"What did the Klansman say to you?" "He said I hadn't been payin' our preachah. I spec dat skunk of a Sam Jenkins done set 'em on me." "What did they do?" "This big spook done say he give me one moah chance." "Why didn't you grab him and lift his mask?" Golter asked. "He was too big and powahful." "How big was he?" asked Ruth. "He must have been seben feet tall." "You thought he was too big for you to grapple with?" "Yas, ma'am, he was too big--besides he threatened me with a gun." "Are you sure he had a gun?" she asked. "Yes'm, I'se shuah. I didn't see the gun itsef. He kept it covered with his robe, but he shuah nuf pointed it at me." "This is no more than I have been expecting," Mr. Stover remarked, and the clerks resumed their work. All day at irregular intervals Ruth shook with suppressed laughter. That evening when she reached home and saw a copy of the Journal she gave full vent to her mirth. Springer had made the most capital possible out of the incident. This was a consequence that Ruth had not foreseen. When she saw the article she was thoroughly amused at the exaggerated garbled report of it, but after reflecting on the article she regretted that she had staged the affair. She had never once thought of the incident's being used to the detriment of the Klan. She re-read the article: KU KLUX KLAN MOB NEGRO His Life Threatened "The very thing that was to be expected of the Ku Klux Klan has come to pass in Wilford Springs. Last night about 9 p.m. a dozen or more members of the Ku Klux Klan went to the main entrance of the Central State Bank of Wilford. One of their number, wearing a robe and mask, entered the corridor and waited for Rastus Jones, the janitor of the bank, who was doing some work on the inside. When he had finished his work and was walking through the corridor leaving the building a man in a white robe and wearing a mask suddenly stepped from behind the elevator and forced Mr. Jones into a corner at the point of a revolver. The Klansman threatened the life of Mr. Jones if he did not agree to do something that was contrary to the dictates of his conscience. The white robed and hooded ruffian then flourished the gun in the face of Mr. Jones and warned him that he would be given only the one chance. Mr. Jones was then forced to face the wall and was told to count to three hundred before looking around. When he had counted the required number and reached the street, the Klansmen were gone. The robed Klansman is described as a very large man with an exceedingly heavy voice. "It seems that Mr. Jones had had a little trouble with another colored man, and he is of the opinion that this man secured the assistance of the Klan. This seems plausible as Mr. Jones is a highly respected colored man, honest and industrious. This hooded organization has been known before to act as an agent to punish someone through personal spite.