Page:The leopard's spots - a romance of the white man's burden-1865-1900 (IA leopardsspotsrom00dixo).pdf/187

 When a civilised government has been restored, your work will be done."

"We will do it, sir," cried Kline.

"Let me say, men," said the Preacher, "that I heartily endorse the plan of your chief. See that the work is done thoroughly and it will be done for all time. In a sense this is fraud. But it is the fraud of war. The spy is a fraud, but we must use him when we fight. Is war justifiable?

"It is too late now for us to discuss that question. We are in a war, the most ghastly and hellish ever waged, a war on women and children, the starving and the wounded, and that with sharpened swords. The Turk and Saracen once waged such a war. We must face it and fight it out. Shall we flinch?"

"No! no!" came the passionate answer from every man.

"You are asked to violate for the moment a statutory law. There is a higher law. You are the sworn officers of that higher law."

The group of leaders left the church with enthusiasm and on the following night they carried out their instructions to the letter.

The election was remarkably quiet. Thousands of soldiers were used at the polls by Hogg's orders. But they seemed to make no impression on the determined men who marched up between their files and put the ballots in the box.

Legree's ticket was buried beneath an avalanche. The new "Conservative" party carried every county in the state save twelve and elected one hundred and six members of the new Legislature out of a total of one hundred and twenty.

The next day hundreds of carpet-bagger thieves fled to the North, and Legree led the procession.