vate fads as he chose
to have. He was a vegetarian, holding to the theory that meat is a
poison, though he was not averse to pie for breakfast. His pet aversion,
leaving alcohol out of the question, was all forms of commercial
perfumes. As Edie came close to him, he caught a whiff of her
cologne-scented clothes, and his anger rose.

"Why will you ladies," he said, "persist in putting that sort of stuff
on you?"

"I dunner what you mean," replied Edie, edging still closer to
Hotchkiss.

"Why that infernal----"

He never finished the sentence. A pistol-shot rang out, and Hotchkiss
fell like a log. Edie, fearing a similar fate for herself, ran screaming
down the road, and never paused until she had reached the dwelling of
Mahlon Butts. She fell in the door when it was opened and lay on the
floor, moaning and groaning. When she could be persuaded to talk, her
voice could have been heard a mile.

"They've killt him!" she screamed; "they've killt him! an' he was sech a
good man! Oh, he was sech a good man!"

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

_Mr. Sanders Searches for Evidence_

The news of the shooting of Hotchkiss spread like wildfire, and startled
the community, giving rise to various emotions. It created consternation
among the negroes, who ran to and fro, and hither and yonder, like wild
creatures. Many of the whites, especially the thoughtless and the
irresponsible, contemplated the tragedy with a certain degree of
satisfaction, feeling that a very dangerous man had been providentially
removed. On the other hand, the older and more conservative citizens
deplored it, knowing well that it would involve the whole community in
trouble, and give it a conspicuous place in the annals which radical
rage was daily preparing, in order still further to inflame the public
mind of the North.

Bridalbin promptly disappeared from Shady Dale, but returned in a few
days, accompanied by a squad of soldiers. It was the opinion of the
community, when these fresh troops made their appearance, that they were
to be added to the detachment stationed in the town; but this proved to
be a mistake. Two nights after their arrival, when the officer in
charge, who was a member of the military commander's staff, had
investigated the killing, he gave orders for the arrest of Gabriel
Tolliver, Francis Bethune, Paul Tomlin, and Jesse Tidwell. The arrests
were made at night, and so quietly that when the town awoke to the
facts, and was ready to di