ng within me, but I had given no evidence of
a wish to interrupt her; she, however, feared a check, and rushed
vehemently on.) "I shall have to tell you more. When, through pamphlets
and unsigned letters--dangerous communications, which have long since
become ashes--I was drawn into this society (and only those of the most
radical and impressionable natures are approached) a ring and a key were
sent me with this injunction: 'When the man or woman whose name will
be forwarded to you in an otherwise empty envelope, shall have, in your
honest judgment, proved himself or herself sufficiently dangerous to
the cause we love, to merit removal, you are to place this ring on the
middle finger of the bronze hand locked up in the box openly displayed
in the office of a Dr. Merriam on ------ Street. With the pressure of
the whole five rings on the fingers of this piece of mechanism, the
guardian of our rights will be notified by a bell, that a victim awaits
justice, and the end to be accomplished will be begun. As there are five
fingers, and each one of these must feel the pressure of its own ring
before connection can be made between this hand and the bell mentioned,
no injustice can be done and no really innocent person destroyed. For,
when five totally disconnected persons devoted to the cause agree that
a certain individual is worthy of death, mistake is impossible. You
are now one of the five. Use the key and the ring according to
your conscience.' This was well, if I had been allowed to follow my
conscience; but when, six weeks ago, they sent me the name of a man of
lofty character and unquestioned loyalty, I recoiled, scarcely believing
my eyes. Yet, fearing that my own judgment was warped, or that some
hidden hypocrisy was latent in a man thus given over to our attention,
I made it my business to learn this man's inner life. I found it so
beautiful----" She choked, turned away for a moment, controlled herself,
and went on rapidly and with increased earnestness: "I learned to love
this man, and as I learned to love him I grew more and more satisfied of
the dangerous character of the organization I was pledged to. But I had
one comfort. He could not be doomed without my ring, and that was safe
on my finger. Safe! You know how safe it was. The monster whom you have
just seen, and who may have been the person to subject this noble man to
suspicion, must have discovered my love and the safeguard it offered to
this man. The ring, a