not likely there will ever be more positive testimony than that
here given. This must be so from the nature of the case, as will plainly
appear in the following pages.

MY INITIATION.

After the war, which had not benefited my purse extravagantly, I
wandered off into the interior of Georgia, and finally engaged in
business in one of the interior counties. I knew the southern people
pretty well before the war, had been much among them, and was familiar
with their habits, prejudices, etc. For my own convenience and safety,
when I went into business I passed as a Kentuckian, and thereby
avoided many personal and business annoyances. At first this was not
particularly disagreeable, as no very decided opinions were expected
while the country was still thoroughly under the national armies.
Gradually, however, it became worse and worse, until at length, to
keep up my pretensions, and save my business, I was compelled to
profess the most ultra southern views and prejudices. I thought that
there would never be further active opposition to the national
authority, and so submitted to the situation, rather than lose what
little I had by leaving it. To sell it for anything worth taking, was
simply impossible in the state of the country. So much for the way I
came to know what is about to be told.

In the summer of 1867, one of my neighbors called one morning, and
said that an important meeting was to come off that night, at a house
about three miles from our town. Every good Southerner, he said, was
interested, and he wanted me to go. Of course I had heard of
organizations throughout the South, and knew from the manner of this
man's talk, that something of the kind was in the wind now. I knew,
too, that it would not do to disregard the appeal to "every good
Southerner," and so I went with him.

The meeting was not at any house, however. Half a mile from the house he
had named, my escort turned his horse into a bridle-path, leading up
into a wild, hilly district, and I followed, of course. A mile or so on
this path, away from any habitation, my companion suddenly slackened his
horse's pace, and proceeded very cautiously, bidding me be silent. In a
few minutes I distinctly heard the click of a musket lock, as the piece
was brought to a full cock. It was too dark to see anything. My
companion carried an Enfield rifle, and instantly stopping his horse, he
cocked his piece and pulled the trigger, almost without a pause. Of