Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1868-07-23

"6A W.
silence, cautiously cropping his
way, and wishing he had not par
taken of that last glass of lemon
and sugar and hot water, until
suddenly his heart was gladdened
by the sight of a faint gleam of
light not fifty yards before him.
Feeling his courage revive, MI.
Stokes advanced eagerly towards
the light. As he did so, black
mass seemed to rise up suddenly
out of the ground before him, and
to strike him a violent blow upon
his nose; which was prominent.
For an instant the night seemed
starry, and a hum OF strange mu-
sic aoated in his ears; and then
he saw that it was only wretch
ed shanty that he had run against,
and the music resolved itself into
a low hum of voices .within its
walls.
Mr.. Stokes applied his eyes to
a creyice and looked in. Four
men sat there, on rough seats,
covering around the embers. that
glowed on the hearth. Rough
and wild they looked, with their
dark faces, their ragged clothing,
and their long unkempt hair and
untrimmed boards struggling from
beneath their slouched hats. One
wore a coat too big for him, anoth-
er displayed no visible linen; a
third had a waist encircled with a
leather belt and garnished with a
long, sharp-pointed knife. and a
fourth, who appeared the most I'M
posing of the group, wore a sort
of coat or jacket of grey, fasten-
ed across the breast with a butch
er's skewer, which at once remind
ed Peter of the rebel generals u
informs. Altogether they looked,
he thought, very much like south
ern chivalry, and reminded him
strongly of the F. F. VS. and reb-
ell soldiers, as depicted in Harper's,
especially when he remarked that
one of them was chewing tobacco
and another deliberately picking
his teeth with a knife similar to
that already noticed. But as yet
no idea crossed his mind that they
might be really southerners, and
he was meditating within himself
the advisability of an immediate
retreat from their vicinity, when
some words falling upon his ear,
held him spell-bound.
"It's our rights we want. We
demanded 'em before and we de-
mand 'em now, and by the holy
hokey we'll have 'em or die!'
"S'pose we can'tget 'em? What
them
".&rikep responded the person
age with the toothpick, bringing
down that formidable-looking in
strument with a mighty blow upon
a rickety table beside him, and
glaring awfully at his companions.
"We've struck before, and held
out too, till we were nigh starved" "
said the gentleman minus the lin
en-. eff there was more of us
now, there'd he a better chance
of success"
"You was always chicken-heart-
ed" replied the leather-belted gen
tleman contemptuously. "lf it
depended upon you we'd do moth
ing; but, as it is, we aoiU have JUS
tice at last. We've sworn it, and
we'll stick to our OATH"
owe can't git it, / fear," des-
pondently uttered the timid one.
shaking his matted head.
At this the individual in the
grey coat, who was tall, spare
figure, arose, elevated himself tc
his full height, looked steadfastly
at his companions, and uttered
slowly beneath his breath, and
with awful emphasis, the words
"Ka,-Kl lur KlanP
The blood of Mr.. Peter Stokes
ran cold within him. He would
have fed, but that horror held
him spell-bound.
"You're right, Davis; we must
| look to him, if we'd do anything
And meantime we'll do our work
as usual, though I can't say I like
this here present job. It's bloody
nasty doin's."
otis got to be done, though,
said the man with the knife il
! his belt; "and for my part | like
lit. Look here striking an I'm