in his direction and, with
a smile for which Ensal the great altruist, mark you, fancied he would
have been willing to return from a thousand Africas, she extended her
hand to him in greeting.

There is a saying among the Negroes to the effect that "If you give a
Negro an inch he will take an ell." Whatever may be the meaning of that
expression, this we do know, that when Tiara gave Ensal one hand, he
_deliberately_--no, we won't make the offense one of premeditation--he,
without deliberating the matter at all, hastily took not only more of
the hand than what Tiara offered, but the other one as well.

For the sake of Ensal's reputation for poise, already a little shaken,
we fear, we fain would draw the curtain just here; but as we have all
along sought to tell the whole truth about matters herein discussed, we
will have to allow our hero's reputation to take care of itself the best
way it can. Without obtaining any more consent than that which was
plainly written in Tiara's eyes, and without any pretense at delivering
any one of the many thousand little preliminary speeches framed for the
occasion, Ensal bent forward and kissed Tiara!

Now that he has by this act lost favor with you, dear reader, we shall
expose him to the utmost!

Dropping one of Tiara's hands, an arm stole around her waist, and Ensal
kissed her again and, sad to say, again, and, vexing thought, again. And
to cap the climax, the two were joyfully married that night, and on the
next day set out for Africa, to provide a home for the American Negro,
should the demented Eunice prove to be a wiser prophet than the hopeful,
irrepressible Earl; should the good people of America, North and South,
grow busy, confused or irresolute and fail, to the subversion of their
ideals, to firmly entrench the Negro in his political rights, the denial
of which, and the blight incident thereto, more than all other factors,
cause the Ethiopian in America to feel that his is indeed "The Hindered
Hand."

[Illustration: THE END]

NOTES FOR THE SERIOUS.

1. The author of THE HINDERED HAND was an eyewitness of the driving of
"Little Henry" to his death by the officers of the law.

2. The details of the Maulville burning were given the author by an
eyewitness of the tragedy, a man of national reputation among the
Negroes. Some of the more revolting features of that occurrence have
been suppressed for decency's sake. We would have been glad to eliminate
all of the