within the borders of the state. At that time the law
providing separate coaches for colored and white people had not been
enacted by any of the Southern States. But in some of them the whites
had an unwritten but inexorable law, to the effect that no Negro
should be allowed to ride in a first-class coach. Louisiana was one of
these states, but Belton did not know this. So, being in a first-class
coach when he entered Louisiana, he did not get up and go into a
second-class coach. The train was speeding along and Belton was
quietly reading a newspaper. Now and then he would look out of a
window at the pine tree forest near the track. The bed of the railway
had been elevated some two or three feet above the ground, and to get
the dirt necessary to elevate it a sort of trench had been dug, and
ran along beside the track. The rain had been falling very copiously
for the two or three days previous, and the ditch was full of muddy
water. Belton's eyes would now and then fall on this water as they
sped along.

In the meanwhile the train began to get full, passengers getting on
at each station. At length the coach was nearly filled. A white lady
entered, and not at once seeing a vacant seat, paused a few seconds to
look about for one. She soon espied an unoccupied seat. She proceeded
to it, but her slight difficulty had been noted by the white
passengers.

Belton happened to glance around and saw a group of white men in an
eager, animated conversation, and looking in his direction now and
then as they talked. He paid no especial attention to this, however,
and kept on reading. Before he was aware of what was going on, he
was surrounded by a group of angry men. He stood up in surprise to
discover its meaning. "Get out of this coach. We don't allow niggers
in first-class coaches. Get out at once," said their spokesman.

"Show me your authority to order me out, sir," said Belton firmly.

"We are our own authority, as you will soon find out if you don't get
out of here."

"I propose," said Belton, "to stay right in this coach as long----"
He did not finish the sentence, for rough fingers were clutching his
throat. The whole group was upon him in an instant and he was soon
overpowered. They dragged him into the aisle, and, some at his head
and others at his feet, lifted him and bore him to the door. The train
was speeding along at a rapid rate. Belton grew somewhat quiet in his
struggling, thinking to renew it in the second-c