These leaders went to work at once to elect their candidates. Rastus Jones was the colored janitor of the Wilford Springs Central State Bank. He was a good janitor and prided himself on the fact that he was the janitor of the "biggest bank in Wilford Springs." Like most members of his race, he was superstitious and possessed an imagination that became very active under the stimulus of fear. "Rastus," said Stover as the janitor was straightening things in his office, "what do you think of the race for mayor?" "Law, Mistah Stover, I don't know much about elections. I ain't no politician." "What do the colored folks think of the candidates for mayor?" "I hears a heap o' them say that they's goin' to vote for Mistah Greene--that he's a powerful good man." "Do they talk that way, Rastus?" "Yes, sar, lots of them do." "Rastus, you tell your friends that if they vote for Greene they are working against their own interests. Greene is in favor of the Ku Klux Klan." "Fo' de Lawd's sake! You sholy don't mean dat, Mistah Stover!" Rastus dropped the waste basket which he held in his hand and threw up both hands. "Yes, that's a fact, Rastus, and you know what the Ku Klux Klan is." "Yes, sar; I's herd my ole father tell how they uster whip niggers down South afteh the wa'." "The new order is worse on colored men than the old one. I was reading where they took a colored man from his home the other night and whipped him--and then gave him a coat of tar and feathers, just because he had had a dispute with a white man over a bill that the white man owed him." "Is that a fac'?" "In many places they run the negroes out of the country." "Lawd help us! You sure that Mistah Greene is for the Ku Klux?" "Yes, there are a few of them here now and they are supporting him. If we can elect Clark we can see that they do not do any damage here. I advise you to tell your friends that if they want to get a flogging or swing from a tree some dark night just to go ahead and vote for Greene." "Say, Mistah Stover, you don't know nuffin' 'bout niggahs if you think they're goin' to vote fo' Greene after I tell 'em about them Kluxers." "Mr. Roberts is waiting out here to see you," one of the bookkeepers informed Stover as Rastus left his office. "Tell him to come in." Roberts was a small contractor who had a good reputation for honesty. "How are you, Roberts? Have a chair." "Thank you." "What can I do for you?" "I just wanted to talk with you a little while. What do you think of Clark's chance for election?" "Fine! I don't think there is any doubt about it. He has the support of all the good politicians." "If he is elected, he is willing to appoint me chief of police." "That suits me. You would be a good man for the place." "Clark says that campaign expenses are heavy and he would like to have me 'kick in' two hundred dollars." "That would be a safe investment." "The trouble is I am short at this time. I haven't the two hundred."