Mexico weekly ledger., 1894-02-15
CHAPTER ILL

~
son Hope and his comrades had depart
ed from Salt Lake City. John Ferrier's
heart was sore within him when he
thought of the young mans return,
and of the impending loss of his adopt
ed child. Yet her bright and happy
face reconciled him to the arrangement
more than any argument could have
done. He had always determined,
deep down in his resolute heart, that
nothing would ever induce him to
allow his daughter to wed a Mormon.
Such a marriage he regarded as no
marriage at all, but as a shame and a
disgrace. Whatever he might think of
the Mormon doctrines, upon that one
point he was infiexible. He had to
seal his mouth on the subject, however,
for to express an orthodox opinion was
a dangerous matter in those days in
Land of the Saints.
Yes, a dangerous matter-So danger
Gus that even the most sanity dared
only whisper their religious opinions
with bated breath, lest something
which fell from their lips might be
misconstrued. and bring down a swift
retribution upon them. The victims
of persecution had now turned perse-
cutors on their OWE account, and per-
secutors of the most terrible descrip-
ton. Not the Inquisition of Seville,
nor the German Vehmgericht, nor the
secret societies of Italy, were ever able
to put a more formidable machinery in
motion than that which cast a cloud
I'VE the territory of Utah.
It's i~nvisibility, and the mystery
which was attached to it, made this
organization doubly terrible. It APP
| peared to be omniscient and omnipo-
tent, and yet was neither seen nor
heard. The man who held out against
the church vanished away, and none
knew whittier he had gone or what had
befallen him. His wife and children
awaited him at home, but no father
| ever returned to tell them how he had
Jared at the hands of his secret judges.
A rash word or a hasty act was fol-
lowed by humiliation, and yet none
knew what the nature might be of this
terrible power which was suspended
owe them. No wonder that men went
| about in fear and trembling, and that
ever in the heart of the wilderness
they dared not whisper the doubts
which oppressed them.
AT first this vague and terrible power
was exercised only upon the ~recalci-
trants, who, having embraced the
Mormon faith, wished afterward to
pervert or to abandon it. Soon, how
ever, it took a wider range. The sup
ply of adult women was running short,
and polygamy, without a female popu-
lation on which to draw, was a barren
doctrine indeed. Strange rumors be-
gan to be banded about-rumors of
murdered immigrants and rifed camps
in regions where Indians had never
been seen. Fresh women appeared in
the harems of the elders-women who
pinned and wept, and bore upon their
faces the traces of unextinguishable
horror. Belated wanderers upon the
mountains spoke of gangs of armed
men, masked, stealthy, and noiseless,
who fitted by them In the darkness.
These tales n rumors took substance
and shape, and were c~orroborated and
re-corroborated until they resolved
themselves into a definite name. To
this day, in he lonely ranches of the
west, the name of the DANTE Band, or
the Avenging Angels, is a sinister and
ill-omened one.
Fuller knowledge of the organiza-
ton which produced such terrible re-
suits served to increase rather than to
lessen the horror which it inspired in
the minds of men. None knew who
belonged to this ruthless society. The
names OF the participators in the deeds
Of blood and violence, done under the
name of religion, we've kept profound
ly secret. The very friend to whom
you communicated your misgivings as
to the prophet and his mission might
be n of those who would come forth
at night with fire and sword TO exact a
terrible reparation. Hence, every man
feared his neighbor, and none spoke
of the things which were nearest his
heart.
One fine morning. John Ferrier was
about to set ont to his wheat-ields,
when he heard the click of the latch,
and, looking through the window, saw
a stout, sandy-haired, mitidle-aged
man coming up the pathway. His
heart leaped to his mouth. for this was
none other than the great Brigham
Young himself. Full Of t~repidatien-
for he knew that such a visit BODIED
him little good-Ferrier ran to the
door to greet the Mormon chief. The
latter, however, received his saIutation
coldly. and followed him with a stern
face into the sitting-room.
Brother Ferrier," he said. taking a
seat, and cycling the farmer keenly
from under his light-colored e~yeiashes.
sthe true believers have been good
friends to you. We picked ron up
when you were starving in the desert,
we shared our food with yon. lei you
safe to the chosen valley, gave You a
goodly share of land, and allowed you
to wax rich under our protection. Is
! not this SOP"
at is So" answered John Ferrier.