St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1895-05-04
CHAPTER xxIIL CONTINUED.
.GoPYRIGHT, 1894 ]

1t was eight o'clock, as near as he
could guess, when Stocking and the
two young women got aboard one of
the box-cars and accompanied him to
the bayou entrance. Very little was
said ON the way. Calicot was appre-
hensive and not disposed to talk. His
chief fear was that something would
occur to interfere with their departure
at the last moment. 1t seemed to him
that the rotunda was full of men and
he suspected that Hendricks had been
getting fresh recruits at the bayon
end during the fight at the Lara11
portal.
When they arrived at the end of their
journey, Stocking very nearly upset
the project by suddenly refusing to
go unless his friend accompanied them,
and it required all the firmness and per-
suasion that Calieot could command to
induce him to proceed. aDo not, he
said, ''imperil rything by giving up
your faith in me now On the day after
tomorrow, when you have secured the
safety of your companions, you are to
come back for me. The government
will have some of its forces here then,
and the issue will not be doubtful, be-
lieve me. But / must stay here to-
night and tomorrow to learn all can
of the plans at the conference. Mr..
Franklin, understand, has secured
money enough to take care of himself
and daughter. You are a free man.
Do not hesitate y
They parted at the entrance to the
lift Stocking was sullerr and uncer-
tain. but he came back and wrung his
friends hand silently, and Calicot felt
that the action was a pledge. A mo-
ment later he turned and mounted the
steps of the railway platform with a
sense of desolation in his heart and an
unmistakable moisture in his eyes.
When they came to the rotunda he
told the guard that he would get off
and walk back later to the arena.
He was left standing on the plat
form when the car moved away. The
great dense shadows covered him from
the army of men below. He walked
along the ties to the great wooden
doors of the magazine and stood there
moment. Then he descended the
steps and was lest in the crowds of
men below.
He had expected to meet Hendricks
at his military headquarters, but one
of the captains who knew ehim said
that there was meeting of some kind
and Hendricks and all the other chiefs
had gone to the Office in the arena
where it was quiet.
He then made his way as speedily as
he could through the coal corridors to
the arena, and was surprised to see how
completely the chaos of few hours
ago had disappeared. Nearly all the men
had been gathered into the rotunda,
and save few groups here and there
and the workmen and officers scat
tered about the place was deserted,
Without a definite purpose he went
Immediately to the quarters where
he and Stocking had lived together so
long. Something of a morbid desire to
feel it's loneliness now that his only
companion was gone, actuated him.
The door stood ajar and he walked
in. The moment he was inside he
heard voices He listened. They came
from the adjacent quarters that had
been occupied by the women He
moved softly along the partition to the
little corridor that connected the
houses. 1t was dark, S ave for the
light that came through an inch or
two of open door at the other end. He
looked through.
To his amazement he saw that the
room was filed with people, and he
knew at once that this was the final
consultation of the conspirators. Hem
bricks was there, SO also were Mrs.
Hendricks and Fenning. The others
he did not know; he was certain he
had never seen them before. The
marked character of the men convinced
him at once that they were no ordinary
schemers.
Hendricks was speaking and Calicot
drew from his pocket pad of paper
and short pencil, and listened. The
speaker was resapitulating what he
had done in the Laran from the start,
and evidently endeavoring to convince
them that the conspiracy never could
have obtained its present momentum
4 IL III 4lShQ AON lltst 5dA1G
BILE stronghold to mature itself in.
ITO organize an army in the teeth of
the authorities was as impossible in
America as in Russia. he said. "But
I have organized the nucleus of a
standing army the touch of which will
convert your struggling materials into
soldiers We are now prepared to
strike the first blow. We have all
worked patiently to this point. In
three days we must be prepared to take
the field.
Everything depends upon instant
and accurate cooperation. If we are
| d unit in our work we are inyinci-
| bic. for it will take month for the
opposing elements to consolidate
against us and then they will be too
| late. Now let us see what our pro-
gramme is. On the morning after to-
morrow, Chicago viii be IN flames and
the executive and his cabinet at WASH
ington will be destroyed. Dynamite and