"Have I not reason, Calhoun?" Mr. Dinsmore asked, looking searchingly
into the lad's face.

"Yes, sir, I own that appearances are strongly against me, and I can not
disprove the tale they tell; but--oh, if you could trust me still,
uncle!"

He lifted his head, and gazed fearlessly into the keen dark eyes still
bent searchingly upon him.

Mr. Dinsmore held out his hand, and cordially grasped the one Calhoun
placed in it.

"Well, my boy, I will try: it is far pleasanter than to doubt you. But
there is some one at Roselands who is disposed to aid and abet the Ku
Klux in their lawless proceedings."

"I can not deny that," said the nephew, "yet it would ill become me to
say who it is; and I think, sir, since grandpa has set down his foot so
decidedly in opposition, there will be no more of it. Travilla and
Cousin Elsie have given me their confidence again, and I assure you,
sir, I am deeply grateful to you all."




Chapter Twelfth.

"If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly
What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps,
Fill all thy bones with aches; make thee roar,
That beasts shall tremble at thy din."
--SHAKESPEARE'S TEMPEST.


The Ion family were spending the day at the Oaks. It was now early in
the fall of 1868 and political excitement ran high over the coming
presidential election. There had been as yet no effectual check given to
the lawless proceedings of the Ku Klux, and their frequent raids and
numerous deeds of violence had inaugurated a reign of terror that was a
shame and reproach to our boasted civilization and free institutions.

Many of the poorer class, both blacks and whites, dared not pass the
night in their houses, but when darkness fell, fled for safety to the
shelter of the nearest woods, carrying their beds with them, and
sleeping in the open air.

That the Ku Klux Klan was a political organization working in the
interests of the Democratic party, their words to their victims left no
doubt. The latter were told that they were punished for bel

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.

Anonymous may refer to: Anonymus, the Latin spelling, may refer to: