Year: 1859

Working Hand, dishonored and put to
grievCus wrong. But the Coming shall
restore and retndow it with its own-the
true unfolding of all Beauty, and Majes-
ty, and Power Fear nothing"


Quieted by this assurance, | turned to
observe the car 1t had six wheels, alike
in size and structure The spokes were
bones of the human beg and arm the rim
was composed of human blood and muscle,
wrought and bound together with the ce-
ment of the scourge, then petri6ed and
hardened to adamant.


The moving power was electricity. This
was generated by the pangs and struggles
Of all those miserable men and women
whose brains, stimulated by the tortures,
evolved current that seemed at once to
I'll and inspire the engine that it moved
This machine was very curious in struc,
ture, and acted on the same principle as
Il living heart. BY its perpendicular pa!-
pitations, it struck laterally against the
wings of a central shaft, thus causing it
to revolve on its axis, and, at the same
time to carry round the wheels.


In front Of the car was high altar,
grimly overlooking the Branded Hand,
that was fixed behind. TIE frame of the
altar was human skeleton, and the open
skull was the censer. The fumes of the
burnt-offering made the air still more
clouded and peStilent; but did not then
see what it was.


Again heard deep, hoarse, under
ground voice, and looking out towards the
middle of the plain, | saw large red hu-
man hand stretched ont Of the cloud, and
clutching at something in the distance.
Then | saw it was continually seizing hu-
uan beings, and branding Them with It's
red mark, SO they and their children might
be made slaves forever These unfortu-
nate and helpless beings were many Of them
Negroes but they were gradually becom-
ing lighter coored, and some of them were
pure whites. There were among them
men and women and small children. The
little ones had pitiful and appealing
! look, when the great remorseless Hand
! tore them from their mothers. | could
not choose but weep. to look upon them.


The Hand made fcint of getting all
its captives in the valley roundabout, OF
in the neighboring valleys; and on the
borders of the ocean there was a circle
drawn, as it were, in the air, with sign
that it should not pass. But when nc
one was looking on, it would be thrust
out silly over the great water to distant
land, where it seized the innocent people
and put the mark of the slave on them
and such as did not die in its merciless
grippe, it brought home. But if at any
time it was in danger of being seen, 1t
/ dropped its prey in some remote place or
sheltered is and, where a gang of man
hounds might be found to watch its vic
tins until the search was over, and then
1t went again in the night and took them.
This was often done, and many good peo-
pie knew and declared it, but the false
lights and stupefylng vapors of the Idol
so clouded the sight, and unsettled the
mind of their Leaders, that they who
knew, and should have done better, with
much fear and trembling only echoed still
more fercely the popular cry, Great is
tue Crimson Scorpion of the South %


As | followed the direction of the re-
treating Hand, saw that it was drawn
back into the Eartl and at the same time
two great, cavernous jaws opened and |
locked down into the Gssure. There sat
the High Priest of the Scorpion. He had
the stature of Titan; but the head and
front were of familiar type. They bore
strong likeness to the ancient Idol OF
Egypt; and the title they gave him, cor
responded with this; for he was named
Apis aud a great Idol he was, here, as
elsewhere; though it occurred to me that
the forms of worship come tardily hither,
seeing this Deity has been out of fashion,
even in Egypt, for many centuries.


This American Apis was so intensely
black, that he could be seen only by the
light that came from thin places in his
skin, which, however, were quite numer-
ous Looking through these, saw that
his interior substance was composed of
fused lava, In state OF fearful activity.
He was the owner of the great Crimson
Hand and he had another to match it of
inky blackness, perhaps for the conven-
ience of working in the dark Tor though
he was very bold in his individual move
ments, literally going to work with an
" outstrctched hand,' he was rather Sc
cretive in regard to the RESULTS of his
operations. which, indeed. furnished but
little to boast of, even for an avowed and
professional man-thief, who acted under
the high sanctions of Law and Gospel
The functions of the two hands were es-
sentially different; for while the Right,
which was of the deep color of blood stone,
was capturing victims, the Left was as
rapidly conveying their remains, as an