The party exchanged meaning glances, and then the Supreme Commander said: “There is one more degree, but it is given only to the highest officers in the order, and would not be of the least advantage to you.”
Calhoun was certain there was something which those present did not wish him to know—some object which they wished to keep secret.
The number of members in the order was now given to Calhoun. The figures astounded him. In Iowa there were twenty thousand members, in Missouri fifty thousand, in Illinois one hundred and twenty thousand, in Indiana one hundred thousand, in Ohio eighty thousand. Throughout the East the order was not so numerous. This seemed strange to Calhoun, for he thought that New York especially would be fertile ground for it.
“How many of these men are armed?” asked Calhoun.
The answer was: “In Missouri nearly all, in Illinois fifty thousand, in Indiana forty thousand, in Ohio the same, in Kentucky nearly all.”
“Gentlemen,” exclaimed Calhoun, with consid[pg 217]erable warmth, “if these figures are correct, why have you not arisen before this, and hurled the Lincoln government from power? Pardon me, but it looks like timidity. The North is denuded of men, those loyal to Lincoln are in the army.”
“That is what I have insisted on,” cried Mr. Bowman, of Indiana, jumping to his feet in his excitement. “I say strike, strike now! We of Indiana are ready. Liberate the Confederate prisoners in Northern prison pens! We have arms for them. If necessary, give every Northern city over to the flames.”
“Brother Bowman forgets,” answered the Supreme Commander, “that our forces are scattered; that if we attempt to concentrate, the government will take alarm and crush us. At present we have to work in secret.”
“But what if Indiana and Ohio should be invaded?” asked Calhoun.
“That would be different,” was the answer.