the
undertaker's wagon, and went on his way. This incident somewhat awed the
bandits, some of whom stood off some little distance and watched him
through the scene; and his progress was attended with but little
further difficulty. When he reached Front Street, however, the Record
Office on Dry Pond had been burned, and the futile attempt to murder the
workmen at the cotton press had been made. Several black men had been
killed during the morning, and their bodies left where they had been
shot down. At the corner of Front and Chestnut Streets three men passed
him under guard, walking rapidly toward the depot, and whom he
recognized as prominent citizens--one a grocery man another quite an
extensive real estate owner and money lender, while the third, a white
man, had been a magistrate in the city for quite a number of years.
These men were being escorted to the trains by soldiers, who had
considerable trouble in keeping a mob of men and boys from doing them
violence. "Well, what are you standing up here for?" asked a man,
turning aside from the throng that surrounded the fugitives, and
akimbowed in front of the minister. "No niggers are allowed to loiter;
white men are in charge of affairs from now on." "I have a pass that
permits me to interview the Colonel," answered Dr. Le Grand, holding up
the paper before the man's eyes. The man took the paper and read it
slowly. "Come," said he in a gentler tone of voice, "I'll take you
through to the Colonel, for you can't go by yourself." Across the
street, and in the direction of the cotton press they proceeded. At the
corner of Mulberry Street they met Colonel Moss going southward, with a
crowd of soldiers and citizens about him. He scowled at the minister,
his face flushed with anger as the minister saluted. "What do you want?"
he roared. "That's the question I have come to ask you," returned the
minister. "What do you wish us to do? We are willing to do anything to
stop this carnage." "We want nothing! We are masters of the situation,"
answered the Colonel hotly. But the minister persisted. "Hear me,
Colonel. This is indeed a one-sided fight. Our men are unarmed, and are
the chief sufferers in this affair." "It's your own fault," roared
Colonel Moss. "We gave you colored leaders time to comply with our
request to burn the negro's printing outfit. We waited twelve hours for
your reply, and it came not, so we took the matter into our own hands.
We propose to scourge this black p