nd joist until house
and barn were wrapped in flames. The whinnying of the horses first
woke Isaac Williams, and he sprang from bed at sight of the furious
light which surrounded his house. He got his family up and out of the
house, each seizing what he could of wearing apparel as he fled before
the flames. Nothing else could be saved, for the fire had gained
terrible headway, and its fierceness precluded all possibility of
fighting it. The neighbors attracted by the lurid glare came from far
and near, but the fire had done its work, and their efforts availed
nothing. House, barn, stock, all, were a mass of ashes and charred
cinders. Isaac Williams, who had a day before, been accounted one of
the solidest farmers in the region, went out that night with his
family--homeless.

Kindly neighbors took them in, and by morning the news had spread
throughout all the country-side. Incendiarism was the only cause that
could be assigned, and many were the speculations as to who the guilty
party could be. Of course, Isaac Williams had enemies. But who among
them was mean, ay, daring enough to perpetrate such a deed as this?

Conjecture was rife, but futile, until old 'Lias Hunster, who though
he hated Williams, was shocked at the deed, voiced the popular
sentiment by saying, "Look a here, folks, I tell you that's the work
o' niggers, I kin see their hand in it."

"Niggers, o' course," exclaimed every one else. "Why didn't we think
of it before? It's jest like 'em."

Public opinion ran high and fermented until Saturday afternoon when
the county paper brought the whole matter to a climax by coming out in
a sulphurous account of the affair, under the scarehead:

A TERRIBLE OUTRAGE!

MOST DASTARDLY DEED EVER COMMITTED IN THE HISTORY OF
BARLOW COUNTY. A HIGHLY RESPECTED, UNOFFENDING
AND WELL-BELOVED FAMILY BURNED OUT OF HOUSE
AND HOME. NEGROES! UNDOUBTEDLY THE
PERPETRATORS OF THE DEED!

The article went on to give the facts of the case, and many more
supposed facts, which had originated entirely in the mind of the
correspondent. Among these facts was the intelligence that some
strange negroes had been seen lurking in the vicinity the day before
the catastrophe and that a party of citizens and farmers were scouring
the surrounding country in search of them. "They would, if caught,"
concluded the correspondent, "be summarily dealt with."

Notwithstanding the utter