The famous Conspiracy2 Act was rushed through both houses of the National Legislature and signed by the President. It made membership in the secret order known as the Ku Klux Klan, or Invisible Empire, a felony, and provided for the trial of its members on the charge of treason, conspiracy and murder. The President was authorised to suspend the writ3 of habeas corpus and proclaim martial4 law in any county of the Southern States, and use the army and navy to enforce his authority.
The Attorney General promptly5 placed the county of Independence under military government, stationed two regiments6 of troops within its borders, and set to work with scores of detectives to find the guilty man.
Two months passed without the slightest progress. Five thousand dollars reward was offered by the national authorities and a similar sum by the state. Not a trace of the man responsible for the deed could be found, though a price of ten thousand dollars was set thus on his head. A number of arrests had been made, but the evidence produced was of so flimsy a character that in each instance the prisoner could not be held.
The longer the case was probed, the deeper became its insoluble aspects. The “Butler Murder Mystery,” as it was popularly known, provoked the widest public discussion, both in the state and national press, yet no explanation from any quarter could be found.
The effects of the crime on the Ku Klux raiders was immediate7. Not a trace of their existence was left. The enormity of the tragedy had evidently sobered the dare-devils who had found amusement or personal profit in its activities. It now became the fashion to denounce the Klan and demand its extermination8.
As the order had never had a spokesman, it had no defender9. The demand for its suppression was universal. Yet no traitor10 had appeared among its ranks. The deepest curses of a race were reserved for the white lip that should betray its members. Whatever the leaders of public opinion might say, the masses of the people knew the necessity which had called this dreaded11 order into existence—the black threat of Negro dominion12. Thousands of women and children knew its secrets and held them inviolate13.
On Stella Butler the death of her father had wrought14 a deep and remarkable15 change. The fun-loving, imperious, self-willed, spoiled child had suddenly become a serious woman. She had given every hour of her time assisting the authorities in their search for the murderer and had followed every possible clue with breathless hope.
Two forces had driven her into a morbid16 interest in the crime, pride and remorse17. In mere18 laughing banter19 she had promised her father if a single insult should be offered him, or a hair of his head harmed, she would give her life to avenge20 the deed. She had not dreamed of such a possibility. But now that the impossible had happened, she would make good her word to the dead. And she would make it good, not only because she had promised and her heart was sick with remorse for the part she had unconsciously played in the tragedy, but for a deeper personal reason—the consciousness of the insult to her pride which the crime had offered. The assassin had dared to strike her father dead in her home, in her very presence.
Had the knife sought her own heart she would have felt less deeply the wound. Somewhere even by her side there stood amid the shadows of life a being who could thus insult her by ignoring her very existence! She resolved to make that man feel her power by paying the penalty with his own life. An element of pitiless cruelty in her character found for the first time its expression in a passionate21 thirst for the blood of this criminal.
She had seen every effort to penetrate22 the mystery fail with increasing inward rage. Larkin, who had charge of the Judge’s campaign, had been aggressive and untiring for two weeks and then had given up and returned to his duties as Chairman of the State Executive Committee.
The Attorney General announced his departure for Washington and ordered the withdrawal23 of the troops and detectives.
Stella hastened to send her burning protest against his action. General Champion, who had been deeply moved by her beauty and evident suffering, called personally at the old Graham mansion24 for an interview. He received her indignant protests with the gravest courtesy.
“Please don’t tell me, General,” she began bitterly, “that my father’s death is an apparently25 insoluble mystery. I am sick, sick, sick of hearing such rubbish! Eight weeks ago he was murdered in cold blood in this hall on the very spot where you are now sitting. It was not done by ghosts, it was not an accident, it was done by a living man. I refuse to recognise in it an act of Providence26. I will not wear an emblem27 of mourning as long as this man breathes on earth. I have sworn it My father was in the service of his country attempting to enforce its laws. I have the right to demand that a rich and powerful government avenge his death. It is incredible that the coward who did this crime can not be caught and punished.”
“Upon the other hand, my dear child,” said the General, “I assure you that the apprehension28 of this criminal is one of the most difficult tasks ever assigned the Department of Justice.”
“And why, pray?”
“Because in this climate the Invisible Empire is yet stronger than the visible——”
“You believe then that the Klan committed the deed?” she asked
“As sure of it as that I live. If we were dealing29 with the ordinary criminal, it would be easy. We are dealing with larger problems. Every clue we have found has proven false for this reason. The man really responsible stands at our elbow did we but know the truth.”
“What do you mean?” Stella asked with sudden interest.
“That your father’s death was ordered by an inner circle of the Invisible Empire. He was probably executed by an individual who did not even know his name. The occasion of the masquerade ball was simply utilised for the purpose. Unless we know the name of the Chief of the Klan in this state no progress can be made. This man has the power of life and death over his men. No such deed could have been committed without his order.”
“And you are going to give up the search?” was the eager question.
“For the present yes. It is a waste of time.”
“And you have formed no idea as to who this Chief may be?” asked the big brown eyes, flashing with a new purpose.
“I haven’t a scrap30 of evidence that can be used in an English-speaking court of justice—but I am morally certain that I know the man.”
“And if you knew him by his own confession31?”
“I could send him to the gallows32 within thirty days.”
“The man you suspect?”
“John Graham!”
Stella sprang to her feet, her face white with an emotion which stopped for a moment her very heart-beat.
“Within a month I’ll tell you the truth”—she said with laboured breath.
“Can you do it?”
“Beyond the shadow of a doubt!” was her firm answer.
The General seized her hand as he took his leave.
“If you do, my child, you will destroy an empire mightier33 than the law of the land. I’ll place the entire resources of the Department of Justice at your command.”
Stella’s brown eyes rested on her own beautiful reflection in the mirror as she slowly said:
“Thank you, General, I have at present all the weapons I shall need.”
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1
avalanche
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| n.雪崩，大量涌来 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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extermination
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| n.消灭，根绝 | |
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defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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inviolate
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| adj.未亵渎的，未受侵犯的 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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15
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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banter
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| n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑 | |
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avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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24
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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29
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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30
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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32
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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33
mightier
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| adj. 强有力的，强大的，巨大的 adv. 很，极其 | |
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