Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-11-14
THE CMLAXSMMAN:
An Historical Romance Of the
Ku KluX Klan.
BY THOMAS DIXON, JR.
Copyright by the Author and Publish
Book THE Assassination.
CHAPTER v.
THE BATTLE OF LOVE.

Elsie carried Ben Cameron's pardon
to the anxious mother and sister with
her mind in a tumult. The name on
these fateful papers fascinated her.
She read it again and again with a
curious personal joy that she had
saved a life!
She had entered on her work among
the hospitals a bitter partisan Of her
fathers school, with the simple idea
that all southerners were savage
brutes. Yet as she had seen the
wounded boys from the south among
the men in blue, more and more she
had forgotten the difference between
them. They were so young, these
slender, dark-haired ones from Dixie
so pi;ifully young! Some Of them
were only fifteen, and hundreds not
over sixteen. A lad Of fourteen she
had kissed one day In sheer agony OF
pity for his loneliness.
The part her father was playing In
the drama on which Ben Camerons s
life had hung puzzled her. Was his
the mysterious arm back OF stanton!
Echoes of the fierce struggle with the
president had floated through the half
open door.
She had implicit faith in her faith
er's patriotism and pride in his giant
intellect. She knew that he was a
king among men by divine right OF IN
herent; power. His sensitive spirit,
brooding over a pitiful lameness, had
hidden. from the world behind
frownipg brow like a wounded ami
NAL. Yet her hand in hours Of love.
when no eye save Gods could see, had
led his great soul out Of its dark lair
She loved him with brooding tender
ness, knowing that she had gotten
closer to his inner life than any other
human being-closer than her own
mother, who had died while she was
a babe. Her aunt, with whom she and
Phil now lived, had told her the moth
er's life was not happy one. Thelr
natures had not proved congenial, ana
her gentle Quaker spirit had died OF
grief In the quiet home in southern
Pennsylvania.
Yet there were times when he was
a stranger even to her. Some secret
dark and cold, stood between them:
Once she had tenderly asked him what
II meant. He merely pressed her
hand, smiled wearily, and said:
Nothing, my dear, only the Blue
Devils after me again"
He had always lived In Washington
in a little house with black shutters,
near the Capitol, while the children
had lived with his sister, near the
White House, where they had grown
from babyhood.
A curious fact about this place on
the Capitol hill was that his house
keeper, Lydia Brown, was mulatto,
woman Of extraordinary animal beau
ty and the fiery temper Of leopardess.
Elsie had Ventured there once and got
such a welcome she would never re-
turn, All sorts Of gossip could be
heard in Washington about this wo-
man, her Jewels, her dresses, her airs
her assumption of the dignity or the
presiding genius Of National legisla.
tIon and her domination of the old
commoner and his life. 1t gradually
crept into the newspapers and maga-
zines, but he never once condescended
to notice It.
Elsie begged her father to close this
house and live with them,
His reply was short and emphatic:
Impossible my child. This club
foot must live next door to the Cap
itol. NV house Is simply an executive
office at which l sleep. Half the bus
mess Of the Nation is transacted there
Don't mention this subject again"
Elsie choked back sob at the colo
and never repeated her request. II
was the only wish he had ever denied
her, and. somehow, her heart would
come back to II with persistence ana
brood and wonder over his motive.
The nearer she drew, this morning
to the hospital door, the closer the
wounded boys. life and loved ones
seemed to hers. She thought with an
guish Of the storm about to break be-
90 nd q nrnCi6lnf-
the one demanding the deSolation OF
their land. wasted, harried, and un-
armed!-the president firm in his
policy of mercy. generosity, and heal
ing.
Her father would not mince words.
His scorpion tongue, set Oh hre or
hell, might start contiagration that
would light the Nation with Its glare.
Would not his name be terror for
every man and woman born unaer 1
southern skies? The sickening feel
ing stole over her that he was wrong,
and his policy crueI and unjust.
She had never before admired the
president. It was fashionable to speak
with contempt of him in Washington.
He had little following In congress.
Nine-tenths of the politicians hated
or feared him, and she knew her faith
er had been the soul of conspiracy
at the Capitol to prevent his second
nomination and create a dictatorship,
under which to carry out an iron pol
Icy Of reconstruction in the south.
And now she found herself heart and
soul the champion of the president.
She was ashamed of her disloyalty,
and felt q rush Of lmpetuous anger
against Ben and his people for thrust
ing themselves between her and her
own. Yet how absurd to feel thus
against the innocent victims OF
great tragedy! She put the thought
from her. Still she must part from
them now before the brewing storm
burst. 1t would be best for her and
best for them. This pardon delivered
would end their relations. She would
send the papers by a messenger and
not see them again. And then sne
thought with a throb Of girlish PRIDE
of the hour to come in the future when
Ben's big brown eyes would be SOL
tened with a tear when he would learn
that she had saved his life. They had
concealed all from him as yet.
She was afraid to question too
closely In her own heart the shadowy
motive that lay back of her JOY. She
read again with a lingering smile the
name Ben Cameron" on the paper
with its big red Seal of Life. She had
laughed at boys who had made love TO
her, dreaming a wider nobler life OF
heroic service And she felt that she
was fulfilling her ideal In the gener-
Gus hand she had extended to these
who were friendless. Were they not
the children Of her soul In that larger,
finer world Of which she had dreamed
and sung? Why should she give them
up now for brutal politics? Their sor-
row had been hers, their joy should be
hers too. She would take the papers
herself and then say goodbye.
She found the mother and sister be-
side the cot. Ben was sleeping win
Margaret holding one of his hands
The mother was busy sewing for the
wounded Confederate boys she had
found scattered through the hospital
At the sight of Elsie holding aloft
the message of life, she sprang to meet
her with cry of JOY.
She clasped the girl to her breast
unable 20 speak. At last she released
her and said with a sob:
my child. through good report ano
through evil report, my love will en-
fold you!"
Elsie stammered, looked away and
tried to hide her emotion. Margaret
had knelt and bowed her head on Ben's
cot. She rose at length, threw hel
L., l.