks it has solved the problem when it 
 asks with an air of sanctity: AYhat is it? 
 
 "It is a diagnosis and a prescription. Small-pox 
 used to be a universal scourge a world-wide pestilence, 
 but science has almost entirely wiped it out.
 
 38 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Tuberculosis must also go, for science is after it. 
 Poverty is as old as the world, and its very age is given 
 as a reason why it should perpetuate itself. Poverty 
 is not merely a lack of material essentials, it is a lack 
 of education, refinement, culture, religion. Socialism is 
 Science in a crusade against poverty. The diagnosis is 
 made there is little difference of opinion on it. The 
 prescription asks for a more equitable distribution of 
 wealth a distribution based on the labor employed in 
 wealth production and social service. 
 
 "Socialism is neither cataclysmal, confiscatory nor 
 iconoclastic. It does not work from the top down, but 
 from the bottom up. It does not dream of correcting 
 evils by the big man the over-glutted, who becomes a 
 philanthropist by stolen goods. It simply prevents his 
 species. It will offset the plutocratic gangrene by the 
 inoculation of a healthy democratic virus. To begin 
 at the top is revolution. To work from the bottom 
 is evolution. History furnishes some gruesome and 
 bloody examples of revolution. They have been explo 
 sions, and sometimes have cleared the air, but they 
 have left the working class worse than they found them. 
 There may be more explosions but it is the mission of 
 Socialism to point out their futility. The future state 
 will be built, not on the mistakes or even the injustices 
 of the past, but on what the collective wisdom has dem 
 onstrated to be practical and permanent. 
 
 "The spirit of Socialism is at work. AVhat it has ac 
 complished will not be repudiated the steps taken will 
 not be retraced, for while its passion and mission is for 
 the uplift of the toilers its work includes the abolition 
 of classes. It is class conscious because only in that 
 way can class hatred be abolished.
 
 39 
 
 How are we to do it ? I hear you ask. By attend 
 ing to first things first. 
 
 The condition of the unemployed the stunting of 
 the bodies of little children better housing housing 
 by the State and the City. 
 
 "We have socialized the mail business the public 
 schools the fire department parks streets high 
 ways libraries we teach trades to city boys and 
 farming to farmers. "We are now preserving the coal 
 in Alaska and the public lands and forests for public 
 use. This is Socialism at work and our program is 
 simply this spirit emphasized and pushed as far as the 
 public mind is prepared to push it." 
 
 "What about dividing up?" yelled a student. 
 
 "Dividing up what?" asked Ruden. 
 
 "The wealth," was the answer. 
 
 Then, with a roar, a thousand of them gave the col 
 lege yell. 
 
 "I never heard of that," he said, when they sub 
 sided. ""We do believe, however, in dividing up the 
 opportunity on a more equitable basis." 
 
 "Who is going to dictate what work men will do?" 
 was the next interruption. 
 
 "I don t know," was the reply "that s a question 
 for the future." 
 
 "You Socialists are always talking about the future 
 and when we ask you anything about it you say you 
 don t know." 
 
 "Well, that s the position of the church! She deals 
 entirely in futures and when we ask for details, she 
 says have faith what can we do more? We observe 
 a tendency it is in the direction of the social owner 
 ship of the means of production and distribution
 
 40 THE MAGYAR 
 
 just what shape it will take, our great-grandchildren 
 will be able to tell." 
 
 "What about free love and the break up of the 
 family?" 
 
 "Free love is the exclusive privilege of the rich. 
 They have time and opportunity, and avail themselves 
 of both. The working class doesn t trouble the divorce 
 court much it hasn t time. The newspapers give the 
 record read them and find out who is breaking up 
 the family by its treatment of the working men but 
 if you mean the old patriarchal family I say yes 
 we hope to abolish that, for that was property in 
 women and children. The male owned the female and 
 her offspring. The State is the over-parent and women 
 bearing children within the limitations of the social 
 compact will be taken care of by the State, like any 
 other social servant. But, young gentlemen, permit 
 me to point out that the moment we Socialists speak 
 of righting world wrongs the archaic mind wants a 
 forecast of the future. It wants a scheme like a clock 
 wound up to go a millenium. It dodges the issue of 
 the present degrading system of multi-millionaires and 
 paupers of injustice, theft, exploitation it jumps 
 these and asks what it will do a thousand years hence. 
 We don t know but we ask you college men to help 
 us lift the dead level to purge parties of graft and 
 self-seeking. You think clearly enough, but you are 
 not alive! Take, for instance, your chief activity 
 here, in Colonial. It s the Y. M. C. A. You have a 
 mission where you take your old worn out junk you 
 teach the old roustabouts a theology nothing comes of 
 your activity and worse still, nothing is expected, for 
 your leaders say plainly and brutally that the chief 
 thing is your practice in talking theology to the hobos.
 
 "AND A MAX S ENEMIES 41 
 
 All you have to offer for social injustice is the plati 
 tudes of a medieval theology. You don t even take that 
 seriously. 
 
 "Pardon me, if I seem inconsiderate, but let me give 
 you an illustration of the value of a college training. 
 
 "When you men get your bachelor degrees, and you 
 sit a hundred of you around a table say, in the AV;il- 
 dorf- Astoria the table is covered with cut glass with 
 beautifully fashioned silverware, the iinest pottery, 
 most expensive linen. Beneath your feet, Turkish 
 carpets and Persian rugs. Around you hang paintings 
 of the masters and decorations by art craftsmen, here 
 you are in the midst of an aesthetic heaven, an earthly 
 paradise, and not a man among you could even help 
 to make a thing he sees or uses. Yet you are called 
 Bachelors of Art ! If a dozen of you were wrecked in 
 inid-ocean you couldn t build a pontoon to save your 
 lives! You know a little poetry, a little literature, a 
 smattering of foreign and dead languages, but the trend 
 of your so-called education has been away from work 
 indeed you come here to be fitted to escape it!" 
 
 The speaker paused for a moment and the students 
 growled like a pack of hungry animals. There were 
 cat-calls and another college yell. 
 
 Ruden stood smiling. AYhen they subsided again, 
 he said: "AVhat have you done with the founder 
 of your religion? He was a carpenter!" lie 
 paused a moment. "I am not a preacher I hate 
 preaching or being preached at but, young men, life 
 calls so loudly to us Our country and the world needs 
 men Men who will not gauge life by what they can 
 get out of it, but by what they can add to the total sum 
 of its progress !" 
 
 The thrill that went through the crowd was a result
 
 42 THE MAGYAR 
 
 not so much of what was said as by the personality 
 of the man who said it. 
 
 For two hours lie spoke direct to the hearts of the 
 men. His tongue seemed tipped with fire he was a 
 living flame. 
 
 As he left the hall men tumbled over each other to 
 grip his hand. Young Oglethorpe was much in evi 
 dence and trotted by his side as a few Seniors led him 
 to a large dormitory, where he answered questions until 
 long after midnight. 
 
 "When he returned to the farm Mrs. Ruden was in 
 her room awaiting him. Her eyes were red and 
 swollen. She was quiet, but evidently distressed. 
 
 "I am going to the Oglethorpe s, " she said, as he 
 seated himself by her side. 
 
 "The Oglethorpe s !" he gasped. 
 
 "Yes why are you surprised ?" 
 
 "Well, if what you told me of Mr. Oglethorpe bo 
 true" 
 
 "Of course," she interrupted "he s a man of the 
 world but he s successful and Mabel is happy." 
 
 "And the children?" Ruden asked. 
 
 "Mother wants them, as you know, for a year." 
 
 Next morning when the daily papers spoke in un 
 stinted praise of the lecture and of the unusual recep 
 tion accorded the lecturer, Mrs. Ruden almost recalled 
 her decision. A decisive step on her husband s part 
 prevented a reaction, and a few days later the arrange 
 ments for her departure were completed.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 A FAIR PROPAGANDIST ENTERS 
 
 IN the forenoon of the last day on the farm, Stephen 
 Ruden took his three children to his favorite haunt by 
 the brook to say good-bye. Only Genevieve understood. 
 
 "Shall we ever corne back to Brook Farm, papa?" 
 .she asked. 
 
 "Xo, dear, probably not." 
 
 "Never?" 
 
 Oh some time, perhaps, we may come up here and 
 look at the changes made when you are a young 
 woman ; and perhaps when Sacha comes to Colonial we 
 will visit him and he will take us out for a drive!" 
 
 "I know what 1 will remember best!" 
 
 "What, sweetheart?" 
 
 "The white birch tree you planted for my birthday!" 
 
 Ruden wondered what he would most vividly remem 
 ber. The boulder, perhaps, for it was to him a Geth- 
 semane of sorrow and tears. He stood them one by 
 one on the big stone and kissed them long and affec 
 tionately. Together they knelt, and with one hand on 
 Sacha s head and the other alternating between Gene 
 vieve and Alice, he invoked the blessing of God. 
 They sang the hymn that always preceded the evening 
 meal, and then returned to find their mother in readi 
 ness for the long journey. 
 
 It was about five when he returned from the depot 
 after seeing them off. The sun w r as sinking behind 
 West Rock in a burst of purple and golden glory. The 
 
 43
 
 44 THE MAGYAR 
 
 ground was covered with leaves. He lacked heart to 
 go indoors on his return, and went past the house, 
 through the yard, and with bent head and hands be 
 hind his back, walked slowly down toward the boulder. 
 In a few minutes he was joined by Rover. The big 
 collie whined perhaps in sympathy, perhaps in sorrow 
 for the loss of Sacha. They might have been painted 
 as shepherd and dog, but the shepherd had no flock 
 it had left by degrees until he was now alone. There 
 seemed an element of defeat in his loneliness. He 
 longed for tears there was no one to see them now - 
 but no tears came. He had noticed that his wife had 
 as much as her heart could bear, too. He w T as thankful 
 for her tears. She had stopped between the farm and 
 Derby Avenue as they went off, and Stephen read in 
 her large eyes a struggle. 
 
 "Go on," she said, "I m just thinking for a mo 
 ment." Then she overtook him and a harder look was 
 there. 
 
 He was now going rapidly over the scenes of the 
 past year. His wife could have told each stopping 
 place of his mind by watching his face. Rover jumped 
 to his feet and uttered a low whine, but he was un 
 noticed by his master until he barked his disapproval 
 at an approaching visitor. A moment later Ethel 
 Ains worth came down the path. 
 
 "Ethel!" 
 
 "Mr. Ruden!" 
 
 They looked at each other for a moment in silence, 
 then extended their hands. 
 
 "I happened to be entering the depot coming from 
 New York as Madeline and the children left. We 
 waved to each other she was in tears." 
 
 "So you took the car out?"
 
 A FAIR PROPAGANDIST ENTERS 45 
 
 "Yes, I knew you would be alone, and I wanted to 
 talk to you." 
 
 "Let me share my boulder with you. My best 
 friends have shared it. Sacha stood there while I 
 kissed him good-bye to-day. Socialists, beggars and 
 literary men have shared it while we talked. Jack 
 London sat there and made me swear a solemn oath a 
 few days ago. Sit down, won t you?" 
 
 "Tell me about the oath." 
 
 "Not until you have told me a few of the things 
 hurting your mind for expression ! 
 
 "Don t you want to hear some gossip of your former 
 parish ? 
 
 "No thank you! except as it relates to a certain 
 Portia who is now a learned member of the Bar!" 
 
 "AYe will be talking in lighter vein if we are not 
 careful," she said. 
 
 "Proceed then!" 
 
 "I was at the Davenport Hall meeting." 
 
 "I suspected your presence. What did you think 
 of it?" 
 
 "It was a crisis in my life!" 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "You know how I have been ringing the changes on 
 definitions ! I have rather gloried in the fact that I 
 couldn t understand Socialism. Define it! I have 
 shouted at you and others. The Davenport Hall 
 meeting cured me no, I was cured before that ! 
 Philip came and told me how the vision came to him 
 on the campus he thought it due me. In the telling 
 of it, Philip stirred my soul to its depths. At Daven 
 port Hall the positive note was struck the affirma 
 tive intellect was dominant. I felt the charm of it ; 
 and as I looked around and contrasted the fire, the
 
 46 THE MAGYAR 
 
 passion of it all with the stagnant marshes of negation 
 and doubt and fear, I saw my duty. It was like tear 
 ing one s flesh off but I tore away from my class and 
 accepted social baptism in that inspiring atmosphere 
 of revolt!" 
 
 Her blue eyes flashed, her bosom heaved, and as the 
 former minister watched her, the prophet in him re 
 treated, and the man advanced. Ethel Ainsworth had 
 been a girl a school girl to him up to this moment; 
 but she had crossed that bridge now and could never 
 return. 
 
 "What will you do, Ethel?" 
 
 Give my life to the people ! 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "Earn a living by practising law and devote my 
 spare time to the propaganda." 
 
 "Join the party?" 
 
 "Certainly!" 
 
 "Good heavens 
 
 "Don t counsel patience," she said, interrupting 
 him, "or ask me to go slow, or anything of that kind. 
 If you are my friend, urge me to do something big, 
 noble, daring worth while!" 
 
 "You have some daring scheme in mind what 
 is it?" 
 
 "Half a dozen came to me in Davenport Hall!" 
 
 "Tell me of them." 
 
 "Celia Bauerman, the pretty sixteen-year-old sister 
 of Philip, is infatuated with that rake, Oglethorpe. 
 He has promised to marry her, and the poor thing be 
 lieves him. Philip doesn t know of it. She works in 
 Hauff s candystore and met him there. When Philip 
 gave me the names of the students who got up the pro 
 test meeting, I could scarcely restrain myself! So, as
 
 A FAIR PROPAGANDIST ENTERS 47 
 
 I sal: in the meeting, I conceived of the formation of a 
 society for the protection of workingmen s daughters 
 from Colonial students." 
 
 "That would be a sensation!" 
 
 "Yes and nothing less will do. The Colonial au 
 thorities ignore the situation, and the churches are 
 afraid to touch it. 
 
 "You couldn t make a living in New Oxford and 
 do that." 
 
 "AYhy not?" 
 
 "For the same reason that they have starved me out. 
 Don t you remember the case of Mrs. Prut cat, the pas 
 tor s wife who hinted at something of that kind, and 
 her husband was called of God to Philadelphia?" 
 
 "Yes; and Christ was hanged on a tree, and his fol 
 lowers were thrown to the lions but they had courage! 
 This is an age of backboneless men and butterfly 
 women. It s an age of polite mendacity and effemi 
 nate pink teas. In the midst of such a morass, isn t 
 there room for a woman?" 
 
 "Yes room for you; but go in for a big thing!" 
 
 "What are you going to do?" . 
 
 "I have thought some about going South. Madeline 
 is to be in Alabama this winter. Oglethorpe, her host, 
 doesn t know me. I am going to look into labor con 
 ditions for a magazine." 
 
 He paused for a moment as he looked at her. Then 
 he added : "I wish we could go together. 
 
 "You don t mean that, Stephen, do you?" It was 
 the woman in her that spoke, and he was startled and 
 pleased at the sound of his name. 
 
 "Certainly, I mean it; but, of course, that s impos 
 sible ! This is a case of treading the wine press alone. 
 To have you with me would be to infuse me with the
 
 48 THE MAGYAR 
 
 life of a god ; but I would be content if one of the hun 
 dreds of single young men who have claimed conver 
 sion under me would step out and say, I ll go! : 
 
 "AYhy doesn t someone?" 
 
 "My dear, they are slaves. They profess to believe 
 in God, but they lie or deceive themselves. They are 
 slaves to their stomachs; they might not get enough to 
 eat. They are manacled by the clanking chains of 
 what is called respectability. Only one in a million in 
 this beef age opens the gates of his divinity; the rest 
 have double bolts, and the hinges are rust-eaten!" 
 
 "Stephen," she said, laying her hand on his, "what 
 do you mean by the life of a god? : 
 
 1 This : that since the conscious dawn of manhood, 
 I have thirsted for a fellowship that was evenly bal 
 anced not a mere breeding arrangement, but a soul 
 comradeship with not only the objective of service, but 
 of fun, of laughter and joy. Lycurgus had a statue 
 to the god of laughter in every house in Sparta. So 
 should we ; but the struggle to get bread and appear 
 respectable is so absolutely engrossing, that there is no 
 time to live, to laugh, to make a brighter world ! By 
 the life of a god, I mean a full life sanely expressed in 
 worship of God and service to man." 
 
 She was watching every line of his face. Her lips 
 were parted and her eyes were full. He was express 
 ing the thoughts of her own heart. 
 
 "AYhat is a Platonic friendship?" she asked, as she 
 nestled closer to his side on the boulder. 
 
 "It s anything from the associations of a bagnio to 
 the friendship of Jesus and Mary!" he answered. 
 
 "You don t like the phrase?" 
 
 "It is usually used as the cover for a pot of lies, and 
 is overworked at all times."
 
 A FAIR PROPAGANDIST ENTERS 49 
 
 "What would you call our friendship?" 
 
 "It is in its earliest stage. Yours may be the ad 
 miration of a neophyte it may be more. Mine began 
 as the love of a minister for his convert ; it grew as you 
 grew. Now it is the love that loves because of what 
 the object is in itself. It has no reciprocal relation 
 no axe to grind. It goes out and centers in its object; 
 like an arrow it penetrates, and the barbs hold it." 
 
 "And if the object changes in character?" 
 
 Love may change, too ! 
 
 "Do you remember what Madeline said one night 
 nbout husbands in the devil? : 
 
 "I do she was right. I think she had in mind a 
 man who shirks responsibility, deserts his wife and 
 children for a new and often selfish and fleshly love." 
 
 "Then, there is danger." 
 
 "Yes, of course; but the danger itself is a spice of 
 life an adventure to the edge; but we are not wound 
 up mechanical toys. AYe have a choice prerogative and 
 power." 
 
 "You are so strong!" she said. 
 
 "Be careful, Delilah!" 
 
 They laughed. 
 
 "Are we in danger?" 
 
 "Yes; on the very edge!" 
 
 "I wish I could play the heroic part of rescuer just 
 fur once." 
 
 "You can, Ethel! Save yourself and me do it 
 now!" 
 
 The rescuer was at that moment breaking through 
 the underbrush, having lost himself in a search for his 
 friend. It was Philip Bauerman. 
 
 "Good-bye!" Ethel said as Philip approached. 
 
 "Good-bye, comrade good-bye!" There was a long
 
 50 THE .MAGYAR 
 
 look, and an affectionate clasp of the hands and they 
 went their way. 
 
 "Hello, Philip!" 
 
 "Hello, Mr. Ruden!" 
 
 "Only a few hours left on the old farm, Philip. 
 There are a few points I want to look at come along. 
 Here , " said Ruden, "is where I hoped some day to 
 build a little twelve by twelve study of these stones ly 
 ing around. You see what a fine view of AYest Rock 
 I have through that vista of trees. Oh, these trees, 
 Philip, have become human to me. Out of these old 
 hemlocks I have gotten more sympathy than from any 
 thing around me ! 
 
 To his right, as he faced the rock, loomed up an ugly 
 ice house on the edge of a pond, and beyond it the 
 still uglier structure around Colonial field; and away 
 beyond, the city of New Oxford. He took leave of his 
 favorite walks and views. lie looked over the scene of 
 his failure in farming and laughed as lie told Philip of 
 the crops that went in and never came out. 
 
 Then, as if talking to himself, lie said: "I must be 
 gin life over again, learn a new trade and adapt myself 
 to changed conditions. People and things, wife and 
 children, home and friends have fallen away from me 
 as mist before the sun. I am alone and one might as 
 well be dead as alone." Philip recalled him from his 
 reverie: "There are some things left." 
 
 "Ah, yes, Philip, I am ungrateful. Some big things 
 are left God and the yeast stirrers are left and I must 
 get close to both ! 
 
 " As the marsh hen builds on the watery sod 
 
 Behold I must build me a nest on the greatness of God. "
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 MUCKERS IX THE MUSCLE MARKET 
 
 A DOZEN men lounged arovmd a table in the Magyar 
 Slovensky Hotel, a low, cheap combination of labor 
 agency and lodging house in Greenwich Street, New 
 York. Most of them were recent arrivals. One of 
 them was a Hungarian youth of nineteen, named Franz. 
 He was quaintly dressed in tight-fitting trousers, black 
 velvet jacket trimmed with silk, and a George Fox hat. 
 It was his first day in the United States, and he was 
 innocently parading his finery. A different sort was 
 "Joe, the Polak, " who sat beside Franz. Joe was 
 twenty, wore a pink shirt open at the neck and collar- 
 less. He had been in the country about a year and had 
 taken several long distance trips into the labor market 
 of the South and far AVest. His black shocky hair hung 
 profusely over his forehead. ATith both feet propped 
 on a chair, he Avas leisurely rolling cigarettes and tak 
 ing the measure of his companions while awaiting the 
 call of the camp. Three of the others were stranded 
 German sailors; two were Swedes, two Russians, and 
 one Bulgarian. Most of them were picturesque all 
 of them save one tough of muscle and bronzed, and all, 
 save one, bore the labor look they had the tang and 
 odor of the ground. Stephen Ruden was the exception. 
 He stood with his elbow on the bar, trying to feel at 
 home, but every man in the place knew instinctively 
 that he did not belong there. He had a six weeks 
 growth of beard, had neglected his hair, wore a cotton 
 
 51
 
 52 THE MAGYAR 
 
 shirt open at the neck, and carried a bundle wrapped 
 in a bright yellow muslin. But he was not disguised. 
 Of course, the fickle dame had sent fine men in rags 
 down there before, but it only takes a gesture, a look, 
 a word, to betray to such a group as lounged around 
 that table the difference between such a man and them 
 selves. 
 
 It was about nine o clock in the morning when the 
 landlady, Mrs. Reiss, shuffled into the midst of the 
 group. Mrs. Reiss weighed two hundred-fifty pounds. 
 Her bullet-shaped head sat well clown on her fat shoul 
 ders. Her face was wrinkled and yellow. She was 
 loosely arrayed in a mother-hubbard with a large girdle 
 indicating the waist line. Jerry, the old Irishman who 
 swept the place out and sprinkled the sand on the floor 
 every morning, was just finishing his work when she 
 entered. 
 
 "Veil, Cherry!" she said, "vat you vas last night, 
 hey? Drunk, I bet, hey? Agh you Gott tarn lazy 
 Irisher ! 
 
 Jerry hung his head and glanced out of the corners 
 of his eyes at Ruden. Then she directed her attention 
 to Ruden. 
 
 "AYhere you come? Greenhorn, hey yes?" 
 
 "Yes," Ruden answered, "very green." 
 
 "Where you go Alabam ? Hey? Nice boy!" she 
 said, coming closer and tickling him under the chin. 
 
 Ruden rolled a cigarette. His companions looked 
 and laughed. 
 
 "P what an edge!" Jerry whispered to Ruden as he 
 passed him. 
 
 Once a day "the agent" visited the hotel and gath 
 ered up whatever had drifted into the net. 
 
 "You shtand up nice und goot, " Charlie, the assist-
 
 MUCKERS IN THE MUSCLE MARKET 53 
 
 ant, said to Ruden, "und maype you ll go; but py golly, 
 I don t know for shure!" 
 
 He had some doubt, for while thirty thousand men 
 went South from such agencies every year, Americans 
 and Irish might as well not apply. This was a discov 
 ery to Ruden. Charlie s explanation may have left 
 nothing unsaid: "Dey kicka up hella alia time every 
 where ! 
 
 The agent was an American a young man. When 
 he arrived, they stood up for inspection. 
 
 "What have you got?" he asked Charlie, as he e} T ed 
 the group. 
 
 "Tarn goot men all every one!" 
 
 One by one they were taken into the inner office, and 
 to each was read the printed labor contract. Big hope 
 these contracts built up two, three and four dollars a 
 day. They were made for a year and stipulated that 
 out of the first three months pay the passage money 
 should be refunded. If the party of the second part 
 stayed six months, the company promised to make him 
 a present of his fare. 
 
 "Where you go?" Joe asked Ruden, "Alabam ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Ah " he sighed, as he shook his head, "Alabam 
 hell! I bin dere I know." 
 
 Joe was conveniently absent when the agent was 
 around. There were other calls from Jersey and Long 
 Island, and for one of these Joe waited. With night 
 came two men from Jersey looking for "hands" for 
 truck gardens; but the highest figure was too low for 
 him, so he visited several other agencies in the neigh 
 borhood, but without success. 
 
 A mutual confidence sprang up between Franz and 
 Ruden. There was a sympathy in the older man s face
 
 54 THE MAGYAR 
 
 that the young stranger was quick to detect and take 
 advantage of. "With the exception of a tour through 
 the other agencies with Joe, Ruden kept close to Franz. 
 Communication between them at first was difficult, for 
 Franz knew nothing of English and only a smattering 
 of German. 
 
 When the regular boarders longshoremen, peddlers 
 and truckmen vacated the basement dining-room, the 
 labor contingent was ordered to get what was left. 
 After supper the labor men under contract mingled 
 with the regular boarders and talked muscle market 
 until Mrs. Reiss handed Ruden an inch of tallow candle, 
 and said "Blow it out for shure when youse lie down." 
 
 Room number twelve in the Magyar Hotel is a sort 
 of Micawber dormitory for contract-men in transit u. 
 It was filled so full of beds that some of them could only 
 be reached by climbing over the others. Each bed was 
 furnished with a horse blanket and a sheet. The sheets 
 looked as if they had been dried in a brown wind. The 
 walls were damp and were paraded by battalions of 
 cockroaches. The floor, like the bar-room, was sanded. 
 
 Joe shut all the windows tightly. The men lay down 
 together on the cold sodden beds as if they had known 
 each other a lifetime. Ruden had an overcoat. lie 
 buttoned it to the chin and lay down beside Franz, ex 
 tinguishing the candle as he was told, when it was no 
 longer needed. Sleep was impossible. A creeping fire 
 attacked Franz and Joe. The rats began to explore, 
 and finding some tallow on Franz s shoe, began to nib 
 ble it. Then Jerry came in half-drunk and clambered 
 over the bodies in search of a vacant spot, each man 
 throwing him on top of the next one as he went along. 
 The elevated trains rattled and screeched past the house 
 all night. The hotel is at the point on Greenwich
 
 MUCKERS IN THE MUSCLE MARKET 55 
 
 Street where two lines meet. Mrs. Reiss brought sev 
 eral men up during the night, and pushing them inside 
 in the dark, would say, "Plenty room lie down go 
 sleep!" The men grunted, exclaimed, grit their teeth, 
 and swore. 
 
 Ruden and Franz talked in German, but when Franz 
 was attacked, as he frequently was, he exclaimed in 
 Hungarian. There was something strangely familiar 
 in these exclamations to Ruden. They were like sounds 
 of a life he had lived before. The strangest part of it 
 was that he understood them as easily as he did Franz s 
 bad German. He had no recollection of ever having 
 heard a word of Hungarian until he entered the Magyar 
 Hotel, and he was startled when the thought occurred 
 to him that he had struck the first clue to his parentage 
 and childhood. It was under these circumstances that 
 he lisped over again, under the tutorship of Franz, 
 what he knew must have been the language he learned 
 on his mother s knee. For this recall of the past, he 
 taught Franz in an undertone the pronunciation and 
 meaning of the English equivalents of the small vocab 
 ulary of key words he mastered in the sleepless hours 
 before the dawn. 
 
 "Did you sleep well, Joe?" Ruden asked. 
 
 "Hella, no!" Joe said. "All anight dese sons of - 
 stinga me bad !" 
 
 When the Magyar Hotel contingent arrived at the 
 dock of the Old Dominion Steamship Company, it was 
 joined by several others. The total number, as they 
 made a final muster, was seventy-two, half of whom 
 were Greeks. Four negro deck hands roped them into 
 several divisions with the same freedom and in much 
 the same language that they managed a carload of cat 
 tle. When the thirty or forty bunks beneath the fo -
 
 56 THE MAGYAR 
 
 castle were filled, the rest were corralled amidships and 
 each provided with a stretcher. 
 
 "Pardon me," Ruden said to a negro who was tying 
 a setter dog to a stanchion close by, "would you mind 
 tying your dog over there near the side?" 
 
 The negro was a temporary nurse to a high class 
 setter whose master was going South to hunt. 
 
 "Yes, sail Ah do mind this yere spot s d cleanest 
 around yere, an Ah guess dis yere is whar he ll hang 
 out!" 
 
 "Were you told to tie him here?" 
 
 "Yes, sah! Ah sho was; Ah told in. self, an dere s 
 two more to come!" lie laughed as he departed to 
 bring the others. 
 
 "Can t these dogs be put somewhere else?" Ruden 
 asked a petty officer. 
 
 "Them dogs are first-class passengers!" 
 
 "Oh and we?" 
 
 "You ain t passengers at all you re freight!" 
 
 Ruden was silent. The officer bit a mouthful of to 
 bacco off his quid and grinned. 
 
 The stretchers were arranged in double tiers, and the 
 laborers lounged around them. A German produced a 
 concertina and furnished music. Two Italians sang a 
 duet ; others sat in small groups and told stories. They 
 were happy, apparently, and care-free. 
 
 "What are you reading, Franz?" asked Ruden in a 
 mixture of German and Hungarian, as Old Point Com 
 fort was sighted. 
 
 Ein Meistershaflesbuch ! 
 
 It was a Magyar New Testament, and as it was yet 
 dark, Franz was reading by the light of matches a 
 verse to a match. 
 
 The comrades were on deck early, and after an hour
 
 MUCKERS IN THE MUSCLE MARKET 57 
 
 in language lessons, Franz produced a marvelous col 
 lection of certificates. He had them in order. The 
 midwife s, of course, came first; then the registrar of 
 vital statistics; vaccination; school in all the grades he 
 had passed through ; changes of residence ; apprentice 
 ship ; citizenship; baptism; confirmation and church 
 membership. Every phase of life was catalogued and 
 officially attested. He was prouder of some than of 
 others. The favorites were the ones with red govern 
 ment seals. He had graduated as a journeyman 
 butcher, and after the display of certificates and diplo 
 mas, he spread out his case of butcher s knives, handling 
 each one with something akin to affection. 
 
 There was a long wait at Norfolk for a train. 
 
 "Don t any of youse move out of that door," said 
 the boss of the gang, "or ye may get a bullet in yer 
 see?" 
 
 They were in the depot and were served with three 
 feet of bread, a box of sardines and a half pound of 
 cheese each. The ration was to last the day. 
 
 "Come on, Franz we ll have a look at Norfolk," 
 Ruden said. 
 
 "The hell ye will! Make a move now and see!" 
 
 Ruden took the man gently by the arm to one side. 
 "Look here," he said quietly, "these poor souls do not 
 know the game ; I do. Now, we are going around the 
 city, and if you make a move if you lift a finger, I ll 
 thrash you within an inch of your life before the gang, 
 then I ll have you arrested!" 
 
 The boss stuck his hands deep into his trousers pock 
 ets, glared fiercely for a moment, and then said 
 
 "Well, don t be too long see!" 
 
 It was after sundown before they were shipped to 
 Portsmouth and driven on board the train. A negro
 
 58 THE MAGYAR 
 
 took Euden by the shoulder and led him. with his yel 
 low bundle along the platform; the others followed. 
 When they entered the car, Ruden noticed the sign of 
 the "Jim Crow Car." Several colored people were al 
 ready seated. When they were seated and their bun 
 dles stored under the seats, Ruden stopped the big black 
 porter in the aisle, and said : 
 
 "I thought you had a law in the State of Virginia 
 about the separation of the races?" 
 
 The black man showed his white teeth in glee. Dere 
 sho is, boss; but bless yo soul, honey, youse ain t no 
 races youse is jest Dagoes, ain t youse?" 
 
 It was Ruden s turn to smile. He imagined he would 
 fare better with the conductor who swept into the car 
 with the air of an admiral on half pay. He wore gold- 
 rimmed glasses, immaculate linen and a glitter of brass 
 buttons. Ruden stepped in front of him as he came 
 up the aisle. 
 
 "Brother," lie said, "why do you stuff us white men 
 into a Jim Crow Car ? I thought there was a law 
 down here against that." 
 
 The conductor uttered not a syllable. He turned 
 back, took the yellow card out of the frame, turned it 
 and it read, "White." The colored people jumped to 
 their feet and made for the door, but were pushed 
 back by the porter with the assurance "Dat s a bluff; 
 it don t mean no thin ." 
 
 The typical passenger train in the South is due when 
 it arrives; and as for freight trains, the conductor 
 makes the time schedule as he goes along. 
 
 After two days snailing, side-tracking and changing, 
 the gang arrived at Atlanta. There it was split into 
 four parties. A woods-foreman of the Blockheart 
 Lumber Company took Ruden s section in charge. He
 
 MUCKERS IN THE MUSCLE MARKET 59 
 
 was a short, stout, smooth-faced man, named Gallagher. 
 He had the look of a fighter; his mouth was a mere slit 
 across his face, large nose, small eyes, and deep fur 
 rows ploughing their way in all directions. He carried 
 his coat over his arm, and out of each hip pocket bulged 
 the butt of a Colt revolver. 
 
 Blockheart is a small town in Alabama, near the Flor 
 ida line. It is an aggregation of square huts surround 
 ing a lumber mill, and owned by the Company. Seven 
 miles out in the pine forest was situated Camp Number 
 One, popularly known as "The Gulch." A small com 
 pany road called the "Dixie Route" was the connect 
 ing link, and on a lumber tract of the Dixie Route, in 
 the early part of October, 1905, went Ruden and his 
 companions to the forest. 
 
 The camp consisted of a train of box cars on the 
 rails arranged like a Bowery lodging house for the ac 
 commodation of the lumber-Jacks. A group met the 
 incoming train, for a carload of Greenhorns was an 
 nounced and on such occasions each nationality in camp 
 looked out for its own. 
 
 "Wie Gehts?" shouted Hans, a German teamster, 
 and all the Germans in the new party replied. The 
 next exclamation was Polish, and then a Russian called 
 out and was answered. Faces were expectant at such 
 times, and each man s mind was across the sea each 
 for a moment filled with a big hope. A youth removed 
 his cap, and shouted: "Hogyvan!" It was a Magyar 
 salutation and startled Franz ; but he was late in an 
 swering, and quick as a flash Ruden replied: 
 
 "Jol Baratom!" hello comrade as he stepped for 
 ward and gripped the man by the hand. 
 
 Old Jordaneff, the Bulgarian, raised his voice; but 
 there was no response he was alone. A muscular
 
 60 
 
 thick-lipped Celt stood by, pipe in mouth, with folded 
 arms. 
 
 T hell wid yez ! " he said, as he turned away in dis 
 gust. "There isn t a maan among yez that spakes a 
 dacent langwidge nor comes from a dacent town!"
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE LAW OP THE FOREST WRIT IN LEAD 
 
 A LUMBER camp to a lover of nature looks like a battle- 
 Held a place of execution. From sunrise to sunset is 
 heard the click of the executioner s axe, and every few 
 minutes a thunderous crash that shakes the earth as 
 each giant of the forest falls and leaves behind him a 
 vacant spot against the blue Southern sky. A train of 
 a hundred cars loaded with logs and pulled by a snort 
 ing steam demon looks like a catafalque on its way to a 
 place of burial. In the wake of the lumber king lie 
 millions of acres of black bleeding stumps a scene of 
 desolation and despair that chills the sensibilities and 
 makes one wonder what future friends of the forest will 
 think of the age of annihilation an age in which lum 
 ber kings took no thought for the life of bird or beast 
 or man ; an age in which the axe not only cut down the 
 trees, but cut off the rain of the heavens and left mil 
 lions of birds and beasts homeless. 
 
 At six o clock the morning after their arrival, the 
 new gang were put to work. Franz was the only man 
 who demurred. As sacred as the thought of God to 
 him was the thought of the law. There was but one 
 law one kind of justice and to his simple mind, these 
 things were alike the world over. "When he carefully 
 packed his certificates and diplomas in his grip, they 
 were to carry him over the earth. 
 
 ""What s the fuss about?" Gallagher asked, as he 
 came out of the box-car at daybreak.
 
 62 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "He says his contract calls for two dollars a day and 
 board," said Shandor, the interpreter, "and if he 
 doesn t get it, he won t work!" 
 
 "Ha ha!" laughed Gallagher, the woods-foreman, 
 "he does, hey? "Well, we ll break im in a day or so." 
 
 Franz shook his head and muttered to Shandor some 
 thing about the Law. 
 
 "The Law!" exclaimed Gallagher, as he whipped out 
 one of his revolvers and leveled it at the youngster s 
 head "tell im this is the law here, and that it writes 
 with lead!" 
 
 "What s this fellow?" Gallagher asked, going to 
 Ruden "A Sheeney or a Dago?" 
 
 "A Magyar," the interpreter said. 
 
 "What the hell s that?" he asked. "Let s have it 
 in English!" 
 
 "He comes from the same place as this young fellow 
 that s kicking about his contract." 
 
 "AVhy ain t he kickin ?" 
 
 "He hasn t read his yet." 
 
 Ruden hung his head and kept silent. 
 
 "He looks husky enough for a teamster; give him to 
 Archie!" 
 
 "That s a Sheeney; I know b the cut of is jib !" He 
 pointed to Orminsky, a young Russian, who, on the 
 journey South, was known as "Squarehead." By the 
 time Gallagher spoke to Orminsky, the newcomers had 
 all gathered around the little master-mind of the forest. 
 He looked them carefully over, joking over the looks of 
 one, suggesting a department for another, and finally, 
 to the group, he made some remarks in general: 
 
 "I want t give you men a tip or two before ye strip 
 t yer job," he said. "AVe ve put up th dough for yer 
 trip down here ; here s the work, plenty of it, and here s
 
 LAW OF THE FOREST WRIT IN LEAD 63 
 
 the finest grub ever put out of a camp kitchen. What 
 them fellers in New York promised is none of onr busi 
 ness. The pay is a dollar a day and grub. Now, we ve 
 had some little trouble with loafers comin an goin 
 away again before they paid their fare ; now, if an y 
 fool notion like that gits a holt on ye, cut it out, or we 
 will ! We ve got four dogs over there that cost five 
 hundred plunks apiece; we ve trained em on niggers, 
 an if one gits a grip on any ov ye, yell think it s yer 
 turn t pass in yer checks! This ain t no place to sell 
 shoestrings nor them rings ov bread on a stick I ve 
 seen on th Bowery. It s a place t work! The com 
 pany says to me Git out a hundred thousand logs a 
 day or quit! It s up t me; that s how th thing 
 stands! Now yer onto th game!" 
 
 Ruden interpreted this later to Franz, and advised 
 him to go to work ; but the boy shook his head. 
 
 "What is he " Franz asked, "an officer as well as 
 boss? Is he a sheriff?" 
 
 Must a boss, Franz; but he controls these men by 
 fear." 
 
 The rising bell of the day rang at five A. M., the 
 breakfast bell at five-thirty and the third sound at six 
 was for work. The labor went with precision of a pen 
 itentiary, and at the first sound of the six o clock bell, 
 thirty teams of powerful horses were led out of the barn 
 and driven to the drift for the first loads of the day. 
 
 Ruden knew nothing about horses, but he mounted 
 old Larry and led by his side Steel, the four-year-old 
 giant that pranced like a cavalry charger as he fol 
 lowed the cavalcade down the hill to the edge of the 
 woods where the thin white mist almost entirely ob 
 scured the trees. The trucks were at the drift, and 
 Ruden s first difficulty came in the hitching process.
 
 64: THE MAGYAR 
 
 The multitude of straps and buckles bewildered him, 
 but he was prepared for such emergencies. 
 
 "Sam," he said to a negro, "you look like a man 
 who could hitch two teams while an ordinary man was 
 hitching one. This hitching business isn t in my line, 
 so I have a big package of Peerless tobacco for the 
 man who does the trick for me!" 
 
 "Boss, " said Sam, when he saw the yellow package, 
 "der ain t no quicker hitcher in Alabama!" 
 
 The sawyers went first and lowered the trees. The 
 rampers followed, trimmed and cut them into lengths. 
 The loading crews piled the giant pines on the trucks, 
 and the teams drew them away from the drift to the 
 ramp by the railroad. These divisions, by long prac 
 tice, learn to work like clockwork, and denude a forest 
 in quick time. Probably the cleanest job was the 
 teamster s. In an hour, with the help of Sam, Euden 
 was Avell enough acquainted with the work to escape 
 notice or comment. Just before the teamsters un 
 hitched for dinner, Gallagher with Dr. Brace, the vet 
 erinary, drove past the drift at a gallop. In the back 
 of the buggy crouched two of the company s blood 
 hounds. 
 
 "Somebody s g wine ter lose d seat ov der pants 
 bcfo long!" said Sam. 
 
 "AYhere is he going?" Kuden asked. 
 
 "After some poh nigger what s tuk French leave, Ah 
 guess. 
 
 "Perhaps it s a white nigger?" suggested Kuden. 
 "Sho ly boss, sho ly, but Ah know what dese yer dogs 
 kin do; Ah bin done had dem arter me twice!" 
 
 "Did you run away?" 
 
 "Not on yo life; but Mister Barlan sez to me one 
 day, sez ee, Sam mend yo licks scz ee to Florada
 
 LAW OF THE FOREST WRIT IN LEAD 65 
 
 thro d woods ef d dogs overtakes ye sez ee 
 don t git skeer t, fur dey don t mean no harm. He 
 give me two bits, and sez ee Now make a break! 
 Boss, Ah went thro dat patch o woods like d devil 
 was at m heels; but, bime by, up dey came a-snortin 
 and a-sniffin . Ah jumped up a tree, but Ah was just 
 a, mite too late, fur bless gracious if dat hound didn t 
 take d hull seat ov ma pants at a bite, an down Ah 
 come wid a yell what d wake d dead! Dat houn hilt 
 on an d oder one get a grips on me too, an d boff on 
 em hilt on like cockleburrs on an. ol hoss till Mister 
 Barlan come an turn me loose!" 
 
 "Didn t they bite you, Sam?" 
 
 "D second time dey chew ma legs like dey was sau 
 sages!" 
 
 The topic around the camp during dinner hour was 
 the escape of three men during the morning. Franz 
 was one of them, Mike Trudics another, and old Jor- 
 daneff, the Bulgarian, the third. Ruden discovered that 
 they had gone in different directions, which meant that 
 probably but one of them would be caught that day. 
 
 The discovery that the water used at the camp was 
 taken from a stagnant pool led Ruden to follow an al 
 most dry ditch for a few hundred yards through the 
 woods in search of a drink of clean water; at least, as 
 clean as the Gulch could provide. Sam had volun 
 teered to watch his team and pull it to one side when 
 loaded. He expected to be gone but a few minutes, but 
 kept on along the swampy edge of the ditch until he 
 came to a road. He knew that his team was loaded and 
 ready, but the fascination of the road a long avenue 
 of the mightiest pines held him for an instant in a 
 temptation to enjoy a walk through them. In that in 
 stant he heard laughter, and then a scream of terror.
 
 66 THE MAGYAR 
 
 His first thought was Gallagher then of a hasty re 
 treat. Life to these bandits of the forest is as cheap as 
 lumber and of less consequence. To be discovered 
 there, meant abuse and maybe more. Another cry ! 
 This time it struck terror to his very soul and seemed 
 to freeze the blood in his veins. 
 
 "Jay! Istenem!" rang through the pines. It was an 
 appeal to God from the lips of a Magyar. The emotions 
 of fear, dread, cowardice and courage swept over one 
 another quicker than the ticking of a clock. Around 
 the bend of the road there was a problem. It might 
 mean his life. Should he risk it? AY as it worth while? 
 To die like a dog by the hand of a dog was less than 
 life demanded of him. The coward prevailed for an 
 instant maybe it was wisdom; the decision was 
 changed, however, as quickly as made, for Gallagher s 
 buggy came in sight at a fast trot, the veterinary be 
 side him, and at the end of a rope, poor Franz. 
 
 Rudeii put a tree between him and the scene. Cold 
 clammy sweat covered his face ; his legs seemed unable 
 to support his body. AYithin twenty yards the buggy 
 stopped Fran/ had fallen and was being choked to 
 death! Like an enraged panther Ruden sprang to the 
 scene. The rope was tied around Franz s neck, his 
 trousers hung in bloody ribbons about his legs, and the 
 work of the hounds was evident at a glance. Ruden 
 whipped out his knife, cut the rope and stood Franz on 
 his feet. 
 
 Damned infernal cowards, both of you ! " he shouted, 
 as he glared at them with fire-lit eyes. 
 
 "Take the lines, Brace!" said Gallagher, as he threw 
 them aside and jumped to the ground. AVinding the 
 lash of his whip around his right hand, he struck at 
 Ruden s head. The leaden butt rendered powerless the
 
 LAW OF THE FOREST WRIT IN LEAD 67 
 
 left arm held up as guard; Ruden s right fist shot out 
 and caught Gallagher in the neck beneath the chin, 
 lifting him completely off his feet and dropping him on 
 his hack. 
 
 "Pot th bastard pot him Brace!" he yelled. 
 
 Ruden wrenched the whip out of Gallagher s hands, 
 handed it to Franz. "Fight!" he said. 
 
 Brace stood up in the buggy and pointed his revolver. 
 
 Gallagher was proud of the way he could trounce 
 the average Jew or foreigner that came to the camp, 
 and while Brace was making up his mind to shoot, Gal 
 lagher made a second rush at Ruden, only to be met 
 with a right hand smash to the jaw, which staggered 
 him, and another that brought him to his haunches. 
 I p to this time he had either forgotten or was afraid to 
 use his own gun. Now, chagrined and beaten, he drew 
 and fired. The ball entered Ruden s breast an inch 
 above the heart, ploughed its way through the body and 
 lodged beneath the skin of his back. As he sprang at 
 the bully, another ball entered his wrist and tore its 
 way up his arm to the elbow. He got Gallagher s gun, 
 but too late. He dropped on the road exhausted. 
 
 Brace covered Franz, who was so panic-stricken with 
 fear that he dropped too ; and a hurried conference 
 was held as to the next move. 
 
 "If I could trust your damned mouth, Brace, I d fin 
 ish the suckers and bury em in the ditch!" He took 
 the whip and brought the squirming fiery lash down 
 on Ruden s stomach. "Come on, you d d Sheeney, 
 or I ll finish you!" 
 
 Ruden writhed in agony on the road. Gallagher 
 went over to Franz and drove his foot into his ribs. A 
 lo\v grunt from the youth, and he turned over, relaxed, 
 as if in death.
 
 68 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "For Christ s sake, don t murder them!" Brace said. 
 
 "Shut up, you horse s - !" shouted Gallagher, as 
 he mounted the buggy to drive away. As he took the 
 reins out of Brace s hand, a farmer drove up. 
 
 "Hello," he said, "what ve ye got, Teddy?" 
 
 "Oh, only a couple of Bowery toughs shootin up 
 th camp!" said Gallagher. 
 
 The Magyars were lifted into the farmer s wagon 
 and driven behind Gallagher to the camp. They were 
 stretched on a couple of mattresses in the woodshed at 
 the end of the stable. Dr. Tremble, the physician of 
 the lumber camp, was sent for. He extracted two balls 
 from Ruden and set Franz s ribs. An hour after their 
 arrival, Joe Maginnis, the only Irishman in the camp, 
 was stretched by the side of the wounded, stricken with 
 typhoid fever. 
 
 Ruden counted time by the vibrations of pain for the 
 rest of the afternoon, lie could hear men and horses 
 coining and going. He heard every comment made on 
 the capture of Franz. After the doctor left, a deputy 
 sheriff in the employ of the company brought Orminsky 
 back, and the boy who had escaped Kishenev and the 
 black hundred, was tied to the wheel of Gallagher s 
 buggy just outside the woodshop and flogged with a 
 horsewhip big Ollie, the teamster, and the blacksmith 
 standing by in case Archie, "the whipping boss," needed 
 their assistance. Forty times the lash descended ; 
 forty times the little Russian winced and twisted. Af 
 ter the thirtieth stroke, the sound changed. There w r as 
 no more cutting the whip was merely burying itself 
 in the bloody gutter tracks of the previous strokes. 
 AYlien they untied his wrists, he sank on his knees. The 
 men picked him iip and threw him into a corner of the 
 woodshed beyond Maginnis. He turned over on his
 
 LAW OF THE FOREST WRIT IN LEAD 69 
 
 stomach and lay there groaning until Sam, having been 
 relieved of his horses, came there in search of Ruden. 
 
 "Boss," Sam said, "you d a better done gone tuk 
 dat water in d swamp; yo mout a hed a soh belly, but 
 dat s better n bein a basket ob lead!" 
 
 "Have they caught old Jordaueff?" Ruden asked. 
 
 "Yo mean d ol Bulgary man? Yes dey sho have. 
 Mr. Gallagher hammer im wid d butt ob his gun till 
 e turn ober like a dead possum!" 
 
 "Where is he?" 
 
 "Lyin ober dar mong d dead wood. Mr. Gallagher 
 sez sez ee Let d ol sucker lie dar, sez ee ees 
 fakin ! " 
 
 Sam had taken a liking to Ruden, and in addition to 
 his own work, became his nurse. After supper Ruden s 
 temperature rose rapidly, and Sam not knowing what 
 to do, sought sympathy and help wherever he could 
 find it. 
 
 Shandor, the interpreter, was a Hungarian. He en 
 tered the camp as a dish-washer, but later entered the 
 office as a clerk and acted as interpreter. He was the 
 scion of a noble Magyar family who had left home for 
 his country s good, and after several weeks in the New 
 York bread line, was drafted South with a gang of la 
 borers. He wa.s persuaded to look in on Ruden. 
 
 "No thank you," Ruden said in answer to his ques 
 tion; "you can do nothing for me but there s Magin- 
 nis dying of typhoid beside me; you might help him!" 
 
 "You are a Magyar; I would like to help you!" 
 
 "I prefer Gallagher s help; you are a traitor to your 
 race ! 
 
 "How do you make that out?" 
 
 "You have gone after your countrymen with blood 
 hounds and guns, and you have stood by like a coward
 
 70 THE MAGYAR 
 
 when they were flogged like galley slaves by these 
 brutes. I am on a field of battle; I ll take help from 
 the enemy not from a traitor ! 
 
 "You can go to hell, then!" said the interpreter, as 
 he turned to the Irishman. 
 
 "Hello, Joe, how are you?" 
 
 "Get out!" said Joe, "you re a damned Dago; send 
 me a nigger wid a dhrink ov wather, an t hell wid 
 yez!" 
 
 Shandor laughed and left the scene. 
 
 Two men carried Jordaneff into the shed. That was 
 the only remedy the doctor offered when he came. 
 
 "Can I do any tiling for you?" he asked Ruden. 
 
 "If you were a physician, you might," answered 
 Ruden. 
 
 "You ve got some gall for a dollar a day Sheeney, 
 hain t ye?" 
 
 "I m too weak to talk much," said Ruden; "but let 
 me point out something of which you seem oblivious. 
 That slimy pool where we get our drinking water con 
 tains not only slime, but the excrements of men and 
 horses. Five men have been killed by it, and the sixth 
 is dying beside me. You can t save him you haven t 
 the skill. Five hundred men pay iifty cents a month 
 here for medical attendance, which consists of patent 
 medicines and a quack." 
 
 "What s doin on th Bowery, Doc?" Gallagher 
 broke in. 
 
 "This Sheeney needs more ov your medicine nor 
 mine ! Tremble answered. 
 
 Why th - - did ye take my pills out ov im, then ? 
 
 Ruden turned over exhausted. As soon as Sam saw 
 the way clear, he came in and made him as comfortable 
 as possible. Franz begged for a light. Sam stuck a
 
 LAW OF THE FOREST WRIT IN LEAD 71 
 
 candle on a stump beside him. In low weak whispers 
 Ruden told Sam to make a cross out of two small sticks 
 and give it to Magiuuis. It was a crude thing made 
 with a hatchet on a chopping-block. 
 
 Outside, the lumber-Jacks sat around the camp fires, 
 whites around one pile of blazing pine knots, and the 
 blacks around another. The whites smoked, chewed 
 and told smutty stories, punctuated with empty laugh 
 ter. The blacks sang the songs of a slave race: they 
 sang of liberty and associated it with another w r orld; 
 they sang of "home," but it was away off beyond the 
 skies. 
 
 Joe Maginnis gripped tightly the hand of Sam in 
 gratitude, and muttered feebly "Hail Mary, Mother 
 of God." Franz, by the light of his candle, read his 
 "Meistershaftesbuch" for a few minutes; then he ex 
 tinguished his candle and went to sleep, a few minutes 
 later Joe Maginnis said his last "Hail Mary," turned 
 over on his back, and died. The last sounds of the 
 night came from the negroes; it was soothing beyond 
 words to the pain-racked body of Ruden: 
 
 "Swing low sweet chariot, 
 Comin fur t carrv me home."
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 "TILL ONE MAN is DEAD OR OUT" 
 
 "PUT that Sheency t work t day," Gallagher told 
 Archie on the eighth morning after the shooting. 
 
 "What Sheeney?" asked Archie. 
 
 "Th one I put the holes in t other day." 
 
 "Gee " Archie said, in a tone of doubt, "he ll need 
 galvanizing first; he looks like a ghost." 
 
 "All Sheenies look like ghosts, an some of em 
 Guineas look like ghosts wi th jaunders. Give im an 
 axe an pack im off t th drift!" 
 
 Ruden sat on a log by the stable a few feet from the 
 speakers. He arose, put his hand to his hip pocket, 
 and produced a revolver. 
 
 "Gallagher," he said, "when we arrived here, you 
 told us that the Law was written in lead, and you gave 
 us a hint that you both made and executed the Laws. 
 Now since I ve felt the force of what you told us, I 
 have provided myself with a little Law on my own ac 
 count." 
 
 "Oh that s yer game, eh?" 
 
 "Xo, it s yours it s your language -and I ve been 
 learning to speak it for a few days ; and if you open up 
 a conversation in that tongue again, there ll be two 
 talking instead of one!" 
 
 There was a quiet reserve in the man an indefinable 
 something above the common herd that Gallagher and 
 Archie felt as they scrutinized him with mingled emo 
 tions. 
 
 72
 
 "TILL ONE MAN IS DEAD OR OUT" 73 
 
 "Hand in that gun, Sheeney, before supper, or we ll 
 put a few more holes in yer dirty hide see?" 
 
 Ruden folded his arms and watched them. It was 
 the dinner hour, and the teamsters lounged around the 
 loose timber near the stable. The bosses held a whis 
 pered conference for a, moment, then the voice of Archie 
 rang out : 
 
 "Pull em out, boys!" 
 
 There was a commotion; then the jingling of har 
 ness and the heavy tread of horses feet as the teams 
 were pulled out and jogged off to the pine drift for the 
 afternoon. It was ten minutes before the hour, and 
 Ruden knew that there was something in the air. He 
 sat down again on the log and toyed with the gun that 
 Sam had given him. He had made a mistake lie knew 
 it instantly; but there was no help he could not re 
 treat. There was but one thing to do leave the camp 
 and defy detention ! 
 
 Gallagher secretly cleared the camp, cleared it of 
 everybody save the whipping crew, the blacksmith, 
 Ollie, the head teamster, Archie arid himself. A few 
 minutes after the horses left, Gallagher, revolver in 
 hand, advanced at a rapid pace toward Rudeu. It w r as 
 a ruse! Ruden arose and faced the little master. As 
 he did so, he was seized from behind in the iron grip 
 of the blacksmith. Gallagher wrenched the gun out 
 of his hand and struck him over the head with the butt. 
 He dropped to his knees dazed. 
 
 The paradox of the situation was, not the defiance 
 of Law or the ignorance of it, but the fact that apart 
 from the business of denuding the forest, all these men 
 possessed a certain human kindness found in all men if 
 one digs deep enough to find it. Gallagher had a na 
 ture that wasn t wholly brutal. Out of the woods he
 
 74 THE MAGYAR 
 
 could laugh; he could stand at the bar with a lumber- 
 Jack as a comradeship that both gave and took. The 
 blacksmith and Ollie were quiet, stolid men, who had 
 no particular grudge against the foreigners, arriving 
 daily. Archie was kind-hearted and had a smile as 
 engaging and genuine as the smile of a schoolgirl. In 
 a bunch, then, what possessed them? 
 
 A modern deity which, perhaps, at the very moment 
 that Kuden was felled like an ox with the butt end of 
 a revolver, was walking down "Wall Street under a stove 
 pipe hat! The puppets of the forest are ruled from 
 afar. An invisible whip held in a hand by the edge 
 of the sea stings and smarts the human bodies in the 
 bosom of the densest forest of the sunny South ! 
 
 Ruden staggered to his feet again, pale and weak. 
 
 "Tie the sucker to the block and give him twenty! 
 Gallagher shouted, and his men obeyed. A rope was 
 brought and his arms were bound to his sides. Archie 
 shook his head dubiously, but Gallagher was aroused 
 no man had ever dared to dispute his sovereignty of 
 the woods. Men had cried for mercy, others had prom 
 ised obedience ; this was a new type, and like a medie 
 val monarch, Gallagher determined to put the screws on 
 and watch the result. Ruden s silence irritated him. 
 Other men argued, swore, threatened. He liked that 
 he was witty and enjoyed repartee. 
 
 "Go on, Archie!" he said, after a pause, "soak im!" 
 Ollie handed his cowhide to the "whipping boss," and 
 he brought it down on his victim s back with all the 
 force of his arm. 
 
 "Come on, Archie, come on make the pig squeal!" 
 Gallagher yelled ; but somehow the power had gone out 
 of Archie s arm. He stood a minute, then looked at 
 Gallagher who was livid with rage.
 
 "TILL ONE MAN IS DEAD OR OUT" 75 
 
 "This fellow s half dead, Teddy he ll drop!" 
 
 "Gettin chicken-hearted yerself, eh?" 
 
 Archie s eyes flashed. 
 
 "Like to hev a turn yerself?" he asked Gallagher. 
 
 "Go on I tell you!" Gallagher shouted at the top 
 of his voice. 
 
 "T hell wi yer nigger drivin !" said Archie, as he 
 Hang the cowhide into a corner, "I ll whip a lazy 
 man, but this ain t no lazy man; he s a damned sight 
 better man than you are!" 
 
 Gallagher lost control. He lunged at Archie, missed 
 him and lunged again. They clinched and fought like 
 demons at short distance. They stumbled and fell, but 
 they were smashing each other as they rolled over and 
 over. They were both desperate men and were infuri 
 ated. 
 
 Ruden was so weak that he would have dropped, but 
 the rope supported him. Sam suddenly appeared and 
 ran his knife through the ropes, dropping Kuden to 
 the ground, where he lay exhausted. Then he directed 
 his attention to the men on the ground. Both men 
 fumbled for guns. Sam s eyes rolled, his mouth was 
 wide open. 
 
 "Ah 11 be God blest if dey ain t g wine t shoot!" he 
 said with a grin. 
 
 Ollie and the blacksmith seized a man each and 
 dragged them apart. Gallagher s face was covered with 
 blood. He had gotten the worst of it and was panting 
 for breath. The night watchman, asleep in his hut, had 
 been aroused by the shouting and was quickly on the 
 ground. He left and reappeared a few minutes later 
 with a bottle of whisky for Gallagher. 
 
 "Gallagher said Archie, "before I leave this 
 camp, I ll knock the - - out of you!"
 
 76 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "You ll leave the camp all right Gallagher said, 
 "and I ll give you a chance to do the other; put up 
 your gun." 
 
 "Put up yours!" 
 
 Each man handed his gun to the man by his side. 
 
 "Knives, too!" said Archie and the knives were 
 handed over. 
 
 "Now let s strip and finish it!" Archie said. 
 
 Ruden sat up leaned against a log, and watched the 
 proceedings. 
 
 "When dey wade inter each oder, boss," Sam whis 
 pered, "take a sneak; here s anoder gun t keep d 
 mosquitoes away ! 
 
 The men stripped naked to the waist. Ollie stood 
 behind Gallagher, and the blacksmith seconded Archie. 
 The news had reached the drift, and before they began, 
 fifty men stood around the fighters. Ruden was utterly 
 forgotten. Work was at a standstill. The crowd was 
 beside itself with glee. Not a man in the camp had 
 any particular love for either. Most of the men hated 
 both. 
 
 "Two minute rounds?" asked Ollie. 
 
 "Two minute hell!" Gallagher shouted. "This is 
 a fight to the death rough and tumble till one man is 
 dead or out!" 
 
 At it they went hammer and tongs "thud smash 
 -thud!" 
 
 Ruden moved away, slowly at first, but as he entered 
 the pines, he gathered all his strength and moved as rap 
 idly as it would allow him. When half a mile away, 
 he could hear the yells of the crowd. They grew fainter 
 and fainter; and then he was alone in the gloom of the 
 forest road. The sound of wheels behind startled him. 
 He trembled with fear. Like a hunted animal he shot
 
 "TILL ONE MAN IS DEAD OR OUT" 77 
 
 into the woods and watched the vehicle pass. It was a 
 farmer, and he might have had a lift by the way if he 
 had kept his course. lie stopped for a minute and ex 
 amined the second gun Sam had given him. Every 
 chamber was full. He re-entered the road and walked 
 another mile. He had almost reached his limit, when 
 another sound of wheels was heard. This time he 
 walked on as if he were unconcerned. As the buggy 
 passed him, he called to the driver and asked for a lift. 
 It was Justice Johnson, the notary public, employed by 
 the Blockheart Lumber Company to try its cases. 
 Ruden had seen him in camp, and knew him. 
 
 "Ain t ye one o them Sheenies at the camp?" old 
 Johnson asked. 
 
 Yes, Ruden said I have been up there, but I Ve 
 been under the doctor s care for some time and am 
 completely knocked out." 
 
 "Ye luk it," Johnson said dryly. "Did ye say good 
 bye t Teddy?" 
 
 "No, I didn t," Ruden said, "he was a mighty bus} 
 man when I left ! 
 
 "Got a receipt fur yer fare down?" asked the Judge, 
 as he changed the tobacco ball from one jaw to the other. 
 
 "No I haven t. As I tell you, I ve been very ill 
 ever since I came." 
 
 "Ah reckon as we d better go back an say good-bye 
 t Teddy," he said, as he pulled up the old horse. The 
 Judge saw a ten dollar fee for the capture and his 
 court fee besides, and he wasn t a man to let business 
 go begging in that kind of a way, especially when his 
 only excuse for the journey to town was to file some pa 
 pers at the county seat a trifle he could attend to any 
 day. 
 
 "I shall have to part company with you, Judge!"
 
 78 THE .MAGYAR 
 
 "Stay right whar ye sit," Johnson said. 
 
 Ruden got out of the buggy. Johnson pulled his gun 
 and pointed it at Ruden. 
 
 "Ye kin go back alive or dead jest as ye hev a 
 mind!" 
 
 Ruden entered the buggy again and as the old man 
 was fumbling with the reins, he seized the revolver and 
 twisted it out of his hand; then he got out and entered 
 the woods, watching the old Judge from behind a tree. 
 lie turned the horse toward the camp, and drove back 
 at full gallop. 
 
 Ruden had one hope left a farm house so he quick 
 ened his pace. In half an hour he was out of the woods, 
 in an open country. The road was on the side of a hill, 
 and about a mile off down the valley, he ,sa\v a clump of 
 trees and a red barn. lie left the road and headed for 
 the place. 
 
 "Madam," Ruden said to the woman who came to the 
 door, "in the name of Christ, I ask permission to lie 
 down and rest I can go no further!" 
 
 "Ain t ye one o them New York Jews what s rnak- 
 in so much trouble at th camp up there?" 
 
 "No, I m not a Jew I m not a trouble-maker; but 
 even if I were, wouldn t .you, for the sake of Christ, let 
 me lie down in your barn and rest?" he said. 
 
 "AVe re Baptises" she said, " hard shell, as they 
 call us, but the Blockheart people give us a load o lum 
 ber oiict in a while and us kin t afford t keep a hotel 
 t harbor them loafers what robs the company." 
 
 "I suppose," Ruden said in a soft tone, "that for 
 that occasional load of lumber they rather expect you 
 to keep a watch for travelers; is that it?" 
 
 "Ah reckon that s jest about th size o it." 
 
 "I was going to ask you for a cup of water, but as I.
 
 "TILL ONE MAN IS DEAD OR OUT" 79 
 
 have not been baptised by immersion, I suppose that 
 also would be against your principles!" 
 
 "Well, it s jest as I was sayin ; th company s 
 mighty good t us small holders here, an we kin t af 
 ford t disobleege thim. That s jest how th thing 
 stands; Baptises or no Baptises, neighbors is neigh 
 bors!" 
 
 "Good day," he said, as he shuffled away from the 
 door. 
 
 A few hundred yards from the house was another 
 road, and along the road, within a few minutes walk, 
 < f i house. lie repeated his question and had a better re 
 ception. His eyes were sunken and the deathlike pal 
 lor on his thin face was quickly observed by the woman 
 of the house. 
 
 "I have one here already," she said, "but you look 
 dead come in." 
 
 As he entered, he saw a figure crouching by a win 
 dow in a corner of the room, reading. Another in 
 stant and the arms of the figure were around Ruden s 
 neck. 
 
 "Szerusz Baratom!" It was Franz who had also 
 taken advantage of the fight to escape. Tired out, he 
 begged for rest, and was now perusing his "Vade 
 Mecum" his Meistershaftesbuch ! 
 
 "Where s your baggage, Franz?" Ruden asked. 
 
 He clapped his hand on an inside pocket "Das ist 
 a lies!" It contained his diplomas! 
 
 The woman watched the comrades with great inter 
 est, but kept an anxious lookout for her husband, whom 
 she expected at any moment. Ruden relieved her by 
 saying : 
 
 "We hope to reach Pensacola to-morrow morning, so 
 just as soon ;is \vc are a little rested, we will move on."
 
 80 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "When the husband arrived, he looked the strangers 
 over suspiciously. 
 
 "Ain t you the Jew what was caught be th Block- 
 heart hounds t other day?" 
 
 Ruden answered for Franz "Yes " he said, "this 
 boy had a contract with them, and they broke it." 
 
 "Contrack?" the man said in surprise. "White 
 men hev no contracks; it s niggers what hev em down 
 here, an they ain t no damned good fur niggers, 
 nuther ! 
 
 Ruden offered to pay for supper, but the man shook 
 his head. 
 
 "Xo," he said, "us kin t swell th chorus in no 
 church; us ain t what ye d call Christians eggsactly, 
 but t take money from a man in trouble for a mouth 
 ful o vituals wild be some at like takin pennies frum 
 a blind man!" 
 
 There was a quality in Rudcn s voice that held these 
 white crackers awe-struck. It was a voice full of 
 pathos at times, at others, it was musical; but at this 
 particular time it was full of tears. 
 
 The supper of corn pone, molasses and goat s milk 
 was a luxury to the Magyars. When the things were 
 cleared away, Ruden said : 
 
 "Good friends, we may have an opportunity some 
 day to show you how grateful we are for your kind 
 ness to us; but before we go, I would like to say a word 
 or two on a subject you brought up just now. You 
 said you did not belong to a church but you do! 
 You are both members of the church that Jesus or 
 ganized when he said, Other sheep have I which are 
 not of this fold/ I am a minister of the gospel, and 
 in the name of Christ, I pronounce you both members 
 of the Church Universal of the Church of the Deed."
 
 "TILL ONE MAN IS DEAD OR OUT" 81 
 
 At the announcement, the three people stood on their 
 feet and bowed their heads. Ruden also arose, and 
 continued "To the head of that Church, let us pray!" 
 All four knelt on the rough pine boards but the 
 prayer of dedication was drowned in the yelping of 
 dogs. The old man quietly arose, took down his shot 
 gun, and peeped through a crack of the door. 
 
 "Sorry t shet off th only prayers ever bin spoke 
 in this ranch, stranger," he said quietly, "but the 
 bloodhouns arc at th door!" 
 
 It was not yet dark and Ruden could see the men 
 behind the hounds. There were three of them, and as 
 his first thought was for the house that sheltered him, 
 he said: 
 
 "Friend, sit down here with your wife, and we will 
 do the rest." 
 
 The man obeyed, and Ruden and Franz surrendered 
 themselves to Deputy Sheriff Moniky and his posse. 
 
 "The blessing of God to you," he said, as he kissed 
 their hands in farewell.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE UNDERWORLD OF THE STOCKADE 
 
 THE trial of Ruden in a District Court of Southern 
 Alabama was one of the most spectacular legal pro 
 ceedings ever seen in the South. The accused was his 
 own lawyer and proved to the crowded courtroom that 
 he had no fool for a client. His cross-examination of 
 witnesses lasted two days. It was thorough and aston 
 ished the legal talent. In his summing up he spoke 
 for three hours. The "Turpentine Bunch," as the in 
 terests were called, controlled the court, selected the 
 jury, and before the case was called, had decided on a 
 sentence. It was a waste of time for the jury to retire. 
 They were out twelve minutes. It took that time to 
 call the roll and cast a single ballot. 
 
 "There undoubtedly have been circumstances of a 
 most provoking nature," the judge said, in pronounc 
 ing sentence, "but the law of the land must be main 
 tained. I sentence you to a year and a day in the State 
 Penitentiary at Bratt City, and I hope the lesson will 
 not be lost on the irresponsible laborers who come here 
 to earn a living." 
 
 "Your honor," said Ruden, "I will see that the les 
 son is not lost. I go as a galley-slave, not to punish 
 ment for a crime, but as a cog in your wheel of pro 
 duction in the South. I am going to a mine to dig 
 coal and swell the fortune of some vulgar parasite; but 
 if you will pardon the suggestion as I leave the Court 
 I have to-day fired the first shot in a campaign that 
 
 82
 
 THE UNDERWORLD OF THE STOCKADE 83 
 
 will never end until every white slave in the South has 
 the shackles torn from his limbs ! lie wheeled around 
 and pointed his finger at the United States Commis 
 sioner. "Mr. Marsh," he said, "you are a gentleman 
 you have a soul and a conscience. I charge you in 
 the name of God and of the people of the United States 
 to use your prerogative to stamp out peonage the 
 white slavery of the Twentieth Century; to stamp it 
 out in your district, where it flourishes in its most ag 
 gravated form!" 
 
 He could have talked an hour. The court was in 
 tensely interested, and when he finished, said: 
 
 "I think it unfortunate that such an intellect should 
 fester in the stripes of a convict." 
 
 Bratt City is a little town of old whitewashed shacks 
 surrounded by a board fence ten feet high, and guarded 
 by armed guards who live night and day in square sen 
 try boxes built on the fence in such a position as to 
 command a view of the entire enclosure. In the center, 
 surrounded by a screen of wooden fretwork, is the 
 mouth of the mine in which the inhabitants spend their 
 days. In a corner at the east end stands the little hos 
 pital, and near it, the kennel of the bloodhounds. Out 
 side the fence stood immense dark culm heaps tower 
 ing above the buildings, and beside them the machinery, 
 with the tall black chimney overtopping all. Nothing 
 more dismal could be imagined. There was a popula 
 tion of one thousand, two hundred of whom were whites; 
 the rest w r ere blacks and women. Each group quar 
 tered separately. The shack which quartered the \vhito 
 men was called, "cell number one" by the inmates 
 simply as "one." "Nigger cell" designated the homo 
 of the blacks, and "woman s place" the cell of the
 
 84 THE MAGYAR 
 
 score or more of women, white and black. Each de 
 partment branched off from a central point where the 
 guards and deputies lounged and where the warden s 
 office commanded a view of the entrance to each cell. 
 Although the office occupied but a small corner, the 
 entire place was called "the office." 
 
 The name "Bratt City" satisfied the inhabitants 
 of the straggling houses outside, but the place was 
 known as "the stockade." Handcuffed to a murderer, 
 Ruden was led from the railroad station to the stock 
 ade. 
 
 "Twenty an a one hey that s all, is it?" ex 
 claimed the warden, as they were led into the office. 
 "Take em over to Doc. an bring em back," he said 
 to a deputy. 
 
 "First-class said the medical man, as they stood 
 in front of him, "first-class both!" he repeated; and 
 they were taken back to have a clerk take their pedi 
 grees and fit them out in stripes. 
 
 Ruden wasn t "fitted" with stripes; he was handed 
 a striped suit and told to "git into em." Then he 
 was escorted to "one." The convicts were still in the 
 mine and the big barnlike room was empty. On each 
 side were cots suspended from the ceiling, twenty-five 
 on a side, and made to accommodate two each. About 
 six p. M. the mine disgorged its human misery; and as 
 each man came in, he had a look at the newcomers. 
 
 "Hello, Cap!" one man said, "sorry to see yer. " 
 
 "Sorry, too, ain t ye!" said the man close behind the 
 speaker. A tall, lithe Southerner stopped for a mo 
 ment and looked him over. 
 
 "Hello, professor," he said, "new line for you 
 so?" 
 
 "Yes very nc\v, " Ruden replied, languidly.
 
 THE UNDERWORLD OF THE STOCKADE 85 
 
 They had come through the washroom on the way 
 to "one," but they were still black with coal dust. 
 One striped suit his own deepened the furrows on 
 his forehead; a mass of them hurt his mind! 
 
 A long bar of iron suspended from the office ceiling, 
 when struck with a hickory stick, called the men to 
 supper. The sound startled Ruden penetrated his 
 being like the sting of an asp. The men rushed to the 
 door and awaited the opening by an invisible hand. A 
 few remained he discovered later that they were too 
 tired to eat and had the privilege to abstain. In fif 
 teen minutes they were back ; then a crowd gathered 
 around Ruden and the murderer, and started an in 
 quiry. 
 
 "Yank, ain t ye?" one asked Ruden. 
 
 "American," he answered. 
 
 "Born in this country?" 
 
 "Yes, but I was born of foreign parents," Ruden 
 added. "How long does the light burn?" he asked, 
 as he looked toward the dim electric bulb in the center 
 of the room. 
 
 "Till nine." 
 
 They asked what he had committed, and when he told 
 them, they laughed and swore, and called it a "nig 
 ger s crime." Nine-tenths of the white men in "one" 
 were from the South, and every man in the place had 
 a soubriquet. A dull leaden sensation gripped Ruden. 
 At times he perspired then he shivered as if in a chill. 
 The sights, the sounds, the laughter all racked his 
 nerves. It was as if a rough hand had torn away the 
 trings of a finely tuned harp. 
 
 The man to whom he had been manacled most of the 
 day was his bed-fellow. He was a man about forty- 
 five, with a strong, quiet face, who watched the pro-
 
 86 THE MAGYAR 
 
 ceedings with indifference, and answered questions 
 by a nod or a wave of the hand. He was of more in 
 terest because of the nature of his crime; but the men, 
 finding him silent and often morose, took little pains to 
 draw him out. 
 
 About half-past eight most of the men were in bed. 
 Two lingered by the table under the bulb for a while. 
 When they shuffled off to their corner, the door deputy 
 entered. Of all the sounds Ruden had heard, none 
 smote him with such pain as the clanking of chains as 
 the deputy manacled a dozen men to the wall by the 
 ankles. It was special treatment for a special class. 
 The chains dangled against the wall beside every bed. 
 Ruden and his companion were moved by the same im 
 pulse at the same time to examine theirs and a cold 
 shiver ran through them both as they saw a probable 
 situation for themselves. A few men on the cots near 
 est the lights, a coveted situation, read; one, an old 
 magazine, and the other a bundle of old letters. They 
 lay on the cot next to Ruden s. From the cot to the 
 window, they had extemporized a clothesline a piece 
 of string on which was pinned two handkerchiefs. 
 Between the handkerchiefs, there was a space of three 
 inches. The man reading the old letters tied them in a 
 bundle and stuffed them beneath his mattress. The 
 magazine dropped to the floor. Ruden lay on his side 
 watching the men. 
 
 "Say " said the man of the magazine, "see that 
 fly?" 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "Between th nose rags!" 
 
 "Yep." 
 
 "See th skeeter beside J im?" 
 
 "Yep."
 
 THE UNDERWORLD OF THE STOCKADE 87 
 
 "Ah 11 bet ye a ton o coal th fly gits a move on 
 fust!" 
 
 "Ah m on," said the man of the letters. 
 
 The black house-fly paraded back and forth on his 
 nd of the space. He circled the string the mosquito 
 Allowed suit. Ruden was engrossed. He watched the 
 clothesline intently for a minute or two with such in- 
 erest that his mind flitted from the fly and the mos 
 quito to the boulder at Brook Farm. The fly advanced 
 into the mosquito s territory, and the mosquito backed 
 up on the edge of the handkerchief. Ruden felt a 
 ,varm glow sweep through his body in the kingdom of 
 lis mind came a comrade whose face had followed him 
 ;hrough every exigency since the night he left the farm 
 ror the labor fields of the South. The fly returned to 
 lis original position, and the mosquito timidly fol- 
 .o\ved at a distance. The light went out. 
 
 ""When do we cash in!" asked the magazine man. 
 
 " Lone Star, : said the bundle of letters man, 
 Ah m at yer mercy, but Ah 11 trust ye; Ah left th 
 nose rags an th fly some time ago. Ah don t know 
 which or who made th fust break." 
 
 Damned ef Ah know nuther ! said Lone Star. 
 
 "Then it s a draw!" 
 
 "Call it a tic!" 
 
 " Kentuck, " said "Lone Star," "Ah 11 swap memo 
 ries wi ye ! What trail did ye hit when ye left the 
 clothesline?" 
 
 "Waal, it were a long trail Lone Star a long 
 trail leadin to m home place a bit of a village called 
 Arden Ah jest meandered down there in m mind t 
 5ee the folks." 
 
 "Anyone sort of special?" asked the listener. 
 
 "Not thar," said "Kentuck" "but on the next
 
 88 THE MAGYAR 
 
 trip there wuz she was waal, Ah reckon Ah 11 quit. 
 Whar did you go, Lone Star? : 
 
 "Yer not on th level, Kentuck ; ye quit th trail 
 when the game s in .sight. Go on, mate, ye ve given 
 th introduction give s the story now! Ye wont go 
 on?" 
 
 "If ye hold th scent till Sunday, Ah 11 tote ye along 
 an introduce ye." 
 
 "Waal," said "Lone Star," "mine was a pig trail 
 compared t yourn. It led me down through the tall 
 dog fennel t Montgomery County whar we lived whin 
 th trouble arrived." 
 
 ""What d ye do whin ye got that?" 
 
 "Same as you Ah visited the folks." 
 
 "Anyone special?" 
 
 "Yep." 
 
 "An ol flame, eh?" 
 
 "No, m little gal she wuz three whin her mother 
 died that wuz whin Ah come here seventeen year 
 agone." 
 
 "Who keeps yer gal?" 
 
 "Her granny." 
 
 "Kentuck" gave a long sigh. Ruden was on the 
 point of an interjection when "Lone Star" said: 
 
 "Something lies gone wrong down there every time 
 Ah open the bundle, her last letter drops out or is on 
 
 top. Ah feel mighty d d desperate t hev a real 
 
 look in some time ! 
 
 The light was turned on and the heavy tread of the 
 warden was heard marching along the center of the 
 cell. 
 
 " Kentuck, " he said, "git out here!" 
 
 "Kentuck" and "Lone Star" were on the floor in 
 stantly.
 
 THE UNDERWORLD OF THE STOCKADE 89 
 
 "Colonel" said "Lone Star," "Ah m th trans 
 gressor this time. Ah chewed th rag t Ken tuck 
 ever since th douse o th glim! Ah 11 take whatever s 
 comin !" 
 
 The warden was a tall, slim man, with large nose, 
 a weak, purple-lipped mouth and the eyes of a mouse. 
 He eyed the men as they stood before him. Every 
 man in "one" was watching the proceedings. 
 
 "He s a liar!" said "Kentuck." "Give me what s 
 comin it s up t me." 
 
 "String up Lone Star !" the warden said to his 
 deputy. The cuffs were attached to his wrists, and 
 he was tied to an iron ring in the center of the ceiling, 
 his hands above his head. 
 
 The light went out again, all was quiet quiet as the 
 grave, save an occasional sigh from the sleepless or those 
 in pain. 
 
 Ruden couldn t sleep. He was in mental agony 
 throughout the night the night that seemed a week to 
 him. About an hour after the stringing up of "Lone 
 Star," "Kentuck" crept over to his mate, stealthily as 
 a cat and with the strength of a lion, he picked up the 
 table and placed it beside the man in pain. "Lone 
 Star" got on top and rested. "Kentuck" stretched 
 himself on it and went to sleep, but before the first 
 streak of dawn or the first footfall of the deputies, the 
 table was cleared away again, and "Lone Star" hung 
 limp and exhausted from what the convicts called "the 
 bull ring." 
 
 At half-past four a deputy in each department 
 aroused the community aroused it to work. Ruden 
 joined the march to the dining-room for the first time. 
 Hogs in Alabama are like turnips in Scotland they 
 are held in common. Hogs run wild, and all one has
 
 90 THE MAGYAR 
 
 to do is to go out into the tall dog fennel and help 
 himself. Pork and beans, therefore, are the staple 
 diets of all penitentiaries and stockades. There were 
 two meals a day at Bratt City. They consisted of 
 bread, beans and pork. On Sunday there was a change 
 of meat. 
 
 Ruden could not eat, but he took part of the meal to 
 the mine, as did others. The striped suit felt like a 
 garment of woven wire as he brushed it against the men 
 in line. They went in squads black squads and 
 white. At every turn, every corner, every change 
 stood the armed guards, white men all, with the slouch 
 hat and the slouching gait crackers "white trash," 
 who were content with small pay and the mental stim 
 ulus to their jaded lives that the handling of a shot 
 gun gave them. The striped procession crowded into 
 the mine head. Then the "skip," an iron cage on 
 wheels was ready, and Ruden squeezed between two ne 
 groes went in the first load. 
 
 Down, down the dark shaft of the mine jerked and 
 bumped the "skip" with its human cargo. The shaft 
 was pitch dark save as the tiny lamp on each man s 
 forehead lit it up in passing. Ruden looked behind 
 for a moment and saw the faint light at the mine head. 
 What a crowd of thoughts rushed madly through his 
 brain as he watched it ! Dimmer and smaller it be 
 came as the "skip" went down, and fainter and fainter 
 the sound of the machinery at the starting point. 
 The "skip" stopped at a pocket of the shaft, and un 
 loaded. Ruden saw the men move silently to their 
 places. They looked like fireflies in the black mist, for 
 only the flickering, smoky lamps could be seen a few 
 yards away. An invisible power moved the skip. It 
 began the ascent for its second load.
 
 THE UNDERWORLD OF THE STOCKADE 91 
 
 "D ye know what yer up agin ?" asked a "slope 
 boss." 
 
 "No," Ruden said, as he pointed to the murderer, 
 "we ve just arrived." 
 
 "Fust class ain t ye?" 
 
 "Yes; that s what the doctor said." 
 
 The boss grinned and said, "Ye pull out five tons a 
 day an git it up thar or hev yer hide tanned-, that s 
 what fust class means!" 
 
 Pike ! " he roared, and a deputy answered. Show 
 these fellers th game!" 
 
 Ten minutes later the two men were battling with 
 black rocks. They pooled 1heir interests and began 
 the task of producing ten carloads together. The 
 work went hard, of course. Their hands bled; their 
 legs were chipped and bleeding. The coats came off 
 first; then their shirts and undershirts and they 
 were uniform with the underground population. The 
 black coal dust first blackened them, and then as it 
 penetrated their mouths, throats and lungs, it kept 
 them coughing and spitting incessantly. The guards 
 stood by, rolling their quids from side to side of their 
 mouths, and toying with their guns. The white men 
 were silent, dogged. The blacks joked quietly and 
 hummed plantation melodies as they worked. One 
 thing only was required below the surface of the earth 
 coal ; and a Negro can only produce by song melody 
 is an essential accompaniment to all forms of black 
 labor. At noontime a signal was given, and the men 
 lay down in their tracks and panted for breath. They 
 stretched themselves on their backs and ate the fat 
 pork ate it like beasts, clawing it from tin cans.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 "THOUGH i MAKE MY BED IN HELL, BEHOLD THOU ART 
 THERE. 
 
 RUDEN S fastidiousness vanished. The labor sucked the 
 blood out of his veins and drained his vitality. He felt 
 an insatiable craving for liquor any kind of liquor, 
 lie ate like the others as ravenously, as slovenly, and 
 with his dirty coal black fingers. It seemed but a 
 mouthful it was, indeed and to wash it down there 
 was coffee, brown thin coffee, and water. Five min 
 utes after the dinner sound, half-a-dozen banjos broke 
 the stillness. They were in different pockets of the 
 mine, and accompanying, as many different melodies. 
 At noontime the first day a year looked like twenty to 
 Ruden; but beside him worked men who as "first class" 
 had pulled out five tons of coal a day for fifteen years. 
 Love of life was large in them, so they worked at the 
 point of a shotgun rather than revolt and die. At 
 half-past four the "slope boss" warned Ruden that 
 there was but half-an-hour in which to get the last 
 carload. Like demons they worked with pick and 
 shovel with bloody, sweaty bodies, with blistered faces 
 and calloused hands. Before the last shovelful was on 
 the car, the men were leaving the mine. Ruden and 
 his companion came up in the last load. They scarcely 
 had strength to stand. There were a dozen men in the 
 load, and as they stood packed closely together, black 
 and white blowing their hot breath into each other s 
 faces, the color line was effaced. The sound of the hick- 
 
 92
 
 "THOUGH I MAKE MY BED IN HELL" 93 
 
 ory stick on the bar of iron had a different meaning that 
 night. Hunger pushed him into line for the dining- 
 room. The color line was sharply drawn at the tables. 
 The supper was composed of grits boiled corn coffee 
 and bread. Each man cleared his plate in less than five 
 minutes. 
 
 At a desk in the center of the room sat the warden 
 with a big book in front of him in which was recorded 
 the day s work of the stockade. A rap on the desk 
 with his pencil brought the room from silence to awe. 
 
 Jones, Hopkins, Davis, Jenkins ! " he called out de 
 liberately slowly. 
 
 Ruden was about to ask why the names were called, 
 but the fate of "Lone Star" was too fresh in his mind 
 to allow him to meet trouble half way. As the proces 
 sion marched out, a deputy caught Ruden by the 
 shoulder and pushed him into a corner with four 
 others. 
 
 "AYhat s this for?" Ruden asked in an undertone. 
 
 "Dish-washing," he was told. 
 
 In less than a minute the room was cleared, save two 
 small groups one called by the warden, the other 
 pushed into a corner to wash up after the meal. Ruden 
 was given three tables to clear, but the movements of 
 the warden were of too sensational a character not to be 
 watched by every man left in the room. He took from 
 a box hanging on the wall behind his desk a long leather 
 thong of rawhide. Then he removed his coat, rolled 
 up his shirt sleeves and prepared to flog the men. 
 They were white men, and one of them, Jenkins, was 
 "Lone Star." Ruden could scarcely believe the sight 
 of his eyes. Jones was flogged first. He lay down Hat 
 on his stomach, and, without a groan, received fifteen 
 cuts on the back. Hopkins got twenty-one in about
 
 94 THE MAGYAR 
 
 the same manner. After the fifteenth, he writhed 
 some and groaned. Davis got ten. "Lone Star" was 
 ordered to strip. When naked to the waist and ready, 
 the warden said: 
 
 "Jenkins Ah m only goin ter give ye twenty-one 
 on th naked, but ye re gittin rather glib wi yer clap 
 per lately and oughter hev more!" 
 
 "Warden" said "Lone Star," "Ah ve pulled out 
 more coal here nor any man in th place. Ah ve bin on 
 th level wi th game all these years, an all Ah ve got 
 t say now is that yer term s up nex fall and Ah ve 
 got six more months t go 
 
 "That s sorter considerate o ye, Lone Star, an jest 
 t show ye m appreciation, Ah 11 give ye ten extray 
 for th suggestion!" 
 
 Down went "Lone Star" on his stomach and up went 
 the long arm of Gordon, the warden, with the venom 
 ous rawhide in his iron grip. Thirty-one times it fell 
 with terrible force on the bare back of the convict. 
 After the twentieth the body twisted a little at each 
 stroke, for the flesh was lacerated and bloody. The 
 writhing increased, and for a moment the proceedings 
 stopped. 
 
 "Sam!" shouted the warden, "git down on im!" 
 
 A big negro reluctantly sat down on "Lone Star s" 
 shoulders, pinning him to the floor. 
 
 "Bud!" he shouted to another black man, "down 
 on im!" and the second man sat down on his legs. 
 Then, as if some demon possessed him, the warden 
 wielded the bloody lash until his deputy called out 
 
 "Thirty-one!" 
 
 The Africans bounded to their feet, but the Saxon 
 lay still. 
 
 "Th sucker didn t feel them last five," the war-
 
 " THOUGH I MAKE MY BED IN HELL" 95 
 
 den said, "he oughter hev them for breakfast to- 
 morrer. " 
 
 Four men picked up "Lone Star," put him in a 
 blanket and carried him to "one," where "Kentuek" 
 washed him with the cell drinking water and covered 
 his wounds with a section of a shirt donated by Ru- 
 den s bed-fellow. 
 
 Three nights a week the Chaplain held a two hours 
 session of a night school, and as Ruden could do noth 
 ing to add to the comfort of "Lone Star," he went up 
 stairs to the "Chapel" with a dozen of the men from 
 "one." He found a dozen whites and two dozen 
 blacks rather availing themselves of the extra hours 
 freedom and light than of the facilities to improve their 
 education. 
 
 The Chaplain was a man under forty, a man of ten 
 der sympathies, intense zeal and medieval theology. 
 The Chapel looked like a hayloft the walls were white 
 washed and decorated with chromos and blackboards. 
 The first hour was given to arithmetic, reading and 
 writing; the second, to a religious service. Ruden of 
 fered himself as a teacher for the first hour. Jim 
 AVhitecotton was his first pupil. 
 
 "How far have you gotten, Jim?" he asked. 
 
 "Ah know de letters ob mail name, but bless gra 
 cious ef Ah kin string em t gedder so s ye d know 
 em." 
 
 "Well, Mini is easy." 
 
 "It sho is: J is like de ol whip Ah uster hev; I 
 is like mah ol man s cane down side up, an M is a 
 pig s tail." 
 
 "Do you think of all those things every time you 
 write the word, Jim ?" 
 
 "Ah sho do!"
 
 96 THE MAGYAR 
 
 Jim had served twenty years in the stockade, and for 
 three of them at the night school, he had wrestled with 
 the letters of his name. He was the best banjo player 
 in the place, and on several occasions the Chaplain had 
 used him as a soloist. 
 
 "What are you here for?" Ruden asked. 
 
 "De crime, yo mean?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Murder, boss cold blood murder least Ah think 
 his blood wuz cold." 
 
 "Why did you kill him!" 
 
 "He come a-monkeyin aroun mah wife; he sho did, 
 an Ah give im fair warnin twice t. He wuz a 
 preacher, too he sho wuz! Ah say Mister parson, 
 ef yo come der agin, Ah 11 bore a hole in yo ; Ah sho 
 will! " 
 
 "Why didn t they hang you, Jim?" 
 
 "Yo ve got me, boss; dey didn t hev enough rope, 
 Ah recken, " he said, grinning. 
 
 "Why aren t you a trustie, Jim?" 
 
 "Ah hev bin, boss; but de temptations am too big! 
 Ah make a break fo de woods whin Ah git a chanct 
 -Ah sho do!" 
 
 Jim was in the midst of a most intricate explanation 
 of the way he tried to remember the order of the letters 
 in the word, "Whitecotton," when the Chaplain intro 
 duced another pupil to Ruden. He was a young fellow 
 of thirty and for burglary and assault had been sen 
 tenced one hundred years on the first count, and forty 
 on the second. lie was the longest of the long term 
 men, and was pointed out to visitors as the "double- 
 lifer." He liked the look of Ruden, and asked the 
 Chaplain if he might take some lessons from him. 
 
 "AYhat can I teach you?" asked Ruden.
 
 "THOUGH I MAKE MY BED IX HELL" 97 
 
 "There s only one thing worth learning here," he 
 said, "and that is how to escape!" 
 
 "And the next best thing?" 
 
 "Is how to endure the lack of such teaching!" 
 
 There was a refinement about the desperado that was 
 not only attractive, but positively fascinating. His 
 English was faultless, and his manners those of a man 
 of culture. 
 
 "You ve traveled?" linden ventured. 
 
 "Yes I was abroad several years. I finished at 
 Berlin." 
 
 "A degree, you mean?" 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 "How came you to get so far down!" 
 
 " Down is a comparative term," said the man. 
 
 "That s true Ruden said, as he thought of his 
 own case. 
 
 "My people lost all they had in a corner in w r heat, 
 and I was left without position or money. I endured 
 for a year, and then, in desperation, I took what I 
 wanted took it as it had been taken from me ! I did 
 it repeatedly, and landed here. Did you see Lone 
 Star whipped to-night?" 
 
 "Yes, the most brutal thing I ever saw! Not one 
 man in a million would believe that in the Twentieth 
 Century white men, Anglo-Saxons, are being flogged 
 like slaves by the thousand." 
 
 "And about the same percentage don t care a - 
 whether there are as many flogged or not." 
 
 "That may be so." 
 
 "That is so!" 
 
 "You hope, then, to escape?" 
 
 "Yes four fellows in one have been digging a tun 
 nel for a year."
 
 98 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "In a pocket of the mine; six months more and they 
 will come out half a mile from here." 
 
 "If they are not caught!" 
 
 "If they are not caught, as you say; but I am going 
 to give them a chance to escape before they finish their 
 tunnel." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 Just keep your eyes open ! 
 
 "It would be difficult to close them here!" 
 
 "Not as difficult as you imagine. There is paralysis 
 in the air here. A month brutalizes most men who 
 come here. Many who escape brutalization, die of a 
 broken heart ; and of those who escape both, tubercu 
 losis gets a very large share." 
 
 The Chaplain called the students to order for the 
 service. It was simple, sincere and archaic. A few 
 hymns, a few prayers and a talk a talk directed largely 
 at the latest arrival in order to prepare his mind for 
 the personal appeal which was sure to follow. There 
 was a word of appeal to Jack Brewster, the "double- 
 lifer," who sat beside Ruden. Brewster shook his 
 head. The Chaplain smiled and tried again. Brew 
 ster said: 
 
 "Parson, I don t want to hurt your feelings, but I 
 must say that of all the satire on life I see around me 
 here, nothing is half as satirical as the motto on these 
 prison association buttons. The angels must laugh as 
 they read the buttons on a convict s breast: All for 
 Jesus ! That ought to be changed to read, All for the 
 Genessee Coal and Iron Company! One could under 
 stand that! The State of Alabama pardon me I did 
 not intend to talk, Dr. Hill pardon me." 
 
 "Go on, Brewster, it will do you good to unload;
 
 "THOUGH I MAKE MY BED IN HELL" 99 
 
 and it may do us good to hear you," the Chaplain said. 
 
 That s generous of you, sir; we do a lot of talking 
 in these meetings on things of no particular intercut to 
 anyone." 
 
 "Make it some, not a lot, " remarked the Chap 
 lain, smiling. 
 
 Some, then. Now, here s a clipping from an 
 Alabama paper that came here last week. It s a report 
 by the president of the convict board. lie says: I am 
 more convinced than ever before that the ideas of hu 
 manity and civilization would be better served and car 
 ried out if the torch were applied to every jail in 
 Alabama. It would be more -humane to stake the pris 
 oner out with a ring around his neck like a wild animal 
 than to confine him in places we call jails that are 
 reeking with filth and disease, and alive with vermin 
 of all kinds. They are not only harbingers of disease, 
 but nurseries of death. Now, Parson, it takes courage 
 to say that in Alabama. The State makes three quar 
 ters of a million dollars out of us each year by selling 
 us body and soul to the highest bidder. In this place 
 men are murdered by the rawhide, by tuberculosis 
 by other diseases, due to filth, lack of food and lack of 
 sanitation. Alabama being the most religious State 
 of the Union, sends you here to save our souls -to make 
 us contented with hell and lick the lash that cuts our 
 flesh to ribbons! All the men here love you person 
 ally, Dr. Hill ; but surely you know the atmosphere is 
 one of hatred surely you know that the State is the 
 modern whited sepulchre ; don t you ? 
 
 "There is some truth in what you say, Brew r ster, but 
 you lay too much importance on the present life. This 
 life is brief; there is an eternity beyond, and the ques 
 tion we have to settle some time or other is whether
 
 100 THE MAGYAR 
 
 we shall spend that eternity with God or the Devil in 
 heaven or in hell." 
 
 After the meeting the Chaplain laid his hand ten 
 derly, almost caressingly., on Ruden s shoulder, and 
 said: 
 
 "My brother how do you stand related to this great 
 question ? 
 
 "I will tell you," answered Ruden, "when I know 
 how you stand related to a bigger question how you 
 are related to the crime of murder as it is committed 
 in this institution of which you are Chaplain?" 
 
 "I don t know what you mean." 
 
 "Then you are more ignorant than I thought you 
 were. 
 
 "I suppose you mean conditions in general!" 
 
 "Yes and conditions in particular, too!" 
 
 "For instance?" 
 
 "Overwork, underfeeding, whipping, filth, vermin 
 and disease!" 
 
 "Well, of course, the situation is bad; but I don t see 
 how I can help it." 
 
 "You would lose your appointment if you tried, per 
 hapsis that it?" 
 
 "Well, to be frank, I probably would." 
 
 "Then we may learn from each other. I also am a 
 minister of the gospel."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 JIM WHITECOTTON s LAST LOAD 
 
 BREWSTEB became a regular pupil of Ruden s at the 
 night school. Ruden at each session put a problem on 
 the board. Brewster solved it, and the rest of the time 
 they talked and compared notes. Jim AVhitecotton 
 worked on the board next to them, and Ruden gave him 
 an occasional hint in stringing together the letters of 
 his name. Next to AVhitecotton stood a yellow-skinned 
 boy of fifteen, serving a twenty-year sentence. He was 
 half-witted, and old AVhitecotton had promised the boy s 
 mother to be kind to him. The fourth session of the 
 school that Ruden attended, he overheard a conversa 
 tion between AVhitecotton and the boy. The boy had 
 been sent out alone to a gang of convicts, working on 
 the country road, and was telling AVhitecotton about it. 
 
 "An dey didn t put no chains on yo anklets?" 
 
 The boy shook his head. 
 
 "Honey," the old man said, "de nex time yo git 
 a chance like dat, mend yo licks an git somewhar 
 does yo heeah?" 
 
 Next day the simpleton took the old man s advice, 
 but failed in its execution. He was captured and re 
 turned to the stockade. AVhen questioned, he told the 
 warden that "Uncle Jim" had told him to go. AVhite 
 cotton was called. 
 
 "Did you tell th kid t go?" the warden asked him. 
 
 "Marse AVahden Ah done gone try dat trick till 
 yo ve peeled de black hide orf man bones. Do one rab 
 bit tell anoder how ter git trapp t?" 
 
 101
 
 102 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Nigger did you tell ira ter go?" he roared. 
 
 The old man shook, and began to whimper. 
 
 "Lordy, Lordy, Oh mah Lordy, " he whined, "Ah 
 done gone wish nobody no hahm!" 
 
 The warden smashed him on the side of the head, 
 and he went sprawling on the floor; then he went over 
 and dealt him a vicious kick on the abdomen. The old 
 man doubled up in agony. 
 
 "Kick me on de head, Marse Wahden, so Ah wont 
 feel de oders!" 
 
 Two deputies hurried the old man to his cell. AVhen 
 the delinquent roll was called at supper time, AVhite- 
 cotton headed the list. He had received more stripes 
 than any man in the prison, and it was supposed by 
 the warden and deputies that he had a thicker hide ; 
 so his ability to stand punishment became more of a 
 gauge in his whippings than his infractions of the rules. 
 That night he got fifty lashes ; at least, the warden 
 flogged him to that extent, but the negro who sat on 
 him said he felt nothing after the fortieth. Next morn 
 ing the old man could scarcely stand on his feet. "With 
 the help of Big Tom, his partner in the mine, he man 
 aged to get his clothes on and hobble down to breakfast 
 with the others. 
 
 "Ye ain t gwine ter take no banjo dis trip, Jim, is 
 yo ?" Tom asked. 
 
 "Deed Ah am. Ah d be dead for sho befo night ef 
 Ah didn t hev er aroun !" So, with his banjo slung 
 around his shoulders, he took his place at the breakfast 
 table ; but he was unable to eat. 
 
 Go see de doctah ! Tom urged. 
 
 "What s de use?" Jim asked. 
 
 "Go on, yo ol fool; yo neber know what s gwine t 
 hit yo tell yo r hut!"
 
 JIM WHITECOTTON S LAST LOAD 103 
 
 "Marse "Wahden whined Jim, "Ah wants ter see 
 de doctah dis morn." 
 
 "Ye do, hey? Waal, ye 11 see im an feel im, too!" 
 
 linden had been detailed to help carry a case to the 
 dispensary, and was there when old Jim came in. 
 
 "Hello, "Whitecotton ! " the medical man said, "play- 
 in possum again?" 
 
 Ah ain t playin no possum, doctah, Jim said ; 
 "Ah m putty nigh all in." 
 
 "Where has the lazy bug stung ye this time?" 
 
 "Marse Wahden lies done gone broke some at in me 
 innards, doctah he sho lies!" He described the pains. 
 
 The physician laughed "Go on, Jim, git!" 
 
 "Ain t ye gwine t giv us some at?" Jim whined. 
 
 "He was kicked, doctor," Ruden broke in, "and got 
 fifty lashes last night. His shirt is glued to his back 
 with blood. For God s sake, help the old fellow!" 
 
 The doctor looked open-mouthed at the speaker. 
 
 "Oh, you re the smart guy just arrived, are you?" 
 
 "T appeal to you as a man, doctor." 
 
 "I never saw the Northerner yet who didn t think he 
 knew more about niggers than we Southerners do who 
 live with them." 
 
 "This isn t a question of race, doctor. If this was 
 a horse or a dog or a pig, I would appeal for pity, for 
 consideration !" 
 
 "Give me that horsewhip!" the doctor called to an 
 attendant. "Now, then, Jim, here s the medicine you 
 need for possum disease ! and he curled the lash 
 around Whitecotton s legs. 
 
 A look of unutterable hopelessness came into the 
 negro s face. His eyes rolled. It was probably the 
 only spark of resentment he had ever shown, and the 
 doctor was as quick to catch its meaning as Ruden.
 
 104 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "See that?" he yelled. "Just beneath the skin of 
 every nigger you find the beast!" He rushed at Jim, 
 knocked him down, and kicked him twice, shouting 
 "Get up, nigger, and get to work!" 
 
 The sight maddened Ruden. In his convict s stripes 
 he rushed between the doctor and his victim on the 
 floor. 
 
 "For God s sake the sentence was cut short by 
 the butt of the whip, as the doctor smashed it across his 
 face. Another instant and the whip had changed 
 hands, and its owner was appealing at the top of his 
 voice for help. When Ruden got possession of the 
 whip, he threw it in a corner and put the owner 011 the 
 defensive with his fists. 
 
 "You cowardly cur!" he said, "you can beat an old 
 man to death, but when you face a man, you play the 
 baby and squeal for help." 
 
 "Hand me that revolver!" yelled the doctor to his 
 assistant. 
 
 Ruden rushed at him, caught him by the collar and 
 whirled him into the center of the room. 
 
 "Hold up your hands!" he said, as he made another 
 rush this time to punish him if it were in his power 
 or at least divert the doctor s attention. 
 
 There was little time, however, for he was seized by 
 a couple of deputies from behind and led away to the 
 warden. He Avas heavily shackled with iron chains 
 around the ankles, and led to the mine. Meantime, 
 AYhitecotton had been bundled out of the dispensary to 
 his coal pocket below. Big Tom wept over the old 
 man s condition, as he poured oil over his back to keep 
 the shirt from sticking to it. 
 
 "Poh ol Jim!" he said, "yo stick in this yer cornah 
 an Ah 11 do de trick fob de two on us."
 
 JIM ^^YIIITECOTTOX S LAST LOAD 105 
 
 After awhile Jim took up his banjo and began to 
 thrum it. 
 
 "Nigger," said the "slope boss," "put up that ar tin 
 kittle o yourn right away ! 
 
 "Boss deputy," Tom said, "give de poll ol niggah a 
 show; do, like a good kind boss what yo is, an yo ll 
 see Big Tom mend is licks an whip out ten cyars o 
 coal befo dese oder fellahs git out five. Ah sho will, 
 boss, ef yo ll jest give ol Jim a show!" 
 
 Jim put the banjo down, and swaying back and forth 
 on a ledge of coal, hummed : 
 
 "Oh, deah Lohd, Ah m weary awaitin , awaitin foh 
 yo comin Ah am." 
 
 Jim hummed and Big Tom worked until noontime ; 
 then half-a-dozen banjos in as many different pockets, 
 struck as many different tunes. Jim, no longer able 
 to sit on the ledge, reclined against it, and picking up 
 his banjo, began feebly to thrum an accompaniment to 
 his melody his valedictory. AYheii the half-hour res 
 pite was up, he made an effort to get to work. He 
 arose and stood beside Big Tom s full car of coal. He 
 seized it with both hands, but his old head dropped be 
 tween them, and when he slid to the pit floor, he was 
 humming "Oh, d-e-a-h L-o-h-d Ah m aweary 
 Then he rolled over and was still. AVhen Tom returned 
 with the empty car, he found him there with his banjo 
 under his arm. The "slope boss" came along at the 
 same time and poked the muzzle of his gun against the 
 old man s ribs, but there was no response. Tom wept. 
 
 Boss, " he said, Ah recken yo 11 hev ter excuse Jim 
 dis time he s dead." 
 
 "Put his carcass on top of yer car, Tom, and take it 
 away." 
 
 AVhen the coal was ready, they put Whitecottou on
 
 106 THE MAGYAR 
 
 top; then Tom took the old man s banjo and with his 
 mighty sinewy hand, tore its strings from the wood. 
 Then, between his hands, he crushed it as if it had been 
 a matchbox, and put it beside his friend. 
 
 "Bof on em hev played der last chime," he said, 
 as the convict catafalque moved toward the light.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A DYNAMITE EXPLOSION AND A DASH FOR LIBERTY 
 
 THE first man to meet Ruden as he entered "one" 
 that night after his flogging, was Brewster, the "double- 
 lifer." Twenty lashes had considerably weakened Ru 
 den s strong frame. It had made more of an impres 
 sion on his nervous system than on his body. He tot 
 tered to his bed and threw himself across it. 
 
 "Perhaps you prefer to be alone," Brewster said, as 
 he lay down beside him. 
 
 "Go ahead," Ruden said, "I don t want to talk- 
 but I can listen." 
 
 "You are an odd type," Brewster began, "and if you 
 will pardon what seems brutal, I ll be frank enough to 
 tell you that I m glad you got that flogging." 
 
 Ruden turned around on his side and looked at him. 
 
 "Why are you glad?" 
 
 "You are one of us now!" 
 
 "Did it take that to make me one of you?" 
 
 "Yes; you were a little high toned making a socio 
 logical study of us, as it were. You were a criminal 
 by an unfortuitous circumstance. Now you smart and 
 suffer, and your heart is a melting-pot of red rebel 
 lion." 
 
 "Well, now that I am initiated, what s the next 
 thing?" 
 
 "I can let you into my secret." 
 
 "I confess to you, Brewster, that the murder of old 
 Whitecotton and my own flogging have modified my 
 worship of the State as such." 
 
 107
 
 108 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "What have you been thinking of since you came in 
 off the block?" 
 
 ""Well I have thought of many things in a moment 
 of time; but John Brown came to me on that floor I 
 understood him for the first time." 
 
 "Ah, that s interesting! "Well, you ve had a chance 
 to see how free the niggers are, anyway!" 
 
 "I see that in the South you have niggers , as you 
 call them, of all races a laborer here is a nigger 
 whether white or black!" 
 
 "AYell, we white people down here have nigger on 
 the brain, I confess, and I hate them like hell and as 
 naturally as I breathe; so don t drag me into a dis 
 cussion on that, for we could never agree. I want to 
 tell you my plan." 
 
 "Your plan to escape?" 
 
 "Exactly." 
 
 "I don t want to escape I want to suffer a year s 
 agony here with these men, and then go out and tell 
 the world." 
 
 "Don t be an ass, whatever you are! The world, 
 as you call it, wouldn t believe you; and if a moiety of 
 it did, the majority would crucify you in some way or 
 other. Have a little regard for your own skin ; it 
 doesn t last long down here ! 
 
 "Well, tell me your plan!" 
 
 "I am in charge of the dynamite of the mine." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 "Yes, they always give that job to the man who 
 cares little for life. Now, my plan is to get enough 
 men of "one" to carry up enough in one night to blow 
 out the side of the entire stockade!" 
 
 "Heavens! what then?" 
 
 Then a dash for liberty and trust for success !
 
 A DYNAMITE EXPLOSION 109 
 
 "Don t count me in until I think it over/ Ruden 
 said. 
 
 "Stranger," said "Lone Star," who had heard the 
 conversation, "another dose o leather will clear up tlr 
 fog o yer thought, Ah reckon, so we 11 hang on f er ye ! " 
 
 " Lone Star, " said Rudcn, "this isn t a personal 
 problem with me ; I could get revenge personal re 
 venge; but I want to act in such a way that the tens 
 of thousands of slaves at the wheel of labor will be 
 helped and not hurt by my action my conduct!" 
 
 "Ye re a little bcyant mi depth, stranger," "Lone 
 Star" said, "but ye re on th level. We feel that, an 
 what ye say goes!" 
 
 Before the light w r ent out, every man in "one" had 
 looked Ruden over. There were at least half-a-dozen 
 schemes at work among the men of "one," and the pro 
 moters of each were quick to take advantage of such 
 mental condition as usually accompanied a whipping. 
 The men hung around for Ruden s benefit until the 
 deputy came along to put the chains on his ankles. 
 Five minutes later the light went out, and he was left 
 alone with his thoughts and the murderer by his side. 
 
 "I ve been sizing you up since we arrived here," the 
 murderer said, "and I want to break my silence to 
 give you a word of advice." The voice seemed almost 
 sepulchral in its undertone. 
 
 "Well," Ruden whispered, "I m glad to hear your 
 voice anyway ; and as we are chained here for a year, 
 we might as well make ourselves agreeable." 
 
 They spoke into each other s cars in whispers so low 
 that they could not be heard in the next bed. 
 
 "Only God knows how long we are chained together; 
 for, presumably, I am here for twenty years, and you 
 are here for one. That s what the judge and the cal-
 
 110 THE MAGYAR 
 
 endar say ; but the cankcrworm of conditions laughs at 
 them ! You are a prisoner of hope. My condition is 
 different I am the slave of an implacable hatred!" 
 
 "I don t understand you," Ruden whispered. 
 
 "Then listen. Are you willing to exchange confi 
 dences with me?" 
 
 "Certainly if my case is of interest to you, I will 
 give it to you in detail." 
 
 "No, your case is of no interest to me; but you are 
 there is a destiny written on your face that this hell 
 cannot control !" 
 
 "Listen! I hear footfalls Ruden said. 
 
 "It s that dynamite bunch," he answered. "They 
 get together at the far corner of the cell in the dark 
 and discuss plans, every night." 
 
 "Look here," Ruden said, "time is precious; let us 
 get to the heart of what you want to say." 
 
 "The lacerations make you impatient; perhaps we 
 had better postpone it?" 
 
 "No not that; I shall not be able to sleep anyway, 
 but every word counts in these circumstances." 
 
 Then listen! 1 am a man whom people have always 
 shunned with good reason. A Nemesis hangs over mi; 
 -*-[ was told by a clairvoyant once that an opportunity 
 for a great sacrifice would come to me some day, and 
 if I was equal to it, the spell would be broken. "Well, 
 it came at least, I thought it came, and I mot it ; but 
 the spell was not broken. 1 live in an atmosphere of 
 hate" 
 
 "Stop," Ruden whispered, "tell me of the sacrifice." 
 
 "No I can t do that don t disturb me till you 
 know all. I have a sister she urged me to the sacri 
 fice, and it was in the hope that she saw something good 
 in me that I put my neck in the yoke. But she dis-
 
 A DYNAMITE EXPLOSION 111 
 
 owned me; and the object of the sacrifice spit upon me. 
 That filled me full of unutterable hatred, and I plotted 
 revenge. Then I saw some light, and I gave up my 
 plans of revenge. Now here is the point are you lis 
 tening?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "If at any time you don t hear distinctly, cough 
 gently, and I ll repeat." 
 
 "Wait a moment!" Ruden tried to lie on his back, 
 but the pain was too great. He turned over again on 
 his stomach, and they resumed their previous mouth to 
 ear position. 
 
 What is your name ? asked the murderer. 
 
 "I am registered as Stephen Dasza ;" call me 
 Steve. And yours?" 
 
 "I was convicted under the name of Jonathan 
 Sparks call me Jean. : 
 
 "Then to the point, Jean." 
 
 "Steve, you are on the wrong trail. Your attempt 
 to help old AYhitecotton is an example, you increased 
 his pain, hurried his death and got flogged for your im 
 pulse!" 
 
 "It was a good impulse." 
 
 "No doubt but the world at present is cursed with 
 an overplus of inefficient goodness your impulse must 
 have sense as well as intuition that s trite, pardon me 
 I must to the point or you will be too impatient to 
 hear me out." 
 
 "What about your sleep?" 
 
 "That s unimportant sound sleep will follow an un 
 derstanding. 
 
 "I w r as concerned only about you," Ruden said. 
 
 "And I," said Jean, "am taking advantage of your 
 inability to sleep."
 
 112 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Go on, please!" 
 
 "Well, in a nutshell, this is what I want to say- 
 physical force is only a factor when collectively applied 
 for an individual or a group to use it as a weapon 
 for reform or revenge means failure and retrogression 
 the new force the force of the future is mental. 
 
 "Are you listening?" 
 
 "Yes, I agree with you." 
 
 "You agree with me but will you act with me?" 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "You have the creative mind I have the material 
 let us draw up an indictment." 
 
 Indict a race ? 
 
 Not a race merely hut a whole civilization ! 
 
 In a document ? 
 
 "Yes, John Howard and Elizabeth Fry did it. 
 Why not two convicts who are victims of a system?" 
 
 "But" 
 
 "Yes I know." Jean said as he groped for Ruden s 
 arm and pressed his lips to his ear "I know what s in 
 your mind I am a murderer but what is murder? 
 Illegal killing but to every illegal killing there are ten 
 thousand cold-blooded murders within the law! The 
 world is ignorant stupid only mental dynamite will 
 break up the callousness of the human heart, but it 
 can be broken it shall be broken we you and I con 
 victs can do it if we will!" 
 
 Ruden groped for his hand the hands met and 
 gripped each other tightly. 
 
 "We ll try by God s grace," said Ruden. 
 
 "I know nothing of God s grace," said Jean, "but 
 if that s essential, you furnish it. I ll furnish the 
 mental dynamite ! 
 
 "Good night, Jean."
 
 A DYNAMITE EXPLOSION 113 
 
 "Good night, Stove." 
 
 These whispering conferences went on night after 
 night for weeks so did the dynamite round table in 
 the far end of the cell. 
 
 The coup dc stockade was to be the first order of busi 
 ness after Thanksgiving. 
 
 Thanksgiving day was usually a day of feasting. 
 The State demands of stockade wardens that meat and 
 white bread be served once a week pork was not con 
 sidered meat. These extra delicacies were usually 
 served on Sunday when the men had time to appre 
 ciate them. On Thanksgiving, 1906, the meat and 
 bread of the previous Sunday were held over and served 
 on Thanksgiving Day as a token of the consideration 
 and appreciation of the Genessee Coal and Iron Com 
 pany. In addition to these extras a Sunday School in 
 the Pittsburg of the South had donated an orange 
 and a small stick of candy for each convict and each 
 man was asked to write a note of appreciation "if 
 only a few words" to stimulate the good work on fu 
 ture Thanksgivings. The "blow out" of the day, as the 
 men called it, was a roast turkey and apple pie dinner, 
 given to a limited gilt-edged list of guests in "one." 
 
 There was a system in vogue by which for every ton 
 of coal mined above the regulation requirement a ticket 
 exchangeable at the stockade store for thirty cents worth 
 of groceries was given. This, of course, was for "first 
 class" men. If a second class man aimed at this in 
 centive he was immediately put into the first class. The 
 deputies traded considerably in these tickets and were 
 able to cash them at face value, whereas the convicts 
 had to take whatever the store provided and prices there 
 ranged from two to three hundred per cent, higher 
 than elsewhere.
 
 114 THE MAGYAR 
 
 It was one of these tickets that "Lone Star" bet on 
 the movements of the fly. 
 
 The turkey dinner therefore was the result of long 
 months of toil in the coal pit of the Genessee Coal and 
 Iron Company. Labor there wasn t a matter of crime 
 all crimes were alike it was a matter of physical 
 condition of class, not in morals, but in mining. The 
 Coal Company hired these men from the State at a dol 
 lar a day per head and proceeded to work them to the 
 limit of their physical ability. Rudeu and Jean were 
 invited to turkey dinner. 
 
 "Gents," said "Kentuck," "Ah ve sorter capped th 
 climax in the banquet business in these parts b haviu 
 a real live sky pilot t ax a blessin ." 
 
 All hands looked at Ruden he was embarrassed. 
 
 "Go on parson!" said "Lone Star," "we re all onto 
 yc so ye re in for it." 
 
 It was an act of modesty that made Ruden bow his 
 head he had no intention of prayer or grace, but every 
 man stood there with bowed head also. 
 
 After a painful suspense, iu a trembling voice, he 
 said: "God, here in this place where there is neither 
 Spring, Summer, Autumn nor AYinter, where the blue 
 dome of heaven is shut out from us by a layer of coal 
 by day and a rotted roof by night, where Sun and Moon 
 and Stars are strangers and friends are memories of a 
 buried past ; where the birds sing not nor flowers 
 bloom; where there is neither joy in labor nor balm in 
 sleep clad in the uniform of shame, deserted by the 
 State, insulted by the Church, in an atmosphere of hate 
 where time is counted by cars of coal and the re-percus 
 sions of pain here God, in hell, we lift up our voices 
 and for the human touch and comradeship around this 
 accursed board we thank tliee!"
 
 A DYNAMITE EXPLOSION 115 
 
 The men looked at each other for a moment, and then 
 altogether at Ruden. 
 
 "Lone Star" being asked to "carve," knives and 
 forks were forbidden pulled the turkey apart and di 
 vided it. 
 
 After dinner, they smoked, told stories and watched 
 the guards in the watch boxes on the fence a favorite 
 Sunday diversion in "one." The dynamiters met for 
 a last conference. The difficulties were gone over one 
 by one and an hour set. 
 
 The third night after Thanksgiving, about five min 
 utes after the return from supper, an explosion that 
 blew a section of the stockade into the air was heard 
 and shook the earth for miles around. The south end 
 of "one" disappeared and from what was left, men 
 rushed like rats out of a hole and sprang at the high 
 fence. Every man who ventured the leap took his life 
 in his hands. As the men struck the fence there was a 
 volley from the shotguns in the sentry boxes that brought 
 a. score of men to the ground. Only four of them 
 topped the fence, two of them dropped back into the 
 yard, shot through the body one of them, "Kentuck," 
 fatally. Brewster received three bullets but the doc 
 tors said he would do a fc\v more of his 140 years. 
 
 "Lone Star" considered the most desperate man in 
 tho stockade was found standing at the edge of the 
 ruins motionless and apparently unconcerned this puz 
 zled the officers more than anything else connected with 
 the affair. Ruden and his partner took no part in it 
 and were not even questioned by the "Warden. Eleven 
 negroes and three white men were blown to death and a 
 thousand dollars worth of the Genessee Coal and Iron 
 Company s property was destroyed.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 VOICES FROM THE ABYSS 
 
 A SPACE writer on a daily paper wrote a sensational 
 story of the affair and so stirred the vicinity that the 
 Governor appointed a commission to inquire into the 
 explosion and the events leading up to it. 
 
 Three of the largest employers of labor in the State 
 Avere appointed members of it. 
 
 "Congressman Oglethorpe," said the Birmingham 
 Argus, editorially, "is the wisest selection the Governor 
 could have made, and because of his wide experience 
 and Avell known interest in all matters pertaining to 
 labor will make a most excellent Chairman." 
 
 At the first day s session the Commission called the 
 "Warden, half-a-dozen deputies and the prison physi 
 cian, who testified as to their knowledge of the explo 
 sion. The bulk of the testimony related to the difficul 
 ties of handling convict labor, some of it related to the 
 results of the explosion. The second day "Lone Star" 
 Avas a picturesque feature of the proceedings. His 
 record Avas before the Commissioners they knew the 
 man. 
 
 "A deputy testified yesterday," said the Chairman 
 of the Commission, "that you stood calmly Avithin a feAV 
 feet of the explosion Avhen it occurred. Tell us Avhat 
 you were doing at the time?" 
 
 "Jedge," said "Lone Star," "Ah, spect ye want 
 t hear Avhy Ah didn t make no move in th direction o 
 ma reputation ain t that th kernel o ycr nut?" 
 
 116
 
 VOICES FROM THE ABYSS 117 
 
 "Well, yes," said Colonel Oglethorpe, "that s about 
 it." 
 
 "Well, that s a dead cinch, Jedge Ah seen th ranch 
 go up an th coons mixin wi th wreckage Ah seen 
 the boys make their break for th fence. Somethin 
 said to me Lone Star/ it says, shuffle the cards again 
 an take a new hand, yer luck may hit a new trail. 
 So Ah folded m arms an stud thar like Ah was Presi 
 dent o th Genessee Company that s the tale, Jedge 
 it ain t got no moral as Ah know of." 
 
 The Commissioners smiled the AVarden and depu 
 ties were amused and nodded to each other "Lone 
 Star" was excused and sent back. 
 
 "Why did you stand still?" Ruden asked "Lone 
 Star" when they got back to the big cell. 
 
 "Ah was paralized, boss jest paralized!" 
 
 Jonathan Sparks refused to appear. 
 
 "Dosza" was called. He took a handful of notes 
 from his pocket. They were pencilled on scraps of pa 
 per of various colors and qualities they were num 
 bered and in order he set them on the table before 
 him for reference. 
 
 "Gentlemen of the Commission," Ruden began, "be 
 fore I testify as to what I know of the events leading 
 up to the explosion, I desire to make a request." The 
 voice startled the Commissioners the Chairman beck 
 oned for the Warden, probably for the record of this 
 unusual convict. 
 
 "Proceed," he said. 
 
 "I will tell the truth as I know it on condition that 
 you give immediate orders that I be transferred to an 
 other jail." 
 
 "We have no such power," the Commission said. 
 
 "Then I refuse to testify."
 
 118 THE MAGYAR 
 
 There was a private conference and later a telephone 
 communication with the Governor. 
 
 "The Governor," said Colonel Oglethorpe, "will 
 communicate with the proper authorities and have you 
 transferred, probably to-morrow. 
 
 "Thank you," Ruden said, and proceeded. 
 
 "There is a sentiment in the South that the Anglo- 
 Saxon is a little different a little superior to the Afri 
 can race. AYhite men as babes suck that sentiment at 
 their mother s breasts. It is woven into the texture of 
 the child s speech and the thinking of the youth, and 
 at maturity it has a large place in the life of the domi 
 nant white people. The sentiment does not die when 
 clothed in convict stripes. In the old slavery the lash 
 was applied to the backs of the black men only. In the 
 industrial slavery of to-day it is applied with equal bru 
 tality to both black and white. The Anglo-Saxon does 
 not easily accustom himself to the life of a slave. 
 
 "When the Southern white man is stretched on the 
 floor of a convict cell a negro on his shoulders and 
 one on his legs to keep him down while he is flogged 
 into insensibility, he is very likely on recovery to fight 
 back with a stronger weapon. 
 
 "The explosion at Bratt City was the result partly 
 of the lash on the back of the white man. I consider 
 that the chief in a series of causes. 
 
 "Another of the causes is murder. I do not expect 
 much sympathy when I speak of the black man, but I 
 will say nevertheless that the life of the average negro 
 is of less consequence than the life of the average mule 
 in the mines. Negroes have been murdered by the lash, 
 by the shotgun, by exposure, by disease and by filth." 
 
 "You mean murder as the result of neglect, I pre 
 sume," the Chairman interrupted.
 
 VOICES FROM THE ABYSS 119 
 
 "No, not that exactly the Warden and the doctor 
 kicked a man to death recently and they have done it 
 before. I saw them do it, and got Hogged for asking 
 for mercy for the convict. I saw the "Warden cut deep 
 tracks in the man s back and next morning the doctor 
 stuffed the bloody gutter-ways full of cotton the man, 
 of course, died in the mine at his work. 
 
 "Thirty cents a day is allowed for each man s food, 
 and it costs the caterer just five cents per capita. 
 
 "The place is infested with rats, mice and vermin. 
 
 "Look at the doctor s report for last year and see the 
 number of deaths by tuberculosis. Instead of tackling 
 the white plague as a man of science would, the prison 
 physician sells his services to the highest bidder. Any 
 man who has the price can be put in a hospital and 
 when the Governor comes to inspect the sick he finds 
 none, not one. Even the dying are stowed away until 
 the Governor s party departs in its special car. 
 
 "Every girl and every woman in the female depart 
 ment is used for immoral purposes, the AVarden has 
 first pick, the physician second, and what s left the dep 
 uties use. 
 
 "The most comely young woman that ever entered 
 that nursery of death was serving a sentence of two 
 years. She bore a child each year and took them with 
 her. In two weeks she was convicted of a crime that 
 the father of her second child arranged for her. She 
 was falsely convicted and is again the mistress of the 
 same brute." 
 
 "Is she a nigger?" asked the Chairman. 
 
 "Does the gentleman mean a negress?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 My reply is : She is a woman. 
 
 "The flogging of men white men takes one back
 
 120 THE MAGYAR 
 
 a few hundred years, but what shall we say of the flog 
 ging of women in the State of Alabama? 
 
 "We have heard the wild screams of women over in 
 our cells when the lash like a snake has coiled itself 
 around the back and bitten with its stinging point the 
 bare bosom of a woman ! 
 
 Negresses you mean ! 
 
 "I mean women. 
 
 "There are only a few white men strong enough to 
 mine more than the five tons required each day but there 
 are many negroes who can. For each ton a thirty cent 
 ticket is given. The deputies have been systematically 
 exploiting and robbing these men of their hard earned 
 extras that might be expected, but the most aggra 
 vated case that came to my notice was the case of big 
 Frank Srnythe, a Canadian. Frank is serving a ten- 
 year sentence he says he is innocent and in order to 
 attempt to get a new trial he worked for nearly three 
 years to get one hundred dollars by mining extra coal. 
 He got his money at least he got a hundred dollars out 
 of several hundred dollars worth of extra labor and he 
 went into the AVarden s office, gave the hundred dollars 
 to the President of the prison-board to get a new hear 
 ing." 
 
 "Who was that?" 
 
 "The name of the President at that time was Llwel- 
 lyn Oglethorpe !" 
 
 "You are a liar," said the Chairman. 
 
 "The proofs are all at hand!" Euden retorted. 
 
 "Gentlemen," said Colonel Oglethorpe, "I am but 
 one of the Commission, but I object to the further hear 
 ing of the irresponsible liar." 
 
 "Let him finish," the others suggested mildly. 
 
 "I have almost finished, gentlemen. Frank Smythe
 
 VOICES FROM THE ABYSS 121 
 
 never got his hearing and he has given up all hope of 
 ever seeing his money. 
 
 "When a prophet of the New South says in his book, 
 Problems of the Present South/ that the chief cause of 
 the marvellous industrial development of the South is 
 its cheap and tractable labor, the outside world is ig 
 norant of just how cheap and just how tractable it is. 
 I have shown you how it is made tractable how the 
 fortunes of the Southern aristocracy are replenished. 
 Let me close by saying that despicable as is the petty 
 grafting on the lives of the helpless prisoners, more de 
 spicable still is the chief grafter of all the State of 
 Alabama, the machinery of whose government is kept 
 running by the blood of her most helpless citizens." 
 
 The inquiry dragged on for ten days, but Ruden had 
 put into the compass of a few minutes the gist of the 
 testimony. To the surprise of everybody in "one," 
 the Board of Pardons paroled "Lone Star" for his ex 
 emplary conduct the night of the explosion. 
 
 The institution was too much in the lime light to 
 harm Ruden for his revelation. He was taken the fol 
 lowing day to a private stockade in Montgomery 
 County. 
 
 The nerve of "Kentuck" excited the admiration of 
 everybody in the hospital. They knew he was dying 
 and in the last hours no slightest wish was left ungrati- 
 fied. Indeed, he had but one wish. It was to see the 
 ex-parson of "one." xVs soon as Ruden returned to his 
 cell from the investigation, he was escorted by a deputy 
 to the cot side of "Kentuck." 
 
 "Parson," he said, "Ah ve staked a new claim an 
 Ah ve bin a hankerin t see ye fur a brief spell before 
 Ah begin t prove up on it." 
 
 "Perhaps there s something I can do, Kentuck ?"
 
 122 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Ah ve thought o that Ah can t write no letters 
 an there s but one to write ef Ah could." 
 
 "I get out in a year and would gladly convey a per 
 sonal message to anyone anywhere." 
 
 "All, ye ve got a line on m thinking." "Kentuck" 
 was weakening and his voice was feeble. Ruden sat 
 beside him on the edge of the cot. The physician came 
 along and seeing " Kentuck V visitor, said: "So you 
 are the guy Kentuck wanted to see, hey?" 
 
 There was no reply. 
 
 "Cut it short, Kentuck. I don t want this Dago 
 around no more n I can help, see?" 
 
 "Taint th Dago, Doc; its th last words of a dying 
 man to his pal." 
 
 "AYell, cut them short, that s all." 
 
 "Deputy," said "Kentuck," "did th AVarden say 
 Ah cud hev my wish?" 
 
 "Sure thing, go on." 
 
 "Parson, Ah would do th same thing for a pal as 
 Ah thought anythin on Ah sho would." 
 
 "Have no fear, Kentuck. " 
 
 "There s a mill village by the name of Arden a few 
 miles out o Anniston it s a small place a grocery, a 
 church and the big mill. On the north edge, at the 
 cross roads, there s a cottage white, wi a magnoly tree 
 in th yard: Ax fur Nell. 
 
 "Tell er th night we slid apart somethin told me 
 we should never meet again it wuz a feelin like death. 
 Ah took th ol violin over th hill t th grave-yard. 
 It wnz moonlight Ah played on th lone fence some 
 o th ol tunes that lister bring the tears to er eyes. 
 Ah God, them eyes o hern! Sweet an low, was the 
 last one an th best then Ah crushed th fiddle like a 
 match-box dug a hole be the big pine in, th corner an
 
 VOICES FROM THE ABYSS 123 
 
 laid it there, laid it like a dead baby then I done all 
 them desperate things that put me in stripes an irons. 
 Ax her to say a prayer fur Jim ni name s Jim Peters. 
 He was exhausted, closed his eyes and for a moment 
 was silent. 
 
 "Tell er, Parson," he said, when he began again, "it 
 wuz all a mistake them notions o hern about th color 
 o a man s skin it s th heart that counts." 
 
 "Come on," the deputy said impatiently, "Ye ve 
 chewed long enough." 
 
 "Kentuck s" hand was already relaxing its hold. 
 Ruden appealed to the deputy for another minute, but 
 was hustled away. 
 
 "Good-bye, Kentuck, good-bye," he said, as he 
 pressed the hand of the desperado, but there was no 
 response. Next day, Ruden, chained to a deputy, was 
 led away from the stockade. As he passed out of one 
 gate four striped pall-bearers carried the remains of 
 "Kentuck" out of another to the woods for burial.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 IN WHICH MRS. RUDEN GETS A FULL DRAUGHT AT THE 
 FOUNTAIN OF LIFE 
 
 CHRISTMAS Eve, 1906, AYetumpka Mansion, the home 
 of the Oglethorpes, was the scene of, a brilliant ball. It 
 eclipsed everything of the kind ever held in the State 
 of Alabama. The Governor, Senators, Congressmen and 
 Mayors of the larger cities were there, so were the de 
 butantes of the season and women known far and wide 
 for beauty and accomplishment. Workmen had spent 
 a month preparing the new ball-room and many of the 
 wealthy \vomen had been much longer in the prepara 
 tion of the expensive and elaborate gowns, detailed de 
 scriptions of which were in the newspaper offices a week 
 before the event took place. A French hair-dresser and 
 a manicurist had been on the estate for a week getting 
 Mrs. Ruden in shape. A peep into Mrs. Ruden s room 
 at Wetumpka would have astounded her acquaintances 
 in New Oxford. A black maid had been employed to 
 attend exclusively to the care of her skin. She was 
 bathed in preparations, pomaded, cold-creamed, mas 
 saged and polished with the care given the mistress of 
 a Medieval King. 
 
 "Dearie," said Mrs. Oglethorpe, as they met in the 
 hall after the last touch to her toilet, "You look like 
 a queen ! 
 
 "You darling," said Mrs. Ruden, kissing her gently 
 and with due deference to that last touch, "I feel like 
 the friend of one." 
 
 124
 
 MRS. RUDEN GETS A FULL DRAUGHT 125 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe on the arm of the Governor led the 
 grand march. Mrs. Ruden and the host came next. It 
 was the first time in fifteen years she had been able to 
 show her lily white throat and the light pink color of 
 her finely shaped bosom. A New York dressmaker had 
 made a special trip to prepare the gown. The Colonel 
 looked ten years less than his age. He too was radiant. 
 They danced the first dance together and they planned 
 to meet again at the third. The second he danced with 
 his wife and Mrs. Ruden danced with the Governor. 
 
 At the close of the third dance the host and his guest 
 wandered away off to a rustic seat, beneath a magnolia 
 tree, a place where, the Colonel said, There was always 
 a breeze that swept in out of the valley. 
 
 "I saw a cloud on your brow, Madeline, as the Gov 
 ernor seated you under the palm ; what was it ? " 
 
 "Nothing much." 
 
 "A regret?" 
 
 "No, not that exactly." 
 
 "What then?" 
 
 "Lew," she said, "I enjoy this to the full almost." 
 
 "Why almost "?" 
 
 "This finery, this dress, these jewels, I would give 
 the world if I did not have to hide in my; own soul their 
 origin ! 
 
 "Oh rot," he said, "can t you have a little present 
 from a friend without publishing it?" 
 
 "I could if Mabel had given it or if she knew about 
 it!" 
 
 "Well, for heaven s sake, dear, don t spoil this thing 
 that I spent two months planning for you. This entire 
 thing is for you, you only. You love life, full, free, 
 radiant, joyful life, here it is! drink it in for a night. 
 Let it be the nectar of the gods to your soul, and when
 
 126 THE MAGYAR 
 
 the music dies down and the lights are out, let us look 
 at the soberer side of things." He put his hand caress 
 ingly on her bare white shoulder. As he did so, two 
 young people tip-toed under the tree and made for the 
 rustic bench. It was young Oglethorpe and the Gov 
 ernor s daughter. The Colonel turned his back to the 
 newcomers and almost pushed his companion out of the 
 shade in front of him. 
 
 "I m not the only one here who knows the obscure 
 corners," he said as he led her back into the ball-room. 
 
 They Avere joined at once by Mrs. Oglethorpe "My 
 dear girlie," she said, "you ve made a tremendous hit 
 with the Governor he blushed like a girl when he 
 asked me about you he wants another dance don t 
 refuse cut somebody else out and I ll soothe down the 
 disappointed one!" 
 
 The three of them consulted Mrs. Ruden s card 
 ""Well," she said, "the only one that can be smoothed 
 over is Mr. Atkins." 
 
 "I ll see him right off, dearie, and when the Gover 
 nor comes show him the change on your card." 
 
 "Mrs. Ruden," the Governor said as he passed, but 
 he got no further. "Mrs. Oglethorpe has been giving 
 you away," Mrs. Ruden said smiling. 
 
 "Murder will out" he said, "but really, now, how 
 is your card, Mrs. Ruden?" 
 
 "Well, I have just wiped out the name of an ardent 
 young scion of a Southern family and substituted for 
 it the sire of another." He looked over her shoulder 
 and smiled as he saw his name. 
 
 "Ah," he exclaimed, "you are as kind as you are 
 beautiful, and I am encouraged to hope that your stay 
 in the South is an indefinite one is it?" 
 
 "Well, I am to be here the rest of the winter, anyway. "
 
 MRS. RUDEN GETS A FULL DRAUGHT 127 
 
 "Splendid!" he exclaimed. "Now we ve been talk 
 ing of an affair such as this not an inaugural sort of 
 thing, for there one has to invite everybody but a ball 
 where we can invite the folks we know really know 
 and love don t you know?" 
 
 "I understand," she said. 
 
 "I want you to know my family they too will be as 
 glad as I to have you grace our ball, and if the Ogle- 
 thorpes can spare you to come and stay awhile 
 
 "You are very kind, Governor, I am sure the pleas 
 ure will be mutual." 
 
 "You art melting here," he said as he took her arm 
 and led her into the garden. They passed Mrs. Ogle- 
 thorpe and the women exchanged glances as intelligent 
 as speech. 
 
 "If I knew this garden as well as you do." he said, 
 I would take you to a quiet, cosey corner where you 
 might really rest and be undisturbed for the interval." 
 
 "And what would you do with the interval?" 
 
 "I would double, treble, quadruple it I would make 
 the interval all the whole thing ! 
 
 "Oh, you men!" 
 
 And you women ! 
 
 "Are you well acquainted with French history, Gov 
 ernor ? 
 
 "Not very." 
 
 "I wanted to ask a question that has been in my 
 mind for years." 
 
 "Ask it anyway. " 
 
 "The reformers have splashed history red with 
 blood they have made life a vale of tears and I have 
 always imagined that the mistress of an autocrat or a 
 demagogue could accomplish more reforms than Jeanne 
 d Arc or the reformers! "What do you think?"
 
 128 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "You will pardon me if I appear to be a pagan in 
 my answer, but I think a man who has a beautiful wife 
 is a fool to be a reformer ! 
 
 They were walking slowly along, arm in arm, in the 
 darkness. 
 
 "Why?" she asked. 
 
 "Take me to a cosey seat and I ll tell you!" he an 
 swered. 
 
 They reached the seat where the Colonel and she had 
 ensconced themselves earlier in the evening. 
 
 "Here," she said, "is the quietest place in the 
 garden, but we must not stay more than a minute." 
 
 "I did not mean to be personal in that partial an 
 swer to your question but the Colonel hinted that your 
 husband was a reformer, and instantly there came up 
 before me half-a-dozen poverty-stricken growlers who 
 try to make life miserable for such men as Oglethorpe 
 and myself." 
 
 "Enlarge on your partial answer to my question." 
 
 "Well, when a man whose wealth consists of a chicken 
 coop starts out to reform my business I fight him, and 
 just because I have been successful I can beat him, but 
 what is business to a man when he meets a woman of 
 such charms as you possess?" 
 
 Mrs. Ruden laughed. It was hearty and forced her 
 companion to probe after its origin. 
 
 "Oh," she said languidly in answer to his question, 
 "I was thinking of the original Salome dance." 
 
 "Well, as I am not acquainted with the copies even, 
 I am still at a loss to know." 
 
 The Governor was interrupted by the sudden entrance 
 into the bower of a couple who seemed familiar with 
 the place. They arose to go, but the newcomers wheeled 
 around and retraced their steps.
 
 MRS. RUDEX GETS A FULL DRAUGHT 129 
 
 "The next number is called," Mrs. Ruden said, "and 
 I am in disgrace my partner will be waiting." 
 
 "Then we will talk the matter out later I will count 
 the seconds till I feel the touch of your arm again." 
 
 He caressed the arm gently. His speech had the 
 flavor and passion of youth, and as he left her at the 
 ball-room door he kissed her hand, with the grace of a 
 knight, and was gone. 
 
 "You look radiant, Madeline," were the first words 
 of her hostess, who had been watching her. 
 
 "I am, dearie." 
 
 "Isn t the Governor charming?" 
 
 "He s a man, Mabel." 
 
 "You didn t tell him that, I hope!" 
 
 "Oh, no I just rambled along with him." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "I mean mentally, dear." 
 
 "He s perfectly silly over you!" 
 
 The dance was in progress. She had arrived late for 
 it, but was not kept waiting long. 
 
 To a person who had been pent up with children and 
 problems of all kinds this freedom was an intoxication 
 the music the w r ell dressed men and women the 
 color schemes the abnormal mental atmosphere. 
 Every new partner was a hidden fire with which she 
 liked to play. It was so exciting to get near the edge 
 to fence w r ith mental foils to talk in veiled speech 
 to rush in where angels fear to tread and enjoy the ex 
 citement. 
 
 Mrs. Ruden s partner in the third dance was Colonel 
 Oglethorpe they whirled around for a few minutes 
 and then disappeared. Only one person watched their 
 movements. 
 
 "This is insanity, Lew," she said, as they seated
 
 130 THE MAGYAR 
 
 themselves on the bench in the obscure corner. "Scores 
 of people are around \ve have all the time there is, 
 but this is your guests time." 
 
 "True," he said, "very true, but I don t see you 
 every day in that dress, and I want to feast my eyes on 
 what it doesn t cover." 
 
 "Then the light ought to suit you better." 
 
 "AVell, it does and it doesn t. T have not taken my 
 eyes off you since the ball begun. I have compared you 
 with the loveliest of the debutantes they are not in it 
 with you." 
 
 Madeline lay back and spread her white arms along 
 the back of the seat. He turned partly around toward 
 her and ran his hand softty along her arm. "There is 
 a subtlety in your charm," he said, "that thrills me 
 with the ecstasy of a god." Then the hand expressed 
 a little more of the state of his mind. AVhen it did so 
 she arose hastily she thought she heard footsteps ap 
 proaching, but before she could speak he had caught 
 her full in his arms, and holding her as if she were a 
 child of ten he kissed her passionately until a faint cry 
 escaped her lips the cry of a soul in pain. Her body 
 began to relax and he laid her gently on the seat again. 
 As he did so a woman emerged from behind the big 
 magnolia and stood for an instant in the shadow. 
 Madeline saw her and clutched her companion tightly 
 by the arm. The figure stood but an instant and then 
 vanished. 
 
 "My God!" she exclaimed, "how t can I go back into 
 the light? My face burns I am so faint! Oh!" 
 
 He stood in front of her vigorously plying a fan. 
 " Go ! " she said go back to your guests and leave me. 
 
 "I can t leave you, Madeline!" 
 
 "Go! I tell you!"
 
 MRS. RUDEN GETS A FULL DRAUGHT 131 
 
 He laid the fan in her lap and went back into the 
 crowd. 
 
 "Hello, Dad!" said the Colonel s second son as he 
 met his father. "Mam s sick as a horse and gone to lie 
 down headache or something. You d better go and 
 see her!" and he passed out into the garden. 
 
 A few minutes later Mrs. Ruden entered the ball-room 
 and found the Governor waiting his number on her 
 card. 
 
 As she fell easily into the rhythmic swing of the music 
 in the arms of her partner, she was radiant with the joy 
 of living. If there was any regret in her soul her face 
 did not show it. Around the spacious ball-room they 
 danced with litheness, dignity and hauteur. Their 
 every movement was watched, and when they left the 
 warm glow of the room for the cool shade in the garden 
 they were followed by the eyes of at least half-a-dozen 
 curious women. 
 
 Let us see, said the Governor as soon as they w r ere 
 seated, "we were talking of reform and reformers, 
 weren t we?" 
 
 "No, it was a question of methods we were discuss 
 ing." 
 
 "Fair lady," said the Governor, "let us not w^aste 
 golden moments with leaden subjects. To-night we 
 drink the old wine the wine of the gods, and to-mor 
 row wear off the intoxication on work sordid work. 
 
 "That applies only to workers what w y ill the drones 
 do?" 
 
 "Wear theirs off on the workers, I reckon." 
 
 "In ethics, Governor," Mrs. Ruden said, "what is 
 golden to one person may be leaden to another. Isn t 
 that so?" 
 
 "But, my dear, pardon me, it s peculiarly a New
 
 132 THE MAGYAR 
 
 England trait to discuss ethics at a ball in the 
 South" 
 
 "In the South," she interrupted, "on such occasions 
 you are more French than the Parisians." 
 
 "If by French you mean a survival of chivalry, I 
 plead guilty." 
 
 "Do you know Don Quixote?" she asked. 
 
 "No, he s a new one on me," he said laughing, "but 
 I know something of Don Juan." 
 
 They were interrupted, but neither of them desired to 
 take advantage of the intrusion. 
 
 "I have something to suggest," he said, as they re 
 gained their composure, "and if I don t say it now my 
 chance will be lost." 
 
 "Perhaps it would be better lost." 
 
 "I don t think so anyway I will venture it. Now 
 look here, Mrs. Ruden : My wife and daughter want 
 you to make us a visit before you go North again, and 
 if you are interested in any reforms just let me know 
 and see how quickly they can be put into effect. Will 
 you come?" 
 
 "You offer tremendous inducements." 
 
 "Will you come?" 
 
 "I ll think it over." 
 
 "You ll let me know?" 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 lie took her hand tenderly in both of his and raised 
 them to his lips, then led her back slowly into the light. 
 
 "Run upstairs and see Mabel," Colonel Oglethorpe 
 whispered as he passed her in the hall. 
 
 The bed-room door was locked and the colored serv 
 ant said that her mistress was asleep. 
 
 When she returned to the hall some of the bloom of 
 youth had gone from her face. It wasn t merely a shut
 
 MRS. RUDEX GETS A FULL DRAUGHT 133 
 
 door that kept her from her friend but a high stone 
 wall a wall she had built with her own hands. She 
 searched the crowd for her host and when she found 
 him she poured into his ear her forebodings. 
 
 "Lew," she said, "my heart feels like stone cold 
 and hard. I believe Mabel saw us in the arbor." 
 
 "Humbug! dear," he said, "dismiss it from your 
 mind, and for heaven s sake, let love dominate you as it 
 did an hour ago." 
 
 "I am not blaming anyone I m looking for sym 
 pathy, Lew." 
 
 "Sympathy is a weak word in this case; you are 
 he lowered his voice and looked into her eyes "you 
 are looking for love, and there s an ocean of it around 
 you!" 
 
 The Governor and his family were saying good-bye 
 to all around ; as he approached, Mrs. Ruden said in an 
 undertone, "Here comes old Lochinvar. " 
 
 "Ah, Governor," Colonel Oglethorpe said as he ex 
 tended his hand, "THiat a tyrant is time so you are 
 going?" 
 
 "I disagree," said his excellency "Time is my 
 friend ; he has kept the best of life until this hour for 
 me." 
 
 ""We want you to come to us for a few weeks," the 
 Governor s wife said in her most charming manner to 
 Mrs. Ruden, and the daughter added her plea to the 
 invitation. 
 
 It was like the opening of one door as another closed 
 to the guest of "Wetumpka Mansion, for a secret dread 
 was eating at her heart, and quenched the flames in her 
 eyes that had made her the most charming personality 
 of the occasion. 
 
 One after another the guests departed many of
 
 134 THE MAGYAR 
 
 them lingering around for a final word with the Col 
 onel s guest. 
 
 Toward the end of the long program only a dozen 
 couples remained. Mrs. Ruden excused herself and 
 went to her room. The Colonel took her arm and led 
 her to the top of the first floor landing. Then like a 
 hunted animal she rushed to her room. Her first im 
 pulse was to throw herself on her bed just as she was, 
 but instead she turned all the lights on and viewed her 
 self in the great pier mirror that almost covered one 
 end of the room. "So that is what held men s atten 
 tion," she muttered as she looked at her bare shoulders 
 and arms. Then she moved closer and looked into her 
 own eyes. She thought she saw deep rings around 
 them, but she knew that they had lost much of their 
 lustre in the last hour. Her mind was a question mark 
 and her heart was full of doubt and foreboding. Mabel 
 was in perfect health in perfect spirits a few min 
 utes before it was announced that she was ill. Some 
 one was in the vicinity of the arbor when her host made 
 his passionate outburst of affection. She thought of 
 the Governor and his effusive attentions; she thought 
 of her minor partners in the program married and un 
 married. 
 
 On the mantel-piece stood portraits of her husband 
 and children. She went over and looked at them. As 
 she put back her husband s portrait she turned his face 
 to the wall. She saw a sternness that made her uneasy.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 TROUBLE IN BLACK AND WHITE 
 
 A COLORED maid came to undress and bathe her. Mrs. 
 Ruden resigned herself to the care of the black woman 
 and lay languid and limp. 
 
 "Honey, yo is sho ly tired," said the maid. 
 
 "Yes, Dinah. I am. tired in my body, tired in my 
 mind, tired in my heart." 
 
 "Sakes alive, Missus, dat s the wust case of down-an- 
 outness Ah ve heered on fur quite a spell." 
 
 "You never get tired in that way, do you Dinah?" 
 
 " What s d use!" 
 
 "You have no trouble of any kind?" 
 
 "Trouble s different, honey. * 
 
 "What kind of trouble have you, Dinah?" 
 
 " \Yus n you hev, honey." 
 
 "Tell me about it?" 
 
 "Tain t like white folks trouble." 
 
 How do you know ? 
 
 "Ha, ha," tittered Dinah, "bekase Ah m black." 
 
 Dinah hummed in a low tone, a plantation melody, as 
 she performed the last services of the day. Mrs. Ruden 
 had shut her eyes, and Dinah, thinking she was asleep, 
 began to act on the thought. 
 
 "Dinah, I can t go to sleep until I compare your 
 trouble with mine. Tell me some of the things that 
 make you cry." 
 
 "Honey," Dinah said, laughing, "Ah crys as Ah 
 blush in d inards. " 
 
 135
 
 136 THE MAGYAR 
 
 It seemed a hopeless task to probe further, but tired 
 as she was, she was groping after a crumb of comfort 
 and she imagined it could be found in the white heart 
 of her black maid. 
 
 Dinah s task was about completed; she had gathered 
 up the paraphernalia and was arranging the pillows, 
 when Mrs. Ruden made a last appeal. 
 
 "I m going to tell you one of my troubles, Dinah, 
 and you will tell me one of yours; then we will go to 
 sleep." 
 
 "Don t yo want me t put yo to sleep wif a line of 
 a hymn instead, honey?" 
 
 AVithout answering Mrs. Ruden pointed to the pho 
 tographs on the mantel-piece "Bring them over to me, 
 Dinah." The four cards were brought. Mrs. Ruden 
 sat up and made Dinah sit beside her on the bed. 
 "These are my babies, Dinah. I love them with my 
 whole soul this is my husband isn t he fine looking?" 
 
 "Does yo lob yo man, too?" Dinah asked. 
 
 "AVell, that s my trouble: he was always wanting one 
 thing and I was always wanting another." 
 
 "All famblies are tarred with that same stick, honey. 
 Dere nevah wuz since cl wurld began a white fambly 
 what didn t git mussed up wif dat same trouble." 
 
 "What do black families get mussed up with?" was 
 the next question put to Dinah, but she hedged again. 
 
 "I don t believe you have a care or a trouble of any 
 kind, Dinah, but if I could be like you I would be will 
 ing to be as black as you are!" 
 
 Dinah looked sad. She was silent for a moment, 
 then she got down on her knees, put her clasped hands 
 on her Mistress s knees and said, "Ef yo won t nevah 
 tell nobody Ah 11 tell yo what makes Dinah cry." 
 
 "I promise, Dinah."
 
 TROUBLE IN BLACK AND WHITE 137 
 
 "Cross yo heart an say Lordy three times run- 
 nin ." 
 
 "Honey," she began -when the conditions had been 
 complied with "Yo troubles ain t ez big ez skeeter 
 bites, dey sho ain t." 
 
 "Ef yo had two nice chillun what seen der father 
 ev ry day an caint nevah know dat he is nor call 
 ini daddy yo d be a sight wuss orf wudn t you ?" 
 
 "Poor Dinah," Mrs. Ruden said as she stroked the 
 rough black hands, "of course I would." 
 
 "An ef yo pass d d daddy ob yo 7 pickaninnies 
 fo ty times a day an yo caiiit show dat he is, wudn t 
 yo simper bewiles when yo wuz all alonie?" 
 
 "You blessed girl, I would die of a broken heart!" 
 
 Dinah felt the sympathy intensely tears came to her 
 eyes but she made her point by saying: "Dat s black 
 folks trouble, honey." 
 
 Long after Dinah had gone the minister s wife, un 
 able to sleep, kept muttering to herself: "Black folks 
 trouble, black folks trouble."
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 A RACIAL PARIAH AND A SOCIAL OUTCAST 
 
 THREE hundred yards from the Mansion, in a row of 
 straggling shacks lived a hundred men rented from the 
 State. Two-thirds of them were black. At five o clock 
 on the morning after the ball ten white convicts were 
 detailed to clean up the lawn and rake the walks. 
 
 Dinah left her Mistress s room at four and the chain 
 gang arrived a little after five. Mrs. linden, had heard 
 the chains before, but the morning after the ball the 
 sounds grated on her nerves. Sleep was out of the 
 question. She stuffed her ears with absorbent cotton 
 but the sounds, though somewhat deadened, were still 
 distinct enough to be heard inside the house. She 
 walked up and down her room hoping every minute 
 that the gang would finish its work and go. She opened 
 the door softly and looked outside. All was still. 
 
 Colonel Oglethorpe s room was directly opposite: 
 Mabel s was next the guest chamber. She went back 
 into her room sat down at the desk and scribbled a 
 note: 
 
 "For God s sake -send those convicts away the rat 
 tling of their chains will drive me mad! 
 
 She stopped looked around, chewed the tip of the 
 pen holder for a few minutes in deep meditation. lie 
 had spent two months getting up the ball. He had 
 spent thousands of dollars in jewelry, dress and per 
 sonal service it was all so brilliant and so successful. 
 He would expect congratulation, thanks and gratitude. 
 
 138
 
 A EACIAL PARIAH AND SOCIAL OUTCAST 139 
 
 No, that note was out of the question. She tore it up 
 and threw it in the waste paper basket and began again. 
 
 "My dear 
 
 "Last night I put the goblet to my lips and took a full 
 draught of life. How can I ever thank you enough ? 
 
 The chains had ceased clanking. She opened the 
 window and looked out. Only two convicts remained, 
 and they were washing glass. 
 
 There was no need now of any note still he would 
 be glad of even this and so early if it could only be 
 conveyed safely to him. It was vague and indefinite 
 enough and yet just what a man, under the circum 
 stances, would conjure to his soul. 
 
 The note was folded enclosed in an envelope with 
 out a name. 
 
 Again the door was softly opened. This time a black 
 boy was coining downstairs. Before he had reached 
 the second floor she had gotten into a kimona and was 
 at the door. 
 
 Rather by motions than by words she directed the 
 boy to put the note under the Colonel s door and knock. 
 
 "Come in!" she said, five minutes later in answer to 
 what she thought was the knock of Dinah, and in came 
 her hostess. 
 
 "You dear girl!" said Mrs. Oglethorpe. "I just got 
 your note and read it to Lew. We are of course de 
 lighted that you had a good time. I am going to see 
 that you have another draught before you leave us ! " 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe laughed, but to her friend there was a 
 sepulchral tone that could not be mistaken. Was this 
 a master play? she wondered, or was it some deep 
 hidden sorrow? They lay beside each other on the
 
 1-40 THE MAGYAR 
 
 bed and talked for an hour talked of the ball and the 
 guests, but the note was referred to but once again. 
 
 "Just before I got your note," Mrs. Oglethorpe said, 
 "I was reading the diary I kept when you and I were 
 in school together dreaming our dreams and building 
 our air castles do you remember, Madeline, what our 
 ideas were then?" 
 
 "Yes, I kept a diary, too, as you must remember, 
 and hundreds of times during the past ten years I have 
 perused it with interest and wonder." 
 
 "Let me bring mine in," Mabel said as she put her 
 slippers on. In a few minutes she returned with the 
 faded book. 
 
 "January first, 1880," she read smilingly. "Made 
 line and I cannot agree. She wants an idealist for a 
 husband, I want a society man accomplished, well- 
 dressed, well bred and with a fortune ! Both are rare, 
 but I shall die an old maid if I don t get my ideal 
 That s what Madeline says about her ideal also!" The 
 w r omen laughed and looked at each other. "Well," 
 Madeline said, "we both got what w r e set our hearts on 
 didn t we?" 
 
 "I wonder why it is," Mabel said, as if she hadn t 
 heard her friend s question, "that maturity always 
 brings such a cloak of reserve we call it reserve it s 
 more like hypocrisy?" 
 
 "Does it always?" 
 
 "Well, here we are you and I, friends intimate 
 friends all our lives, and when we talk we fence and 
 cover in the most subtle manner our real lives. You 
 got sick of your idealist because you nearly starved and I 
 am sick of society because I am surfeited! Isn t that 
 so?" 
 
 "It isn t really because you are surfeited, dear!"
 
 A RACIAL PARIAH AND SOCIAL OUTCAST 141 
 
 "Yes, Madeline, it is. I am surfeited of sham of 
 social veneer of make-believe life of oppression of the 
 poor of the clothes wrung out of the blood of the 
 Avorkers ! 
 
 "Dearie, that sounds like what I have listened to for 
 a dozen years. It s easy for you to say it, but w r hen it 
 costs comfort to say, it s not so easy." 
 
 "Madeline, dear, let us just for once in our maturity 
 be as we were when we were girls together let us speak 
 the truth. Now, what does life mean to you? I mean 
 what is the purpose of it. What are you driving at?" 
 
 "Well, first of all its physical when the physical 
 needs are supplied, its mental and after that its spir 
 itual. I loathe poverty and it makes me loathsome to 
 others ! 
 
 "Life to you, then, is first a thing of the senses, then 
 a thing of the soul is that it?" 
 
 "That is one way of putting it." 
 
 The friends looked at each other and each knew 
 that there was a point beyond which they could not go. 
 There was a life behind life, that was walled in. They 
 were like fencers, playing for an opening, or generals 
 making flank movements. Both were playing a big 
 game and neither of them showed their trump cards. 
 
 Dinah knocked and was admitted. Mrs. Oglethorpe 
 ordered coffee and toast for two. When the door 
 closed she took Madeline s hand in hers and said: 
 "You know, dear, that both here and in Washington 
 we mingle with what is called Society I mention this 
 to remind you that we know what you call the higher 
 life. I know hundreds of men good men, too, but of 
 all I know only two excite my admiration and command 
 my respect. 
 
 "One of them is our landscape gardener, a negro,
 
 142 THE MAGYAR 
 
 and the other is a gentleman of the type of Christ 
 lie is a convict!" 
 
 "A negro and a convict!" 
 
 "Yes, one a racial pariah and the other a social out 
 cast!" 
 
 "I am astonished Madeline said. "I would like 
 to know more about them why are they where they 
 are?" 
 
 "A more important question is being where they 
 are, why are they what they are? : 
 
 "Tell me something about the convict, Mabel." 
 
 He has been here but a short time. One day I was 
 in my hammock under the trees and I overheard a con 
 versation between the convict and the gardener. I 
 was astonished beyond measure the rich, musical voice 
 the lofty ideals I never heard such a conversation ! 
 I inquired and found that since he came there has been 
 no disorder before he came they had to be whipped 
 some of them were whipped every day. From what I 
 have heard of his sweetness of character his powerful 
 spiritual influence, I would rather be the wife of such a 
 man than the first lady of the land, so called." 
 Mabel s voice was tense with subdued feeling. 
 
 "What my husband would ask about such a man is 
 whether he has taken the spmik out of his comrades 
 or taken the cruelty out of Capitalism?" 
 
 "He has helped the men and he has made us more 
 human." 
 
 "What does Lew think of him, Mabel?" 
 
 "Lew never saw him we cannot interest him in the 
 man he says it s nigger religion and flew into a vio 
 lent passion when I expressed the hope that he would 
 get some of it." 
 
 When Mrs. Ruden found herself alone with Dinah,
 
 A RACIAL PARIAH AND SOCIAL OUTCAST 143 
 
 she probed a little further into the story of the con 
 vict s life. 
 
 "Ah knows noffin cept what Willyum says," Dinah 
 said in answer to the first question. "Willyum, d 
 head gardner he say Lijah s d mos religionist white 
 man that he evah see." 
 
 "His name s Elijah, then?" 
 
 "Yes m, dat s what dey calls him, but taint his real 
 name." 
 
 "Have you seen him, Dinah?" 
 
 "Ah ain t seen him but Ah done gone heer d him 
 clinkity clankity every rnawnin outside d kitching. " 
 
 "How do you know it s Elijah?" 
 
 "Dey don t How none of de oders aroun . Some 
 times he s wid a niggah mostimes wid hisself. " 
 
 "Do the black folks like him?" 
 
 "Dey do an den again dey don t. Bof black an 
 white like him at story tellin an candle lightin time, 
 but they caint steal even a pin head or a yam wen he s 
 about." 
 
 Half a do/en of the guests had stayed over and when 
 "breakfast was announced fifteen people gathered around 
 the table. 
 
 They were tired people, some of them were haggard 
 and bore visible signs of the strain of the big night. 
 The adjectives were soon exhausted in praise of the 
 brilliant function. It was forced praise, of course, and 
 did not deceive anyone. The Oglethorpes smiled and 
 chatted as became the occasion, but to both of them 
 something had happened over night that made them 
 uneasy in each other s presence. Both were determined 
 that no sign should escape them of the turbulent waters 
 of the inner life that seethed and boiled as they faced 
 each other at breakfast, The keenest and most anxious
 
 144 THE MAGYAR 
 
 reader of faces was Mrs. Ruden. She watched her 
 hostess closely. Whatever had happened had been 
 forced upon her that s how she put the situation to 
 her own soul, and while it was not wholly satisfactory, 
 it gave her a degree of complacency that surprised her 
 at one time and shocked her at another. Over and over 
 again she recalled the discussion of the morning, try 
 ing to find some clue to a hidden purpose. "If Mabel 
 knows the facts about the note," she thought, "she is 
 playing a game utterly foreign to her character." 
 
 She had no chance to compare notes with the 
 Colonel. Of one thing she was sure; her visit had been 
 shortened by months in the last twenty-four hours. 
 Xo program had been formulated in her mind. She 
 was feeling the social pulse and it was quickening her 
 bringing into play subtle elements at the depth of 
 her nature. Occasionally the face of Stephen Ruden 
 came into mental view it was a face full of sorrow and 
 pain, but it passed quickly away each time, and left 
 no remorse. The thing that gave her most concern 
 was the future. In this adventure in ethics there was 
 only a present. Every time her mind went beyond that 
 it found only the blackness of darkness, penetrated by 
 a single ray of hope. The ray was the invitation of the 
 Governor. There she saw salve for a wounded con 
 science, for her program at the Gubernatorial Mansion 
 included a number of social reforms. Both the wound 
 and the salve were as yet mere possibilities, however.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 GOD, THE LAW OF THE LAND AND "LONE STAR" 
 
 "I HOPE none of you good people are in a hurry to get 
 away," the Colonel said, as the meal was about over. 
 AVe want to show off our new stock and if you would 
 like, make up a riding party we can provide mounts 
 for all hands." 
 
 "How jolly!" said Miss Parker. 
 
 "AVe have several new attractions since most of you 
 were here before we have some Holstein stock, four 
 Arab horses, an educated nigger and a convict in stripes 
 who performs miracles among the niggers!" All 
 laughed save the lady of the Mansion. 
 
 "Lew, dear," she said, "who would suspect that you 
 were Superintendent of a Sunday school?" 
 
 "I m not, dear, I m Superintendent Emeritus, now!" 
 
 "AVell, the Superintendent Emeritus is failing in 
 memory, for he has omitted a chief attraction!" 
 
 "AVhat is that?" 
 
 " Miss Tiffany. " 
 
 "Ah, yes that s a grave omission. Ladies and 
 gentlemen, we have a vendor in buttons and cheap jew 
 elry, who can discuss the Derelicts of Confucius or the 
 what is it, of Plato? Anyway, she is the white god 
 dess of our nigger community and adds to the accom 
 plishments of a divinity, clairvoyance and photogra- 
 phy!" 
 
 There was another general laugh. "AVhat do you 
 mean?" asked Mrs. Ruden. 
 
 145
 
 146 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Just what I say. What? Have you been so long 
 here without a tilt with Miss Tiffany ?" 
 
 I never heard of her before ! 
 
 "Well, now, we ll arrange a circus for this afternoon 
 and erect a grand stand for the guests." 
 
 "Don t be foolish, Lew," said Mrs. Oglethorpe. 
 
 "Why, my dear," replied the Colonel, "I haven t 
 yet seen your John the Baptist, or is it Elijah the Tish- 
 bite?" 
 
 Breakfast over, several of the guests prepared for the 
 morning ride through the woods. Mrs. Ruden and the 
 host mounted on two of the most spirited horses, led the 
 party. 
 
 They had no sooner left than Mrs. Oglethorpe sent 
 for the gardener and told him of the Colonel s joke, and 
 warned him of the danger that he might attempt to 
 carry it into effect. 
 
 "Has Miss Tiffany been around lately, William?" 
 
 "No, madam, I have not seen her for several weeks." 
 
 "Have you seen any of her photographs, William, 
 the ones she took of the convicts?" 
 
 "Yes, I have seen them all." 
 
 "Are they good?" 
 
 "As good as a professional could make." 
 
 "Well, look here, William, I want you to do some 
 thing for me I don t want you to ask me for a reason 
 I want you to do this as you do all your work 
 quietly and well. Let no human soul know why you 
 do it nor for whom." 
 
 "Does the Colonel know, madam?" 
 
 "The Colonel is a human soul, William! Besides he 
 goes to Washington to-morrow, and will be there for a 
 week." 
 
 "I am ready for your order, madam."
 
 LAW OF THE LAND AND "LONE STAR" 
 
 "Get Miss Tiffany to take a group picture, next 
 week. In the group I want Dinah s two children, 
 Pansy Jenkins baby and Delia Baker s girl. Delia 
 has moved to Montgomery, but I will give you her ad 
 dress. Make an appointment with the old woman, and 
 get your group. I will get others to be included in the 
 picture. Let me know what day she will come. The 
 group is to be photographed on the front porch, be 
 tween the pillars." 
 
 "Very well, madam. I will let you know as soon as 
 I make the arrangements I will have to look the old 
 woman up, but I know where I can find her in Mont 
 gomery. 
 
 There were four people in the riding party, Miss 
 Parker, a debutante, Bert Oglethorpe, the Colonel, and 
 Mrs. Ruden. 
 
 After riding for about five miles through the woods 
 the sharp sounds of an axe rang through the pines. 
 
 The Colonel stopped and addressed his guests. 
 
 "Now, just ahead is my turpentine camp, and as 
 our Eastern friend has some peculiar ideas about labor, 
 we will turn here in deference to her feelings." 
 
 "Now I beg of you not to return on my account 1 
 suggest that you young people go on and we will can 
 ter slowly back, or wait for you." 
 
 The suggestion was a welcome one to the other two, 
 and they rode on toward the camp. 
 
 "I wonder if Elijah is out there?" Mrs. Ruden 
 asked before they turned. 
 
 "He undoubtedly is perhaps you would like to see 
 him?" 
 
 I really would, but I have so much to say to you 
 in the few minutes we are alone, that I would rather 
 postpone Elijah for the present."
 
 148 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "I hope you know how nicely that suits me, Made 
 line?" 
 
 "The note, Lew what about the note?" she asked, 
 as if she had not heard his last remark. 
 
 "It s all right. Everything s all right if you but 
 keep your nerve." 
 
 "My nerve s all right, it s my conscience that s out 
 of joint!" 
 
 "A little exercise, my dear, will adjust that all 
 right." 
 
 "A little exercise like last night? 0! Lew for 
 God s sake arrange for some time when I can sit down 
 and talk to you for hours for ten years I have longed 
 to be in vital touch with men who are not dreamers, but 
 actual powers. Men of success. Now here I am and 
 yet I know you not. I am thrilled by the senses at 
 times, and frightened by them as often as I am thrilled. 
 You have never tried to find out Avhether I have a soul 
 or a mind you are engrossed by the physical. You 
 are a worshipper of physical beauty it is your god 
 and your heaven ! 
 
 "And sometimes my hell!" he replied immediately. 
 
 "Is this heaven to become hell also?" 
 
 "If you talk incessantly as you do, Madeline." 
 
 "You would prefer silence, then!" 
 
 He wheeled his horse to the left, saying as he did 
 so, "There is a deserted camp here; it is of interest, 
 let s look it over." 
 
 A ride of a hundred yards along an old grass covered 
 lumber lane brought them to the camp. It was the 
 scene of former activity in the denuding of the forest. 
 The old shacks were crumbling in decay. Colonel 
 Oglethorpe dismounted, but his companion sat still in 
 the saddle.
 
 LAW OF THE LAND AND "LONE STAR" 149 
 
 "Dismount, my dear, and rest yourself a few min 
 utes." 
 
 "No, Lew, I can t I m ill at ease here." 
 
 He was tying his horse to a tree as he spoke, and he 
 continued as if he had not heard her. 
 
 "Lew, I beg of } r ou don t stop here!" 
 
 He took her horse s bridle rein, led him to a tree 
 and tied him up. 
 
 Mrs. Ruden was in a flutter of excitement and kept 
 up a steady chatter of protestation, but glided easily 
 into his outstretched arms when her horse was secured. 
 
 At the edge of the cleared ground stood a wide 
 spreading hemlock and around its trunk hung a few 
 rotten boards of what was once a seat. To this spot 
 the Colonel led his half unwilling guest. The boards 
 were not strong enough to bear their weight, so they 
 sat down on the soft dry turf. 
 
 "Don t, for heaven s sake, begin to philosophize, 
 Madeline," he said, "let us enjoy the few moments we 
 are together they are but a few." 
 
 "Woods have ears, Lew, and the day has a million 
 eyes. 
 
 "Let them look, then," he answered. The words 
 had scarcely escaped his lips when a noise startled him. 
 The Colonel arose to his feet instantly. 
 
 "What! you here, Jenkins?" 
 
 The man accosted was within a few yards. He was 
 a tall, thin man rather unkempt and poorly clad. 
 He carried a gun on his right shoulder and a cartridge 
 belt around his waist. Before answering the saluta 
 tion he lowered the gun from his shoulder to a slanting 
 position under his left arm. 
 
 Madeline arose and gazed curiously at the intruder. 
 
 "Oglethorpe," said the man slowly, "it s some at to
 
 150 THE MAGYAR 
 
 be thankful fur that after all, only a small slice ov 
 these parts air gov rn d b sich understandin as ye ve 
 got." 
 
 "Your term hasn t fully cured you, Jenkins," Colonel 
 Oglethorpe said, as he took Mrs. Ruden s arm and led 
 her away. There was an undisguised sarcasm in the 
 words they were intended to close the brief interview. 
 "NVitli the agile movement of an animal, Jenkins strode 
 in front of the couple. 
 
 Stand yer ground fur a jiffy Ah 11 tell ye jest how 
 much Ah m cured, Colonel." 
 
 The men glared at each other there was movement, 
 but it was arrested by the third person. She held the 
 Colonel s arm. An oath escaped him, but Jenkins 
 didn t hear him he was talking and thinking too in 
 tensely to hear. 
 
 "Th time wuz, Oglethorpe, when Ah d liev shot ye 
 like a skunk ur a possum fur what Ah learned when 
 Ah struck in cabin last week 
 
 Colonel Oglethorpe made a convulsive plunge past 
 the speaker, dragging his friend almost off her feet. 
 
 It was Jenkins turn to move. lie moved swiftly in 
 front again, this time a few paces in advance. 
 
 "By the Almighty ye 11 stand in yer tracks an 
 hear me ur hear this!" lie tapped the barrel of his 
 gun with the forefinger of his right hand as he spoke. 
 There was a fiendish scowl on his face and a determina 
 tion in his voice that brooked no refusal. 
 
 "You d d cracker!" hissed the infuriated 
 
 planter. 
 
 "Wall, let it go at that but hear a cracker s idee 
 ov what s ahead of ye." 
 
 "This fellow s crazy," Oglethorpe said to his friend 
 in an attempt to engross her while Jenkins was deliver-
 
 LAW OF THE LAND AND "LONE STAR" 151 
 
 ing his message, but her curiosity was aroused and she 
 said: "Let him say what he has to say and let us get 
 out of here ! 
 
 "Ef ye re through palaverin Ah 11 proceed." 
 There was a moment s silence. 
 
 "Oglethorpe Ah know nothin about God m little 
 gal says Ah d better leave th case wi Him, so Ah ve 
 promised her but ef there be sich a person an he 
 ain t onto is job an ef th Law caint git no grip on 
 a snake o your kind, Ah 11 lend them a hand but as 
 Ah m gettin kind r down an out they ll hev ter git 
 a hustle on!" 
 
 lie turned quickly around and was gone. 
 
 Mrs. Ruden was unable to speak and would have col 
 lapsed but for the strong arm around her waist. 
 
 From his saddle bag he took a small phial of whisky, 
 a mouthful of which sufficiently stimulated her to re 
 mount her horse. 
 
 As they rode quietly along the Colonel made several 
 unsuccessful attempts to engage his friend in conver 
 sation. He explained the case of Jenkins he even 
 joked over it. 
 
 "What are you thinking about, Madeline?" he asked. 
 
 "I was in Florence," she answered. 
 
 Florence Alabama ? 
 
 "No, in Italy." She was looking through the vista 
 of the pines. Overhead what could be seen of the sky 
 was like a strip of light blue ribbon the great black 
 tree trunks were splashed with sunlight the air was 
 balmy, clear and exhilarating. It was a day to enjoy 
 to make one fall in love with life. 
 
 "This air reminds me of Italy," she said, "but. the 
 episode in the clearing reminds me of Florence." 
 
 "How?"
 
 152 THE MAGYAR 
 
 You haven t read Romola, have you?" 
 
 "I read it when I was a boy." 
 
 "Yes, but you don t know the book you don t re 
 member the characters." 
 
 "I can t say that I do." 
 
 "Lew, do you know Jenkins daughter?" 
 
 "I ve seen her she s a common cracker girl rather 
 pretty why do you ask about her?" 
 
 "AVliile Jenkins was speaking, Lew, my mind trav 
 eled to San Georgio Hill in Florence to the hut of little 
 Tessa." 
 
 He changed the subject abruptly, and was helped in 
 his efforts by the clatter of horses hoofs behind them. 
 
 "You said a while ago, Madeline, that you had so 
 much to say let s take a long walk in the woods before 
 dinner to-night." 
 
 "I leave AYetumpka to-morrow morning, Lew, and I 
 must pack up to-night." 
 
 "Impossible!" 
 
 "Impossible to stay a day longer the mental atmos 
 phere is already stifling me." 
 
 "Hello, Colonel!" yelled the Governor s son just 
 behind. 
 
 They wheeled their horses and faced the young 
 people. 
 
 "Well, Bert, what did you discover in the camp ? 
 
 "AVe discovered your convict philosopher and were 
 treated to some of his convict opinions." 
 
 "The devil you were! "What were they?" 
 
 "I asked your foreman to point him out so that Miss 
 Parker could see him, and he resented the request 
 
 "So did the foreman," added Miss Parker. 
 
 What did lie say ? asked Mrs. Ruden. 
 
 "He read from a collection of poems a sarcastic
 
 LAW OF THE LAND AND "LONE STAR" 153 
 
 skit on propertied interests he s a dangerous char 
 acter, Colonel, those men would give their lives for 
 him!" 
 
 "Gad, I must look him over," the Colonel said, look 
 ing at Mrs. Ruden. 
 
 "I wish I had gone," she said, with a sigh. 
 
 "I wish we had," he replied slowly. 
 
 "Do you remember whose poetry he quoted?" Mrs. 
 Ruden asked. 
 
 "Well, Miss Parker I am sure does," Bert replied. 
 
 It was something like this, Miss Parker said : 
 
 There s blood on your foreign shrubs, Squire, 
 There s blood on your horses feet " 
 
 She hesitated for a moment, and Mrs. Ruden continued : 
 
 You have sold the laboring men, Squire, 
 
 Body and soul to shame, 
 To pay for your scat in the House, Squire, 
 And to pay for the feed of your game! " 
 
 By Jove ! You ve got a corking memory, Auntie ! 
 Bert said. 
 
 "That poem was composed by Charles Kingsley, " 
 she said. "I had a friend, once, w r ho repeated it so 
 often in my presence that it burned itself into my soul 
 my friend was for the laborer I was for the 
 squire!" She looked over her shoulder at the Colonel, 
 and her look banished a frown that had gathered dur 
 ing the recital of the two verses. 
 
 "Give us the rest of it," the boy urged. 
 
 "Oh, much of it had merely a local English interest, 
 but my friend always got excited when he came to the 
 lines:
 
 154 THE MAGYAR 
 
 " When packed in one reeking chamber 
 
 Man, Maid, Mother and little ones lay: 
 While the rain pattered in on the rotting bride-bed, 
 And the walls let in the day. 
 
 Our daughters with base-born babies 
 
 Have wandered away in their shame; 
 If your Misses had slept, Squire, where they did, 
 
 Your Misses might do the same. 
 
 Can your lady patch hearts that are breaking 
 
 With handfuls of coal and rice, 
 Or by dealing out flannel and sheeting 
 
 A little below cost price? " 
 
 "That s it," Bert Oglethorpe said. "He ripped the 
 whole business out and made me feel like a regular 
 Bluebeard or Torquamada by George!" 
 
 At luncheon, the young people supplied most of the 
 conversation and the largest share of the appetite. 
 
 Neither the Colonel nor Mrs. Oglethorpe were at ease 
 in each other s presence. Mrs. Ruden sipped and nib 
 bled through half the meal and then begged to be ex 
 cused on account of headache. 
 
 After luncheon the guests departed and the host and 
 hostess with Mrs. Ruden had Wetumpka to themselves.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE PLANTER S WIFE SEES A LIGHT 
 
 DUTIES of a national character demanded the Colonel s 
 presence in Washington, and in view of an early de 
 parture, he made a tour of inspection around the indus 
 trial departments of the plantation. 
 
 He had not much trouble on the labor question. 
 His neighbors sneered at the use of State convicts, and 
 there were many hints of foul play. He managed to 
 keep quite a number of negroes, but there were changes 
 in the market of black muscles and the making of labor 
 contracts was on a par, ethically, with the arrangement 
 of secret rebates with the railroads the crime was not 
 in the act, but in its disclosure. 
 
 Two of the best men on the plantation were under 
 ten-year contracts. They were both negroes and lived 
 with their families in shacks near the stockade. 
 
 Someone had been making trouble in the case, for 
 both of the men had asked for release from the contract, 
 and although neither of them could read or write, they 
 had shown some familiarity with the law. 
 
 When William, the head gardener, came, in answer 
 to the Colonel s call, he was closely questioned about 
 the two men. 
 
 "Both of them are determined to go Colonel," Wil 
 liam said "they know the law." 
 
 "Look here, William," the Colonel said sharply, "I 
 don t want to be told what two niggers know of the 
 
 155
 
 156 THE MAGYAR 
 
 law I shall look to you to hold them to their con 
 tracts!" 
 
 "I can control the men, Colonel, if you can control 
 the Federal Court." 
 
 "Control hell! You control your department as 
 Huggins controls the State convicts or find another 
 place ! 
 
 "I shall do what I can, sir." 
 
 "Where is Huggins?" 
 
 "In the new camp with the men I thought you saw 
 him this forenoon." 
 
 "No, I went to the old camp with some friends." 
 
 Master and man stood on the lawn a white woman 
 and a black ladies maid watched them from separate 
 windows in the Mansion each with intense interest and 
 anticipation. 
 
 A messenger boy approached and handed the Colonel 
 a telegram. He tore it open and read it. 
 
 "This is from Loeb, " he said, "the President wants 
 to see me at once." 
 
 "Now, look here, AYilliam, I shall have to take a 
 train for Washington in an hour I want to see Hug- 
 gins at once, and want to leave a final word with you 
 about those niggers ! 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "I shall hold you responsible for their conduct! Do 
 you understand?" 
 
 "I understand your meaning, Colonel, but 
 
 "No but in it whatever if they go, you go, too. 
 That s all. Not another word!" 
 
 Half an hour later, Huggins, the foreman of the men 
 in chains, was on the veranda getting instructions. 
 
 Huggins, said the master, there s a yellow streak 
 in AYilliam, and I can t trust him. You re a white
 
 THE PLANTER S WIFE SEES A LIGHT 157 
 
 man and you ve handled niggers and convicts until 
 they re an open book to you. You know big Bill 
 and Joe?" 
 
 "Ah do, sir." 
 
 "They have ten-year contracts and want to go back 
 on them neither of them can cither read or write 
 they will fall into the hands of some labor sharks I 
 want to save them if William fails, you must step in 
 get them in debt charge them with something, be 
 fore my friend, the Justice, and if you are forced to 
 it, use extreme measures you understand!" 
 
 "Ah sho do, Colonel!" 
 
 "How about this white convict with nigger religion?" 
 
 "He s white, Colonel, white inside an out he sho 
 is." 
 
 "I want to see him when I return 
 
 "My dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Oglethorpe, seizing her 
 husband by the arm, "Madeline insists on going to 
 morrow now persuade her to stay a few days she 
 will stay if you urge her I am sure." 
 
 "What s her hurry?" 
 
 "Oh! just a whim, I suppose." 
 
 Huggins moved away. Husband and wife looked 
 into each other s eyes. 
 
 "What does this sudden call mean, Lew; will you 
 be away long?" 
 
 "Just a conference T. R. imagines that we are all 
 breathlessly awaiting his summons he may merely 
 want to know the name of somebody in my district 
 somebody who has said something he doesn t approve 
 of." 
 
 "Well, just tell Madeline she must stay till you 
 come back. 
 
 "Where is she now?"
 
 158 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "In her room I ll tell her you want her to drive 
 you to the depot shall I ? " 
 
 "Well, that will give me an opportunity to try, any 
 way. 
 
 "Madeline, dear!" Mrs. Oglethorpe called, witli a 
 rising inflection. There was no answer. Mrs. Ogle 
 thorpe ran upstairs and knocked at her door. 
 
 "Come in!" 
 
 "My dear, Lew wants you to drive him to the depot 
 he s called to Washington, and must be off in a few 
 minutes now don t refuse him." 
 
 "I really can t, dear, I m feeling so poorly 
 really" 
 
 "The air will brace you, dearie." 
 
 "Does he really want me to drive him?" 
 
 "He s waiting, dear, for your answer." 
 
 "W-e-1-1 very well Mabel, I ll go the air may do 
 me good I feel very poorly." 
 
 Half an hour later the Colonel and his guest drove 
 away in a high new-fashioned dog cart drawn by a spir 
 ited bay mare. 
 
 They had scarcely disappeared, when William, in re 
 sponse to a hurried call, stood in the drawing-room 
 awaiting the arrival of his mistress. lie was not kept 
 waiting long. 
 
 "Sit down, William," Mrs. Oglethorpe said, as she 
 entered. She took a seat close beside him and said : 
 
 "Do you know that Jenkins met the Colonel in the 
 woods to-day?" 
 
 "Yes, madam." 
 
 "Have you seen Jenkins?" 
 
 "I have." 
 
 "Look here, William. I believe you are a man with 
 a soul, and I want you to aid me. I feel the very air
 
 THE PLANTER S WIFE SEES A LIGHT 159 
 
 charged with vibrations of hate, lust, suspicion and in 
 justice. You know what is going on I don t ask you 
 to be a traitor to your people, but when I tell you that 
 in forty-eight hours my very soul has sickened my 
 conscience has become a flame of fire on social and in 
 dustrial conditions around me, you will believe me and 
 help me." 
 
 She waited for a moment. The black man was gaz 
 ing intently at her. 
 
 "You suspect that I know some things, madam," he 
 said. 
 
 "Yes I am sure." 
 
 "Then I promise to help you, on one condition." 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "First, that justice is done to Dinah." 
 
 "My God! Do you know that, too?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 "Where did you get that?" 
 
 I know, was all he said. 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe grew pale and nervous and fell back 
 in her chair. In a few minutes she regained her com 
 posure and said: 
 
 "My special need for you at this moment is this: 
 
 "I want you to outline a plan of work for the em 
 ployees of this place that will rid us of what I know is 
 going on Lying, injustice and oppression. Write 
 out a plan, make suggestions and I will have it type 
 written and submitted to the Colonel." 
 
 "Pardon me if I look incredulous, madam." 
 
 "I am not thinking as much of the salvation of con 
 victs and negroes as I am of my own, AVilliam. I want 
 to be saved!" 
 
 "I will do it to-night, madam." 
 
 "Huggins has lost much of his brutality, these last
 
 160 THE MAGYAR 
 
 few weeks, but he has that brutal streak in him that 
 makes him so valuable for business like this I would 
 not trust him." 
 
 "He can be trusted to stand by the Colonel s policy, 
 madam, no matter what that policy is, but just at pres 
 ent he would almost give his life for Elijah. 
 
 "That reminds me, William, it is Christmas day, and 
 I think I 11 ask Iluggins to bring up half a dozen of the 
 best of his men to the house to-night and we will have 
 some music and refreshments." 
 
 "That s impossible, madam." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "There isn t a convict on the place that isn t alive 
 with vermin ! 
 
 "Good heavens! Is that necessary?" 
 
 "It seems to the management cheaper than cleanli 
 ness." 
 
 "Well, bring Elijah up, anyway if we get smit 
 ten it s much less than we deserve." 
 
 "You wouldn t give that man unnecessary pain, 
 madam, would you?" 
 
 "Certainly not." 
 
 "He w r ould rather cut a hand off than come." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "He is a gentleman." 
 
 "What is he in chains for?" 
 
 "Resisting an officer?" 
 
 "William, I have made half a dozen attempts to see 
 this man and I have been put aside each time. There 
 is some mystery in the case and I shall solve it." 
 
 "Not being involved, madam, I have no personal in 
 terest in the matter." 
 
 "I am grateful for your cooperation in what we have 
 discussed and will wait with interest your plans."
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 LUAII OF THE STOCKADE 
 
 THE advent of Christ is celebrated in Alabama with 
 fire crackers, giant caps and sky-rockets. 
 
 There was a half-holiday at AYetumpka Christmas 
 day, and what was left over from the ball was served 
 out as a token of good will to the convicts and servants. 
 Young Oglethorpe provided the pyrotechnic display 
 and the negro children furnished the lire crackers. 
 There were several special privileges handed out to 
 foremen, and they in turn were expected to loosen for 
 a day the lines of discipline. 
 
 Several of the convicts requested Huggins to permit 
 a light in the "long shed" until ten o clock to enable 
 "Elijah" to tell some stories he had promised. 
 
 Nightly, before lights out, it was the foreman s last 
 duty of the day to see that every man was chained by 
 the ankles to a ring in the wall. They asked that they 
 be permitted to sit around the story teller until he had 
 finished. 
 
 Huggins was a careful man, and took no chances. 
 Knowing something of Mrs. Oglethorpe s change of 
 mind and feeling at the time kindly disposed toward 
 the men under his care, he consulted the lady of the 
 Mansion. 
 
 "AVhy, of course," Mrs. Oglethorpe said. "And if 
 you want any extra refreshments, tell the cook and she 
 will furnish what is needed." 
 
 Huggins was relieved, and hurried to the shacks to 
 announce the news. 
 
 161
 
 162 THE MAGYAR 
 
 When Mrs. Ruden returned from her drive to the 
 depot she told her hostess that she would stay until the 
 end of the week. 
 
 The conversation at dinner that night developed a 
 plan by which, with the help of Huggins, the ladies 
 might hear "Elijah" tell his stories. 
 
 It was with considerable reluctance that Huggins be 
 came part of the plan, for he feared this strange pris 
 oner with a new fear a fear unknown in the life of the 
 stockade. At the end of the long shed stood a pine tree 
 whose lower branches formed a tent-shaped arbor. 
 Huggins thought of this and inspected it with a view 
 to the accommodation of his guests. 
 
 It was but the work of a few minutes to arrange a 
 place where two people could sit beneath the pine tree 
 and see without being seen. The difficulty would be 
 in the coming and going. Huggins needed "William, 
 but couldn t trust him in a case like this. He would 
 raise objections talk about "rights" and make as much 
 of a fuss over it as " Lijah" would himself. Besides, 
 AVilliam was to be present and sing "coon songs," and 
 perhaps tell stories, too. All this was explained to 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe and her friend. 
 
 Convicts, negroes, servants and neighboring farmers 
 watched the sky rockets as they exploded in fantastic 
 showers beneath the stars and fell in black soot over 
 the misery of the slaves always intensifying the dark 
 ness of the night. 
 
 "Git in, boys," Huggins said as the last rocket burst 
 and fell. . 
 
 There was a rattling of chains, a shuffling of feet, a 
 few muttered exclamations and the gray friars of the 
 stockade moved into their hole. 
 
 A table had been arranged near the north end of the
 
 LIJAH OF THE STOCKADE 163 
 
 shed. A candle stuck in the neck of a bottle shed a 
 yellow light over the scene and around the light gath 
 ered the men sitting on their haunches, as close as 
 they could get to the center. 
 
 "Do you want a new story, boys or shall I tell one 
 of the old ones?" 
 
 "Give s th ol boy what beat the detective!" said 
 one, Jean Val Jean ! 
 
 "Shure, he s the stuff." 
 
 "He giv that twice t, " said another "let im give s 
 th little ol Russian shoemaker!" 
 
 The men looked like a class of school children with 
 their expectant faces and their clamor of choices. 
 
 "Boys," said a new voice, in the door of the shed 
 all eyes turned toward the speaker. The yellow glim 
 mer did not reach that far, but the speaker stepped 
 forward and continued, "Ah 11 give you a pointer on 
 his best yarn II it s the story ov what he s bin up 
 agin t defend th people make m tell ye!" 
 
 " Li jah" stood erect and faced the speaker. 
 
 Lone Star ! : he exclaimed. 
 
 Jenkins ! exclaimed Huggins. 
 
 Jenkins strode toward the light and gripped his 
 friend by the hand. 
 
 Huggins evidently resented the intrusion. He 
 scowled at Jenkins, but the sight presented by the af 
 fectionate attitude of the men, as they looked at each 
 other held him awestruck for a moment. 
 
 When he found his speech, he said : 
 
 "Ah spec ye know what th Colonel d say ef he 
 know d ye wuz aroun , Jenkins?" 
 
 "Ah sho do Huggins, but since he s hell on religion 
 Ah thot there d be no kick on a visit to an ol pal on 
 Christmas Day?"
 
 164 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "He d expect me to order ye off the place, Jenkins." 
 
 "He sho wud but he d also spect me to tell ye to 
 mind yer own damned perticular job at th peril ov 
 yer head !" 
 
 " Lijah" interposed quietly, and Huggins subsided. 
 
 Every man ensconced himself to the best advantage 
 and the story teller began. 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe and her friend sat on an extempo 
 rized bench beneath the pine tree and watched the pro 
 ceedings through a rent in the boards of the shed. 
 
 It was a weird sight to both of them. There were 
 thrilling moments for each, but neither uttered a word 
 to the other until the central figure ventured to follow 
 the suggestion of his friend in telling a little of his per 
 sonal experience. 
 
 He hadn t spoken half a dozen words before Mrs. 
 Ruden unconsciously clutched the arm of her friend 
 it was the grip of a man, and Mrs. Oglethorpe winced 
 and jerked herself loose. She looked at her friend and 
 saw that she leaned against the boards in a helplessly 
 limp condition. 
 
 "Madeline!" she said "You are faint shall we 
 go?" 
 
 Mrs. Ruden made a suggestive motion and her hostess 
 took her by the arm and led her from beneath the tree. 
 It was quite dark and neither could clearly see the 
 other s face. "When they reached the road leading to 
 the house Mrs. Ruden stopped, freed herself and stood 
 for a moment erect and rigid. Neither spoke. 
 
 Two unseen forces were at war in her heart. She 
 had stopped at the edge of a crisis. It was a moment 
 of indecision only a moment. Then she sprang 
 toward the Mansion and her hostess had to step lively 
 to keep up with her.
 
 LIJAH OF THE STOCKADE 165 
 
 Without a word of explanation, she excused herself 
 and shut herself up in her room. 
 
 "Dinah," said Mrs. Oglethorpe, "I don t want you 
 to spend much time in Mrs. Ruden s room to-night; if 
 she wants you, say you have too much ironing to do. 
 Do you understand?" 
 
 "Yes m." 
 
 "Tell AA T illiam I want him at once," she said to a 
 colored boy in the hall. Ten minutes later William 
 appeared. 
 
 "What time is breakfast served to the convicts?" 
 was her first question. 
 
 "At half-past five, Madam." 
 
 "Have you seen Miss Tiffany ?" 
 
 "Yes, Madam, she is now in Mammy Fender s hut, 
 having supper." 
 
 "For heaven s sake!" 
 
 "Why are you surprised, Madam?" 
 
 "Oh, nothing nothing, William I I was thinking 
 of the photograph that s all." 
 
 "Everything is ready, Madam." 
 
 "Have you found out who Elijah is?" 
 
 William hesitated for a moment. "I knew who he 
 was when he came, Madam." 
 
 "You did?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Why hasn t he escaped?" 
 
 "He doesn t want to escape." 
 
 How strange ! Is he conscious of the situation ? 
 
 "What situation?" 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe was silent for a moment. 
 
 "You do not trust me, William I do not blame you, 
 but I was trusting to your intuition I will go farther 
 I will assume that you trust me, and run the risk."
 
 166 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "I honor your confidence, Madam, more than I can 
 tell you." 
 
 "Then tell me frankly, AVilliam, what you know 
 about this man, Elijah !" 
 
 "He is the man who exposed your husband before the 
 Board of Inquiry!" 
 
 "Exposed my husband what do you mean?" 
 
 "Haven t you read or heard what happened at the 
 hearing, Madam ? 
 
 "Not a word." 
 
 ""Well, this man told the Board that your husband 
 had taken money from some of the convicts promis 
 ing pardons and rehearings. " 
 
 "Oh, my God! that cannot be true!" 
 
 They were silent. Mrs. Oglethorpe held tightly the 
 arms of her chair. 
 
 "He didn t need the money," she said, in a low voice, 
 as if speaking to herself "it was habit, I suppose, the 
 habit of squeezing the blood out of our fellow-beings 
 heir to a legacy of greed." 
 
 The telephone rang. It was the Governor, inquiring 
 after the health of the family, and incidentally about 
 Mrs. Ruden. Bert Oglethorpe was in the hall at the 
 phone his mother stepped softly to his side and whis 
 pered "tell him your mother would like very much to 
 have him call to-morrow forenoon, if he can possibly 
 make it convenient," 
 
 She went upstairs slowly and returned a few minutes 
 later with a cashmere shawl thrown loosely around her 
 shoulders. 
 
 "I will go with you to the long shed, William. " 
 
 "Madam!" 
 
 She moved toward the door and the gardener followed. 
 She tottered, but he dared not assist she was physi-
 
 LLTAH OF THE STOCKADE 167 
 
 cally weak with assistance at hand which it was impos 
 sible to utilize. 
 
 "Hadn t you better ask your son to accompany you, 
 Madam?" 
 
 "No it would take a month to explain to him." 
 
 Stephen Ruden had completed his story, and was in 
 the midst of Dickens "Christmas Carol," when the 
 Mistress of the Mansion arrived. 
 
 When she entered he at once arose and gave her the 
 only chair in the shed. 
 
 The interruption dispelled much of the interest in 
 the story and disconcerted the narrator. All eyes were 
 on the lady of the plantation and everybody was glad 
 when the story was told. 
 
 "It s up t AV llyum now," Huggins said as Ruden 
 stood with his back to the boards. 
 
 "I am in no mood to sing coon songs," William 
 said, "and of stories you have heard enough." 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe was keyed up in a high state of nerv 
 ous tension and understood as clearly as if she had been 
 told that few, if any, felt at home in her presence. 
 
 There was a few moments silence it became painful 
 as it lengthened. The silence was a hint that a foreign 
 element had entered the "long shed." 
 
 The intruder understood. She arose from her chair, 
 steadying herself by holding the edge of the table with 
 one hand. 
 
 "I want to say something," she said, in a faltering 
 voice. 
 
 "You men have chains on your bodies every day, 
 and I have no doubt you consider yourselves slaves, 
 but I want to tell you, on my honor, that I would rather 
 wear a chain on my ankles than on my soul I would 
 gladly change places with any man here, if by the ex-
 
 168 THE MAGYAR 
 
 change I could tear away the heavy chains that seem 
 to crush the very soul out of my body." 
 
 "Wide-eyed, they watched the speaker, as she spoke 
 with trembling accents. 
 
 "I have spoiled your program by intruding," she 
 continued "let me tell you how you can find your 
 interest again. I overheard, one day, a conversation 
 between two men who are here I want them to give 
 you and to give me the benefit of a full discussion of 
 the topic they discussed that day." 
 
 Ruden and the gardener looked at each other. 
 
 The former was the first to speak. 
 
 "Your presence here is as unusual to them as it must 
 be to you, Madam. It is kind of you to step over the 
 line we are not ungrateful, but simply surprised." 
 
 "Then perhaps I had better explain myself. Within 
 a day, almost, I have changed my views of life- my 
 new views bring me here. You are human beings with 
 rights to life no less than my own. I shall respect 
 those rights hereafter, and shall not be a party to un 
 just or unfair treatment," 
 
 There was a momentary hesitation apparently Mrs. 
 Oglethorpe was on the point of saying something per 
 haps, more but was uncertain as to its effect upon her 
 hearers. 
 
 "No," she continued, "I think I will leave it un 
 said action speaks louder than words good night, 
 men." As she said this, she advanced toward Ruden, 
 held out her hand and said: "Good night, Mr. Ru 
 den!" 
 
 Stephen Ruden took the proffered hand, bowed and 
 said quietly, "Good night, Madam." 
 
 The gardener followed her. "I want to go at once to
 
 LIJAH OF THE STOCKADE 169 
 
 call on Mammy Fender, AYilliam," she said, as soon as 
 they left the door of the shed. 
 
 "Very well, Madam," William said, in a somewhat 
 reluctant manner. 
 
 "You would rather I wouldn t isn t that so, Wil 
 liam?" 
 
 "There is a verse of scripture, Madam, which says 
 All things are lawful but all things are not expe 
 dient. " 
 
 "Is it ever inexpedient to right a \vrong?" 
 
 "It s usually a matter of method a wrong method 
 may double the original condition." 
 
 "You suspect revenge and your suspicion is well 
 founded your Miss Tiffany is a spy, AYilliam, and 
 I am going to tear the mask from her face!" 
 
 "I do not know, Mrs. Oglethorpe, who Miss Tiffany 
 is, but I do know that she will have to be counted in 
 when the day of reckoning arrives." 
 
 "The day of reckoning is here that s why I want 
 to meet her !
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 A COMMUNITY OF FATHERLESS CHILDREN 
 
 MAMMY PEXDER was the accredited clairvoyant of the 
 neighborhood her sayings had found their way into 
 the newspapers of Montgomery, and among the black 
 folk she was considered infallible in her predictions. 
 Rich and poor consulted her as touching the future. 
 Politicians consulted her before embarking upon doubt 
 ful campaigns but her specialty was in the realm of 
 the heart. 
 
 It was Mammy Pender who christened the little old 
 woman who sold cheap jewelry "Miss Tiffany." They 
 were intimate friends and "Miss Tiffany" often slept 
 in a corner of the old woman s hut. 
 
 When they reached the old woman s shanty, "William 
 lifted the latch, pushed the door open, and Mrs. Ogle- 
 thorpe marched in. Pine knots were blazing on the 
 open hearth and a candle lit the other end of the hut. 
 On one side of the fire sat the old negress and opposite 
 her sat Mrs. Ruden! 
 
 "Where s Miss Tiffany ?" asked Mrs. Oglethorpe, 
 in a disappointed tone. 
 
 "She done lit out fo d city All specs," the old 
 woman said. 
 
 "You will not need her, Mabel," Mrs. Ruden said, 
 rising to her feet as she spoke "The shaft she was to 
 help you prepare has already entered my soul The 
 humiliation you planned of having me photographed 
 on your porch in the center of your husband s nine il- 
 
 170
 
 COMMUNITY OF FATHERLESS CHILDREN 171 
 
 legitimate children black and white is the most 
 dastardly trick I have ever heard of one human play 
 ing on another!" 
 
 "Is it as dastardly as the deliberate theft of a hus 
 band and the base betrayal of a friend?" 
 
 "Three black and two white women have borne 
 children to your husband without disturbing your 
 equilibrium very much. I don t see why an extra 
 woman or a few extra children should give you hys 
 teria." 
 
 The women glared at each other. Old Mammy 
 Fender swayed back and forth on her stool, wringing 
 her hands and moaning softly: 
 
 "0, Massa Jesus, mend yo licks an squelch d ol 
 debil in dese yere white folks ! 
 
 The gardener stood in the shadows of the hut 
 silent. 
 
 "I have but one thing more to say," Mrs. Og lethorpe 
 said, "relieve the place of your presence at the earliest 
 possible moment. 
 
 No reply was needed none offered she turned and 
 left the hut and was followed closely by AYilliam. 
 
 The hostess considered it judicious to allow her guest 
 to take the initiative if any mention was made, but the 
 guest had avoided her friend and now that she had dis 
 covered the plot to humiliate her there would probably 
 be no mention whatever. 
 
 "When Mrs. Oglethorpe reached the Mansion she was 
 in a desperate mood. The words of her guest had 
 pierced her soul. The plan that failed was not wholly 
 one of revenge. There was a salutary lesson involved, 
 a lesson that was needed and which even now might be 
 taught with effectiveness before the departure of the 
 guest. The gardener had accompanied his Mistress to
 
 172 THE MAGYAR 
 
 the door and departed with a request to report a few 
 hours later. 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe shut herself in her room giving or 
 ders that she was not to be disturbed. She sat in an 
 easy chair revolving in her mind the happenings of the 
 last forty-eight hours. She built up one plan of pro 
 cedure after another sometimes one plan hemmed in 
 her friend sometimes it included her own escape from 
 an environment that was becoming more intolerable 
 every hour at another time her mind sought out a con 
 vict who bore a heavy cross of shame and ignominy that 
 belonged to another. 
 
 At times she walked the floor then she threw herself 
 on her bed and found some relief in tears. 
 
 Someone came up the wide staircase three steps at a 
 time. She knew the sound and opened her door 
 "Bert, dear," she called "come here a moment, I want 
 you." 
 
 Bert dropped into a chair in such a manner as to 
 make the timbers of the house tremble. 
 
 Hello, Mam, he said impatiently, what s the mat 
 ter?" 
 
 "I want to talk to you, dear." 
 
 "Well, I m here, ain t I?" 
 
 "Yes, your body is here, but your mind is somewhere 
 else if you haven t the courtesy or the patience to sit 
 quietly and spend half an hour with your mother, you 
 can go." 
 
 "Aw, go on, Mam, don t talk like a Methodist." 
 
 A few simple questions on the meaning of life so 
 irritated the youth that he moved restlessly from one 
 side to another perching himself now on one arm of 
 the chair and then on the other. 
 
 "What would you say, Bert, if to-morrow we should
 
 COMMUNITY OF FATHERLESS CHILDREN 173 
 
 strike those hideous chains from the ankles of those 
 convicts in the long shed ?" 
 
 Gee wiz, Mam you re dippy, you sho are ! 
 
 He looked blankly into his mother s face and watched 
 the tears gather in her eyes. 
 
 She was silent for a moment. He grabbed her in his 
 arms kissed her cheeks and said : 
 
 "Take some Bromo Seltzer, Mam, and go to bed 
 there s a dear." 
 
 The next moment he was testing the strength of the 
 stairs in his descent, whistling gaily, as he descended. 
 
 When the gardener arrived, Mrs. Oglethorpe was too 
 tired to see him; besides, she had a plan worked in her 
 own mind. A plan of protest and reformation which 
 would at least lighten the burden that weighed so heav 
 ily on her own soul. 
 
 At five o clock next morning Mrs. Oglethorpe was 
 called, and half an hour later she was on her way to the 
 "long shed." 
 
 Her appearance threw the camp into consternation. 
 Huggins attempted to lead her aside, but she wouldn t 
 be led. 
 
 "Huggins," she said, "I am going to take breakfast 
 with these laborers this morning and I will not permit 
 you to interfere." 
 
 Huggins offered profuse apologies, hinting that if he 
 had known, etc. 
 
 " Furthermore, Huggins, in the absence of my hus 
 band, I will take charge of this plantation. I have 
 money invested here, as well as he has, do you under 
 stand ? 
 
 "Y-e-e-s, Mam," he answered slowly. 
 
 The white men sat in one group and the negroes in 
 another. The chains were adjusted to their ankles and
 
 174 THE MAGYAR 
 
 they were being served with breakfast. Everybody sat 
 on the ground with a tin plate and a tin cup in his lap. 
 Several men came with buckets of coffee, trays of pork 
 and grits. Grits is crushed stewed corn. It is the 
 cheapest form of food for man and beast and is exten 
 sively used in stockades. 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe demanded a cup and plate. They 
 were reluctantly handed to her and she sat on the 
 ground by the group of white men. She had desired 
 to sit beside Ruden but he was surrounded by half a 
 dozen men who would have fought for a place beside 
 him. 
 
 "Mr. Ruden," Mrs. Oglethorpe said, "I would have 
 invited you to breakfast with me, up at the house, but 
 knew you Avould refuse, so I have done the next best 
 thing, I have come to take breakfast with you and these 
 men who labor with us." 
 
 "I am very much complimented, Madam," Ruden 
 said. "AYe at least will feel assured that you know our 
 bill of fare." 
 
 She sipped the coffee, but the fat pork and grits lay 
 untouched on her tin plate. 
 
 Her next move was of a still more sensational char 
 acter. 
 
 "Iluggins, I want these men to work without chains 
 to-day, she said, and Huggins looked as if he had sud 
 denly been stricken dumb. 
 
 "Th Colonel" he got no further. "Yes, I know," 
 she broke in, "I know all about it the Colonel is ab 
 sent I am present and in charge. I have just ex 
 plained that they are to work without chains to-day ! 
 
 "Very well, Mam it s a go, an ye re up agin th 
 responsibility ov it." 
 
 "Yes, I m responsible."
 
 COMMUNITY OF FATHERLESS CHILDREN 175 
 
 Breakfast over, the deputy under Iluggins proceeded 
 to take the chains from the legs of the men. As soon as 
 Ruden was free, Mrs. Oglethorpe took him to one side 
 and asked him if he was aware of the presence of his 
 wife! "Oh, ye.s, and knowing you in your new role as 
 I do I may tell you that I know that she is aware of my 
 presence. 
 
 "You have friends here, then?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I want to send you with a letter to the Governor to 
 day, and the answer will probably obviate the necessity 
 of your return- I do this as a mere act of justice." 
 
 "Don t think me ungrateful, Mrs. Oglethorpe, but 
 that would be impossible for me I will not object, how 
 ever, if you can accomplish the same by other means." 
 
 "Big Bill and Joe are both absent," the gardener told 
 Iluggins, and Iluggins swore but misunderstood the 
 full import of the announcement. AVlien it was ex 
 plained that they had struck out, after supper Christ 
 mas night, and had not been seen since, he ordered the 
 bloodhounds out at once, and in ten minutes, with a 
 couple of helpers, he was after his men. 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe was so engrossed in conversation, with 
 Ruden that she didn t know what had happened until 
 Iluggins deputy ordered the men out to work. Big 
 Bill and Joe were the best teamsters on the place. They 
 were the ten-year contract men who had been getting 
 some information on the validity of their contracts, and 
 whom the Colonel had ordered Iluggins to hold at any 
 cost. 
 
 "This man will stay to do some work around the 
 house," Mrs. Oglethorpe told the deputy, when he or 
 dered Ruden into the big box wagon which stood ready 
 to move off.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 A WOMAN S VENTURE IN ETHICS 
 
 THE men were to spend the day in the turpentine camp 
 it took four big wagons to carry them. Before they 
 moved off, Mrs. Oglcthorpe addressed them : 
 
 "Men," she said, "I have stricken the chains from 
 your limbs on my own responsibility, because I believe 
 you will work easier and because, too, I believe you will 
 not betray my confidence, I will take dinner with you 
 to-day in the woods." The men, black and white, un 
 covered their heads while she was speaking. When she 
 finished, the teams jogged off through the woods and 
 the lady of the Mansion and the convict were left alone. 
 
 "You have suffered, Mr. Ruden." 
 
 "My Class, the "Working Class has suffered, is suffer 
 ing." 
 
 "What on earth can one do in the face of such ap 
 palling conditions?" 
 
 "Wake up, as you have done, and awaken others." 
 
 "Pardon me how did you learn of Madeline s pres 
 ence with us?" 
 
 "I knew it the day I came here I know about the 
 friction and the cause of it the only thing that I either 
 need or want to know is about the health of my chil 
 dren." 
 
 I can tell you, Mr. Ruden, they are well and happy. 
 
 "Thank you I have communicated with them but 
 circumstances prevented them from communicating 
 with me." 
 
 176
 
 A WOMAN S VENTURE IN ETHICS 177 
 
 "I understand." 
 
 "Tell me in a word or two, if you don t mind," 
 Ruden said as they walked slowly toward the Mansion, 
 ""What led to your awakenment, Mrs. Oglethorpe?" 
 
 "Perhaps I can indicate it in a few words, but it 
 would take a volume to tell it adequately. There is a 
 rustic bench behind that magnolia tree, let us sit down 
 and talk for awhile." 
 
 "But the servants?" 
 
 "You will be gone, to-morrow, and we may never see 
 each other again." 
 
 They walked in silence to the bench and sat down. 
 
 "I was resting iu that hammock over there one day, 
 and I overheard a conversation between you and the 
 gardener. That gave me the first real period of intro 
 spection I ever had. AYhat you said, made me think. 
 I rebelled against being made to think by a black serv 
 ant and a white convict. I went on with the prepara 
 tions for the ball. AVe Madeline and I had special 
 ists here to prepare us for the occasion. I aided in the 
 making of her dress. I arranged the bodice so that her 
 finely shaped bosom would enamour every man who 
 looked upon it. All that invention, artifice and skill 
 could do to charm men. I have done that for twenty 
 years or more. I have loved to be admired. My life 
 has been spent in the cultivation of social and physical 
 charm. An admiring crowd was my heaven, and to be 
 alone, with no one to admire or Hatter me, was my hell. 
 My real awakenment occurred right here in this arbor 
 on Christmas Eve, when I saw Avith my own eyes the 
 result of my labor. 
 
 "I had forgotten that physical charm is a two-edged 
 sword I expected her to charm the Governor and other 
 prominent guests, but when I saw my husband fold her
 
 178 THE MAGYAR 
 
 passionately in his arms and make her faint with kisses, 
 it was as if someone had pierced me with a dagger ! 
 
 She expected some sliow^ of surprise or disgust, but 
 he was looking off through the trees, and merely turned 
 his head when she ceased talking. 
 
 "You seem so indifferent and unmoved, Mr. Rudcn!" 
 
 "It s only because I stood over there, in the shadows 
 myself, watching the scene you have just described!" 
 
 "My God! and you saw it also." 
 
 "Yes, and I knew you and she were listening to me 
 last night, so I took the opportunity to reveal my iden 
 tity." 
 
 "What a devil s world it is!" she said meditatively. 
 
 "You are mistaken," he said, "It is God s world, and 
 the devil, on whose shoulders we lay our deficiencies is 
 merely part of God s good plan twisted out of its true 
 relation." 
 
 "Oh, that I could talk to you for a whole day!" 
 
 "You can think for a whole day think of the crushed 
 lives of these chained slaves think of millions of toil 
 ers damned in the world to be slaves of idlers, parasites 
 and thieves think how you can rightly relate yourself 
 to the problem, and the best of all the ages will rally to 
 your support." 
 
 "Forgive a woman s logic," she said, "but so many 
 questions are crowding me that I cannot get them out in 
 any order whatever how do you feel toward your 
 wife, now, after what you saw?" 
 
 "Madeline yearned for years for social life I could 
 not give it to her she is now tasting it she will find 
 herself just as you have there must come an a waken - 
 ment when it comes, she will be ready to sit down and 
 look facts calmly in the face." 
 
 The mist had lifted from the valleys and the sun was
 
 A WOMAN S VENTURE IN ETHICS 179 
 
 pouring in upon them through the trees. It \vas inevi 
 table that they should part perhaps forever. A strange 
 caprice of fate had brought them together and the meet 
 ing resulted in a mutual desire to meet again. The 
 spot where they sat had been but a few hours previously 
 a rack on which their souls were torn. It was now a 
 hallowed spot, where a gleam of hope came to each- 
 hope for the comrades he was leaving behind, in chains 
 hope for the expression of a newly awakened soul ! 
 
 "How shall I acquaint myself with the movement, 
 the very name of which I have hated ?" 
 
 "Socialism?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Reading the Bible isn t religion, nor can an appe 
 tite be appeased by studying a cookery book. The book 
 of life lies open at your hand study the facts of your 
 own industrial environment and relate them to life 
 the highest life. Never mind names, doctrines or dog 
 mas they will be at hand when you are ready for 
 them." 
 
 "Good-bye " she said, extending her hand. 
 
 "Good-bye, Comrade," he replied, as they clasped 
 hands. 
 
 Ten minutes later Mrs. Oglethorpe was in communi 
 cation with the State s Executive. 
 
 "It was too late," he said, to grant a pardon for an 
 individual, but he would recall the list issued on Christ 
 mas Eve, and add the name to the list, as though the 
 omission was an oversight. 
 
 "I can assume that the name is now added, then?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "William was on hand to carry out instructions regard 
 ing the departure of the guests. Mrs. Ruden, having 
 severed all amicable relations with her hostess, made it
 
 180 THE MAGYAR 
 
 known to the gardener that she would like to be driven 
 to the city in the early afternoon. 
 
 Her husband expressed a desire to take advantage of 
 Iluggins absence and take dinner with the men in the 
 turpentine camp. 
 
 AYhen the camp bell rang, announcing the dinner 
 hour, Mrs. Oglethorpe was on hand and sat down with 
 the men. A table had been arranged with a long bench 
 on each side and a seat at one end, for the hostess. 
 
 Ruden sat at her right hand and the deputy on her 
 left. There was some embarrassment and much defer 
 ence among the men. The brutal levity and vulgar ex 
 change of obscene language was well under control. 
 The intuitive faculty is highly developed in such men, 
 and they estimated the presence of a woman at its full 
 value. After dinner, Mrs. Oglethorpe arose and said: 
 
 "Men, one whom you have called Elijah is soon to 
 leave us, and for his sake, we are glad. I want him to 
 leave with us a message that will help us to live." 
 
 There was a loud clapping of hands. Ruden said : 
 "I can only put myself in your place, boys, and tell 
 what I would do, if I had to stay here life in a camp 
 like this is, for men, less than the life of the beasts. We 
 work harder and we do not have as good care. 
 
 The State of Alabama robs vis and hands us over to 
 a planter to squeeze out whatever manhood is left. 
 There is little hope. Mrs. Oglethorpe has made a splen 
 did move, but she will be laughed at by all who live by 
 the sweat of other people s faces, and I am afraid, will 
 be sneered at by some of the men for whom she makes 
 these sacrifices. Under these conditions, I would seek 
 help where I would be most likely to find it in reli 
 gion. It is almost a waste of time to talk politics to you 
 men, you are despunked the manhood is washed out
 
 A WOMAN S VENTURE IN ETHICS 181 
 
 of you, and not one in a thousand of you would vote 
 against the lash that cuts the flesh of your backs. I 
 can only say, therefore, that while I have been with 
 you I have been able to bear the conditions by fixing my 
 mind on things that are beautiful, pure, clean and noble. 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe has just discovered you now let her 
 add what she can to your lives on the plantation. I shall 
 think often of you all in the years to come, and I shall 
 hope that you are as kind to each other as you have been 
 to me." 
 
 He did not say "Good bye." There was no farewell, 
 no hand-shaking he walked quietly into the pines and 
 they saw him no more. 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe was driven back in a buggy she ex 
 pected to -overtake him on the road, but he avoided her. 
 
 AVilliam helped to rehabilitate Ruden. 
 
 "When he left the gardener s cottage he might have 
 been taken for a business man. He was dressed in a 
 dark gray suit with slouch hat and walking stick. 
 
 Under his arm he carried a small bundle containing a 
 blue flannel shirt and a pair of overalls.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 A MAKER AND BREAKER OF CODES 
 
 COLONEL OGLETIIORPE S interview with the President 
 lasted but ten minutes, but he spent ten days among the 
 Southern congressmen, at their homes in the South, dis 
 cussing the subject of it. The last person interviewed 
 before he returned to AYetumpka was the Governor of 
 the State. That he had been nerve strained to a very 
 high degree was evident the moment he entered his 
 home he had little to say. 
 
 lie divested himself of his overcoat in the hall and 
 went in search of his foreman. There was something 
 unusual in his manner, but nothing disappointing in it to 
 his wife. She, too, had been considerably strained. 
 
 "Hello!" was his greeting to her. "Hello!" she an 
 swered coldly, and they went their ways from the hall 
 each rather glad to escape the other. 
 
 Half an hour later, when he entered his wife s room 
 without knocking, a change had taken place in his tem 
 per. His rather negative impatience had assumed the 
 shape of a positively angry mood. 
 
 "Iluggins has just been telling me of the idiotic 
 things you have been doing in my absence," he said, 
 "and I want to find out whether you are crazy or not?" 
 
 She was lying on a sofa near the window. She turned 
 her head toward him, and for a moment looked at him 
 inquiringly. Her silence added to his anger. 
 
 "I have no objection to your charity business," he 
 continued in a harsh and excited manner "but when 
 
 182
 
 A MAKER AND BREAKER OF CODES 183 
 
 you sit down to eat with niggers and convicts you dis 
 grace your station in life and mine, too, and I don t pro 
 pose to stand for it!" 
 
 Mrs. Oglethorpe arose to a sitting posture on the sofa. 
 
 Disgrace she got no further. 
 
 "Yes, disgrace!" he shouted. "And the next time 
 you interfere in my business affairs don t be surprised 
 if my hired servant tells you to mind your own busi 
 ness ! 
 
 She arose to her feet full of feeling livid with in 
 dignation. She made several attempts to speak, but he 
 always interposed with a harsh sound and drowned her 
 voice. He became abusive it wasn t wholly a personal 
 matter, and she, in a vague manner, understood that. 
 He was relieving himself of a volley of pent-up feeling, 
 that had been growing larger every day since his visit 
 to the White House. AYhen the force of his abuse was 
 spent he turned toward the door. By a quick move 
 ment she faced him, with her back close to the partly 
 closed door. 
 
 "I want you to hear what I have to say, now," she 
 said. She was pale and trembling, but there was a look 
 of scorn in her face that held him startled him. 
 
 "My right to humanize your brutal affairs is based on 
 the fact that half the capital invested belongs to me ! 
 was her first remark. He was taken aback but stared 
 loose-jawed at a woman he had really never seen before. 
 There was no opportunity to reply, the words had 
 scarcely escaped her lips when the second thrust came. 
 
 "Perhaps I am insane, and perhaps Jenkins is, also. 
 I understand you have had him so adjudged but the 
 community the country isn t, insane, and sooner or 
 later, the rottenness, the murder, theft, miscegenation 
 and cruelty that is warp and woof of your industrial
 
 184 THE MAGYAR 
 
 process will be made known the mills of the gods grind 
 slowly, but they grind!" 
 
 ""What the - - do you mean?" he hissed. 
 
 "Just what I say." 
 
 "By- ! if a man uttered those words he would pay 
 the penalty with his life!" lie shook his clenched fist 
 in her face. Without a tremor, she continued: 
 
 "Yes, I know, you have been coward enough to kill 
 for less than that, but I have not finished yet." 
 
 "But I have finished listening to your hysterical rav- 
 ings." 
 
 She raised her voice and prepared to resist, if need 
 be, his exit. 
 
 "If it is impossible to save you, I shall save myself 
 I shall wash my hands of you and your mode of life 
 I shall refuse to be a mere member of your harem, with 
 but the empty honor of a social status to distinguish me 
 from negresses and defenseless girls who have borne you 
 more children than I have!" There was a stinging bit 
 terness in the words that stung him to the heart. He 
 seized her by the throat and threw her to the floor 
 with an oath. He rushed into the hall, took his hat 
 from the rack and went out into the yard. 
 
 William was sent for, in a hurry. Huggins was called 
 also. They were told that no "sentimental humbug" 
 would be permitted for a moment. 
 
 For ten days the convicts had laid down to sleep with 
 out being chained to the wall. Their food had been 
 served in decent shape and they had been treated as 
 human beings. The proprietor brought the new regime 
 to an abrupt end, by a peremptory order, and the hope 
 engendered for ten days gave. way to despair and hate. 
 
 Look here, Huggins, the Colonel said, after he had 
 given the reactionary order "don t take this fellow
 
 A MAKER AND BREAKER OF CODES 185 
 
 they call Elijah out to the camp to-morrow leave him 
 down here in the shack I want to see him alone." 
 
 "lie s gone, sir!" 
 
 "Gone?" 
 
 "Yes r, th Governor released him, I think tho I m 
 not dead sho on the request of th Missus." 
 
 "Oh, hell he s the beast that has raised a rumpus 
 that has taken me ten days to straighten out. Now he s 
 gone to continue his lying elsewhere ! 
 
 "Yere s Willyum a comin , sir e knows, Ah spect, 
 whar e is." 
 
 "A\ r hy wasn t I informed about the transfer of that 
 convict William ? 
 
 "Which convict, sir?" 
 
 "You know d d well which convict the cracker 
 
 who worked the religious game so perfectly on all of 
 you!" 
 
 "He was a State convict, sir, and was subject to State 
 law the Governor paroled him." 
 
 "Can he be found?" 
 
 "I think he can be located, sir." 
 
 "Then put Iluggins on the trail." 
 
 "May I venture to suggest to you, sir, that there s 
 trouble brewing over the case of Big Bill and Joe?" 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 "Their families have left their shacks and gone I 
 know not where." 
 
 "When did they go?" 
 
 : The day after their husbands were brought back and 
 put in irons." 
 
 "What s the trouble, then?" 
 
 "The Federal Authorities I think are investigat 
 ing the cases." 
 
 "Look here, you men, got back those nigger women,
 
 186 THE MAGYAR 
 
 or get to hell out of here both of you ! The men were 
 silent. They knew what that meant. Big Bill and Joe 
 had been brought back charges preferred before a jus 
 tice of the peace who was an employee of the master, 
 and they were imprisoned for six months each. The 
 imprisonment, of course, was in the Oglethorpe stock 
 ade. In addition to the imprisonment they were both 
 tied to logs and whipped with a shingle on the soles of 
 their bare feet fifty lashes each. The imprisonment 
 was for breach of contract, and "obtaining money under 
 false pretenses." The whipping was for infractions of 
 the stockade rules. 
 
 As long as they were permitted to spend one night a 
 week with their wives and children, the men could be 
 controlled, but Southern planters know that with wives 
 and children gone the men would often suffer death 
 rather than submit. 
 
 "Get out every deputy in the place alarm every 
 sheriff and get those niggers back at once!" was the 
 final order, and he left the men looking at each other in 
 consternation. 
 
 "Just a moment, Colonel " said William, as he fol 
 lowed him. 
 
 "I have no time to bandy words with you obey my 
 orders then I ll listen to whatever you have to say." 
 He didn t stop but William walked by his side and in 
 formed him as he walked, that as far as he was con 
 cerned, his service for the Colonel was at an end. The 
 Colonel stopped, looked at the black man for a moment 
 
 "You ungrateful beast of a nigger!" he said. "If I 
 had a horsewhip I would teach you a lesson you wouldn t 
 forget in a hurry." 
 
 "I ll furnish you one, stop a moment Huggins!" 
 shouted William. "Huggins!" Huggins heard and
 
 A MAKER AND BREAKER OF CODES 187 
 
 surmised trouble he came up to the men on a trot, but 
 before he reached them the Colonel had the black man 
 by the throat. It was but for an instant, however. He 
 wrenched himself loose, and with a blow the crash of 
 which could be heard a hundred yards away, he knocked 
 the planter on his back. Huggins made a show of de 
 fending his master but it was only a show. He knew 
 his man and feared him. Oglethorpe groped for a re 
 volver, but it was missing. lie yelled for Huggins to 
 hand him his, but the negro was ready. 
 
 "All right, Huggins, hand him one I ll wait till he 
 gets it and then I ll rid the earth of a cowardly cur who 
 doesn t possess the morals of a dog hand it to him!" 
 As he spoke he drew his Colt revolver and stood erect 
 and ready. 
 
 Huggins hesitated. Oglethorpe rose to his feet foam 
 ing at the mouth. The sound of wheels was heard in 
 the direction of the stables when the planter spoke he 
 could scarcely be heard, for the coachman was driving 
 at full speed toward the house. 
 
 His master called him, but he drove on, pulling up at 
 the side door another moment, and Mrs. Oglethorpe 
 had seated herself beside the driver and they W 7 ere off. 
 The Colonel shouted, but there was no response. He 
 rushed into the house, hissing as he left the two men : 
 " I 11 see to you, nigger, in a few minutes. 
 
 His first act was to telephone for the sheriff and a 
 posse, then to the chief of police, instructing him to ar 
 rest the coachman on sight, and return the horse and 
 buggy. Then he went upstairs, furnished himself with 
 a revolver loaded and primed. 
 
 A note lay on his table it was in his wife s hand 
 writing he was not in a mood to read any farewell or 
 sentimental missives. He picked it up, then threw it
 
 188 THE MAGYAR 
 
 down again, and passed on. When half way down the 
 stairs he returned, opened the note and read : 
 
 "Henceforth you can communicate with me through my law 
 yers, Blakely and Dorman. 
 
 "I shall sue for a divorce, naming but one co-respondent a 
 negress. It was a convict in your stockade who pointed out to 
 me the fact that although free love and unbridled lust had re 
 sulted in three million human beings who are neither black nor 
 white, that it was not on record that any white woman had 
 ever named a black woman as a co-respondent. In establishing 
 this precedent I shall not only atone for my sex, but I shall also 
 recognize the black mother of your children as a woman a hu 
 man being, like myself. 
 
 "MABEL." 
 
 He tore the note to shreds and threw it on the floor 
 with a muttered curse. 
 
 An hour later, the sheriff and his posse arrived. They 
 were taken into the planter s office where a bottle of 
 champagne was opened and over its contents the affair 
 discussed. 
 
 "He s too good a nigger to dispense with, but I must 
 punish him somehow," the Colonel told the sheriff. 
 
 Lock him up for a week, the sheriff suggested. 
 
 "No, I d lose him." 
 
 "Then let Jim, here, give him a thrashing." Jim 
 was a deputy of large physical proportions and nodded 
 assent to the suggestion. "While they were talking the 
 chief of police was announced. He had left the coach 
 man in the lock-up and had driven the buggy home him 
 self. 
 
 He was invited to join the champagne party in the 
 office. In the hall, alone, he described the arrest. He 
 had permitted the coachman to drive Mrs. Oglethorpe 
 to the depot, where she had boarded a train for Atlanta.
 
 A MAKER AND BREAKER OF CODES 189 
 
 The sheriff and the chief were taken apart and told, in 
 strictest confidence, the cause of their summons to 
 "Wetumpka. It was scarcely necessary for a member of 
 Congress to do that, hut there was every prospect that 
 he would need them more in the future than he had in 
 the past, and champagne and cigars and a confidential 
 chat made them somewhat more "solid" than the mere 
 hope of the Federal patronage at the Colonel s disposal; 
 he knew his men. 
 
 AVhen it was time for Jim, the deputy, to pay his re 
 spects to his unknown opponent, the Colonel had changed 
 his mind again, and suggested a postponement. The 
 point that he pressed, however, was the return of the 
 wives of Big Bill and Joe. He offered a reward of a 
 hundred dollars for their delivery or information lo 
 cating their present whereabouts. The butler brought 
 in some sandwiches and another bottle of champagne 
 and the officials departed, with the feeling that they had 
 either been at a funeral or a wedding. 
 
 As soon as he was alone, the Colonel ordered a high 
 ball to steady his nerves, and a little later a second, in 
 order to give Huggins some orders that required cour 
 age as well as nerve to give. 
 
 He had long desired to make better, or at least sep 
 arate provision for the white convicts, but not until a 
 black man had knocked him down did he feel that he 
 could afford to make the change. Huggins was called 
 again. 
 
 "Get the old barn ready for the white men to-night, 
 Huggins," he said. "I have been thinking of making 
 the change for some time it is but the work of an hour 
 let it be done right off!" 
 
 "We will have to have the blacksmith, sir, to put the 
 iron rings in the wall."
 
 190 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Get him, then get him at once make no delay! 
 The thing will have to be done to-night!" 
 
 It was nearly midnight before the white convicts were 
 marched out, sixty of them, to their new quarters. This 
 was Colonel Oglethorpe s tribute to his race, as he 
 smarted under the sting of his wife s note. Sixty-five 
 negroes were left in the filthy "long shed." 
 
 The white men did not seem to appreciate the com 
 pliment paid them. They grumbled a good deal and 
 acted sulkily as they were ordered around in the prog 
 ress of the transfer. 
 
 They knew they would miss the singing. White men 
 never sing in captivity black men sing under all cir 
 cumstances and in all conditions. Every night, around 
 the camp fire the black men sang the slave songs of their 
 race. They gave a spiritual wind-up to the slave labor 
 of the day. 
 
 Colonel Oglethorpe walked the floor of his chamber 
 until a very late hour. He was utterly unconscious that 
 there was anything wrong with what his wife called the 
 "industrial process." He had never known any other 
 life than that of master and slave. The growing 
 thought of the Avorld that both could be abolished was 
 unworthy of serious consideration to him. Indeed, he 
 had scarcely heard it hinted at. The status quo was a 
 thing that as a religious teacher he had always con 
 nected with God and the moral order of the world. 
 
 "With his personal life he was not so vague. He knew 
 he had violated his own canons but then, his violations 
 were mere manifestations of a weak will he knew he had 
 that, but so had all the best men and women of his ac 
 quaintance. 
 
 "Why should she fly in the face of customs as old as 
 Adam?" he asked himself. ""Whv didn t she do as
 
 A MAKER AND BREAKER OF CODES 191 
 
 she has so often get angry for a day and then make 
 up again?" As he paced the floor this question came 
 to him: "If your wife had borne children to other 
 men, both white and black, would you go on living 
 with her?" 
 
 "Of course not," was the ready answer. "But then 
 there is one code for w r omen and another code for men." 
 It was unthinkable to him that a woman should be either 
 a code maker or a code breaker those things were the 
 prerogatives of men "women s sphere" was the home. 
 As a last resort he drugged himself with brandy and fell 
 into a stupor, undressed, on his bed. 
 
 At four o clock in the morning the establishment was 
 aroused by cries of "Fire!" 
 
 The old barn, that had been tenanted but a few hours 
 with the white convicts was enveloped in flames. The 
 upper floor was filled with forty tons of hay, and when 
 those first to the rescue arrived the entire upper story 
 w r as about to cave in. An axe soon smashed a hole in 
 the side wall, but out through it shot a tongue of flame 
 that scorched the rescuers and drove them back. A 
 minute later the hay, hay loft and roof, came down 
 with a crash, and the flimsy side walls bulged as if by 
 the force of a mighty blow pipe. Not a cry was heard 
 from within, not a groan. The burning walls were 
 torn apart at the risk of life, but not a sign was visi 
 ble. It was thought at first that the men had escaped 
 and set fire to the place, but in the course of a few 
 hours the chains were pulled out, and with each link a 
 charred and blackened bundle of bones, all that was 
 left of sixty human beings sixty-one, rather, for one 
 unchained bundle lay near the door it was the deputy, 
 who, it was supposed, had been choked with smoke and 
 unable to escape. The holocaust was complete. No
 
 192 THE MAGYAR 
 
 tears were shed, no hearts in pain, for these men were 
 outcasts, whom the State had handed over to the wheel 
 of labor at so much per head. 
 
 Colonel Oglethorpe could not be aroused from his 
 stupor until the family physician was called. When 
 the situation was explained, he said: "Too bad, send an 
 account of it to the Convict Board and get sixty men to 
 take their places." 
 
 For a week, straggling visitors from various parts of 
 the State came to look for the "remains" of relatives. 
 They were all poor people, of course, and were shown 
 a mound in the woods, where the charred bones were 
 deposited. There was an Associated Press dispatch an 
 inch long in the papers, a few letters of inquiry, and the 
 thing was over. 
 
 A week after "the destruction of the barn," as the 
 holocaust was called, Llwellyn Oglethorpe, Jr., of Colo 
 nial University, made an unexpected call at the We- 
 tumpka Mansion. 
 
 "I knew there was something wrong, Dad," he said, 
 as he kissed his father in the hall. 
 
 "Why did you come without a note or a telegram, 
 boy?" 
 
 "Well, the fact is, Dad, I got into a peck of trouble 
 and left." 
 
 "What was the nature of the trouble?" 
 
 "I picked up a chance acquaintance 
 
 "A woman, eh"?" broke in the father. 
 
 "Yes a girl with a pretty face, but no education 
 I went farther than I ought to have gone, but when they 
 tried to put the screws on, and chain me to her, I broke 
 away and quit!" 
 
 "What s your next move?" 
 
 "Well, I want to settle down to business. I don t
 
 A MAKER AND BREAKER OF CODES 193 
 
 care for a parchment certificate it s the man that 
 counts these days, so I m in for business I ll take a 
 foreman s job anything ! 
 
 Iluggins put the young man to work as superintend 
 ent of the turpentine still situated a mile and a half in 
 the woods. Here he worked by day, and by night he 
 ran the gamut of the clubs and the homes of the young 
 women of the city s smartest set. 
 
 The Colonel had a caller one day, a few weeks after 
 his son s return from college. It was the United States 
 Marshal for the Southern District of Alabama. As a 
 Member of Congress, he was saved the humiliation of an 
 arrest, but was notified of a hearing before the United 
 States Commission on a charge of peonage. The 
 Colonel was indignant, but promised to attend in person. 
 "Of course, it will be sub rosa, Colonel," the Marshal 
 said, "and we will see that the press doesn t get hold 
 of it," 
 
 The result of the hearing was somewhat disconcerting 
 to the planter, for a charge was found and given 
 to the Grand Jury. The charge was based on the ten- 
 year contract men and the forcible return to the camp 
 and subsequent whipping of the men s wives.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 FINDS A CAVE OF ADULLAM 
 
 AYiiEN Ruden left AYetumpka, he walked to Montgomery 
 and found a furnished room in a rear tenement off the 
 main street. The address of this obscure lodging house 
 had been furnished by his friend, the gardener. He 
 had four dollars and fifty cents. He paid three-fourths 
 of the amount for the room for a week, and with the 
 balance provided himself with food, paper and pencils. 
 Pie estimated that his provisions would last him ten 
 days. 
 
 His room was on the fifth floor back. His landlady 
 rented the room on the assumption that he was a day 
 laborer and would only occupy it during the night. 
 
 He compromised with her by offering to do the nec 
 essary cleaning himself. He offered also to pay for 
 extra oil if he burned more than was the custom. He 
 felt it necessary to tell her just what he was doing, and 
 why he was in such reduced circumstances. This was 
 a mistake in his judgment, for she almost worried her 
 self sick on account of his food. Every morning she 
 asked him with a new tenderness in her voice, whether 
 he wouldn t have a cup of good warm coffee? 
 
 "It will only be wasted," she would say entreatingly, 
 but he steadily and courteously refused, telling her that 
 if he ever needed a cup of coffee he would surely ask 
 for it. 
 
 His provisions held out eleven days. Then he had 
 to explain matters to the landlady. She was so over- 
 
 194
 
 LIJAH FINDS A CAVE OF ADULLAM 195 
 
 joyed at the prospect of helping him that for a minute 
 she was unable to reply. 
 
 "If you d only be sort o social wi us, mister, we d 
 be more n pleased to hev ye fur a year!" 
 
 "I have been very busy," Ruden said, "but I have 
 sent off my first piece of work to New York and I am 
 taking it easy for a day or two, and will be delighted 
 to meet your husband and have a talk when it s con 
 venient for you." 
 
 "We re not eddycated folks, mister, but we-uns know 
 when we meet them as are." 
 
 "Oh! Education cuts no figure here we are just 
 human folks." 
 
 "M husband an me hev been on th point ov askin 
 yer advice several times but we never liked, because ye 
 were so quiet and busy like." 
 
 "Well, while I am here I wish you would feel free 
 to call upon me for anything I can do." 
 
 "Then ye expect to go?" 
 
 "In a few weeks, perhaps it may be longer but what 
 was it you thought I could advise you about? If I can 
 serve you I shall do so gladly. 
 
 "Well, mister, to tell th truth, it s about yerself !" 
 
 "Oh! Well, what is it?" 
 
 "Ain t you a stockade man?" 
 
 "AVell, I was a convict, but I have served my time." 
 
 She suddenly left the room, returning in a few min 
 utes. "Ain t that you?" she asked, as she held up a 
 photograph of himself in stripes and chains. 
 
 "Yes," he said, " Miss Tiffany took that. How did 
 you get hold of it?" 
 
 "We have a roomer she s a bit odd 
 
 "It must be Miss Tiffany !" he exclaimed. 
 
 "Her name s Hawkins Mistress Hawkins, sir."
 
 196 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "When is she at home?" 
 
 "Since you ve been here she comes in late and goes 
 away early." 
 
 At any special time 1 
 
 "No, ye cain t never tell." 
 
 Ruden pondered. A score of times, he remembered, 
 she had eluded him at Wetmnpka. He recalled how 
 William, the gardener, had failed to help him get an 
 interview with a woman who, though old and gray- 
 haired, was actively engaged in doing things around a 
 stockade that put her under suspicion of the men of 
 more than average intelligence. 
 
 "Well," Ruden said, finally, "I would like to meet 
 her some time and if you can help me, I ll be grateful 
 to you." 
 
 A few days later, the landlady informed Ruden that 
 Mistress Hawkins was to have a guest and had asked 
 her to prepare supper for them. But Ruden tried to 
 dismiss the suspect from his mind. 
 
 One day he was walking up a side street, when he 
 noticed in a shop window, a copy of the Appeal to Rea 
 son. It was spread out to display a cartoon. He en 
 tered and asked for a copy, as he fumbled for a nickel. 
 "It ain t fur sale," the man said, "but ye can look it 
 over. 
 
 A small group sat around a stove in the back end of 
 the store. They were watching Ruden, and had evi 
 dently stopped the conversation to hear what he had 
 to say. 
 
 Do you carry a red card ? " he asked the proprietor. 
 
 "Ah sho do," he replied. "Whar do yo stand in 
 sich a showdown, stranger?" 
 
 "I am a member of Local New Oxford," he said, 
 "but I ve lost my card." The words had scarcely es-
 
 LIJAII FINDS A CAVE OF ADULLAM 197 
 
 caped his lips, when a woman stepped out from the stove 
 corner and said in a broad Southern drawl : 
 
 "Ah hope ye re enjoying yer journey in th South." 
 Kuden took the extended hand. It was "Mistress 
 Hawkins" of the boarding house and "Miss Tiffany" 
 of the stockade. 
 
 It was the first time he had looked into her face. Her 
 hair was white her face was wrinkled and yellow. She 
 wore an ill-fitting hat and clothes that seemed a genera 
 tion old. 
 
 "No," he said, "I don t think I have." 
 
 "Waal, ye 11 enjoy th results of it, Ah vc no doubt." 
 
 Kuden was conscious that the men in the back of the 
 store were watching and listening an uncanny feeling 
 crept over him. He was suspicious and uneasy. 
 
 "I think you are a spy, " he said in a low tone. 
 
 "AVaal, yer kind o generous t lower yer voice whin 
 ye accuse me!" 
 
 "You are an unsocial neighbor, too," he said, in the 
 same tone. "You live on the same floor with me your 
 drawers are stuffed with my photographs and yet you 
 never asked me to tea nor to call." 
 
 There was a vein of humor in these words. 
 
 "AV-a-al," she drawled, "since ye ve ax d yerself, 
 whin will ye come ? 
 
 "I ll join your other guest when he comes." 
 
 "Oh!" she exclaimed, as she looked steadily at him, 
 "then Ah 11 send ye a formal invite good bye!" 
 
 She picked up her basket a common market basket, 
 pushed her arm through the handle, and went out of 
 the door at a lively pace lively for an old woman. 
 
 Ruden accepted the invitation to sit down. 
 
 "Can you explain to me how it happens that a black 
 man and a white man plasterers can be found work-
 
 198 THE MAGYAR 
 
 ing side by side on the same seafford here in Alabama ? 
 I find it so in other trades as well." 
 
 "Shure, " said Hank Paterson, the store-keeper, "the 
 Plasterers Union draws no color line that s why!" 
 
 "Then why, in the Socialist movement, have you two 
 branches white and black?" 
 
 "That s a cinch, too," Hank said, "when a nigger 
 hits the Socialist idee he s hell on meetin s right away 
 ye caint glut im nohow. Onct a week satisfies us 
 whites, but ev ry time ye meet a nigger he s either goin 
 to work or goin to a Socialist meetin !" 
 
 Hank, in the intervals between attendance upon his 
 customers, showed with some degree of pride, his circu 
 lating Socialist library. It occupied a corner of the 
 store. He had his own system of keeping track of his 
 lendings. The entire inside of a cupboard door was 
 covered with the names of the borrowers and the cata 
 logue, a large sheet of brown paper, covered the outside 
 of the same door. Men kept coming and going evi 
 dently the Delicatessen store was a Cave of Adullam, 
 where the radicalism of Montgomery had focused itself. 
 
 "Hello! You ol white trash niggah!" a black man 
 said, as he bounced into the store ""What s d news 
 gwine t be, huh?" 
 
 "Have you heard from Willyum?" asked Hank. 
 
 "Sho an ol Oglethorpe s up agin it fo sho dis 
 time he sho is." 
 
 "Do you mean AVilliarn the gardener?" asked Ru- 
 den. 
 
 Yep he s ma brother ! 
 
 "Is he still at "Wetumpka ? " 
 
 "He s right heah in town, boss." 
 
 "I would like to meet him please give him this name 
 and address and ask him to come and see me."
 
 LIJAII FINDS A CAVE OF ADULLAM 199 
 
 He scribbled his name and address on a slip of paper 
 nnd handed it to the negro. 
 
 "Sam s a good fellow," Hank said when the negro 
 left, "but he ain t nowheres near like his brother Wil 
 liam. He s a corker took the gold medal at Harvard 
 for a nig that ain t so bad, is it?" 
 
 "No, it isn t so bad, but I know better things than 
 that about him. I worked with him or rather under 
 him, at Oglethorpe s." 
 
 "Ye did, hey?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Did ye know "Lijah, up thar?" 
 
 "They used to call me Elijah. " 
 
 For heaven s sake ! 
 
 "Why are you surprised?" 
 
 "Ah m not Ah m jest tickled clean off m trolley. 
 Jake," he said, to a man in the corner, "keep an eye on 
 the store." 
 
 "Elijah," he said, "come up here." 
 
 Ruden followed him upstairs. There he led him 
 into a small room clean and tidy a room that had 
 b. en prepared with taste and care. 
 
 "Now, we ve had that ready fur ye for weeks git 
 yer traps an honor us b hangin out here as long as 
 ye can will ye?" 
 
 "It s very kind of you, Comrade, and I will gladly 
 accept your invitation." 
 
 "Will ye come t night?" 
 
 "No, not for a couple of days." 
 
 When Ruden arrived at his room he found a note on 
 his table. It was scribbled in a child s handwriting: 
 
 "Occupant of room 7 is invited to sup with occu 
 pant of room 9, to-night, at seven." 
 
 The landlady knocked gently at the door.
 
 200 
 
 "Come in." 
 
 "Ye got yer invite?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Yer eomin , ain t ye?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed." 
 
 "Ah 11 git ev ry thing ready put it on th table and 
 leave ye s. " 
 
 ""Will you kindly let me know when it strikes seven, 
 please?" 
 
 "Sho Ah 11 tell ye in good time." 
 
 Meantime he trimmed his Van Dyke beard, brushed 
 his clothes and added whatever improvements he could 
 to his physical appearance. 
 
 "I ll bet the old hag is a spy," he muttered as he 
 awaited his summons. "That drawl of hers 
 
 There was a gentle knock. The hour had come. lie 
 followed the landlady into her miniature dining-room 
 the table was in the middle of the room and what he 
 saw beside it almost took away his breath. He stood 
 with parted lips, watching what the first moment he 
 thought must be a dream an apparition or some un 
 canny procedure in the psychic world. 
 
 "Ethel!" he exclaimed, when he found his voice. 
 Ethel Ainsworth, as daintily dressed as a sweet girl 
 graduate, stood under the glow of the hanging lamp. 
 Her face was suffused with joy her eyes were filled 
 with the laughter of the heart. 
 
 Comrade, she said, as she advanced to meet him. 
 
 He took her hand in both of his, and as they looked 
 into each other s eyes and read there the secret of the 
 ages, there ensued a struggle that for the moment was 
 freighted with more poignant agony than at least one 
 there had ever known. Will power was tested to the 
 breaking point. These two souls stood on the edge of a
 
 LIJAH FINDS A CAVE OF ADULLAM 201 
 
 volcano. They held, as Moses did, the tables of the 
 Law in their hands each of them in imminent danger 
 of dashing them to the ground. The struggle \vas short 
 lived he raised her hand to his lips and gently kissed 
 it, and as she withdrew it, two scalding tears fell on it. 
 She stepped back and kissed his tears from her hand, 
 saying with more composure than her companion could 
 command: "It s a great big world, Stephen, and we 
 are its builders, are we not?" 
 
 "I understand," he said, "and we must build in the 
 light of day." 
 
 Another gentle knock. "My other guest," she said, 
 as she arose to greet him. 
 
 "Philip!" gasped Ruden "well, who next, Ethel?" 
 
 After greeting Miss Ainsworth, Philip Bauerman 
 came over to Ruden. The men kissed each other and 
 were speechless. 
 
 As the three sat around the table, they were reminis 
 cent the old clays at New Oxford crowded in upon 
 them. Philip was wasted to a shadow of himself. He 
 looked as if he was just recovering from a long illness. 
 They ate little, but talked much. Ethel told her story 
 first. She had secured an appointment in the Depart 
 ment of Justice at "Washington, and had been assigned 
 to the South to investigate peonage. At AVetumpka 
 she had got enough evidence to indict a state, but she 
 was oblivious of the presence of her friend. Her first 
 knowledge of his whereabouts was when she heard his 
 voice in the Delicatessen store. 
 
 Ruden s story came second. The other two were in 
 tears most of the time it took to tell it. 
 
 Miss Ainsworth helped him to avoid the recital of the 
 most painful experience at AVetumpka. 
 
 "Yes," she said, "I know all about Madeline s visit
 
 202 THE MAGYAR 
 
 and how it ended, but Philip is not interested in that 
 and we will not discuss it." 
 
 "It s your turn, Philip," Ruden said, as he put his 
 arm around the boy s shoulder. 
 
 "Better cut mine out," was the slow, deliberate an 
 swer. "You do not know me, Mr. Ruden, I am not 
 the man you knew a year ago." 
 
 "What has happened, Philip?" 
 
 "Have you heard anything about my sister since you 
 left New Oxford ? 
 
 "I haven t heard a word about anyone since I left," 
 Ruden answered. 
 
 "Well, young Oglethorpe ruined Celia my sister. 
 He met her in a candy store where she was cashier 
 when her baby came she asked him to give the child 
 his name she promised to aid him to get a divorce later, 
 but he refused. She became desperate and determined 
 to end her life. 
 
 "At a final interview he said he would die with her. 
 lie took her to Brantwood Point House, and the mo 
 ment she swallowed her potion the ber.st got out, and 
 that very night attended a ball and danced until the 
 early hours of the morning. Celia was saved. We sent 
 a. lawyer after him and he had left -the University. Ho 
 does not know that Celia is my sister. I wrote him a 
 pathetic letter asking him for a job as tutor, promising 
 him his diploma at the Easter examination. He knew I 
 gave up my course through illness. Tie took the bait and 
 I am on my way to Wetumpka. I am hate turned to 
 flesh. I am revenge incarnated. If the beast has a 
 soul I shall pierce it with a red hot shaft. If he hasn t 
 I shall make his carcass cry for mercy. My meat and 
 my drink will be to watch him study him. know him. I 
 shall search for his soul first. If I don t find it, I shall
 
 LIJAH FINDS A CAVE OF ADULLAM 203 
 
 inflict upon him the punishment of Abelard! If he has 
 a soul, I shall humiliate him with the humiliation of 
 Arthur Dimsdale ! 
 
 Perspiration rolled oil the student s face as he spoke. 
 It was evident he was weak and in no physical condi 
 tion to enter such a course. 
 
 Philip s friends went over the situation with him. 
 The} pointed out the futility of such a course and 
 tried to dissuade him, but it was entirely useless, he 
 was obdurate. 
 
 "When a man or woman who has had a sister ruined 
 comes to me, I will listen not until then," he said. It 
 was a pitiful sight to see that fine scholarly face so 
 pinched with hate. Ruden said something about the 
 fate that overtakes such men as Oglethorpe. "Yes," 
 that s true," Philip said, "I thoroughly agree with you, 
 but I consider myself the fate of God the agent of 
 God to overtake him." 
 
 They changed the subject. Miss Ainsworth told how 
 she had secured an indictment of the planter for viola 
 tion of the anti-peonage laws. "His friends," she said, 
 "have persuaded him to ask for a speedy trial and with 
 in a few days the jury will be empaneled and the trial 
 begun." 
 
 "And when the trial is over," Ruden said, "our trial 
 will begin." 
 
 Ethel was silent for a minute. "And a crowd of wit 
 nesses shall bear testimony," she said calmly, "and w r e 
 ourselves shall deliver judgment." 
 
 Philip Bauerman occupied Ruden s room that night, 
 and Ruden betook himself to the "Cave," as they after 
 wards called the Delicatessen store. 
 
 Three days later a jury was empaneled in the Fed 
 eral Court of the Southern District of Alabama to try
 
 204 THE MAGYAR 
 
 Llwellyn Oglethorpe and Joshua Iluggins for violating 
 the Federal laws against peonage. United States Dis 
 trict Attorney Ferdinand Kubberly represented the 
 Government. lie was assisted by Attorney Ethel Ains- 
 worth and George Eussell of the Department of Justice.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE REVENGE OP "LONE STAR" 
 
 THE court was crowded to its utmost capacity. The 
 interest was national. Newspaper men from all parts 
 of the country were present. The word "peonage" was 
 new quite new. It came over the border from Mexico 
 found its way into the Federal statutes in the sixties 
 and remained hidden until Ferdinand Kubberly discov 
 ered and added it to the vocabulary of a phase of feud 
 alism we imagined had passed away. 
 
 The spectators were men mostly business men, not 
 a single juror was challenged by the defense and very 
 few by the Government. There was an air of supreme 
 confidence in the camp of the Oglethorpe array of talent. 
 It was the work of a few minutes to empanel a jury. 
 It was addressed by the lawyers and the Judge and the 
 twelve men "good and true" sat back in the seats as 
 complacently as if they were a dining section of a presi 
 dential tour. 
 
 The presence of a woman in the Federal Court prac 
 ticing as a member of the staff of the United States At 
 torney General caused, at first, laughter, then surprise, 
 and later ridicule of a low order. Miss Ainsworth out 
 lined the case for the Government. Mr. Blount, a bril 
 liant criminal lawyer of Baltimore, spoke for the de 
 fense. All these preliminaries were brevity itself. 
 
 The first witness called was William Langford, "Big 
 Bill," the ten-year contract man. The contract was 
 marked as "Exhibit A." A legal battle waged for 
 hours over its admission. 
 
 205
 
 206 TUP] MAGYAR 
 
 "This contract, your Honor," said the leading lawyer 
 for the defense, "could only be made with a man who 
 possessed less intelligence than a horse it is an alto 
 gether unique and exceptional document. The party of 
 the second part has put his cross at the bottom, but the 
 witness on the stand is utterly unable to identify it. 
 Furthermore, its admission will be an injustice to the 
 entire South." 
 
 At this point the Government called Ethel Ainsworth 
 to the stand. 
 
 "Have you ever seen this contract before, Miss Ains 
 worth?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "In the possession of the previous witness I have a 
 photograph of it." 
 
 "Have you it here?" 
 
 An 8x10 photograph of the contract was put in evi 
 dence. 
 
 LABOR CONTRACT. 
 
 "This contract and agreement for labor on the farm made and 
 entered into this day between Lhvellyn Ogletliorpe, landlord, 
 party of the first part, and William Langford, laborer, party of 
 the second part witnesseth : 
 
 "That I, William Langford, laborer, of the second part, do 
 hereby bind myself over and hire myself to Lhvellyn Oglethorpe 
 to do and perform general farm work under the supervision of 
 s;iid Lhvellyn Oglethorpe or his agents, for the period of t?n 
 years, commencing Jan. 1, 1900, and ending Dec. 31st, 1!)10, and 
 as pay for the said services I am to receive the sum of ten dol 
 lars per month, together with my board and lodging, which 
 wages, less or any advances made to me from time to time, 
 and lost time at $1 per day, is to be paid to me at the expira 
 tion of the above time. I agree at all times to be subject to 
 the orders or commands of said Lhvellyn Oglethorpe, perform 
 all work required of me by Lhvellyn Oglethorpe, or his agents
 
 THE REVENGE OF "LONE STAR" 207 
 
 shall have the right to use such force as he or his agents may 
 deem necessary to require me to remain on liis farm and per 
 form good and satisfactory services. He shall have the right to 
 lock me up for safe keeping, work me under the rules and regu 
 lations of his farm, and if 1 .should leave his farm or run away 
 he shall have the right to offer and pay a reward not exceeding 
 $25 for my capture and return, together with the expense of the 
 same, which amount, so advanced, together with my other in 
 debtedness I may owe him at the expiration of above time; I 
 agree to work under all rules and regulations of this contract at 
 the same wages as above Jan. 1, IDOlJ and ending Dec. ol, 191G. 
 The said Llwellyn Oglethorpe shall have the right to transfer 
 his interest in this contract to any other party, and T agree to 
 continue work for said assignee same as for the original party 
 of the first part. 
 
 "I, Llwellyn Oglethorpe, party of the first part, hereby agree 
 and hire the said William Langford for the above time and pay 
 wages as above set forth, and otherwise fill my part of the above 
 agreement. 
 
 Witness our hands and seals this first day of January, 1906. 
 
 " Seal. 
 
 " Seal. 
 
 " Witness 
 
 "While we are in the art -gallery, we might as well 
 exhibit the remainder of our pictures," said the Dis 
 trict Attorney. "The previous witness has testified to 
 whippings of various sorts you witnessed some of these 
 occurrences, did you not?" 
 
 Here a dozen photographs were exhibited, showing the 
 various methods of flogging at the Oglethorpc .stockade. 
 They were handed to the jury. "Big Bill" was .shown 
 strapped to a log, with Iluggins wielding the shingle 
 on his bare feet. "Big Bill s" wife was shown strung 
 up by her thumbs to a ring in the wall. It wr,s a ghastly 
 picture and created a sensation of disgust and pity. 
 
 The cross-examination was fierce and unsparing. The
 
 208 THE MAGYAR 
 
 defense spent five hours in bringing out the life of the 
 witness. 
 
 "In your work of deception and hypocrisy, Miss 
 Ainsworth," said Blount, "whom did you have in mind 
 as a model history records some brilliant examples 
 such as Judas Iscariot Benedict Arnold and a lot of 
 such Dr. JekylJ^and Mr. Hyde characters?" 
 
 "My model," said Miss Ainsworth, in a clear voice, 
 "was Xathan Hale, Mr. Blount you may have heard 
 of him." 
 
 I am not on the witness stand ! " he retorted sharply. 
 Before proceeding further he consulted his partners- 
 there was a moment of intense silence as the tall, lean, 
 clean-shaven man advanced a few steps toward the wit 
 ness. His lips were compressed he looked steadily at 
 her with blazing eyes. 
 
 "You have testified here," he said slowly, "as to the 
 immoral use of black female servants and convicts do 
 you testify from hearsay or from knowledge of the 
 "facts?" 
 
 "From knowledge of the facts." 
 
 "You actually know, then, by first hand knowledge, 
 of such occurrences?" 
 
 "Not being the victim myself, Mr. Blount, it would 
 necessarily have to be second hand." 
 
 "Then it s hearsay?" 
 
 "If" 
 
 "No ifs or buts, please; answer my question Yes 
 or No." 
 
 "If - " she continued, but he stopped her. 
 
 "Your Honor," said Mr. Blount, "I demand that the 
 witness answer my question." 
 
 "I shall permit the witness to answer your question 
 in her own language," said the Judge.
 
 THE REVENGE OF "LONE STAR" 209 
 
 "If," continued Miss Ainsworth, "a confession by 
 the men who committed the crimes is hearsay, then I 
 answer your question in the affirmative." 
 
 "Were these alleged confessions written?" 
 
 "No, they were oral." 
 
 "Then we have only your word for it?" 
 
 "I anticipated the difficulty of your question, so made 
 provision for it." At a signal from the witness, a 
 square box was laid on a table in front of the jury. 
 Miss Ainsworth left the witness stand and personally 
 supervised the opening of it. 
 
 "In the early part of my investigation," she said, as 
 she displayed a phonograph, "I took this into the forest. 
 I made myself so familiar with the people I wanted, 
 that I made them, unknown to themselves, talk for pub 
 lication." 
 
 "AVhile Miss Ainsworth adjusts her machine we will 
 call Joshua Iluggins to the stand," said the District 
 Attorney. 
 
 Iluggins had a squeaky voice and the Government s 
 object, in calling him at this juncture was to put it on 
 exhibition to make an "exhibit" of it. lie was led 
 into a chatty reminiscence for this purpose. Then he 
 was taken from the stand and Miss Ainsworth resumed. 
 An expert was on hand to explain to the jury the mech 
 anism of the machine. They were asked to compare 
 the voice of Iluggins, as they heard it on the witness 
 stand, with the voice in the machine. Then the Ilug 
 gins cylinder was adjusted and the squeaky voice of the 
 foreman was reproduced in a conversation that would 
 not be permitted to go through the mails. 
 
 The jury was amazed they laughed outright at the 
 trick. Iluggins glared at the machine, as if it were a 
 negro, -disputing the prerogative of his whip! His jaw
 
 210 THE MAGYAR 
 
 hung loose and his little rat eyes were bulging out of 
 their sockets. 
 
 The labor contract in dispute was not admitted until 
 William Harding, the head gardener, identified it as a 
 document he had explained to "Big Bill." Joe Belden, 
 the other ten-year contract man, had a similar contract, 
 but the Government deemed the admission of one enough. 
 
 The trial dragged on for a week each side took a day 
 to sum up. Among the most interested attendants at 
 the trial was "Lone Star." He listened to every wit 
 ness he watched every move. He looked nervous and 
 worried. Ruden took him for a walk at recess one day, 
 but scarcely a word could be gotten out of him. 
 
 Miss Ainsworth summed up for the Government : 
 
 "Peonage, gentlemen, is the compulsory holding to 
 labor of one man by another, for the sake of having him 
 work out a debt. The labor contract signed and sealed 
 by Llwellyn Oglethorpe as party of the first part is not 
 an evidence of peonage, but of slavery. A man cannot 
 .sell himself in the United States either as a peon or as 
 a slave. You have the evidence before you of how these 
 men were chased with bloodhounds, beaten when caught 
 and brought back. The debt charged was a fiction, 
 but they were put in irons to work it out. Their wives 
 were hunted down and returned. They were strung up 
 by the thumbs they were stripped and flogged. They 
 w r ere used for immoral purposes. In this case the peons 
 are black men, but all over the South tens of thousands 
 of white men are held in peonage, flogged and robbed 
 by the pagan industrial usages of a backward medieval 
 section of the United States. 
 
 "It is mooted that it is impossible to get a Southern 
 jury to convict the rich violators of the Federal Statute 
 on Peonage, but I hope you gentlemen will remember
 
 THE REVENGE OF "LONE STAR" 211 
 
 that eighty million people are watching you to-day and 
 that all we ask of you is to bring in a verdict in accord 
 ance with the evidence." 
 
 Judge Swayne reviewed the evidence and charged the 
 jury. He divested the case of all sentiment and reduced 
 it to a question of law and evidence. No one who heard 
 the charge doubted for a moment what the Judge in 
 tended to convey. It was virtually an order to bring in 
 a verdict of guilty. The hope of the accused lay in the 
 jury and there were those who believed that that hope 
 had been doctored. The accused laughed and chatted 
 with his counsel. 
 
 The jury were out fifteen minutes. Then they filed 
 back, were counted, and amid a breathless silence, the 
 foreman arose and said, "We, the jury, find the pris 
 oner not guilty." 
 
 The last syllable had scarcely died away when a harsh 
 voice broke the spell of silent awe. It was a shout that 
 struck terror to the hearts of men. "God!" screamed 
 "Lone Star," who stood three yards from Oglethorpe, 
 "Ye ve missed yer chance an the law is found want- 
 in. : There was a flash of fire, a loud report, and 
 Llwellyn Oglethorpe dropped dead at his lawyer s feet!
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLINKING BEAST 
 
 TEN days after the tragic ending of the trial Stephen 
 Ruden knocked at the door of a little white cottage on 
 the outskirts of Arden a mill village in the great steel 
 center of Southern Alabama. 
 
 A young mulatto woman opened the door. 
 
 "I was told to ask for Nell, " he said. She smiled 
 and invited him inside. "I am Nell, " she said, when 
 he had seated himself. 
 
 He judged her to be about thirty years of age. She 
 was almost white, with straight black hair a face that 
 he thought the most beautiful he had ever seen, and a 
 form as perfect as the Venus do Milo. 
 
 The cottage was scrupulously clean and neat. Old- 
 fashioned hand-made rag carpets covered the floor a 
 log fire blazed on the wide open hearth. One side of 
 the larger of the two rooms was covered from floor to 
 ceiling with books. Photographs of the old masters 
 adorned the walls and over the mantelpiece hung a 
 landscape by a modern artist. 
 
 The room had a literary atmosphere, and he discov 
 ered later that it had a literary occupant. Nell Pal 
 mer had earned her living by writing from the year she 
 graduated from Fisk University. 
 
 "I brought you a message from Jim, Miss Palmer," 
 Ruden said, by way of introduction. 
 
 "\Yhere did you see him, and how is he?" she asked 
 anxiously. 
 
 212
 
 THE SHADOW OF THE BLINKING BEAST 213 
 
 "I m sorry to tell you that he is dead." 
 
 A look of pain overspread her beautiful features. 
 
 "You knew him, then?" 
 
 "Yes, and he told me a little of his romance not 
 much." 
 
 She sighed, and muttered "Poor Jim." 
 
 Ruden told her of "Kentuck s" last message, and as 
 he went over the details, she wept quietly merely say 
 ing occasionally, "Poor Jim, Poor Jim!" 
 
 "Jim and I were brought up together w r e were in 
 separable when children and as boy and girl. My dear 
 old mother washed for a living and out of her hard- 
 earned wages saved enough to put me through college. 
 Jim had to work in that mill over the way when he was 
 eight years of age. 
 
 ; The only thing he ever learned was the violin. We 
 saw much of each other and braved the scorn of two 
 races for it. Then the great question came, and I had 
 to decide for both. One cannot fight against the stars, 
 lie was not angry he came here one night, and over 
 there, by the window, he played his last tune for me. 
 His violin seemed human that night, it sang then it 
 prayed then it wept. Jim usually put it back in the 
 case, but that night he took it away under his arm, and 
 I never saw them again." 
 
 Ruden went over again this time a little more ten 
 derly the broken tale that "Kentuck" told him on his 
 death-bed. 
 
 She hung eagerly on every word. They talked for 
 several hours. Ruden was charmed by this unusual 
 personality, and was loath to leave. He had intended to 
 take a train in the late afternoon, but he changed his 
 mind. 
 
 "Do you know where I can get a lodging in the vil-
 
 214 THE MAGYAR 
 
 lage, Miss Palmer? I want to get an accurate idea of a 
 cotton mill before I go back North again." 
 
 "I m afraid you will have to go to town there isn t 
 even a lodging house here." 
 
 "You have an exaggerated idea of my needs," he 
 said. "A cot in a corner anywhere in a laborer s 
 cottage will do me." 
 
 "I have one white friend intimate friend in the 
 village but he lives alone, does his own work. He is 
 the finest character we have here. He has a cot which 
 he keeps for tramps and nondescript wayfarers." She 
 was smiling as she spoke, and her smile was like sun 
 shine after rain, "He would be glad to have you, I am 
 sure. 
 
 ""Would it be too much to ask you to take me to him?" 
 
 "Not too much for me but for the village it would 
 take a long time to get over it. I will make you a dia 
 gram and it will guide you there." 
 
 She took a small pad of paper and made a diagram of 
 the village. 
 
 "That s easy," he said, as he followed her pencil. 
 
 "And the name of the old man?" 
 
 "Is Zapolya the villagers call him Zap ." 
 
 "What shall I call him?" 
 
 "A long time ago I named him Baron there is 
 noble blood in him if one could get back far enough to 
 find it." 
 
 They went over the diagram again. "It s simple," 
 she said. "Follow Shotgun Row to the end then 
 turn to your right and the first cottage you come to is 
 the Baron s. " 
 
 "May I call again before I leave?" 
 
 "I will be delighted to have you any time. By-the- 
 way," she said meditatively, "can you take tea or
 
 THE SHADOW OF THE BLINKING BEAST 215 
 
 can you meet a friend of mine to-morrow afternoon?" 
 
 "I will take tea with you and your friend if I may," 
 he replied. 
 
 "Very well, I shall expect you at four." 
 
 With the diagram in his hand and his bundle under 
 his arm, he walked slowly away, muttering to himself 
 "Poor Kentuck I knew there was something big in 
 your soul." 
 
 He did not go directly to his prospective lodging. He 
 wandered about the queer deserted village, for the in 
 habitants were still in the mill. 
 
 The mill village is laid out like a checker-board on a 
 surface of slag, cinders and ashes. There are divi 
 sions, but no streets; there are ditches, but no drains. 
 There are some young trees struggling for their lives, 
 but grass grows poorly on clinkers. 
 
 The huts are square of the same size and pattern, 
 and Ruden, as he walked past them, could not tell the 
 back from the front. Every back door had four dumps, 
 wood, ashes, coal and closet. 
 
 Every back door was just five yards from somebody 
 else s front door. 
 
 He got tired stepping over the deep ditches. 
 
 An old man answered Ruden s knock. He was tall 
 and somewhat bent. A mass of snow white hair was 
 brushed over on one side of his fine, massive head. A 
 silken white beard almost reached his waist. 
 
 "Miss Palmer sent me," was Ruden s simple intro 
 duction. 
 
 "Nell?" asked the old man. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Come in." 
 
 The hut was a single room neat for a man s place. 
 A place for everything and everything in its place. On
 
 216 THE MAGYAR 
 
 a bare pine table sat the lamp already lit near a lit 
 tle stove was what was evidently the bed of the old man 
 near the back window was what Ruden understood at 
 a glance to be the cot for wayfarers like himself. 
 
 "The Baron," as Nell called him, looked like a patri 
 arch the face reminded his visitor of Michael Angelo s 
 Moses. 
 
 "You are a stranger in these parts, I suppose," he 
 said, as they seated themselves. 
 
 "Yes and you?" 
 
 "I ve been around these parts for nearly forty 
 years." 
 
 There was a slight foreign accent and an awkward 
 handling of English that denoted at once a foreign 
 origin. 
 
 They sat, one at each end of the table, looking into 
 each other s faces, asking questions, as though there was 
 a limited time in which to ask them. 
 
 The old man was the more aggressive. In half an 
 hour he had traveled with Ruden over the rough expe 
 riences of the past year. 
 
 Little of his own past was touched upon, however. 
 "When Ruden showed his eagerness to travel with him 
 along the same pathways, he sidetracked the subject by 
 starting to cook supper. After supper, he gave his 
 guest a resume of the village its life and labor. So 
 accurate, so vivid and photographic was the description 
 that Ruden longed for the time when he could see and 
 hear for himself. 
 
 "I turn in rather early, stranger," the old man said, 
 "but if you want to sit up and read, make yourself at 
 home." 
 
 He took a book from a shelf adjusted his spectacles 
 and read for five minutes he closed it and was silent
 
 THE SHADOW OF THE BLINKING BEAST 217 
 
 for awhile. Ruden thought it was a Bible and in 
 quired. 
 
 Yes," the old man said, "it s a way I have of keep 
 ing fresh in my mind my native language." 
 
 Ruden reached over and took the book. 
 
 "It s Hungarian," he said. 
 
 "How do you know?" asked the host, as he looked 
 over his glasses at his guest. 
 
 "I guessed at it but I myself am Hungarian." 
 
 The old man looked surprised. 
 
 "How long have you been in the country?" he in 
 quired. 
 
 "About as long as you have, I guess." 
 
 "H m, " the old man grunted, "you ve made better 
 use of your time." 
 
 Long after his host had gone to sleep Ruden sat at the 
 table handling the quaint old Bible. It had hand- 
 wrought iron clasps on the fly leaf there was a gene 
 alogy with records of births, deaths and marriages. 
 There were clippings from Hungarian papers and mar 
 ginal notes in Latin and Greek. On the table sat a 
 framed daguerreotype of a young woman which he sup 
 posed might be the old man s wife. 
 
 "AVhat an odd place for such a man to live," he mut 
 tered. As he sat in deep meditation, with the daguer- 
 reotpye in his hand, a strange sensation overcame him. 
 It seemed like a visit back back millenniums to the 
 scenes of a former incarnation. His sight grew dim, a 
 numbness was slowly creeping over his body. When he 
 extinguished the light he saw a stream of moonlight 
 shoot in a square shaft across the hut. 
 
 It lit up with a silvery glow the face that looked like 
 an old Norse King. He could not sleep. His whole 
 life passed in review. It passed in a series of tableaux.
 
 218 THE MAGYAR 
 
 He was aroused by the wild screams of a whistle. It 
 was half-past three. He dressed and went out among 
 the huts. As he passed "Shotgun Row" a light at 
 tracted him. He stood for a minute there were no 
 blinds no curtains. A boy s head, that loomed like a 
 feather duster, was being shaken. It was shaken by his 
 father, perhaps. He watched. The head wobbled from 
 side to side a little girl of ten appeared she held him 
 upright then shook him vigorously. A mother was at 
 the stove. Five minutes later they sat down to break 
 fast. All unwashed uncombed. 
 
 Ruden crept softly to the door. There wasn t a 
 sound. Two boys appeared at the door. It was dark. 
 They jumped over the deep ditch and went down hand 
 in hand toward the main road. The big gray mill 
 looked like a blinking beast watching for its prey. Tiny 
 threads of light shot from a hundred blazing eyes and 
 out of the tall neck there vomited volumes of hot black 
 breath that blotted out the stars. 
 
 Over the ash piles ditches and gutterways winding 
 in and out among and across lots, moved the ragged un 
 washed stream of human child life toward the gray 
 Bastile of Arden. He watched the little feather duster 
 heads dart past the windows. Then lie heard a dull 
 muffled roar of machinery and he knew that the battle 
 of endurance was on ! 
 
 He returned to the hut and crept into bed again. At 
 seven o clock the old man got up and made some coffee. 
 
 He knew Ruden was awake and offered him some. 
 
 "You ve been out around the mill already, have you 
 not?" 
 
 "Yes, how could anyone sleep when that whistle 
 blows?" 
 
 "That whistle is reformed it is mild two years ago
 
 THE SHADOW OF THE BLINKING BEAST 219 
 
 we had a wild cat whistle, but that was abolished, for 
 the people of Anniston, five miles away, held a mass 
 meeting and had it replaced by the one you heard this 
 morning. 
 
 Ruden laughed "I suppose the owners never heard 
 either?" he ventured to say. 
 
 "No," the old man said, as he reached for his book, 
 "the whip on the backs of these children is held in the 
 hand of a Congregational Deacon who lives on Com 
 monwealth Avenue in Boston." 
 
 "I thought the Governor of the State owned it." 
 
 "He owns some of the stock perhaps a fourth 
 another fourth was held by Oglethorpe, the man who 
 was shot recently." 
 
 "Oglethorpe?" ejaculated Ruden. 
 
 "Why are you surprised?" 
 
 "I was thinking of his widow." 
 
 There was a knock at the door. It was a black boy 
 with a note for the "Baron." 
 
 "Nell wants me to go with you to meet her friend," 
 the old man said. 
 
 "You ll go, won t you?" 
 
 He did not answer, and the question was not repeated. 
 Ruden had watched his host carefully as he performed 
 his morning toilet. He wanted to be as little trouble as 
 possible. Daylight came. The lamp was extinguished 
 and the blinds rolled up. As Ruden began his toilet 
 the old man bestirred himself. 
 
 "Don t move," Ruden said "I know where every 
 thing is. I watched you carefully." 
 
 He opened the door to dispose of the dirty water 
 as he did so, he saw something on the floor. "W r hat s 
 this, Baron?" he asked. The old man was there in 
 stantly.
 
 220 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Ah!" he exclaimed, as he picked it up. "That s a 
 little bit of the superstition of the past but I cling to 
 some of those old things." It was a bat dried and 
 flattened, it had been nailed to the inside of the front 
 door for years. 
 
 The ugly thing Avas minutely examined at the win 
 dow, but no apparent cause could be found for its failure 
 any longer to keep out the evil spirits. 
 
 "I had a strange dream last night," the host said. 
 
 "I did, too," Iluden said, "but I was awake when I 
 was dreaming 
 
 The old man continued, as if he hadn t heard: "I 
 had dismissed it from my mind, until my bat dropped 
 now I think it bodes of evil." There was a long 
 silence Iluden made several attempts to draw his host 
 out of it, but failed. 
 
 "You will come back to-night?" were the only words 
 he heard for hours. lie took the trolley to Anniston, 
 bought a camera and returned. By the time he re 
 turned to take the old man to Nell s, he had photo 
 graphed the village and the mill children. The place 
 fascinated him. There were churches he wondered 
 what the preachers did. There was a library he won 
 dered who read the books. 
 
 A library in Arden seemed to him like a shoe store 
 for the distribution of free shoes to feetless people. 
 
 At half-past three he returned for the "Baron," and 
 together they went to Nell s. 
 
 "Heavens!" exclaimed Ruden, as Nell s door opened 
 for it was Nell s friend who opened it, and Nell s 
 friend was none other than A\ 7 illiam, the gardener! 
 The men gripped each other s hands. Nell and the 
 "Baron" looked on with intense interest. 
 
 "Sit down, gentlemen," pleaded the gentle voice of
 
 THE SHADOW OF THE BLINKING BEAST 221 
 
 the hostess, sit down ; you can settle the affairs of 
 the universe as well sitting as standing." The four of 
 them gathered around the open log fire and Nell brought 
 a small table, laden with cups and saucers. Go on," 
 she said, "don t mind me I ll supply the inner circle 
 while you talk around the rim." 
 
 The conversation was so engrossing that the refresh 
 ments were utterly forgotten. 
 
 "You are not drinking your tea, gentlemen," broke 
 in the hostess, "and my good corn pone is going beg 
 ging ! 
 
 They were all silent, but they drank their tea and ate 
 Nell s corn pone, watching the blazing logs on the open 
 fireplace. 
 
 Before they were aware of it, the daylight had gone. 
 Nell lit the lamp and urged them to remain for supper. 
 
 There was a conspiracy to get the old man to talk. 
 He was a mystery to those who knew him best. He 
 smoked a long clay pipe, and every few minutes, he 
 would knock the ashes out on the hearthstone and refill 
 it. It was evident that he was reminiscent, and they 
 hesitated to disturb him. 
 
 "Baron," said Nell, "you have promised many a 
 time to tell me of your early experiences here. "Wil 
 liam s friend is one of us he has gone through much 
 for our cause the cause of the people you will not 
 mind him he may tell us more of his life when we 
 hear you." 
 
 "I don t object," he said, as he again knocked the 
 ashes out of his pipe. "Something attracts me to this 
 young man if he doesn t mind me saying so." 
 
 "It s mutual, I can assure you," Ruden said. 
 
 They drew their chairs closer to the lamps. Here 
 were four unusual personalities each with a life s mis-
 
 222 THE MAGYAR 
 
 sion unfulfilled each eager for fellowship eager to be 
 understood. 
 
 "I understand you are a writer, sir," he said to 
 Ruden. 
 
 "I have just broken in." 
 
 Then the story of our pilgrimage may come in handy 
 sometime when you have a novel in mind." 
 
 "I have a life to live that s a greater thing than to 
 write a novel. :
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 "THE SNOW CHILD" 
 
 "A PARTY of us neighbors in Zeiden," he began, "got 
 together and talked of emigration. 
 
 "There was a Professor of history a village school 
 master several skilled mechanics and a dozen laborers. 
 There were fourteen women. We had heard great sto 
 ries of the New World. It was verily a land flowing with 
 milk and honey so we saved our money for the journey 
 and sailed, toward the close of the year 1866. 
 
 "It was a long, tiresome journey. We landed at Bos 
 ton, and prepared for the journey South. Florida was 
 our destination. The first town we arrived at outside 
 of Boston, we w r ere ordered not to make any stop. None 
 of us could speak English. The Professor spoke Greek, 
 Latin, French and German, but not a word of English. 
 We were laboring under great difficulties in this respect. 
 We had underestimated the cost of the trip, too, and 
 found ourselves in great need of many things we could 
 not provide for the women and children. We were soon 
 made aware of the fact that word w r as being sent from 
 one fown to another, warning the inhabitants of our 
 approach, and telling them we were persistent beggars 
 and dangerous characters. Consequently we found no 
 consideration no mercy. We imagined that would 
 only be true of Massachusetts. We had a map and were 
 glad when we got out of that State. We were mistaken 
 again. We were pushed out of the first Connecticut 
 town with a shotgun at our elbows. It began to snow. 
 
 223
 
 224 THE MAGYAR 
 
 The notion had gotten into our heads that there was no 
 snow here. We were poorly clad for such cold weather. 
 
 "My wife and I had been married about a year. We 
 hoped to be in our dreamland of Florida before our first 
 child was born. "We were doomed to disappointment. 
 "When we arrived at a village called Danielson, in Con 
 necticut, my wife knew that her child would be born in 
 a few hours. Of course I begged hard with gestures 
 and exclamations for a shed or barn for the event, but 
 the word had reached Danielson, and we were pushed 
 out. The first select-man with a gun under his arm 
 and a ferocious dog accompanied us to the outskirts. 
 My wife was in great pain. I explained the exigency 
 I held her in front of him he merely pushed his to 
 bacco from one jaw to the other. There wasn t a gun 
 in the crowd. I d surely have shot him if there had 
 been. Out we went a dull, heavy-laden group of the 
 most poverty stricken pilgrims the world ever saw. 
 
 It was snowing. Two feet of snow lay on the ground. 
 We climbed over an American (barbed wire) fence and 
 prepared for the event. We made a bed on the snow. 
 We men formed ourselves into a sort of wall to keep 
 the wind off. It ceased snowing and became bitterly 
 cold. There wasn t a woman who even knew the ele 
 ments of nursing. The schoolmaster acted as doctor 
 and nurse too. How cold and pitiless the stars looked 
 that night ! Then there was a cry God ! how my heart 
 jumped to my mouth ! It was the cry of our first born. 
 Some of the women w r ere almost paralyzed with fear. 
 I was swearing Ursula, my wife, heard me swear, and 
 in her agony, she said, Emrich, we will trust God- 
 do you hear, dear? We will trust God. Inwardly I 
 cursed God I cursed the disciples of a stable-born God, 
 who would have given shelter to a cow, but treated Ur-
 
 "THE SNOW CHILD" 225 
 
 sula like a beast of the forest. I became so bitter, so 
 hateful but what could I do against a whole civiliza 
 tion ? In our town, we would have vied with each 
 other in our effort to help. A nameless dread took pos 
 session of us all all save Ursula ! We stole hay and 
 broke up a fence, made a fire, and kept her warm. We 
 carried Ursula by turns to the next big city, where peo 
 ple were a little more human. Our group called the 
 babe "the snow child"; but Ursula had him christened 
 after the patron saint of our nation, St. Stephen ! 
 
 "At New Oxford our party divided Ursula and I 
 came to Georgia and later to Alabama. While in At 
 lanta we had two other children, a boy and a girl. Ur 
 sula died, and I did the best I could to earn a living 
 and look after the children. A planter took advantage 
 of me in a labor contract and when I rebelled, I was 
 put in jail and my children given away. I never got a 
 trace of any of them after that. 
 
 "I studied the English language. I searched the in 
 stitutions of the South. I traveled ten States. I vis 
 ited everybody I could learn of, who had adopted chil 
 dren. I have advertised in the Hungarian papers in 
 this country since they were first published. When all 
 these failed I have gone to clairvoyants and mediums. 
 When they failed I plead with God. There, at last, I 
 got hope." 
 
 "Were there any marks by which you could identify 
 the children?" Ruden asked. 
 
 "Yes I have mentioned that in the advertisements. 
 
 "On the voyage one of our shoemakers lost a little 
 ball of wax and somehow it had been left on our trunk, 
 and Ursula one day found that the wax had stuck to 
 one of her undergarments and it eventually got fas 
 tened on her thigh, and, strange to say, when the
 
 226 THE MAGYAR 
 
 child was born we found a birthmark the exact color of 
 the wax on his thigh. It was, the professor remarked, 
 very curiously an exact, and unmistakable, outline of 
 the map of Italy!" 
 
 Ruden arose from his seat and paced back and forth 
 across the room for a minute. lie drew his chair up 
 close to the old man and looked intently into his face. 
 Then he planted his right leg over his left, and drawing 
 a line with his finger on the upper part of his thigh, 
 said: 
 
 "Right there, is a birthmark, the color of cobblers 
 wax and the exact shape of the map of Italy, and my 
 name is Stephen !" 
 
 "God!" exclaimed the old man, as he looked up to 
 ward the roof "don t fool me at this age!" 
 
 He arose and took Ruden led him by the hand as he 
 would a child into the other room. They were gone 
 but a minute the young people awaited their return 
 in breathless silence. 
 
 "Yes yes," the old man said, as he returned, weep 
 ing, coughing, hesitating, "this is the snow child Oh, 
 God ! let down your big hand till I clasp it Ursula 
 dear, he s here at last can you see him?" He was ut 
 terly oblivious of anybody else and talked to God and 
 Ursula as if they were sitting by the log fire of the mu 
 latto lady. 
 
 Ruden was speechless he just stood looking or try 
 ing to look for his eyes were filled with tears. When 
 he could command his voice, he said "Now, where did 
 I get the name of Ruden from?" 
 
 " Ruden, is that your name? "Why! Bless your 
 soul that s your mother s name her father s name 
 was Stephen Ruden he was a pastor in our village and 
 to suit these quick brainless labor bosses we called our-
 
 "THE SNOW CHILD" 227 
 
 selves Ruden. I changed it again when my quest proved 
 fruitless. Isn t it odd that I never asked you what 
 your name was-?" 
 
 "No, it s not a bit strange," broke in Nell. "You 
 never did ask the names of your guests you always said 
 they came to you because they didn t want their names 
 known ! 
 
 Father and son heard little more that night. They 
 looked at each other long and searchingly. The father 
 was almost childish in his exultation. lie laughed im 
 moderately and at trifles. He would begin the recital 
 of an incident and lose the thread "well, I ve forgot 
 ten" he would say, "but you re here now anyway 
 that settles everything!" 
 
 It became pathetic and Ruden suggested an adjourn 
 ment. The three men left the cottage together. When 
 they got to the trolley line they discovered that the last 
 car for the city had gone. 
 
 A hack came along and Ruden stopped it. "Are you 
 going to the city?" he asked the driver. 
 
 "Yes r." 
 
 "There you are, "William," Ruden said as he fumbled 
 for the fare. 
 
 "Hold on thar, " the driver said. 
 
 "Sorry, Colonel, but ah don t drive no niggers, that s 
 one thing sure." 
 
 "All right, driver, thank you just the same," William 
 replied. 
 
 The hack moved, but an idea came to the black man 
 and he said, "Pardon me, driver, would it be all the 
 same to you if I drove you to Anniston? You get 
 into the hack as passenger, and I will drive you to the 
 city, and pay you for the privilege!" 
 
 "A durned good idea!" said the astonished hackman,
 
 228 THE MAGYAR 
 
 as he climbed in behind "William, with the fare in his 
 hand. 
 
 William mounted the box, took the reins in his hand, 
 and drove off, saying "Good night, Mr. Ruden, good 
 night!"
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 NIHILISM OR SOCIALISM WHICH? 
 
 LONG after his father had gone to sleep in that strange 
 out of the way village, Stephen Ruden sat with the 
 daguerreotype of his mother in his hand. As he looked 
 into her face he was moved to the depth of his soul by 
 the tragedy of the poor. lie saw it in her face that 
 face that had been lighted by the vision of a new land, 
 a new home, a new opportunity. Then the fact became 
 the mockery of the dream the contact with the disci 
 ples of the Nazarene had broken her faith severely 
 jarred it, anyway, and capitalism had broken her home 
 and maybe her heart. 
 
 "Mother, dear," he murmured softly, "your snow 
 child renews his allegiance to God and the people to 
 night" he looked intently at the picture. "I have not 
 yet suffered unto blood, but if the cause demands that 
 sacrifice, I shall not falter, your sweet face will give me 
 courage in that hour of trial." He kissed the portrait, 
 laid it gently on the table and went to sleep. 
 
 Father and son spent ten days in close communion. 
 Minutely Stephen went over the milestones of the past, 
 as far back as his memory carried him. His earliest 
 recollection was of a colored woman who never permitted 
 him out of her sight by night or day. He remembered 
 a day when she took him to a big institution in New 
 York, where he lived until he was twelve. It was the 
 Watts Orphan Asylum, but how he came to be put there, 
 
 229
 
 230 THE MAGYAR 
 
 he never knew. lie wept for days for the colored 
 woman, whom he considered his mother until the boys 
 laughed the idea out of his head. From the orphanage 
 he went to a farm in Ohio, where he was brutally treated 
 and often cruelly beaten by the farmer. At the end of 
 the first year he ran away, and began, at the age of thir 
 teen, the real struggle of life. 
 
 "You were the only one of the three I could get any 
 trace of," the old man said, in explaining the guardian 
 ship of the colored woman. "The Orphan Asylum has 
 a rule ; it has not broken it in half a century. It gives 
 no information concerning the children under its care. 
 They have been haled to court a hundred times, but they 
 have never divulged the past or the parentage of the 
 social driftwood within their walls. You might have 
 been playing within a yard of me when I was pleading 
 with them for information ! 
 
 Almost daily there was a conference around the little 
 tea table in Nell s cottage. It was in the old man s 
 cabin, however, that Ruden learned to know his father. 
 It was something of a shock to the younger man to learn 
 that his father was an aristocrat in rags. Suffering at 
 the wheel of labor, feeling the sting all his life, of the 
 lash of the task masters and yet utterly distrustful of 
 democracy and hopeless concerning the future of the 
 people. lie was an extreme type of individualist, and 
 believed that in process of time the world would come 
 to an industrial patriarchy in which the industrial mas 
 ters would rule their workmen as did Abraham. When 
 pressed by his son for an outline of the process by which 
 he thought this would come to pass, he said : 
 
 "Each man must do his part. It means revolution 
 not a revolution such as you have been talking to me 
 about I wish I could think with you on that, but I
 
 NIHILISM OR SOCIALISM WHICH? 231 
 
 cannot. History the long history of the past has no 
 instance of a revolution without blood." 
 
 "What about Christianity?" Stephen asked. 
 
 "The same," he answered "it was effected by blood 
 the founder shed his blood, and his early followers 
 were tortured, burned, thrown to the lions and left to 
 fester and rot in dungeon cells." 
 
 "But, father," the younger said persuasively, "the 
 very illustrations you give can be used against the the 
 ory you hold the founder and his followers made no 
 resistance. They suffered physical torture for the spir 
 itual ideal." 
 
 "Passive or active resistance is a matter of detail," 
 he replied, "it s an accident the effect is the same the 
 price paid is blood!" 
 
 They were sitting one at each end of the little table. 
 A pot was boiling on the little stove, and as an occasional 
 overflow fizzed and sputtered on the hot metal the old 
 man looked over toward it, but made no move nor did 
 his son. 
 
 The noon whistle blew and a moment later the little 
 children rushed hither and thither around the hut. 
 Both men silently watched the little slaves of King Cot 
 ton as they passed the door. 
 
 Suddenly the hut was darkened and in the doorway 
 through which most of the light came, stood Nell, and 
 behind her, William. 
 
 "Ah, you ve been talking politics again," Nell said, 
 as she laid her hand on the old man s shoulder. 
 
 "Not politics exactly Stephen is a revolutionist, but 
 his revolution seems to consist of squirting Eau De Co 
 logne or shooting peas through a blower!" 
 
 "Even that," said Ruden, "can be proven to be as 
 effective as dynamite, in the cause of the people!"
 
 232 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "That s cool comfort from a Socialist," Zap said. 
 "It s cooler than nitroglycerine I admit!" 
 
 William attempted to change the current of thought 
 but was not very successful. 
 
 "I have just discovered that my father is a Nihilist, 
 "William Ruden said, "so you can easily imagine 
 how engrossed we were in our conference, when you ar 
 rived." 
 
 "A Nihilist?" exclaimed Nell. 
 
 "Yes, with a real Russian flavor!" 
 
 There was a ripple of laughter from the young peo 
 ple. The old man was silent for a minute. If there 
 was any humor in the remarks, it did not reach him. 
 There was a cloud on his face a sort of storm signal 
 of the heart, which the young people were quick to 
 notice. 
 
 Nell drove the three men into a corner, while she laid 
 the table for dinner. 
 
 "AVhat hope have you for your people, "William?" 
 the old man asked. 
 
 "Well, between your picture of convulsion and 
 Stephen s forest of Arden, I take a middle ground. The 
 colored race has a future, but they have also a present, 
 and I am more concerned with facts than fancies." 
 
 When pressed for a more definite explanation, he ex 
 plained his position. While he was doing so, it was evi 
 dent that the old man was groping for light in his own 
 problem a problem he had not yet even mentioned to 
 his son. He had made up his mind when only one per 
 son was involved now there were two. 
 
 "Go on, William," he said eagerly "I know pretty 
 well where you stand, but I want Stephen to hear it!" 
 
 To the gardener, there were two capitals in the black 
 Kingdom of the South. He explained them. One was
 
 NIHILISM OR SOCIALISM WHICH? 233 
 
 at Tuskegee, the other at Atlanta. In each capital a 
 prophet and to each prophet a following. One leader 
 pointed the way to salvation through labor the black 
 man was to appeal to the white man through a well tilled 
 field or a well built house. The other was more revolu 
 tionary he spoke of rights and urged the black man to 
 stand on his feet as a man, and a citizen. "William be 
 gan at Tuskegee and wound up at the capital of 
 Georgia. lie was an advocate of armed resistance, and 
 as he was advancing rapidly to leadership himself, he 
 was anxious to air his views to try them out. He spoke 
 as a man speaks who is not quite sure of his ground. 
 The old man reserved his fire in the hope that it would 
 ignite easier after AVilliam s broadside. 
 
 "Look here, William," Ruden broke in, "you don t 
 mean to tell us that to arm the negroes is going to solve 
 that problem, do you?" 
 
 "Yes, I do, in a degree." 
 
 "What degree?" 
 
 "To the degree that they will never again be caught 
 like rats in a trap as they were in Atlanta recently, 
 Avhen not a black man in the city could buy a gun, and 
 they were shot like dogs, in the streets!" 
 
 ""William, you are talking of things cataclysmal we 
 were speaking of growth, and no healthy growth 
 Ruden began. 
 
 "Yes I beg pardon yes, there are cataclysms that 
 are healthy growths," the old man said, as he arose to 
 his feet. 
 
 Nell was ready and about to announce the meal, but 
 a look at the old man s face startled her the eyes were 
 fire lit the brows contracted and scowling. The white 
 hair seemed alive the look, as a whole, was less than 
 human, and affected strangely not only the woman but
 
 234 THE MAGYAR 
 
 the two younger men. All the tenderness had gone out 
 of his voice as well as out of his face. His benign fea 
 tures became distorted. 
 
 "Calvary was a cataclysm, so was 93 Stephen, a 
 great ancestor of yours had a red hot crown placed on 
 his head because he espoused the cause of the people ! 
 The martyrdom of Lincoln was cataclysmal so was 
 Gettysburg for forty years I have pined and prayed 
 studied and wondered I have been a caldron of hate 
 and a paragon of patience I have sat at the feet of 
 Jesus, Mazzini, Tolstoi and Bacunin and I have made 
 up my mind. My nerves are of steel. I shall shock the 
 nation into a sense of justice the very foundations of 
 those temples of dishonor at Washington shall trem 
 ble." He was panting for breath but no one dared 
 interrupt him. His hand trembled, and he came for 
 ward and leaned on the table. "I have counted the 
 cost I have weighed the results in the scales of God. 
 It is an age of cowardice of the lust of gold and the 
 pride of life. Stephen, you talk of Democracy as if it 
 was composed of men Demos is a drunken giant, shorn 
 of his power he is mud brained, blear eyed and mania 
 cala beast in the maw of a bigger beast. Educate 
 him? God couldn t he wouldn t try. Demos moves 
 when the earth trembles around him when the lash 
 stings him when he is starved into madness! God s 
 method of treatment is cataclysmal and I " he low 
 ered his voice and his eyes. "I I well, the rest is for 
 you, Stephen, you alone!" 
 
 Nell tried to break the spell of solemnity, but failed. 
 The frugal meal sat on the table untouched. Nell and 
 William excused themselves and left. Father and son, 
 when left alone, resumed the discussion "You are anx 
 ious, of course, to know the nature of what I can divulge
 
 NIHILISM OR SOCIALISM WHICH? 235 
 
 to you only it will shock you, for the schools have left 
 their mark on you." 
 
 "Go on," said the son impatiently. 
 
 "Your patience is exhausted already!" 
 
 "No, not that, I am merely on edge to know your 
 plan." 
 
 The old man went to his trunk took out a square box 
 placed it on the table and again looked inquiringly at 
 his son. 
 
 "Before I open this, I ought to explain to you," he 
 said, "that for ten years I lived in the same hut with 
 Validhoff, the man who wrecked the palace of the Grand 
 Duke Sergius and gathered the Duke to his fathers in 
 1881." 
 
 "And he made you a Nihilist!" Stephen said, laugh 
 ing. The laugh was dry and forced, for a look of pain 
 overspread the old man s features. 
 
 "Yes he did. I feared that the sight of my children 
 might change my mind, but it has only intensified my 
 purpose." 
 
 "What have you there?" 
 
 lie uncovered the box and revealed an intricate gan 
 glia of metal tubes, . fuses, giant caps and copper wire. 
 Ruden turned ashy pale. All that he had ever learned 
 seemed to pass in review. Every hate he had ever 
 known shot through him again. He looked from the in 
 fernal machine to his father and then back to the ma 
 chine. 
 
 "So that is your cure for the sufferings of the people 
 -is it?" 
 
 "No, it s my contribution! It s an alarm bell, a 
 warning a tocsin the sound of which rings the death 
 knell of at least a few tyrants!" 
 
 Ruden s first impulse was to argue but he changed his
 
 236 THE MAGYAR 
 
 mind and proceeded to draw the old man out to get at 
 the bottom of his plan. It was a less difficult undertak 
 ing than he imagined it would be. Forty 3 T ears of suf 
 fering of labor, of disappointment and hopelessness 
 had created a womb of despair out of which was born 
 this intricate instrument for the violent destruction of 
 human life. It was a cut across lots to an act of re 
 venge. He thought of it at first as expiation but in 
 speaking of it he preferred to speak of it as revenge, 
 lest he should be accused of fanaticism or mysticism. 
 
 Ruden joked a little over the plan. His father looked 
 dazed. A look of pain covered his face and the son 
 changed his tactics. They examined the machine to 
 gether. Every detail was explained. 
 
 And you have counted the cost ? the younger said. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And you think we have the same justification for a 
 bomb that they have in Russia?" 
 
 "I am not particular as to points of comparison. I 
 have suffered from an evil my corrective will focus the 
 gaze of the world on the tyranny over the poor." 
 
 "Despite what you say, my father I am sure you 
 have been tremendously influenced by your Russian 
 friend and since you will not submit your plan to dis 
 cussion I will have to go over at least a few points of 
 contrast. In Russia tyranny is hereditary. Here we 
 elect our tyrants and consequently misery is of our own 
 making. 
 
 "Representative government is what you say it is a 
 farce, but the remedy is not dynamite but intelligence. 
 If my vote is offset by a stupid vote, a venal vote, I must 
 wake up my ignorant comrade." 
 
 "Yes, yes," the old man said impatiently. "I know 
 that line of argument. I have reasoned like that a
 
 NIHILISM OR- SOCIALISM WHICH? 287 
 
 thousand times! But that line of argument has no 
 weight none whatever ! 
 
 Then listen to this one you are my father I hoped 
 that you might also be my comrade but your mental at 
 titude pushes us apart. We are mentally as far apart 
 as the poles. Now, if you persist in your plot I will 
 abandon sonship for a larger more important relation 
 ship." 
 
 ; There is no larger relationship!" the father inter 
 rupted. 
 
 "Yes, there is I am a son of the people!" 
 
 "What would you do?" 
 
 Save my father from himself ! 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "Break your infernal machine or be blown to 
 atoms 
 
 They were rudely interrupted by the sudden entrance 
 of a mill boy panting out of breath. Without a word 
 he slid under the table. The men had scarcely time to 
 look at each other when Robinett, "the whipper in," 
 appeared in the doorway. 
 
 "Hello, Zap!" he said, looking around the hut, "did 
 that damned kid shoot through here?" 
 
 "Yes the old man answered, "he came in at one 
 end and went out at the other!" 
 
 The "whipper in" trotted through the hut and dis 
 appeared. 
 
 The old man shut the doors and pulled the urchin 
 from beneath the table. 
 
 "What s the matter, Sammy?" he asked. 
 
 Sammy whined. 
 
 The old man took him on his knee, wiped his face and 
 soothed him into calmness. Then he went to the cup 
 board and brought Sammy a slice of bread covered with
 
 238 THE MAGYAR 
 
 jam. The hoy smiled and looked into the old man s 
 face with gratitude and tenderness. Then he looked at 
 Ruden. He saw there a look of doubt and uncertainty. 
 
 "What re you doin here, Mister?" he asked. 
 
 "I m a friend of Zap s." 
 
 "Ye look stung!" 
 
 The old man poured Sammy out a glass of milk. The 
 boy s eyes sparkled again. "Gee!" he exclaimed 
 "ain t ol Zap the goods though?" 
 
 Ruden looked at his father and thought perhaps a 
 "father of the people" might he as important as a "son 
 of the people." Sammy, now full, free and somewhat 
 frolicsome for a cracker boy began to yearn for the open. 
 The doors were opened, he was told he might go. ITe 
 put his hands on the old man s knees and said: 
 
 "Zap, Ah m goin to shoot Robinett dead some day 
 Ah sho am." 
 
 "Sh " the old man muttered "don t talk like 
 
 that Sammy it s very foolish." 
 
 "Zap," the boy continued, "Ah knows whar th 
 watchman keeps is gun nights some night ef Ah km 
 wake up Ah m agoin t sneak in take er out and 
 blow a hole through ol Robinett s belly yes r; right 
 through th middle of it Ah sho will!" 
 
 The old man set Sammy on a chair and drawing his 
 own close up he talked the idea clear out of the little 
 towsly head. 
 
 This made Sammy feel rather important and he said 
 as he left, "All right, Zap, Ah won t shoot th old 
 sucker Ah 11 let im live awhile longer Ah sho will!" 
 
 "How long have you held that relationship to the 
 community, father ? 
 
 There was a new tenderness in Ruden s voice. 
 
 "Since I lost vou," was the answer.
 
 NIHILISM OR SOCIALISM WHICH? 239 
 
 Sammy Kelly had thrown some new light on the old 
 man s character he had revealed him to his own son in 
 a way that no amount of conversation could have done. 
 
 "Father," Ruden said as he laid his hands on his 
 shoulders and looked appealingly into his face. "I 
 wish you would adopt this cracker boy s philosophy!" 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "Let the suckers live awhile longer!" 
 
 The old man put the lid on the infernal machine and 
 stowed it away without comment.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 "JUST MARA" 
 
 ABOUT a week after the departure of Ruden, a poorly 
 clad, homely looking woman rented the end hut in "Shot 
 Gun Row," and applied for work in the mill. She told 
 a pitiful tale of unfortuitous circumstances and on the 
 strength of it a rare thing in industry obtained a 
 place at seventy-five cents a day. She had been at work 
 several days before her next door neighbor, Mrs. Peter 
 son, had a word with her. They met at the hydrant 
 one evening after working hours and Mrs. Peterson in 
 stinctively knew that her neighbor had seen better days. 
 There was no indication of it on her face ; it looked 
 wrinkled and homely enough, but when she stepped 
 aside and urged Mrs. Peterson to draw her water first, 
 Mrs. Peterson knew by the tone of the voice and by the 
 unselfish courtesy, a rare enough thing around an 
 Arden water hydrant that she had dropped quite a 
 distance. She was confirmed in her estimate when the 
 stranger invited her into her hut for a chat about mill 
 matters. There was very little furniture, but the pic 
 tures on the board walls were unlike anything in Arden. 
 Mrs. Peterson could not have told why she just knew. 
 They were few, but choice. They were not even framed, 
 but they looked much better than any in the village. 
 Then the stranger had betrayed herself by a sign un 
 mistakable. She used a tooth brush ! A burning curi 
 osity seized Mrs. Peterson. Her neighbor had a past. 
 She was sure of that and wanted to know at least a lit- 
 
 240
 
 "JUST MARA" 241 
 
 tie of it. Mrs. Peterson s girl "Willalee, a girl of nine, 
 worked in the mill. Mill children, like poets, are born, 
 not made. "Willalee had been in the mill since she was 
 a thought in the mind of her parents. Amid the roar 
 and thunder of ten thousand spindles, she developed in 
 her mother s womb, and her mother worked there until 
 within twenty-four hours of the child s birth. It was as 
 natural, therefore, for AYillalce to clutch for the whirl 
 ing threads with baby fingers as it is for ducks to swim. 
 At four, five, and six she played amongst the dancing 
 bobbins, and at eight was a full-Hedged pay envelope 
 hand. It was through "Willalee that Mrs. Peterson 
 hoped to know more of the stranger s past. She in 
 structed the child to watch for her neighbor after work 
 and walk home with her. She listened for the opening 
 of the door in the early morning and whether it was to 
 get water from the hydrant or the departure to work, 
 AVillalee was on hand. 
 
 "AYe uns want t know yer name," the child said one 
 morning, as they walked together through the darkness 
 to the mill. 
 
 "Call me Mara," was the answer. 
 
 "Mara what?" 
 
 "Just Mara." 
 
 So throughout the mill and the mill village the 
 stranger was known as "Just Mara." 
 
 It was whispered around that "Just Mara" must have 
 been a lady at some previous period of her lil c, and the 
 whisperings created a respect that no other woman in 
 the mill enjoyed, and the only man that enjoyed it if 
 it could be classed as an enjoyment was Zap. It was 
 natural, therefore, that these people should be cata 
 logued together in the mind of the community otherwise 
 so utterly devoid of mystery or romance.
 
 242 THE MAGYAR 
 
 It was "Will alee who told "Just Mara" of Zap, and it 
 was Sammy Kelly who told Zap of "the woman with 
 the nice voice." Each story was told with considerable 
 exaggeration, but behind the childish persiflage could 
 be discerned personality enough to excite interest and 
 curiosity. 
 
 "Just Mara" and Zap met at the hydrant one Sun 
 day afternoon, and before they carried away their pails 
 of water, each of them knew that a valuable acquaint 
 ance had been made. Indeed they forgot for at least 
 half an hour that they were standing by the hydrant at 
 all, so interested were they in each other. That even 
 ing they took tea together, and Nell was there. The 
 second meeting was at Nell s house. The calls and con 
 ferences were almost nightly after that, and to each they 
 were like palm groves in the Sahara. About two weeks 
 after the meeting of Zap and "Just Mara" at the hy 
 drant, there was a meeting in Nell s cottage. They had 
 discussed the mill and its people; the village and its 
 problems until there seemed little more on that topic to 
 say. Each of them longed for a more personal acquaint 
 ance, but no one seemed anxious to open the gates of the 
 past. 
 
 Nell was the most reticent and the less curious of the 
 three. 
 
 "You have missed a line," Zap said to "Just Mara" 
 in a jocular vein. "Just Mara" understood and winced 
 not nor tried to hedge the hint. 
 
 "Where?" she asked. 
 
 "On your right check, there is one less than usual." 
 She laughed and said, "You have suspected my make 
 up for some time, haven t you?" 
 
 "I knew it and disapproved from the start the day 
 I met vou at the hydrant."
 
 "JUST MARA" 243 
 
 "It was my protection." 
 
 "It was a good disguise, but no protection." 
 
 "I will not need it any longer I have learned all I 
 wanted to know but I would like to do something be 
 fore I leave ! 
 
 "The best 3-011 could do would be but as a drop in a 
 bucket." 
 
 "I know, but there s some sort of satisfaction in the 
 explosion of pent-up feelings!" 
 
 "How would you like to explode?" Zap asked. 
 
 "I would like to have a meeting in the schoolhouse and 
 tell the people some of the thoughts that came to me 
 while in the mill." 
 
 "If that would give you any satisfaction, I can ar 
 range the meeting, but tell me, good friend, what awak 
 ened you, what sort of dynamic opened your eyes?" 
 
 For answer she sighed and said evasively, "My God! 
 what a world of sin ! 
 
 "Make it sinners/ and we will agree with you," Nell 
 said. 
 
 ""Well," Zap said, "I ll get you an audience anyway, 
 and you can unburden yourself and leave at peace." 
 
 "0 my friend," she said piteously, "I would sit at 
 your feet I would learn of you, for my soul is so rent 
 so storm tossed. I ve been such a miserable cynic all 
 my life I want faith faith in God, faith in humanity, 
 and faith in myself !" 
 
 The old man was moved almost to tears not so much 
 by what she said as by the picture of misery she pre 
 sented, as she gave vent to her heart ciy. 
 
 "Rather would I learn of you," Zap said, "for like 
 Madam Roland, I am pious when my heart is troubled, 
 and when my heart is at peace my mind wings its flight. 
 I would fain believe and yet must doubt.
 
 244 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "I have tried to act," she said, "as if faith were true, 
 and by degrees I am finding that fa.ith is truth. While 
 my reason is asking a multitude of questions, my heart 
 is at peace in God." Then, as if forgetful of their 
 presence, she said, looking in the direction of a little 
 shrine she had arranged in a corner, "Oh, that I could 
 go back Oh, that I could recall the years!" 
 
 "Suppose you recall your speech for the people and 
 let the past go for a night?" 
 
 "Speech! You scare me, Mr. Zap ! I have no speech 
 I in going to recall my emotions my disgust my 
 
 "Wait a moment they have enough disgust of their 
 own, good friend; don t, don t, I pray you, surfeit them 
 with what they are already cursed with show them a 
 way out give them a program if you have one!" 
 
 The schoolroom was large and unlovely. The walls 
 were bare the floor was unswept. It was a queer 
 crowd that gathered there. Nobody knew just what they 
 were there for. It was a "meetin ," that was enough. 
 Children came for the sake of an extra hour out of bed. 
 Old folks came in the hope of amusement. The young 
 folks came to see each other. It was a change a break 
 in the monotony. 
 
 Zap introduced the speaker. "We have here a fel 
 low worker," he said, "who has seen better days. She 
 wants to talk to us about our life here. Since she lives 
 and works Avith us we are glad to sit beside her for an 
 hour and hear what she has to say." Zap knew the sit 
 uation lie made it easy for Mara to speak. Robinett 
 stood by the door. He was evidently displeased. He 
 cuffed several of the wriggling youngsters and swore at 
 the parents, who permitted them to come. Mara re 
 monstrated with him in a gentle manner from her seat 
 beside Zap on the platform.
 
 "JUST MARA" 245 
 
 "Go on," he shouted, "shoot off yer mouth and let 
 these kids get to bed." 
 
 "I had an opportunity a few weeks ago to own a mill 
 like this one," she began, "but the price was too high. 
 What do you think I was asked to give in exchange 
 for it?" 
 
 There was an impressive silence created not merely 
 by the words, but by the sound. It was a sound seldom 
 heard in those parts. It contrasted strangely with the 
 make up of the speaker. It was a voice that had known 
 sorrow and carried now a soothing sympathy to the 
 hearts of the hearers. "The price was my soul!" she 
 continued. "I refused to sell, and came here to find 
 out what kind of a bargain I missed." Zap turned 
 around in his seat and riveted his eyes on the speaker. 
 The women stretched their necks forward in strained 
 attention. Mara saw her opportunity and pushed in 
 one after another the most important things she had to 
 say. Her advice was the baldest that washed-out au 
 dience had ever heard. "Every child born in this dis 
 trict," she said, "is the making of a white slave under 
 the conditions imposed upon us here it s a crime to bring 
 children into the world. We mill folks are called 
 white trash we are despised by both white and black 
 people we are damned into the world damned while 
 in it, and die without ever having lived ! Life to us is 
 on a lower level than that of the horse. As I have gone 
 to my hut night after night with blistered hands, aching 
 body, and bleeding heart I have been so filled with 
 hatred that I could blow that accursed bastile of the 
 poor into the air!" 
 
 "Better weigh yer words," shouted Robinett, as he 
 glared at her from the door. 
 
 "I have weighed them," Mara answered, "and if I
 
 246 THE MAGYAR 
 
 were a man I would see that you weighed yours a little 
 more carefully than you do!" 
 
 Without a word in reply, the "whipper in" stepped 
 to the middle of the room, pulled down the big oil lamp, 
 and deliberately blew it out. 
 
 There was a shout and a rush to the door. 
 
 "Women and children knocked each other down and 
 fought for room to escape. Children screamed in terror 
 as they clutched viciously at anything within reach. It 
 was but the work of a minute to clear the house Zap 
 and Mara were last to leave. Many were hurt, but none 
 of them seriously. Robinett laughed and joked over the 
 plight of the people. "Git a move on now!" he said to 
 those who lingered to voice their grievances. They 
 moved slowly. Some stood still and were rudely pushed 
 and threatened with the night stick. The children dis 
 persed more quickly. They knew how he kept such 
 threats. Mara and Zap moved slowly home to Shot Gun 
 Row. In less than an hour afterwards the village had 
 quieted down, the lights were out and the mill hands 
 were asleep. 
 
 Five hours later they were startled into life with a 
 shock that shook the distant city. It was a muffled, 
 deafening roar accompanied by vibrations so violent 
 that scores were shaken out of their beds. Every soul 
 fit to move rushed out into the darkness, and looked in 
 stantly toward the mill. It was no longer there. A 
 huge heap of crumbled ruins occupied the site and from 
 their midst shot up a tongue of flame against the stars. 
 In a minute the community, in scant attire, stood watch 
 ing the flames. One man was alert, bus} T , excited, it 
 was Robinett. He went in search of the night watchman 
 Mose Streeter. Mose knew nothing of the origin of 
 the catastrophe, but expressed himself as being grateful
 
 "JUST MARA" 
 
 that he was out of the building when the explosion took 
 place. Robinett knocked him ilat on his back for his 
 gratitude and ignorance. 
 
 By the time Mose had picked himself up, Robinett 
 was putting Zap through a third degree examination. 
 That finished, he went to Mara s hut and put her under 
 arrest. 
 
 The jail was a small, square, windowless structure, 
 locally known as the sweat box. Into this the whip- 
 per in" rudely pushed Mara and locked the door. A 
 hurried conference between Robinett and Parsons, the 
 superintendent, resulted in the arrest and incarceration 
 of Zapolya, 
 
 By daylight a number of detectives and police offi 
 cials of Anniston were on the ground. 
 
 The mill had been destroyed by dynamite, no one 
 doubted that, but by whom and for what reason, no 
 one ventured to guess, no one but Robinett. 
 
 One of the minor local stockholders was on hand early 
 and took charge of the investigation. Robinett was the 
 special policeman at the mill, and when every clue had 
 been followed and exhausted he took the official to one 
 side and explained the schoolhouse meeting in detail. 
 "Hand them right over to the city police!" he said 
 when Robinett told of Mara s language and Zap s rela 
 tions with her. 
 
 That practically ended the investigation. Zapolya 
 and "Just Mara" were hand-cuffed and taken away that 
 forenoon. A crowd of mill people hung around the 
 "sweat box," hoping for a glimpse of the two people 
 they had loved, but who since they had incurred sus 
 picion and were in the grip of the law, seemed different 
 different because to the poor a charge always is equiv 
 alent to guilt.
 
 248 THE MAGYAR 
 
 The Anniston papers printed in large black "Head 
 lines: "Arden cotton mill destroyed by Socialists!" 
 The Governor issued orders that the trial be pushed 
 with all possible despatch. There was no distinct order 
 to that effect, merely a suggestion over the phone. 
 The accused asked for no legal advice, made no protest 
 against what seemed undue haste in the proceedings, 
 and the result was that the trial was set for a date 
 which under ordinary circumstances would not have 
 given time enough to empanel a jury. 
 
 The feeling engendered against the prisoners by the 
 newspapers grew intense and bitter. There wasn t a 
 juryman of the twelve qualified to sit on the case. They 
 had all made up their minds. 
 
 The attorney for the defense, appointed by the Court, 
 permitted the selection to proceed without challenge. 
 On the day when the trial began the court room was filled 
 to its capacity, with a crowd of abnormal citizens to 
 whom a tragedy is as recreative as a circus. 
 
 The first witness put on the stand was Robinett, the 
 "whipper in." In the midst of his testimony there was 
 a stir in the rear of the court room officers gave orders 
 and men pushed each other aside in their eagerness to 
 catch the new sensation. It was the lion. John Whit- 
 tlesey, Governor of the State ! A Court officer con 
 ducted him to a seat beside the presiding Judge. All 
 eyes were fixed on the chief magistrate, and he looked 
 as if he knew it. When settled in his seat, his eyes 
 wandered around the Court room in search of the pris 
 oners. The eyes of the crowd watched and followed 
 him. Finally the gaze of the Governor rested on Mara. 
 She met it with a look full of scorn. There was a hur 
 ried conference with the Judge a consultation with 
 the lawyers, and a statement by the prosecution.
 
 "JUST MARA" 249 
 
 "If your Honor please," said tlie district attorney, 
 "it has just come to our knowledge that the female 
 prisoner at the bar is in no way connected with the 
 crime, and we recommend her immediate discharge ! 
 
 "Stand up!" said the Judge, in a patronizing tone. 
 Nobody moved. "Stand up!" he again ordered. The 
 Court officer took Mara rudely by the arm and would 
 have raised her to her feet. She shook herself loose. 
 "Is he talking to me?" she asked. 
 
 "Shure!" growled the officer. 
 
 "If, then, he has no respect for a lady, let him respect 
 his office and address me as a gentleman should!" The 
 court room was electrified. The officials gasped open- 
 mouthed and the crackers craned their necks to catch 
 the slightest sound. The intense silence that followed 
 was soon broken by a hundred low exclamations of as 
 tonishment. The Governor and the Judge had their 
 heads close together for a minute. The district attorney 
 went over to Mara and politely asked her to stand while 
 the Judge discharged her. Before he succeeded, how 
 ever, the Judge amended his manners and got Mara on 
 her feet. lie informed her amid a silence that might 
 have been created by the delivery of a sentence of death 
 that the owners of the mill desired her discharge be 
 cause of lack of evidence. 
 
 "I desire to ask the Court a question," Mara said. 
 
 "Very- well," was the Court s reply, "what is it?" 
 
 "Has the prosecution evidence on which to hold the 
 male prisoner?" 
 
 "Yes, it has!" yelled the district attorney, before the 
 Court could answer. Mara stood still. There was an 
 other conference, as a result of which the Judge in 
 formed Mara that the evidence against the fellow pris 
 oner was of a serious nature and would be considered.
 
 250 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Then," said Mara deliberately, "the female pris 
 oner, as the district attorney styles her, refuses to be 
 discharged. I demand to be tried!" 
 
 There was no official reply to the demand. Mara was 
 ordered to sit down and the trial proceeded. Half a 
 dozen witnesses were examined during the afternoon. 
 When Court convened next morning, it was announced 
 that the people s case in the destruction of the mill had 
 failed, and the prisoners were discharged.
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 THE CAFE COSMOPOLITE 
 
 A WEEK after their discharge Mara and Zap sat op 
 posite each other in a quiet corner of the Cafe Cos 
 mopolite, a well known East Side Hungarian restau 
 rant in New York. It was foreign soil to Mara, Zap 
 was at home. A stringed orchestra rendered at inter 
 vals the music of his far off mountain home. The 
 waiters took orders in the language of the Magyars. 
 
 "This," said the old man, "is a little bit of my na 
 tive land; it is so peaceful to me after the years of 
 sorrow and unrest." 
 
 "I wish I could find such a palm grove," Mara said, 
 "but I must find mine in the land of the mind." 
 
 "That s higher and better," he said. 
 
 A strong attachment had sprung up between these 
 people so strangely thrown together. They had sepa 
 rated at the Anniston Court House door and met again 
 by appointment at this other door, in Bohemia. The 
 appointment was of the woman s making. She con 
 templated a revolutionary change in her life and felt 
 confident that the old man could give her the wisdom 
 she thought she stood so much in need of. 
 
 "Do you believe in metempsychosis?" he said. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "I never gave it much attention until I met you." 
 
 "My antiquity suggested two lives in one was 
 that it?" 
 
 251
 
 252 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Not that exactly," she said smiling, "I imagined I 
 had seen you in another life." 
 
 "That is possible without the transmigration of 
 souls." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "I have two sons." 
 
 "Tell me about them." 
 
 "I have only seen one 
 
 "Ah, yes, I remember," she said, "you told me 
 He completed the interrupted sentence "I have only 
 seen one of them since they were children, and I saw him 
 but for a few days." 
 
 "At what age?" 
 
 "In his maturity quite recently." 
 
 A strain of music took the old man s mind away 
 from his immediate environment. A weird touch with 
 tears in it. Mara watched his face as it wept and 
 smiled with the violin. It was the face of a poet. 
 There was a flash of soul fire through the eyes a light 
 ing up of the countenance, an occasional tossing to 
 one side of the massive head of the big shock of white 
 hair that hung over the fine forehead. Mara was com 
 paring his face with the faces she knew best. The 
 music died down. There was applause by the diners 
 and Zap was recalled to his companion. 
 
 "You are fond of music," she said. 
 
 "Not particularly," he answered. "I am fond of 
 life and I am attracted by its best interpreters. The 
 piece w^e have just listened to is by a wild free soul 
 of the Transylvania mountains. He nerves men to en 
 deavor, generates the martyr spirit and spiritualizes 
 life s lower levels." 
 
 "That s a good definition of religion," Mara sug 
 gested.
 
 THE CAF^ COSMOPOLITE 253 
 
 "It is religion!" he replied. 
 
 "Have you always struck the positive note?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "You saw my bomb?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Was that a positive note?" 
 
 "I should say not!" 
 
 "Well, that was the note I struck until I found my 
 son he has been ground between the upper and nether 
 millstones of the status quo, but he is scientific, he has 
 a lively hope and a philosophy of life that shamed me 
 in my old age." 
 
 "Did it shame you out of your grouch?" 
 
 "Yes," he said as if analyzing her question, "and 
 he did more, he gave me a philosophy of life." 
 
 "Ah!" she ejaculated "I wish he would give me one 
 that s what I want with you 1 want you to bring 
 order out of chaos give me a plan." 
 
 "Are you ready for it?" 
 
 "I think so." * 
 
 "Then you will submit it to your husband for ap 
 proval?" 
 
 "I have no husband I I did have one, but I gave 
 him up I gave him up because he was the very in 
 carnation of what I am now seeking. 
 
 "Why don t you go to him?" 
 
 "I cannot I am ashamed, beside I think he loves 
 another." 
 
 "Have you children?" 
 
 "Yes, three, and I cannot see them until I am 
 grounded in my new hope, my new religion." 
 
 Zap had ordered a Goulash arranged to suit one not 
 acquainted with the Hungarian dish. When it arrived 
 Mara joked and laughed over it. It was both a meal
 
 254 THE MAGYAR 
 
 and a joke to both of them. Music accompanied the 
 meal, this time it was a militant strain. They could 
 hear the horses prancing on parade, then the measured 
 tread followed by a confusion of noises, cannon and 
 musketry. In a calm could be heard the groaning of 
 the wounded and then the w r eeping of women and little 
 children. Every man and woman in the Cafe was 
 nerve strung to a high degree. Intense silence reigned. 
 There was neither eating nor drinking until the last 
 low sound had died away then tumultuous applause 
 and cries of "Encore!" 
 
 "This isn t quite the place for a quiet talk," Mara 
 said as the musicians dispersed for the recess. 
 
 "True enough," he said, "but people don t come 
 here to be quiet. They come here to get relief for an 
 hour from the grind, from the monotony." 
 
 Mara took full advantage of the recess tfc/ unburden 
 herself. The necessity of earning a living was weigh 
 ing heavily upon her mind, and she made the subject 
 a first order of business. Then she discussed the regi 
 mentation of the idea that now dominated her life. In 
 describing her feelings on the matter she described also 
 the ideas of her friend. He, too, had come to believe 
 that reform ideas must be mobilized to effect results. 
 As they talked they noticed the man who waited upon 
 them move uneasily around. lie was looking them 
 over with an unusual interest. 
 
 Zap ordered an extra cup of coffee. 
 
 "Did you notice that waiter?" Mara asked. 
 
 "Yes, he s a propagandist." 
 
 "I had a talk with him yesterday." 
 
 When the man returned with the coffee Zap addressed 
 him in Hungarian. For reply the man produced a red 
 card.
 
 THE CAF COSMOPOLITE 255 
 
 "I thought so," Zap said, smiling. 
 
 The men talked for a few minutes in their native 
 tongue. 
 
 "He tells me there s a meeting to-morrow night at 
 Aurora Hall. He presides and would like you to be 
 one of the speakers." 
 
 Did you tell him of the success of my last venture ? 
 Mara asked, smiling. 
 
 "I told him you were aching for another oppor 
 tunity." 
 
 "Well, I m not quite aching to make a fool of myself 
 again, but I ll speak if there s an opportunity." 
 
 "You know what that involves, I suppose." 
 
 "My address?" 
 
 "No, not your address, but your initiation into the 
 party. 
 
 "I am prepared for that." 
 
 "I doubt your preparedness. The party is now in 
 the hands of about as incompetent a group of men as 
 ever dominated a political movement garrulous, hate 
 ful, dictatorial and dogmatic. You will be received as 
 a sheep would among goats. You will be pitied and 
 patronized by men who are more in need of a bath 
 than a commonwealth." 
 
 Mara smiled and then tears filled her eyes. 
 
 "You were not listening," he said. 
 
 "I was," she answered, "but I was also reminiscent 
 I have used all those objections with phrases like 
 those I have browbeaten one of the noblest human souls 
 that ever loved his kind they are meaningless to me 
 now, it s the truth that counts. The priests of the new 
 order are hewers of wood and drawers of water, but 
 they bring us a religion that will free the world!" 
 
 "Your husband?" he asked temlerlv.
 
 256 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "Yes," she said with trembling lips, "the man I bar 
 tered away for a round of pleasure with the inane Bour 
 geoisie. " 
 
 "AVhat will you talk about to-morrow night?" he 
 asked in an effort to change a disagreeable subject. 
 
 "The terms of the sale!" she replied at once. 
 
 The waiter began to clear the table. While he was 
 doing so he unostentatiously laid a card before Mara 
 containing full directions how to reach the place of 
 meeting. 
 
 "This reminds one of French history," Mara said, 
 "is there any reason for such silent propaganda?" 
 
 "None, but long experience teaches men of this type 
 to approach strangers cautiously and quietly I pre 
 pared the way by telling him about you last night." 
 
 Again the music stilled the hum of voices. Under its 
 influence people s eyes wandered around the place in 
 search of a resting place. The minds wandered not 
 after the eyes, but back over the years or out into the 
 unknown future. 
 
 "AVhat a poetic people you Magyars are!" Mara said, 
 as she looked around and noticed the rapt attention 
 under the spell of the music. 
 
 "Poetry is not a matter of race," he said. "The 
 whole human family is naturally poetic, artistic and 
 aesthetic, but in millions these manifestations of the quest 
 after God are murdered. They come up out of the pit 
 at the close of the day, eat, rest and sleep, and go back 
 into it at dawn. They are not here. Those around 
 these tables are the escaped." 
 
 "Partially escaped," Mara said, "for how can any of 
 us be said to have escaped while so many are still in 
 captivity?" 
 
 "Well, discuss that in your speech to-morrow night."
 
 THE CAFE COSMOPOLITE 257 
 
 "If I should miss you by any chance after the meet 
 ing, my son and I will call for you Saturday evening at 
 six." 
 
 Twenty minutes later they parted at the door of 
 Mara s hotel on AYashington Square. 
 
 As the old man walked slowly back to his lodging 
 on East Houston Street he went over in his mind the 
 brief space of his acquaintance with this strange woman 
 of whom he knew so little and yet so much. He had 
 not even asked for her name. He knew nothing of her 
 antecedents save an occasional reference to a relative 
 or to a former state of mind. A revolution had taken 
 place in her heart as w r ell as in her mind. Every time 
 he looked at her he thought of his son. He hoped that 
 they would fonn a comradeship of a more than ordi 
 nary kind. They were both touched with the same 
 tender regard for the weak. They were obsessed with 
 the same social passion and point of view. He longed 
 for Saturday night.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 A DEDICATION IN THE GHETTO 
 
 THE soul of the Ghetto is religious, but not ecclesiastical. 
 It is political, but has nothing in common with the domi 
 nant parties. It is social, but in eternal conflict with 
 the outgrown and useless institutions. In the midst of 
 religious lethargy and political graft and corruption it 
 proclaims its faith in a coming clay of peace. It has 
 no race distinctions. Men of all races, all classes, and 
 all creeds are of it. It is not confined to political cam 
 paigns or elections. It takes no recess no vacation. 
 It wields a keen-edged sword, but it carries also a build 
 er s trowel. Its propaganda is a new religion. Its- 
 propagandists are the martyr stuff of the twentieth cen 
 tury. They are of the working class largely, and con 
 sequently limited in the literary expression of the social 
 passion that burns in them like a lambent flame. 
 
 Aurora Hall is in the heart of the Ghetto. Zap and 
 Mara found it crowded to overflowing when they ar 
 rived. They arrived within ten minutes of each other, 
 and were shown to seats on opposite sides of the plat 
 form. It was a protest meeting, and although the cen 
 ter of grievance was at the other end of the continent, it 
 was felt as poignantly by the soul of the Ghetto as by 
 the laborers who had been ambushed by process of law. 
 
 The w r aiter of the Cafe Cosmopolite was introduced 
 as the chairman of the meeting. In his three-minute 
 speech he spoke in three languages. The first speaker 
 of the evening was Fred Hartzell, a popular agitator of 
 
 258
 
 A DEDICATION IN THE GHETTO 259 
 
 the East Side. The audience was composed largely of 
 men men with keen upturned intellectual faces. The 
 speech was a torrent of w r ords that swept over their 
 souls and swayed them as a breeze sweeps over the ripe 
 rye of the field. He spoke with his body as well as 
 with his tongue. He tossed his massive head back and 
 roared. At times the sounds were harsh and tinged 
 with sarcasm ; at other times they became lower and as 
 tender as the lullaby of a refined mother. He outlined 
 the grievances of the western comrades, and made a 
 plea for solidarity, for funds and for a public expres 
 sion of disapproval. It w r as a violent and explosive ex 
 pression on the whole and in sharp contrast to the 
 speaker who followed him. 
 
 "By a strange coincidence," said the chairman, "we 
 have two speakers to-night who have had some personal 
 experience in the muscle market, the ethics of which 
 we are discussing. I now introduce to you Attorney 
 Ethel Ainsworth!" 
 
 It was Miss Ainsworth s first appearance before an 
 audience composed chiefly of propagandists she re 
 moved her hat as she mounted the platform. She was 
 neatly gowned and her face was radiant. Fresh from 
 the scenes of labor s martyrdom she was full of her 
 subject. The introduction was awkward^ but as she 
 steadied herself mentally and physically she gave an 
 orderly arrangement of experiences in the labor camps 
 of the South, and of her part in the now celebrated trial 
 of Llwellyn Oglethorpe for Peonage. When she con 
 cluded the applause was tremendous and prolonged. It 
 was prolonged until she arose in her seat and bowed her 
 acknowledgments. The second round of applause had 
 scarcely died away when the next speaker was intro 
 duced. The chairman consulted his notes, then stepped
 
 260 THE MAGYAR 
 
 to the side of old Zap, and after a moment s inquiry 
 returned. 
 
 "The next speaker," he said, "has also been at the 
 front. I hope her experience has been as unique as her 
 name I take pleasure in introducing to you Mrs. Just 
 Mara of New York." 
 
 Mara was pale and haggard, but she had nerved her 
 self for the effort. Her jacket and hat she laid on the 
 table. In her seat she had planned just how she could 
 get a steadying grip on the little table 011 the platform. 
 As she laid her things on it she pulled it over in front 
 of her and took the edge of it in her right hand. All 
 this was done too quickly to be noticed by the audience, 
 but there were three people who gazed loose- jawed at 
 her from the moment she ascended the platform. 
 
 "I am not going to try to make a speech," she said, 
 "physically I am unable. Besides, the previous speaker 
 has gone over the ground I wished to travel." 
 
 There was a pause. Instinctively every man and 
 woman in the place saw a soul struggle in her face. 
 Her lips trembled. She took a tighter hold of the 
 table, and by a supreme effort pushed back the latent 
 tears cleared her throat and said: "I will, however, 
 make a personal confession." It was not the mere 
 wording of what she said that electrified the audience. 
 In a minute she had created an atmosphere in which 
 men and women were forced to open wide the ear gates 
 to their souls. There were tears in her words and the 
 poorly modulated sounds were those of a soul in pain. 
 
 I fought for years the truth for which you stand. I 
 was bitter and embittered the lives of others. I loved 
 what we call society. I thirsted for the recognition of 
 the vulgar rich. I got it. The price was high very 
 high." She paused, the stillness seemed breathless,
 
 A DEDICATION IN THE GHETTO 2G1 
 
 "It cost me my home, my husband and almost my 
 soul!" A longer pause and a fiercer struggle, then she 
 continued: "On the edge o-f the abyss, I found my 
 self. It was a rude awakening, but I was saved from 
 the sleep of death. I have emerged from the mausoleum 
 of dead hopes, of negation, of casuistry and selfishness, 
 and on this platform and in the midst of my comrades I 
 dedicate myself to the cause of the people !" As she ap 
 proached the end of the sentence she gained in confi 
 dence, she stood erect, her eyes flashed and the color 
 came to her cheeks. The audience didn t let her quite 
 finish the sentence ; it broke into loud applause at first 
 of hand clapping then it broke into a cheer and the 
 cheer had fire and passion in it. While they were cheer 
 ing Mara turned and whispered to the chairman. He 
 immediately arose, and as the cheering subsided, called 
 for an application blank. A man arose, walked to the 
 platform, and handed the blank to Mara. She signed it 
 and the man countersigned it. The chairman took it 
 out of her hand and read to a breathless audience : 
 
 "MADELINE RUDEN 
 
 PROPOSED BY 
 
 STEPHEN RUDEN OF LOCAL 
 
 NEW YORK." 
 
 In a flash the situation was made clear. The audience 
 again broke into a cheer, and so wild was the outburst 
 that the chairman was unable again to restore order. 
 Hundreds crowded to the front and grabbed the Rudens 
 by the hands. Husband and wife were in tears Zap 
 kissed them both as he, too, wept like a child. Ethel 
 Ainsworth pushed her way through the crowd and put
 
 262 THE MAGYAR 
 
 her arms around Mrs. Ruden s neck. They kissed each 
 other without a word, but with looks more eloquent 
 than speech. 
 
 After the meeting the Rudens, Zap and Miss Ains- 
 worth went to the old man s lodging.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 A MIDNIGHT CONFERENCE 
 
 NEITHER Madeline nor Ethel Ainsworth were as yet 
 aware of the relation of the ex-minister to the old man. 
 When the fact was made known Madeline was filled with 
 joy. She kissed the old man over and over again. She 
 wept as she caressed him. Ethel sat at a distance in a 
 meditative mood thinking of deeper things. Stephen 
 Ruden was silent. It was the crucial moment of his 
 life. A great problem was before him. He knew not 
 where to begin, but begin he must somewhere. The 
 old man was almost childish in his glee. His heart 
 was overflowing with love. They had all divested them 
 selves of their hats and outside wrappings and seated 
 themselves as comfortably as the scant accommodation 
 of the dingy room afforded. The old man drew hia 
 chair close to Ethel. 
 
 You seem to have the smallest measure in this 
 feast," he said, smiling through his tears. 
 
 "I ll take the crumbs that fall from the table," she 
 answered. 
 
 Madeline took advantage of the old man s attention 
 to Ethel and w r ent over to her husband. He sat on the 
 edge of the bed. She seated herself beside him. 
 
 "Can t we settle all this to-night, Stephen?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "All what, Madeline?" 
 
 She looked at him for a moment. 
 
 "Stephen," she said, "it is the crisis of your life not 
 
 263
 
 264 THE MAGYAR 
 
 mine. Let us have no fencing no beating about the 
 bush, let us go to the heart of the subject and straighten 
 it out." 
 
 "Why isn t it the crisis of your life, as well as 
 mine?" 
 
 "My crisis is past. I am no longer your wife, I want 
 to see you happy I shall see you happy ! 
 
 The inflection in Madeline s voice attracted Ethel s 
 attention. She looked over Zap s shoulder. As she did 
 so she met the gaze of the Rudens, both of whom 
 thought of her at the mention of the word "happy." 
 
 Ethel arose hastily. She evidently divined the mat 
 ter under discussion and left Zap without apology so 
 wholly engrossed was she with the problem of which 
 she considered herself a vital part. 
 
 "Look here," she said, laying a hand on Madeline s 
 shoulder, "pardon me for interrupting you, but I want 
 to be a gateway through which you people will walk to 
 happiness and freedom." 
 
 "Pardon me Madeline broke in, but Ethel inter 
 rupted her "just a moment, Madeline." . 
 
 "What s all this serious discussion about on such a 
 night of joy?" Zap asked as he followed Ethel. They 
 looked at him for an instant in silence. 
 
 Stephen Ruden spoke. "Father," he said, "we have 
 here a problem that will rend the very souls of three 
 of us help us out ! 
 
 The seats were rearranged and the four people re 
 seated themselves and looked at each other. Ruden and 
 Miss Ainsworth spoke at once. The latter would not be 
 diverted. 
 
 "There is really no problem," she said. "I am an 
 invader I must I demand to be eliminated!" 
 
 "Well, at least," Ruden said, "We must not play
 
 A MIDNIGHT CONFERENCE 205 
 
 with words or deceive ourselves or each other there is 
 & problem, Ethel, as vital as life and as grave as death." 
 
 The old man eagerly scanned their faces. The dim 
 yellow gas light revealed them imperfectly, and the mel 
 lowness of his heart militated against the sharpness of 
 his judgment. lie sensed the delicacy of the situation, 
 however, and suggested a plan by which they could get 
 at the heart of the matter with the least amount of em 
 barrassment to the people involved. 
 
 "If it s as serious as all that," the old man said, 
 "why not state the case and let me judge?" 
 
 "I am afraid I should ask for a transfer of jurisdic 
 tion," Ethel said. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Prejudice." 
 
 "Oh, Ethel!" Ruden exclaimed. 
 
 "Oh, Stephen!" she replied. "I am joking trying 
 to keep back a fit of hysteria or something." 
 
 Madeline went over and kissed her, then resumed her 
 seat. 
 
 "Then you are agreed that I hear the case and de 
 liver judgment?" 
 
 "Personally," Ethel interjected again, "my objec 
 tion is on the ground that my testimony is immaterial 
 and irrelevant." 
 
 "In that case," Zap said, "it s a matter of weighing 
 the evidence rather than counting the witnesses." 
 
 "This is the case in a nutshell," Madeline began. 
 "As I told the audience I fought Stephen and his ideals 
 for years. I made life a burden for him and finally 
 gave him up. I positively went after pleasure my own 
 personal pleasure. In his loneliness came his young 
 convert, Ethel. He inspired her into a large field of life 
 on high levels, of service to her kind. She came to him
 
 266 THE MAGYAR 
 
 at the darkest period of his life, when wife, friends, 
 home, profession, everything fell from him and left him 
 like a leper, despised and rejected of men ! Their 
 friendship ripened into love. In different capacities of 
 social service they hoth went South. He suffered the 
 torments of hell, while I w r as bartering away my soul " 
 she hesitated, her emotions almost overcame her, her 
 lips trembled. "Zap," she said falteringly, "I saw 
 him in convict stripes, I heard his tender voice sooth 
 ing and comforting the men around him. I knew he 
 was a convict for a principle, I knew he was in a modern 
 Gethsemane, and I deliberately turned my back upon 
 him. Ethel loved him best when the world despised 
 him most. Now that I am groping after the higher 
 law shall I degrade myself still further by substituting 
 flesh for spirit, a legal fiction for an eternal law of the 
 soul?" 
 
 "Just a moment, Mara," the father interrupted 
 "there are three children involved, they cannot plead 
 for themselves 
 
 "I know," she broke in, "that is the usual senti 
 mental plea, but I don t think children would honor a 
 father, who lived a lie to satisfy a false standard of 
 life. We are not cattle to be herded for the convenience 
 of a decadent public!" 
 
 "Of course," the father broke in again, "if you have 
 ceased to love Stephen 
 
 Stop ! she answered. I love him as I never loved 
 him before, I love him with my soul, my mind, my love 
 burns like a flame for him, I love him because he is what 
 he is, not because of what he could be to me. I love 
 him too well to stand in his way. I want to clear away 
 the impedimenta that has blocked his way, stunted his 
 growth and broken his heart!"
 
 A MIDNIGHT CONFERENCE 267 
 
 That was as far as she could go with words. She 
 sobbed the rest, and every sob was a wrench not only 
 at her own heart, but at the hearts of all. They were 
 thrilled with her passionate earnestness and unalterable 
 position. Each of the others knew that whatever they 
 said would be tame compared to the fire of her appeal. 
 Her sobs at first precluded any further discussion. 
 Ethel Ainsworth moved her seat beside Madeline and 
 sat with her arm around her shoulder. As the con 
 vulsive sobs subsided she said : 
 
 "We must bare our souls to the truth. Nothing must 
 stand between, nothing must intervene. I never told 
 Stephen Ruclen that I loved him, but he knows I do. 
 He never told me that he loved me, but I know he does. 
 Now, if we three and the three children were the only 
 ones concerned, the matter of readjustment would be 
 simple. "We could even defy public opinion, but there s 
 something bigger than all these combined, something 
 Madeline has forgotten, something she is as devoted to 
 as I am, as her husband is." 
 
 "What s that?" Madeline asked impatiently. 
 
 The cause of the people!" 
 
 I don t see how the cause of the people would suffer 
 by a man living his own life." 
 
 "I think you will if you reflect a moment. A Chris 
 tian may commit rape, arson or murder without a hint 
 that the act is even remotely connected with Chris 
 tianity. A Republican may be an atheist or a notorious 
 grafter without his specialty being charged to his party, 
 but the moment a Socialist deviates a hair s breadth 
 from either good laws or bad ones, custom, tradition, or 
 superstition the deviation is forthwith charged to So 
 cialism. Now, Socialism is a body of truth. "We are 
 the custodians of it. AVe come and go, we are tran-
 
 268 THE MAGYAR 
 
 sients, the movement is eternal. "We are big as we make 
 it big, insignificant as we lessen its power, or impede 
 its progress." 
 
 Miss Ainsworth grew calmer as she proceeded. As 
 she spoke the face of Stephen Ruden grew pale. lie 
 looked like a man who had gone through a great siege 
 of illness. A new agony was on his heart. He had sat 
 by the deathbed of many a hope, many an aspiration, 
 but none that seemed to take the ground from beneath 
 his feet as this one. He had never felt quite so human. 
 He would have been willing to confess that. This new 
 inquisition was more poignant than all that preceded 
 it. It was like tearing his heart out by the roots. 
 These two women might talk all night, but he knew 
 that he must say the final word. Vainly he listened for 
 a word that would minister to his human life, the hu 
 man side of him that had been so starved, but the word 
 came not. He had two pathways before him. He 
 could not travel in both at the same time, and he must 
 choose one of them now. In the conflict the idealist di 
 minished, the human man grew large. It was hardly 
 to be expected that in such a battle of cross purposes 
 he would say the right thing at the right time, or even 
 say the right thing at all. 
 
 "Besides," he said, as Miss Ainsworth made a mo 
 mentary halt, "whatever we may think of the higher 
 law, or however we may act in conformity with it, 
 Madeline has said nothing that would stand in a court 
 of law." 
 
 The words hit both women in the same way. They 
 were both stunned for a moment. Madeline crossed the 
 room, took a hand bag from beneath her jacket, opened 
 and took from it a bundle of letters compactly arranged. 
 
 "The letter of my marriage vow I have never vio-
 
 A MIDNIGHT CONFERENCE 269 
 
 lated, she said, as she handed him the bundle, but the 
 spirit of it I have broken a thousand times. As courts 
 do not deal with spiritual matters I have here legal 
 evidence that will make you free." 
 
 He held the bundle in his hand for a moment in si 
 lence. By a movement as quick as thought Miss Ains- 
 worth snatched the bundle from his grasp and stuffed 
 it into the stove at the end of the room. As she closed 
 the stove door she turned her back to it as if to stand 
 guard over the burning. 
 
 Stephen Ruden looked at her. "I wish you had 
 given me a chance to recover from my weakness," 
 he said, "but maybe it is just as well." 
 
 "It is getting late," the old man said, looking at his 
 son. 
 
 "Yes," Stephen said, "we can t stay here all night, 
 but we must talk it out. Madeline speaks of making 
 me free." 
 
 "Don t argue, Stephen," Madeline broke in, "there is 
 no time and we do not need it. You know what I 
 mean, I am fighting for you now." 
 
 "I know, dear, but you must fight fair, fair to your 
 self, fair to the children, fair to the movement to which 
 we have dedicated our lives." 
 
 "And fail 1 , just for a change, to you!" she added. 
 
 "Well, here are three of us," Ruden said, "obsessed 
 with that most powerful of all passions love. I know 
 of no law of God or man to prevent me loving what and 
 whomsoever I please. Love is imperative, it overrides 
 all reason, sweeps aside all obstacles. It lifts man s 
 soul out of the sordid depths and places it beside God. 
 It partakes of the essence of deity. It relates man to 
 the stars, to flowers and to angels. Now I can take a 
 divine thing like that and let it transform me into a
 
 270 THE MAGYAR 
 
 fiend ! Or I can so let it transfuse my being, touch my 
 speech, wing my words that the thing I stand for will 
 be lifted to whatever height I ascend ! I have to choose, 
 I must choose now. It is one thing to love, it is another 
 thing to express that love. The time may come when 
 society will give love larger expression in matters of 
 sex, but just now the limitations arc well defined. We 
 have had a galaxy of star souls who defied laws and 
 customs, and gave free rein to love, but these men and 
 women never took much interest in the laws which bore 
 down heavily on the backs of the poor. They smashed 
 the status quo. I am an evolutionist. I think we must 
 suffer together until we are liberated together. For 
 one man or one woman to defy the world and set up a 
 law for themselves is Anarchy. Socialism moves en 
 masse ! 
 
 "It s a question then," said the old man, "as to how 
 to move, is it?" 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 "Then we shall move en inassc," Ethel said, rising 
 and taking her place beside Madeline.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS 
 
 NEARLY a year after the meeting in the dingy room in 
 New York, Zap sat on the veranda of the old house at 
 Brook Farm. linden considered it a stroke of great 
 luck that he was able to secure a legal title to it. The 
 old man had one of the children on his knee. The 
 story he was telling her was interrupted by the en 
 trance, through the little front gate, of a stranger. 
 
 ."Mr. Ruden is not in," Zap said in answer to his 
 inquiry. 
 
 "My name is Philip Bauerman, " the stranger said. 
 
 "Oh, yes," Zap said, taking him a second time by the 
 hand, "Your name is a household word here." 
 
 "Mr. Ruden and I are good friends," he said. 
 
 "Good, is hardly the word, but it will do for the 
 present." 
 
 "I am anxious to know how things are with Mr. Ru 
 den and Mrs. Ruden you know what I mean." 
 
 "Yes, yes, I know, of course." Then he turned to 
 the little girl, "Now, dear," he said gently, "you will 
 just skip off for a while won t you I want to talk 
 to your father s friend." 
 
 The child hesitated. She looked appealingly at the 
 old man for a moment, then threw her arms around his 
 neck and wept. "I want to know, too, about Mrs. Ru 
 den," she sobbed. 
 
 "My darling," he said softly, "I have promised that 
 she is coming, and may be to-morrow ! 
 
 271
 
 272 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "It s more n a hundred years, since you said she was 
 coming, grandpa." 
 
 The old man stroked her hair and wiped away her 
 tears. "I know, dear, it s a long time, but you must 
 run away now, just for a little while and we will talk 
 it over by and by." 
 
 AVhen the child disappeared, he began reluctantly to 
 tell the story of the year. 
 
 "Despite the firm pronunciamenta of Stephen," he 
 said, "Madeline refused to give in. She went to ex 
 tremes in her efforts to disgust him and to create public 
 opinion against herself. She forged several small 
 checks, and despite Stephen s efforts to free her, sho 
 was sent to the Island for six months; she is there now. 
 Miss Ainsworth is now abroad and will remain there 
 indefinitely." 
 
 Just then the child darted through the front gate and 
 was caught up in the arms of her father. 
 
 "There comes Stephen," Zap said, "and I will leave 
 the rest to him." 
 
 The meeting between Ruden and Bauerman was an 
 affectionate one. They had both been traveling a Via 
 Dolorosa unknown to most men. So knit together were 
 they that even Zap seemed an intrusion. Back of every 
 thing they had ever said to each other there remained 
 much to be said much that merely lacked opportunity 
 to say it. 
 
 "AYe have heard something of your ordeal," Stephen 
 said. "But come over here under the tree and tell us 
 about it." 
 
 "I became young Oglethorpe s tutor," Philip began, 
 "and had no difficulty in getting back of every thought 
 in his mind nothing was hidden. I was best man at 
 the wedding. It pained me to hurt the Governor s
 
 LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS 273 
 
 niece, but it was inevitable ; sin is not individual, it is 
 social, no man liveth unto himself. 
 
 "As the bride came up the center aisle to the strains 
 of the wedding march, I left the groom and joined 
 Celia, my sister. She was as pale as death. Her babe 
 was in her arms. Oglethorpe stood before the altar 
 terror stricken. The preacher was a hireling, but I got 
 him. Two of Lone Star s neighbors desperate men 
 were on hand, armed. 
 
 "As the music ceased I faced the audience, and in 
 a couple of sentences told the story. Lhvellyii Ogle 
 thorpe, I said, You shall fulfill your promise to my 
 sister now and give your ignoble name to her child or 
 pay the penalty ! 
 
 "The silence of death reigned for a moment. The 
 bride, to be, fainted and was carried out. He made a 
 move, but I whispered in a low voice, I will shoot you 
 dead if you make another move. The coward bowed 
 his head, accepted the situation, and the minister pro 
 ceeded. 
 
 "After the ceremony I took Celia one way and he 
 went another. Next morning he had departed to parts 
 unknown with the girl he could not make his wife." 
 
 "Then you broke down," Stephen said, as the youth 
 seemed to end the narrative. 
 
 "Yes, so did poor Celia, and AVC lay at death s door 
 for months." 
 
 "It Avas a terrible ordeal, Philip," Zap ventured Avith 
 a sigh. 
 
 "I wouldn t do it again," Philip said. "The young 
 rake Avas a mere product of the times, a lazy, lecherous 
 character and neither better nor Avorse than tens of 
 thousands of his kind who live on the blood of the 
 poor.
 
 274 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "What would you do in a case of this kind?" asked 
 Zap. 
 
 "Apply whatever law there is, of course, but we go on 
 eternally considering the grist instead of the mill. Just 
 imagine a group of lecherous parasites like Oglethorpe 
 giving color and tone to a university whose motto is 
 "Lux et Veritas?" The church, the schools, and the 
 university, are the bulwarks of the system teachers, 
 preachers, and almoners are the hirelings of an unjust 
 order and will remain so until the upheaval comes! 
 Oglethorpe is the sort of thing they produce." 
 
 "We will not discuss that until we have gone over 
 things more momentous to us both, Philip." 
 
 "Tell me, Stephen, what about Madeline?" 
 
 "I want you to go with me to meet her to-morrow. 
 Her sufferings have not only revolutionized her men 
 tally, but they have transfigured her person Philip, 
 she has the fire in her eyes that men saw in the martyrs 
 at the stake. Her tongue is tipped with fire. She 
 will be a power a Joan of Arc in the movement." 
 
 "Is she coming home?" Philip inquired. 
 
 "I think so, but I am not sure, and I dare not argue 
 with her." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "I stand in awe before such a spiritual power." 
 
 There was a long silence. The men gazed into va 
 cancy. 
 
 "What are you thinking of Philip?" Ruden asked. 
 
 "I was questioning, as I have done a thousand times 
 before, of our methods and motives of reform. 
 
 You wonder whether the game is worth the candle ? 
 
 "Well, is it? We are asking for a more equitable 
 distribution of wealth, but do we expect that future 
 holders of Earth s goods will be different from the
 
 LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS 275 
 
 present? We agree that the rich are crass that their 
 life is vulgar, but what guarantee have we that a re 
 distribution will be accompanied by a higher morality ? 
 
 "Philip, you talk like a university professor!" 
 
 "Is theft justified because the thief is a slick phi 
 lanthropist who divides his plunder with the church?" 
 , "No, of course not." 
 
 "What was stolen from your father? Merely part 
 of what he earned in the most brutal labor? No, he 
 was robbed of life and yet with that terrific example in 
 front of you you ask other boys fathers for guarantees 
 of morality!" 
 
 "Pardon me, Philip, you said the universities pro 
 duced if they produce anything types of minds like 
 young Oglethorpe s, but are you sure that your method 
 of reasoning is not also a university product ? It is a 
 species of casuistry that always leaves a balance to the 
 credit of the rich, the strong, the masters; the church, 
 the university, and the courts have practised that subtle 
 deceit upon the masses of the people for centuries. 
 When a preacher refuses to bend his neck he is thrown 
 out. The same thing happens to a professor who does 
 a little thinking on his own account. 
 
 "Now we have taken up the mottos which the Chris 
 tians have abandoned. Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt 
 not steal; if a man shall not work neither shall he eat, 
 and man shall earn bread by the sweat of his own face. 
 Philip, we shall make that old Bible live, we will rub 
 it into every statute, every state, every phase of life, 
 and wouldn t it be funny if some day when the Com 
 monwealth is in full swing we had to turn the militia 
 out to force the Christians to accept its teachings?" 
 
 "You see," broke in the old man, "that Stephen has 
 his new order whittled out to a fine point."
 
 276 THE MAGYAR 
 
 "You are mistaken, father, I am afraid of the man 
 who knows what the future holds in store. Each age 
 will work out its own problems. Ours has been largely 
 sword, but even now we are finding use for the trowel. 
 AVe must build up where we tear down, and whatsoever 
 things are true, just, helpful and of good report will 
 stand forever." 
 
 Next day in the late afternoon Stephen Ruden and 
 his young friend stood by the edge of the East River 
 in the northern part of New York City. They had been 
 watching a point on the opposite shore, for nearly an 
 hour, when a white boat shot her nose out into the 
 stream. 
 
 "Oh!" the men exclaimed in unison. 
 
 Then Ruden sighed. Neither of them spoke for fully 
 five minutes. Ruden had a field glass, and was search 
 ing the deck of the on-coming steamer. He handed the 
 glass to Philip. Nothing of interest was discerned by 
 either of them. It was a journey of fifteen minutes, 
 but it seemed an hour to the men on watch. The 
 steamer took a sudden turn to port and in a few min 
 utes the deck hands had cast their hawsers and made 
 her fast ; then it was that the two men discovered the 
 object of their search. 
 
 A motley throng filed silently down the gang plank. 
 There were men ragged, unkempt wastrels, who had 
 taken that trip before. There were women with little 
 shawls wrapped tightly around their heads, and younger 
 women of the dcmi monde class who held their heads 
 defiantly high and on their powdered faces a challenge 
 bore ! At the end of the sad procession came Madeline 
 Ruden to meet a different reception. 
 
 Stephen caught her in his arms the moment she left 
 the plank. AVhat he said as he held her there is not
 
 LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS 277 
 
 for me to repeat, but it was evident that the fight was 
 over. 
 
 Arm in arm they came away from the dock where a 
 curious crowd had singled them out for special scru 
 tiny. Their faces were shining with ineffable joy. 
 
 "I wish you could share in a larger measure this re 
 vival of life," Mrs. Ruden said to Philip. 
 
 "I hope to get a little of it by reflection," Philip said. 
 
 "How?" Stephen asked. 
 
 "Ethel Ainsworth lands to-morrow and we are to 
 spend the evening together!" 
 
 The Rudcns looked at each other and then at Philip. 
 There was a look on his face that neither volunteered 
 information nor brooked interrogation. It startled him 
 as much to say what he did as it did the Rudens to 
 hear it. 
 
 An hour later the Rudens sat closely together, in an 
 express train that carried them rapidly to New Oxford 
 and Brook Farm. Life was just beginning for them. 
 Ahead lay service and the joy of comradeship. 
 
 "I saw a beautiful thought flit across your face, 
 dear," Ruden said. "AYhat is it?" 
 
 "A quotation that came to me, over there, in the 
 darkness, 
 
 " Love took up the harp of life, 
 
 And smote on all its chords with might, 
 Smote the chord of self, that trembling, 
 Passed in music out of sight. "
 
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