"You'll go down, all right—without those troops—mark my word," cried the Carpetbagger.
"All right, I'll go down flying my own flag."
"You're a fool!" Schlitz roared. "Union troops are our only hope!"
His Excellency kept his temper. The little ferret eyes beneath their bushy brows were drawn to narrow lines as he slowly said:
"On the other hand, my dear Schlitz, I don't think I could depend on Federal troops if they were here."
"No?" was the indignant sneer.
"Frankly I do not," was the even answer. "Federal officers have not shown themselves very keen about executing the orders of Reconstruction Governors. They have often pretended to execute them and in reality treated us with contempt. They hold, in brief, that they fought to preserve the Union, not to make negroes rule over white men! The task before us is not to their liking. I don't trust them for a moment. I have a better plan——"
"What?"
"I propose to raise immediately an army of fifty thousand loyal white men, arm and drill them without delay——"
"Where'll you get them?" Schlitz cried incredulously.