as this demonstration is, gentlemen," he began
quietly, "it is my duty, nevertheless, to ask you if you have seriously
considered the meaning of the news I have brought. It is my duty to
tell you that it means civil war. It means the clash of arms between two
sections of a mighty country; it means the disruption of friends, the
breaking of family ties, the separation of fathers and sons, of brothers
and sisters--even, perhaps, to the disseverment of husband and wife!"

"It means the sovereignty of the South--and the breaking of a covenant
with lowborn traders and abolitionists," said Captain Pinckney.

"If there are any gentlemen present," continued the stranger, without
heeding the interruption, "who have pledged this State to the support
of the South in this emergency, or to the establishment of a Pacific
republic in aid and sympathy with it, whose names are on this paper"--he
lifted a sheet of paper lying before Colonel Starbottle--"but who now
feel that the gravity of the news demands a more serious consideration
of the purpose, they are at liberty to withdraw from the meeting, giving
their honor, as Southern gentlemen, to keep the secret intact."

"Not if I know it," interrupted a stalwart Kentuckian, as he rose to his
feet and strode down the steps to the patio. "For," he added, placing
his back against the gateway, "I'll shoot the first coward that backs
out now."

A roar of laughter and approval followed, but was silenced again by the
quiet, unimpassioned voice of the stranger. "If, on the other hand," he
went on calmly, "you all feel that this news is the fitting culmination
and consecration of the hopes, wishes, and plans of this meeting, you
will assert it again, over your own signatures, to Colonel Starbottle at
this table."

When the Kentuckian had risen, Clarence had started from his
concealment; when he now saw the eager figures pressing forward to the
table he hesitated no longer. Slipping along the passage, he reached
the staircase which led to the corridor in the rear of the balcony.
Descending this rapidly, he not only came upon the backs of the excited
crowd around the table, but even elbowed one of the conspirators aside
without being noticed. His wife, who had risen from her chair at the
end of the balcony, was already moving towards the table. With a quick
movement he seized her wrist, and threw her back in the chair again.
A cry broke from her lips as she recognized him, but still holding her