The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-06-08
v-Continued.

-
81 know Of one weak fool, a petty mil
donaire. whom Legree lured into a specu-
lative trap and ruined. On his knees in his
Fifth avenue palace the whining coward
kissed Legree's foot. and begged for mercy.
He hcke him and sneered at his misery.
At last when he had tortured him to tho
verge OF madness. he offered to spare him
on one condition-that he should give him
his daughter as a ransom And he did it.
"No. the brute power OF such q man to-
day Is beyond the grasp of the human mind.
His chances for debauchery and cruelty are
ltmitlesA The brain Of ais hirelings is put
to the test to invent new crimes against
nature to interest his Sppetites. The only
limit to his power of evil Is the capacity Of
the human mind to think and his body to
act and endure. When he is exhausted, he
i. can command the knowledge and the skill
OF ages and the masters Of all science -
restore his strength, while satellites lick his
feet and sing his praises"
Risk the whim of such a man with the
lives OF these poor people dependent on
me? No. I'd sooner kill that negro you
have brought here and take my chances
Of detection"
Halliday gave up the task. returned to
New York, placed Harris in a room, and
sought the aid Of the greatest labor leader
In America, who had arrived in the city
from the West the day before.
INC. Halliday" he said emphatically.
Bend your negro back down South. We
don't want any more Of them, or to come
In contact with them. l have just come
from the West, where a desperate strike
was in progress in one of Legree's mines.
Our men were toiling in the depth of the
earth in midnight darkness, never seeing
the light Of day. for just enough to keep
body and soul together. They tried to
wiring one little concession from their alb
SAINT master, who had never condeScended
TO honor them with his presence. What did
he dor Shut down his mines and brought
up from the South a herd OF negroes who
came crowding to the mines to push our
men back into he'll. We begged them to
60 home and let US alone. They grinned,
shufhed and looked at their white driver
for the signal to go to work. 1 ordered
the men to shoot them down like dogs. We
made the Governor issue a proclamation or
dering them back South and warning their
race that If they attempted to enter the
borders Of the State he would meet them
with Calling guns
mo, send your friend South. The win
tiers up here are too cold for him and the
summers too hot"
In the meantime Harris walked the
streets with a storm of furious passion
raging in his soul. The realization of the
shame and the horror of his position! He
was the son of Eliza Harris. who had fled
from the kndliest form Of slavery in Ken
lucky. He had a trained mind, and the
brightest gifts Of musical genius. Yet he
stood that day at the door of Simon Le-
gree and begged IN vain for the privilege
OF serving in the meanest capacity as his
slave! What a strange circle Of time, thosa
forty years of the pastl
And then the tempter whispered the right
word at the right moment, and his fate
was sealed.
There's but one thing left I VIII dc
itf' he exclaimed.
He entered the employ of a Eamblfns
Joint and deliberately began a life OF
crime. After a month he won I'VE hundred
dollars and went on a strange journey, Wis.
iting the scenes in Colorado. Kansas. Indi
ana and Ohio. where negroes had recently
been burned alive. He would find the ash
heap and place on 1t a wreath of costly
flowers He fingered ~thoughtfully over tht
ash-piles he found in Kansas, made from
the flesh of living negroes. He tried t
imagine the figure Of John Brown marching
by his side. but instead he felt the grip o.
Simon Legree's hand on his throat, living
quered the worldI Yet even Legree haC
the old days Of slavery.
He found one Of these ash-heaps at thu
foot OF the monument in Indiana TO thu
great Western colleague Of Thaddeus Stew
ems, and with a sigh placed his wreath OF
st ard passed on into Ohio.
He went to the spot where his mothel
had climbed the banks Of the Ohio Rive
Into the promised land Of liberty, n fol