The next day hundreds of carpet-bagger thieves fled to the North, and Legree led the procession.
Legree had on deposit in New York two millions of dollars, and the total amount of his part of the thefts he had engineered reached five millions. He opened an office on Wall Street, bought a seat in the Stock Exchange, and became one of the most daring and successful of a group of robbers who preyed on the industries of the nation.
The new Legislature appointed a Fraud Commission which uncovered the infamies of the Legree régime, but every thief had escaped. They promptly impeached the Governor and removed him from office, and the old commonwealth once more lifted up her head and took her place in the ranks of civilised communities.
CHAPTER XXI—THE OLD AND THE NEW NEGRO
NELSE was elated over the defeat and dissolution of the Leagues that had persecuted him with such malignant hatred. When the news of the election came he was still in bed suffering from his wounds. He had received an internal injury that threatened to prove fatal.
“Dar now!” he cried, sitting up in bed, “Ain’t I done tole you no kinky-headed niggers gwine ter run dis gov’ment!”
“Keep still dar, ole man, you’ll be faintin’ ergin,” worried Aunt Eve.
“Na honey, I’se feelin’ better. Gwine ter git up and meander down town en ax dem niggers how’s de Ku Kluxes comin’ on dese days.”