t the abortive attempt bound
the ringleaders even closer together than the common cause they
were defending.

"About a year after that came the end of the war. With the
assassination of Lincoln, there began a period in our history of
which none of us can be proud. The damnable Reconstruction Act,
the 'carpet baggers,' with the years of consequent misery brought
to the South, whose sons fought with the same patriotic motives
and feelings as those of the North.

"It was then that this little group was born; they numbered
originally two hundred and thirty-seven, Southerners most of them,
and a few who had fought for the Union. They were sworn to give
their lives, if necessary, to prevent corrupt politicians having
their way with the South.

"All of these were between seventeen and eighteen years of age.
One of them explained to me since that they did not want older men
because they were afraid that such would not take their Quixotic
notions seriously enough. Among them was Lorenzo Tonti, direct
descendant of the Tonti, of insurance fame. The youngster had been
brought to the United States by one of the followers of Garibaldi,
the Italian liberator, who spent a few years in New York City
about 1852.

"This youngster explained to his comrades the Tontine insurance
plan. To boys of that age, fresh from war, this species of
gambling seemed very attractive. Thus was born, sixty-five years
ago, a group of more than two hundred men."

His audience had been listening to him with keen interest. Each
showed it in his own way. To all of them the glamorous background
was irresistibly appealing. But Jimmy Hale, the newspaper man,
sensed something that did not appear on the surface. He asked
challengingly:

"Why were you disturbed, Mac, when I asked you to tell me about
it. There is nothing in what you have said that should have caused
you any uneasiness."

McCall smiled whimsically.

"Ever the prying newspaperman, eh? There is something I'd rather
not tell you, but since you're going to find it out by
yourself--trust Jimmy Hale for that--I'd better let you have
it first-hand."

"In the attempted jail break I told you of, they were betrayed by
one or more of their own men, their own comrades in Douglas
prison. The traitors were released and went over to the Union
side. This is a phase of their story that none of the men care to
talk about.

"The men who failed in the thwarted jail break were later released
in an exchan