inly of the opinion that
the Negro got no more than he deserved; such a wretch was not fit to
live. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of suicide, a grim joke
which evoked some laughter. Doctor McKenzie, to whom the colonel
expressed his feelings, and whom he asked to throw the influence of
his church upon the side of law and order, said:

"It is too bad. I am sorry, but it is done. Let it rest. No good can
ever come of stirring it up further."

Later in the day there came news that the lynchers, after completing
their task, had proceeded to the Dudley plantation and whipped all the
Negroes who did not learn of their coming in time to escape, the claim
being that Johnson could not have maintained himself in hiding without
their connivance, and that they were therefore parties to his crimes.

The colonel felt very much depressed when he went to bed that night,
and lay for a long time turning over in his mind the problem that
confronted him.

So far he had been beaten, except in the matter of the cotton mill,
which was yet unfinished. His efforts in Bud Johnson's behalf--the
only thing he had undertaken to please the woman he loved, had proved
abortive. His promise to the teacher--well, he had done his part, but
to no avail. He would be ashamed to meet Taylor face to face. With
what conscience could a white man in Clarendon ever again ask a Negro
to disclose the name or hiding place of a coloured criminal? In the
effort to punish the lynchers he stood, to all intents and purposes,
single-handed and alone; and without the support of public opinion he
could do nothing.

The colonel was beaten, but not dismayed. Perhaps God in his wisdom
had taken Phil away, that his father might give himself more
completely and single-mindedly to the battle before him. Had Phil
lived, a father might have hesitated to expose a child's young and
impressionable mind to the things which these volcanic outbursts of
passion between mismated races might cause at any unforeseen moment.
Now that the way was clear, he could go forward, hand in hand with the
good woman who had promised to wed him, in the work he had laid out.
He would enlist good people to demand better laws, under which Fetters
and his kind would find it harder to prey upon the weak.

Diligently he would work to lay wide and deep the foundations of
prosperity, education and enlightenment, upon which should rest
justice, humanity and civic righteousness. In this he would fin