from drowning?"

"Yes; I'd forgot. I take that back, Snell. Will you have a glass?"

"Thank you, no, it's too hot, and your wife and babies need the money,
Green."

The words were half drowned in the clang of the dinner bell, and the
group scattered, Snell, and most of the others hurrying into the
dining-room in answer to the welcome call.

After dinner Snell sauntered out in the direction of the stable, passed
with a seemingly careless glance in at the door, and strolled onward;
but in that momentary glimpse had noted the exact position of his horse.

About ten o'clock that night he stole quietly out again, made his way
unobserved to the stable, saddled and bridled his steed, all in the
dark, mounted and rode away, passing through the village streets at a
very moderate pace, but breaking into a round trot as soon as he had
fairly reached the open country.

He pressed on for several miles, but slackened his speed as he neared
the forest known as Miller's Woods.

For the last mile or more he had heard, both in front and rear, the
thumping of horses' hoofs, and occasionally a word or two spoken in an
undertone, by gruff voices.

He was anxious to avoid an encounter with their owners, and on reaching
the outskirts of the wood, suddenly left the road, and springing to the
ground, took his horse by the bridle, and led him along for some rods
under the trees; then fastening him securely, opened a bundle he had
brought with him, and speedily arrayed himself in the hideous Ku Klux
disguise.

He stood a moment intently listening. The same sounds still coming from
the road; evidently many men were traveling it that night; and Snell
reflected with grave concern, though without a shadow of fear, that if
seen and recognized by any one of them his life would speedily pay the
forfeit of his temerity; for spite of his acquaintance with their secret
signs, he was not a member of the order.

He was, in fact, a detective in pursuit of evidence to convict the
perpetrators of the outrages wh

Martha Finley (1828 - 1909) was a teacher and author of numerous works, the most well known being the 28 volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. The daughter of Presbyterian minister Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and cousin Maria Theresa Brown Finley, she was born on April 26th, 1828 in Chillicothe, Ohio. Finley wrote many of her books under the psodonym Martha Farquharson. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland, where she moved in 1876.

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