heavy heart. He had grown a great hope in this
long-wished-for appeal to Stoneman. It had come to his ears that the old
man, who had dwelt as one dead in their village, was a power.

It was ten o'clock before the doctor walked slowly back to the hotel. As
he passed the armoury of the black militia, they were still drilling under
the command of Gus. The windows were open, through which came the steady
tramp of heavy feet and the cry of "Hep! Hep! Hep!" from the Captain's
thick cracked lips. The full-dress officer's uniform, with its gold
epaulets, yellow stripes, and glistening sword, only accentuated the
coarse bestiality of Gus. His huge jaws seemed to hide completely the gold
braid on his collar.

The doctor watched, with a shudder, his black bloated face covered with
perspiration and the huge hand gripping his sword.

They suddenly halted in double ranks and Gus yelled:

"Odah, arms!"

The butts of their rifles crashed to the floor with precision, and they
were allowed to break ranks for a brief rest.

They sang "John Brown's Body," and as its echoes died away a big negro
swung his rifle in a circle over his head, shouting:

"Here's your regulator for white trash! En dey's nine hundred ob 'em in
dis county!"

"Yas, Lawd!" howled another.

"We got 'em down now en we keep 'em dar, chile!" bawled another.

The doctor passed on slowly to the hotel. The night was dark, the streets
were without lights under their present rulers, and the stars were hidden
with swift-flying clouds which threatened a storm. As he passed under the
boughs of an oak in front of his house, a voice above him whispered:

"A message for you, sir."

Had the wings of a spirit suddenly brushed his cheek, he would not have
been more startled.

"Who are you?" he asked, with a slight tremor.

"A Night Hawk of the Invisible Empire, with a message from the Grand
Dragon of the Realm," was the low answer, as he thrust a note in the
doctor's hand. "I will wait for your answer."

The doctor fumbled to his office on the corner of the lawn, struck a
match, and read:

"A great Scotch-Irish leader of the South from Memphis is here to-night
and wishes to see you. If you will meet General Forrest, I will bring him
to the hotel in fifteen minutes. Burn this. Ben."

The doctor walked quickly back to the spot where he had heard the voice,
and said:

"I'll see him with pleasure."

The invisible messenger wheeled his horse, and in a moment the ech