Page:The traitor; a story of the fall of the invisible empire (IA traitorstoryoffa00dixo).pdf/131

 Without a word they walked toward him in the dim light.

Merely glancing at them the leader growled:

"Finish up and let's get away from here!"

"All right," John answered coming closer, "I'm getting in a hurry myself."

Before he knew what they meant, Dan pounced on him and pinioned his arms while John quickly covered his mouth and fixed the gag.

It was but the work of a moment to tie the wretch and pass him out the door to the grim figures waiting. They repeated this performance in each room until all but two had been taken. These two were together. John suddenly blew his whistle giving the Klan signal "Follow me." When they entered the room two revolvers were suddenly thrust under their noses. They surrendered without a struggle.

John quickly released the old man, bound his wounds, restored his money and left with his prisoners.

Each of them were given forty lashes and the next morning when Steve Hoyle woke he found six stripe-marked half-naked men gagged and bleeding dangling by their arms from the limbs of the trees on his lawn. Around the neck of each hung a placard: "A warning to the scoundrels who are disgracing the uniform of the Ku Klux Klan in this county."