"Mamma, mamma, don't go and leave me! please let me go too."
"My darling, you would be quite safe here; and it is much earlier than your usual hour for rising."
"But day is breaking, mamma, and I could not sleep any more: besides maybe I could help to comfort them."
"I think she could," said her father, and mamma gave consent at once.
They found the back veranda, the kitchen, and the space between, filled with an excited crowd of blacks, old and young, talking, gesticulating, crying, moaning and groaning.
"De Ku Klux, de Ku Klux!" was on every tongue.
"Tell ye what, darkies," one was saying, "dey's debbils! why two ob dem stop befo' my doah an' say 'You black rascal, give us some watah! quick now fo' we shoot you tru the head': den I hand up a gourd full—'bout a quart min' yo',—an de fust snatch it an' pour it right down his troat, an' hand de gourd back quick's a flash; den he turn roun' an' ride off, while I fill de gourd for de udder, an' he do jes de same. Tell ye what dey's debbils! didn't you see de horns, an' de big red tongues waggin'?"
There was a murmur of assent, and a shudder ran through the throng. But
Mr. Travilla's voice was heard in cheerful reassuring tones.
"No, boys, they are men, though they do the work of devils. I have seen their disguise, and under that long red tongue, which is made of flannel, and moved by the wearer's real tongue, there is a leather bag, inside of the disguise—and into it they pour the water; not down their throats."
"Dat so, Mars Ed'ard?" cried several, drawing a long breath of relief.