o commiserate. The panting pack,
first on the scene, leap on the frightened and weeping women with furious
growls, licking their faces and hands, sniffing at their forms, and baying
from all quarters, until, driven from thence, they rush into the single
apartment, leap on the beds, drag them to the floor, and falling to, with
the fury of wild beasts disappointed of their prey, tear them into
shreds.[A] Being expelled from thence, the hunters hear the dolorous
narrative of the women, cross-question them as to particulars which may
aid them in the pursuit, and having lost but little time, follow the now
furious hounds in a noisy detour around the little farm. Again and again
this is repeated, and men and dogs are fairly baffled. The former dismount
and examine the ground for visible signs, but are unrewarded, and seem
ready to despair, when one of the pack, having leaped to the close fence,
follows it for some distance, and finally breaks forth into that ominous
bark which criminal never heard undaunted. Instantly he is joined by his
impatient companions, and the welkin rings with their loud acclaim. The
hunters follow, but almost too late, as the sequel proves; for having
invaded the barn, a few rods distant, and discovered there the objects of
their rage, the excited pack had well-nigh ended this series of tragedies.
The mangled remains of one of the criminals was dragged forth a lifeless
corpse, and his associate, defending himself with a clubbed gun, had
disabled half the number of his assailants when he in turn was
overpowered, and but for the intervention of his pursuers must have
suffered a like fate.

But the rescue proved ill-timed, in one sense at least, for no sooner had
the ruffian been disengaged from his dilemma and lifted from the building,
than a shot was heard from behind, and, bleeding from twenty wounds, he
rolled lifeless on the sward.

Looking in the direction whence the report came, the hunters saw the form
of the girl who, a little while ago, had engaged their attention as a pale
and woe-begone Lucrece, now expanded into a Hebe, and, still unrevenged,
levelling her smoking weapon at the form of the African.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE "SHAMS."

The Klan in South Carolina--Officious Interference in
Politics--Atrocious Performances of Men in Masks--The "Shams," or
Counterfeit Editions of K. K. K.--How Organized--Purposes of the
Organization--Their Vocabulary of Crime--South Carol