At this juncture a man of medium stature, with a massive head crowned by a shock of reddish hair, a smooth-shaven, freckled face, and small feet and hands stood in the doorway. He wore a long black broadcloth coat, a waistcoat of the same material, and baggy gray trousers. The exposed portion of his shirt-front and the lapels of his coat were stained by tobacco juice. “I've been up to the den, over to the Club, and the Lord only knows where else looking for you,” he said to his partner, as he advanced, leaned against a showcase on the counter, and stretched out his arms behind him. “Work for us, eh?” Carson smiled. “No; since when have you ever done a lick after dark?” was the dry reply. “I've come to give you a piece of advice, and I'm glad Blackburn is here to join me. The truth is, Dan Willis is in town. He is full and loaded for bear. He's down at the wagon-yard with a gang of his mountain pals. Some meddling person--no doubt your beautiful political opponent Wiggin--has told him what you said about the part he took in the mob that raided! negro town.” “Well, he doesn't deny it, does he?” Dwight asked, his eyes flashing. “I don't know whether he does or not,” said Gamer. “But I know he's the most reckless and dangerous man in the county, and when he is drunk he will halt at nothing. I thought I'd advise you to avoid him.” “Avoid him? You mean to say”--Dwight stood up in his anger--“that I, a free-born American citizen, must sneak around in my own home to avoid a man that puts on a white mask and sheet and with fifty others like himself steals into town and nearly thrashes the life out of a lot of banjo-picking negroes? Most of them were good-for-nothing, lazy scamps, but they were born that way, and there was one in the bunch that I know was harmless. Oh yes, I got mad about it, and I talked plainly, I know, but I couldn't help it.” “You _could_ have helped it,” Gamer said, testily; “and you ought to have protected your own interests better than to give Wiggin such a strong pull over you. If you are elected it will be by the aid of that very mob and their kin and friends. We may be able to smooth it all over, but if you have an open row with Dan Willis to-night, the cause of it will spread like wildfire, and bum votes for you in wads and bunches. Good God, man, the idea of giving Wiggin a torch like that to wave in the face of your constituency--you, a _town_ man, standing up for the black criminal brutes that are plotting to pull down the white race! I say that's the way Wiggin and Dan Willis would interpret your platform.”