Daily camera., 1897-01-19
THE DAILY CAMERA.

the other Two of his sors had been
kill 4 Curing the war, ard the two
your~Cr were prominent 10th as Cit!
zens I'D ''sllylarllers," for there Was
no mischief or frolic. going on they
weren't mixed up in Sergt. Burns
didn't believe in kukluk thereabou.s s,
but the colored folks and tia deHuty'
marshals did, and so the soldiers were
kept ''on the jump" Old man Potts
had "cussed" Parmelee off his place two
weeks previous, but had ridden in to
Quitman and reported himself to
Brevet Lieut.. Col Sweet, commanding
the two-cempany garrison there, and
said any time he or his boys were
wanted just to say so and he would
come in and account for himself and
them to an officer and a gentleman, but
he'd be damned if he'd allow that sneak
Parmelee on his premises. Then he
had had high words with the marshal
of the district himself. His boys had
harmed no one, he said. They were full
of fun, and perhaps of fght-he
wouldn't own 'em Ii they weren't; but
they did not belong to the kukluX-if
there were anything of the sort around
there at all-and they only fought
when interefered with. They might
have expressed contempt for Parmelee,
but that wasn't law-breaking. The
marshal told him that very serious al
legations had been laid both against
him and his boys, as well as against
friends with whom they forgathered,
and warned him that arrest would fol
low if more ''outrages" occurred; and
the result was that only the interfer-
ence of Col. Sweet prevented shoot
ing scrape on the spot. Ever since
then Parmelee had had some one
watching the movements of Potts and
his boys. There was a young lady over
at Clayton's plantation to whom one
of the boys was devoted, and Parmelee's
spies reported there was to be a dance
there. That's how he came to go ovel
to Buccatubbee with the squad, but
they only got Harry Potts and two OF
the Scroggs boys; Barton Potts wasn't
LllClC. ICY NClC IolliC "
Quitman C unity after the dance and
making some racket, as young fellers
will, and Parmelee laid for 'em on the
road" They were brought into the
Jail by Sergt. Quinn and che squad and
there left to Parmelee and his people
AS for the rest, the lieutenant knew az
much as the sergeant, except that "old
man Potts. with his boy Hal suddenly
rode into camp just after Mr.. Lambert
had walked away, and the old man had
given Capt. Close piece of his mind,
after which he and Hal with a couple
of friends rode back townwards. All
the shooting that took place was prob
ably feu de joie to the accompani-
ment of triumnkent wells
1t was fact that when old Potts
with his friends, not more than half a
dozen all told, came riding in to offer
bail for the boys, armed only with the
customary revolver, they were FOLLOWED
towards the Jail by party ofinquisitivt
and interested townspeople, at sight o.
which array Parmelee's posse on duty
at the Jail had fired one volley from that
building and then rushed for the shell
ter of the cellar under the meeting
house. They had killed Potts mule
and wounded another, in exchange for
which the Pottsites had ridden off
with the first two animals and all. the
prisoners 4!'eu saw. There was no one
to claim the latter, and old Potts had
coolly offered the former to the inspec-
tion of Capt. Close; one proved to be
government property, the other Parme-
lees. 9TH just bawrow these two to
take us back home, an then you gentle
men can have 'em as soon as you'll send
for 'em; but you'll hardly expect US TO
call again, after the reception accawded
US law-abiding and peaceable citizens
to-day" This was the majestic con-
clusion of Potts: remarks to the sur
prised but stolid captain. Then they
rode away, and, crossing probably al
the ford, made circuit back through
town, where they douhtlesG lad a.Tug-
aloo jubilee with their friends and fell
low-citizens, to the continued alarm and
dismay~of the bell-ringers in the meet
ing house. until warned that the troops
were coming, when they deliberately
withdrew across the railway track,
firing off a parting salute and a volley
of the characteristic southern vocal
isms known to fame as the ''rcbel yell. -
This was iniudicious. 1t was well
enough to ride away in company with
prisoners whom nobody claimed or ap-
peared to care to hold, but they should
not have rejoiced thereat with riot and
-ungodly glec. u vas human and by no
nneans divine 1t gave the opposition
TOO much to tell about in the startling
reports that went broadcast over the
north that very night and appeared
with lnrid headlines in the morning
papers on the morrow
ParnneIee had not been seen from the
moment of the initial appearance Of
Potts and party until he came scrainb-
li1fg into camp on borrowed mule.
Later that afternoon, when matters had
measurably quieted down, he made his
Weay westward in time to tell at the