“I have. Captain Allen is a gentleman; and when he says that he has never had anything to do with the Ku Klux since the first or second time they acted in this County, I am sure it is so. What he has done since then he did alone.” She could not resist this shot.
Leech did not appear to mind it. His mild eyes were glowing with a sudden light, almost of joy.
“No doubt, no doubt,” he murmured. And, as Ruth was moving on,
“Please remember me kindly to your father and mother.”
As she rode away Leech actually slapped his thigh, and he smiled all the way home.
CHAPTER XLIII
MISS WELCH HEARS A PIECE OF NEWS
Ruth had heard of Captain Allen’s surrender the day after it took place. Mrs. Stamper, passing through from the railway on her way home from a visit to her husband in jail, had stopped and told her all about it. Ruth almost fell to the ground during Mrs. Stamper’s narration. She could scarcely stand up. When Mrs. Stamper had passed on, Ruth rushed into the house and was on her way to her own room when she met her mother.