Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1895-03-28
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 adopted
child. Yet her bright and happy face
reconciled him to the arrangement moro
than any argument could have DONE He
had always determined, deep down III
his resolute heart, that nothing would
ever induce him to allow his daughter
to wed Norman. Such 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 inf1exible.
He had to seal his mouth on the sub.
ject, however, for to express an unor
thodox opinion was dangerous matter
in those days in the Land of the Saints.
Yes, dangerous matter--so danger
ous that even the most sanity dared
only whisper their religious opinions
with bated breath. lest something which
fell from their lips might be miscon-
strued and bring down swift retribu-
tion upon them. The victims Of persecu-
tion had now turned prosecutors on their
own account, and prosecutors Of the
most terrible description. Not the in
QUESTION Of Seville, nor the German
Vehmgericht. nor the secret societies of
Italy, were ever able to put more for
midable machinery in motion than
that which cast cloud over the terri
tory of Utah.
Its invisibility and the mystery which
was attached to it made this organization
doubly terrible. 1t appeared to be ON
uiscient and omnipotent, 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 followed by annihilation, and
yet none knew what the nature might
be of this terrible power which was
suspended over them. No wonder ths
men went about in fear and trembling,
and that even in the heart Of the wilder
ness 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 Nor
mon faith. wished afterward to pervert
or to abandon it. Soon, however, it took
a wider range. The supply Of adult
women was running short, and polyg-
amy without female population on
which to draw was barren doctrine
indeed, Strange rumors began to be
banded about--rumors of murdered lm-
migrants and rifled camps in regions
where Indians had never been seen.
Fresh women appeared in the harems Of
the elders-women who pined and wept
and bore upon their faces the traces of
an 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 and runners
took substance and shape and were cor
roborated and recorroborated until they
resolved themselves into definite name.
TO this day, in the lonely ranches Of the
west, the name Of the DANTE band, or
the Avenging Angels, Is sinister and
i'll omened one.
Fuller knowledge Of the organizatic1 I
which produced such terrible results
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 ct
religion, were kept profoundly secret.
The very friend to whom you commu-
nicated your misgivings as to the prophet
and his mission might be one Of those
who would come forth at night with fire
and sword to exact a terrible reparatior.
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 out to his wheatflelds wher
he. heard the click Of the latch, and,
looking through the window, saw .
stout. sandy haired, middle aged mar
coming up the pathway. His hea-
leaped to his mouth, for this was none
other than the great Brigham Yount
himself. Full Of trepidation--for L
knew that such a visit bodied him LITTLE
Pitchers Castoria.