icuously in the allegations of
all those who had preceded him, viz., a tendency to found his own airy
fabric on the spot he had rendered untenable for that of his predecessor,
it was in the main reliable; and if, as was urged against it, its facts
were produced at a late hour, it was altogether attributable to the
witness's modesty, and the fact--which was now elicited for the first
time--that, notwithstanding he had been standing on his head
(metaphorically) for the opportunity, and his well-known dexterity in
wielding syntactical figures of speech, he had been unable to explode his
items fast enough to anticipate those who had occupied the time.

This boy, Dick Shuttail (white), age not known to self or parents, had
obtained a view of the Kluxes from the airy depths of the family rag-box,
situated in the rear garret, and he was, therefore, able to speak with
emphasis on certain points which had been barely touched upon by
less-favored observers. He testified that the raiders were mounted on
elephants or camels; could not distinguish certainly, but his bias led him
to say the former, and that these beasts were branded on the side with
three corn-droppers (K. K. K.), or, more probably (as suggested by a
hearer), one corn-dropper three times. The raiders were veritable spooks,
as, in the place where eyes, mouth, and nose should have been roundly
visible, the crows had supped, and instead of hair, they were driven to a
subterfuge which closely resembled an inferior article of mosquito bar,
worn, however, _a la pompadour_. Their saddle-bags, loaded, most probably,
with munitions of war, were borne in front of them, and their uniforms
were ornamented not with buttons, but spangles of bright hue and
extraordinary size.

He was going on to relate that the horses they rode were neither black nor
white, but br----, when he was interrupted by hisses from his audience,--a
circumstance which either aided memory, or sharpened his introspective
organs, for almost immediately afterwards he hung his head, and, covering
by this movement a very sour expression of countenance, retired from view.

To say, notwithstanding, the beautiful start he made, and the high
dramatic turn he was giving the events of his narrative up to the fatal
moment of collapse, that this witness's testimony went absolutely for
nothing, and that his explanation, tendered at some length and supported
by all those texts of mill-boy verity which had been successfull