CAPTAIN ALLEN SURRENDERS

The effect of Leech’s return to power was soon visible, and the gloom in the old County was never so deep as it became after that. The failure of Steve’s daring and high-handed step but intensified this. It appeared as if a complete overthrow had come at last.

As is often the case when unexpected failure has come to brilliant and promising plans, popular opinion veered suddenly; and whereas, but a little before, all were full of wonder at Steve Allen’s daring coup, now that it had failed many were inclined to blame him. He ought either to have let the Ku Klux, who, it was understood, had tried to get hold of Leech, deal with him, or else have let him alone. Now he had but intensified his malice, as was shown by the rancor with which he was pushing the prosecutions. He had given Leech a national reputation, and increased his power to do harm.

Captain Allen was deeply offended by some of the things said about him by certain of the members of the secret society, and he met them with fierce denunciation of the whole order. It was, he said, no longer the old organization which, he asserted, had acted for the public good, and with a high purpose. That had ceased to exist. This was a cowardly body of cut-throats, who rode about the country under cover of darkness, perpetrating all sorts of outrages and villainies for purposes of private vengeance. He gave them to understand clearly that he was not afraid of them, and denounced and defied the whole gang.

But one thing Steve could not meet so well. He could not meet the charge that his wild and reckless act in carrying Leech off had, in the sequel, done harm, and had intensified the hostility shown to the old County, and increased the rigor with which the citizens were treated. Even the friends who adhered stoutly to him were forced to admit that, as it turned out, his carrying Leech off was unfortunate. The downcast looks and the gloom that appeared everywhere told him how deeply the people were suffering. Another thing stuck deeper in his heart. He was at liberty and his friends in prison. Jacquelin was in prison under indictment when he had taken his place, and but for him would be a free man.

Steve had thought at times of leaving the State and going West. Rupert’s career there showed what might be accomplished. But this idea passed away now in the stress of the present crisis. He would not leave the State in the hour of her darkness. He could not leave his friends. It would be desertion.

Another cause of anxiety began to make itself apparent to Captain Allen about the same time. He knew, as the reader knows, that Captain Aurelius Thurston had long been an ardent, if a somewhat intermittent, suitor of Miss Welch; though his information was derived, not from the cold statement of the chronicler, but through those intuitions with which a lover appears to be endowed for his self-torture as well as for his security. Miss Ruth, it is true, had denied the charge, made from time to time, respecting Captain Thurston; but we know that these denials are frequently far short of satisfying a lover’s jealousy. And it must be confessed that she had never taken the trouble to state to Captain Allen the explicit and somewhat decisive conditions under which she had consented to continue the friendship.

Captain Thurston, thus cut off from his habitual occupation in that quarter, shortly after his arrival, as has been seen, went back to his old flame, Miss Elizabeth Dockett, and was soon as deeply immersed in that affair as he had ever been with Miss Welch. As Miss Elizabeth, however, treated him with unexampled rigor, and Mrs. Dockett never for an instant permitted him to forget that he was occupying the position of a tyrant, the Captain found himself obliged to seek at times the aid of a friendly ally, and turned for consolation to Miss Welch, who cheerfully rendered him in another’s behalf all the service she had declined in her own. Thus the little Captain was much more welcome at the Welches’ home than he had ever been before, and rumor was kind enough to declare that his attentions were far from being unacceptable. His duties at the court-house, as Commandant of the County, were sufficient to account for all the time he spent there, including whatever hours he passed at the old Dockett place among the trees and lilacs, while his presence at the Welches’ could only be attributed to one cause.

This report reached Captain Allen, lounging on the verandas of his friends, and it did not serve to make his life as a refugee and exile more agreeable.

Matters were in this condition when the news came that the next week had been set as the time for the trial of the Red Rock prisoners. Judge Bail had already arrived, accompanied by McRaffle. A special jury was being selected, and the witnesses were being summoned. They were a set to make the outlook as dark as possible—Bushman, and Perdue, and Dr. Moses, and a score of the worst negroes in the County. Captain Allen knew that Leech had said he would rather have him than all the other prisoners put together. And at length came a definite statement that Leech would abandon the other prosecutions if Allen would surrender himself and stand trial. It had come through McRaffle, who claimed to have secured this concession.

Next day, Steve rode down to the court-house, and, giving his horse to a negro, with directions to send him to Dr. Cary’s, walked across to Captain Thurston’s camp. A number of his friends saw him, and came crowding up with wonder and curiosity in their faces. Steve spoke to them cheerily, stopped and chatted lightly for awhile, and then left them and walked quietly across the green to the camp, leaving them staring after him open-eyed and with anxious faces. He knocked at the door of the office which was the Captain’s head-quarters, and, on being bid to enter, opened the door.

Perhaps there was not a man in the world whom Reely Thurston would not rather have seen at that moment than Steve Allen. He sprang to his feet as Steve entered, and stared at him in blank amazement. He had no idea why he had come, and, for an instant, perhaps, supposed it was with hostile intent. This idea, however, Steve at once dissipated by his manner.

“Good-morning, Captain Thurston.” He held out his hand, and, having shaken hands with the Captain, flung himself into a seat.

“Give me a cigar. I have come to have a talk with you,” he said, lightly. Thurston handed him a cigar and lit one himself, his face perplexed and a little troubled as he pondered on what could possibly have brought him this visitor. Steve saw his perplexity and smiled.

“I have come to see what terms I can make through you, Captain, before I give myself up.”

“Wait. I am not authorized to make any terms. I must notify you——” Thurston was beginning very seriously. But Steve interrupted him.

“I did not say with you, but through you. I would not place you in such an embarrassing position. I suppose you would not mind seeing what terms you could make with your friend, Colonel Leech.” Thurston flushed.

“He is no friend of mine,” he said, hotly.

“Oh, I thought you had made up,” said Steve, maliciously. “Well, he will be if you give me up to him. But I thought you might make a little better terms for me than I could for myself, as he seems to prefer the city to the country just now, and I fear a communication from me would not meet with the consideration at his hands that the closeness of our intimacy a short time since should secure for it.”

“What the d—l are you driving at, Allen?” asked Thurston. “You know what I think of Leech, and how he regards me. But that does not alter the fact that I am sent here to catch—to apprehend you—and if I do my duty I should have you arrested.”

“Of course, Captain Thurston, do your duty,” said Steve, coolly, his face hardening a little and his upper lip curling slightly.

“No, no, Allen. I did not mean it that way. I am only trying to get at what you want. I am a little mystified.”

His evident friendliness soothed Steve’s feelings, which had been ruffled by his former speech.

“I want to see whether I would not be accepted as a propitiatory offering in place of my friends—of others who have done nothing, and deserve no punishment. I am the head and front of the whole business. I am responsible for all they are charged with, and they are not. And I want to get them released, and give myself up in their place.”

Thurston looked deeply troubled. He shook his head thoughtfully.

“I do not want to arrest you. I must say that you are the last person in the world that I wanted to see. But if you stay here, I must arrest you. If, however, you came here with any idea that I would—I mean, that I could—make terms with you, I do not wish to take advantage of your mistake. There is a door. You can walk out of it while I go and call the sergeant of the guard.”

Steve shook his head.

“No, no. I am going to give myself up, anyhow. It is the only thing I can do to help them. Perhaps, if these scoundrels get me, they may let the others off. I am the one they are after. But I want you to assist me. You are a gentleman, and can appreciate my position.”

Thurston looked at him a moment, and then reached out his hand.

“Allen, I promise you I will do all I can.”

The two men shook hands across the table; and Steve, settling himself comfortably, gave Thurston an account of all that had taken place between himself and Leech the night of his capture, and between himself and the band of Ku Klux the night they had come to take Leech from the place where he had confined him. He showed Thurston that he had known of the plan to rescue him.

“But why did you carry him off?” asked Thurston. “I can understand all the rest; but I do not see how a man of your sense could have supposed that you could accomplish anything by such an act.”

“It was to gain time, Captain Thurston, and to tide over a crisis; and that it did. You do not know how desperate we are. Let me explain. But for that, Dr. John Cary and Jacquelin Gray would to-day be wearing convict suits. Leech had already appointed the time for that. I tided over that crisis.”

He went on, and gave Thurston an account of all that had taken place in the County under Leech’s rÉgime since Thurston had left. It opened the young officer’s eyes, and, when Steve was through, Thurston’s face was filled with a new sympathy.

“Allen, I will do all I can for you,” he said, again. And he did. He wrote to Middleton and his friends.

The news that Steve Allen had surrendered himself caused the greatest commotion not only there, but throughout the rest of the State. Even far outside the South it was regarded as a most important incident; and the newspapers declared that it was the signal of a complete collapse of the opposition to the Government. Steve was represented as every species of brigand, from the sneaking lawbreaker who entered houses under cover of night to the dashing, bold, mountain robber and desperado who held passes and fought battles with Government troops, and levied tribute on the surrounding country.

The man who profited by all this was Jonadab Leech.

He immediately took advantage of the turn in affairs to exploit himself, and to strengthen the foundation of his re-established plans. When he first heard that Steve Allen had surrendered himself, he could not believe it; but when the report was verified, he was wild with joy. He told, again and again, with many new embellishments, the story of his seizure and incarceration, and the horrors of the midnight meeting when he was tried and condemned to death without a hearing. (In his later relations there was an intimation of threats of torture having been used, and no mention of the mode of his escape.) He had visited the national capital, and he redoubled his energies in pushing the prosecutions of the Red Rock prisoners. He declared that nothing could be done until these men were punished, and the authority of the Government asserted. He contrived effectually to create fresh doubts as to the zeal of the Governor, and to supplant him as the representative of the Government. His star was once more in the ascendent. His fortunes were more promising than ever. His ambition had taken a higher leap, and he felt that now no power could keep him from the attainment of his wishes.

His whole attitude and relation to his former friends changed. Why should he handicap himself by attempting to carry the burden of Still and his tottering fortunes? He gave Still plainly to understand that he had higher aims than merely to obtain a few thousand acres of farming land. He was now a public man, and affairs of State were occupying his attention. To be sure, he continued to act as his counsel, and bled his client for ever-renewed fees in a way that made Still groan and curse. But this was all. He was engaged now in loftier aims. His name had been mentioned in the national Senate, in connection with the plans for the “pacification” of the section for which he spoke; and someone asked, “Who is Colonel Leech?”

“I will tell you who he is,” said the Senator who was quoting him. “He is a man who in a short time will be your compeer on the floor of this body.”

This retort was unction to Leech’s soul.

Meantime the last hope of the old County was being destroyed. A black pall seemed to have covered them. The local press raved in impotent rage, and declared that open war would be better than the oppression to which they were subjected.

Just at this juncture, when Steve’s surrender and Leech’s triumph seemed to have put the uttermost affliction on the people, the order which Senator Rockfield had secured from the authorities came, and the prisoners named in it were released on bail. The order, however, having been issued before Captain Allen surrendered himself, did not include his name or apply to him. So when Dr. Cary, General Legaie, Jacquelin Gray, Andy Stamper, and the other residents of Red Rock were released, Captain Allen was still held, and bail was refused in his case. The issuing of that order and the discharge of the other Red Rock prisoners inspired Leech to hurry up the prosecution of Captain Allen. Thurston was working for him, and Senator Rockfield was beginning to investigate matters in the State. Bolter had written an urgent letter respecting the railway investments, and had said that Middleton was interested and had come home on Major Welch’s advice to see about the matter, and was talking of coming South. So Leech could not tell when new difficulties might arise.

It was soon rumored that the Government would make a test case of the prosecution of Steve Allen, as the leader and head of the resistance to it. Leech was moving heaven and earth to secure his conviction, and was staking everything on this issue. Leech did not even deny it. He rushed forward his prosecution. If he could get Steve Allen shut up within the walls of a Government prison for a term of years, he would be free to carry out his schemes; and of this he had no doubt. Judge Bail was to try Steve, and the witnesses were being got together by McRaffle. Leech did not want to prosecute Steve for a minor offence, such as the rescue of Rupert. He wished to put him entirely out of the way. A long term only would now satisfy him. The offences with which Steve was charged were not grave enough, the penalties not heavy enough. The attack on the jail had been thrown into the background by the more recent outrages committed by the Ku Klux. Prosecution for the seizure of Leech himself would look like personal hostility, and weaken his cause; and, besides, some awkward facts might come out in the development of the case. Thurston would be sure to tell how he had escaped, and the whole story would come out and create sympathy with the prisoner, and bring ridicule upon himself.

So Leech suddenly made a change of base. He desired to pose as a public-spirited man. He determined to drop the prosecution for the attack on the jail, and prosecute Steve Allen for the Ku Klux outrages, as to which the Government was more particularly interested. The difficulty was to establish Allen’s active connection with the Ku Klux. Leech knew of his own knowledge, from Allen’s statement to the assembly in the room above his prison that night, that Steve had left the order and opposed them at that time, if he had ever belonged to their organization. So he was somewhat at a loss to prove his connection with them as an active member. Accident, however, suddenly threw in his way the means to accomplish his wish, and to punish two enemies at once.

Leech had been in the upper end of the County looking after witnesses, when he met Miss Welch, who was on her way home from Dr. Cary’s. She gave him a cold bow, and was passing on; but Leech stopped her with an inquiry after her father.

“He is very well,” said the girl, coldly.

“I suppose he, like all loyal men, is rejoicing over the capture at last of the head of all the trouble that has been going on down here?” Leech’s face wore a soft smile.

“I was not aware that Captain Allen was captured. I thought he surrendered.” Ruth’s color deepened in spite of herself.

“Well, we have him safe at last, anyhow,” smiled Leech, “and I guess we’ll keep him. No doubt your father is as much pleased as anyone. It puts an end to the outrages down here, and your father, of all men, should rejoice. He is too good a citizen not to.”

“He is too good a man to rejoice in anyone’s misfortunes,” said Ruth, warmly; “and Captain Allen has had nothing to do with the outrages you refer to. He never had anything to do with the Ku Klux except once or twice. I have his own word for it.”

Leech’s eyes were resting on her face.

“Ah! You have it on good authority.” His tone was most polite.

But Ruth fired up.

“I have. Captain Allen is a gentleman; and when he says that he has never had anything to do with the Ku Klux since the first or second time they acted in this County, I am sure it is so. What he has done since then he did alone.” She could not resist this shot.

Leech did not appear to mind it. His mild eyes were glowing with a sudden light, almost of joy.

“No doubt, no doubt,” he murmured. And, as Ruth was moving on,

“Please remember me kindly to your father and mother.”

As she rode away Leech actually slapped his thigh, and he smiled all the way home.