done, en I swar ter
God he drink it all right dar 'fo' my eyes! He say hit wuz pow'ful dry
down below, sah! En den I feel sumfin' bus' loose inside er me, en I
disremember all dat come ter pass! I made er jump fer de ribber bank, en
de next I knowed I wuz er pullin' fur de odder sho'. I'se er pow'ful good
swimmer, sah, but I nebber git ercross er creek befo' ez quick ez I got
ober de ribber las' night."

"And you think of going back to farming?"

"I done begin plowin' dis mornin', marster!"

"_Don't_ you call me marster!" yelled the old man. "Are you the sheriff of
this county?"

Aleck laughed loudly.

"Na-sah! Dat's er joke! I ain't nuttin' but er plain nigger--I wants
peace, judge."

"Evidently we need a new sheriff."

"Dat's what I tell 'em, sah, dis mornin'--en I des flings mysef on de
ignance er de cote!"

Phil laughed aloud, and his father's colourless eyes began to spit cold
poison.

"About what time do you think your master, Colonel Cameron, will honour us
with his presence?" he asked Aleck.

Again the sheriff bowed.

"He's er comin' right now, lak I tole yer--he's er gemman, sah."

Ben walked briskly into the room and confronted the Commissioner.

Without apparently noticing his presence, Stoneman said:

"In the absence of witnesses we accept the discharge of this warrant,
pending developments."

Ben turned on his heel, pressed Phil's hand as he passed through the
crowd, and disappeared.

The old Commoner drove to the telegraph office and sent a message of more
than a thousand words to the White House, a copy of which the operator
delivered to Ben Cameron within an hour.

President Grant next morning issued a proclamation declaring the nine
Scotch-Irish hill counties of South Carolina in a state of insurrection,
ordered an army corps of five thousand men to report there for duty,
pending the further necessity of martial law and the suspension of the
writ of _Habeas Corpus_.

CHAPTER VI

THE COUNTER STROKE

From the hour he had watched the capture of the armoury old Stoneman felt
in the air a current against him which was electric, as if the dead had
heard the cry of the clansmen's greeting, risen and rallied to their pale
ranks.

The daring campaign these men were waging took his breath. They were going
not only to defeat his delegation to Congress, but send their own to take
their seats, reinforced by the enormous power of a suppressed negro vote.
The blow was so sublime i