The mob of whites surrounded the bus. The white passengers got off.
The Negro passengers, frightened, huddled in the rear, with the
exception of the one Negro man who remained in his seat. He seemed
utterly calm and some said he smiled slightly.
The mob started to throw rocks at the bus. Soon all the safety
plate windows were spiderwebbed and it became difficult to see
inside.
Then someone shouted, "Let's get him!" And there was a surge toward
the door of the bus.
But no one went in. Some said no one was _able_ to get in--that
some sort of invisible shield hurled back anyone who mounted past
the first step.
The frustrated, howling mob, seemingly in a lynching mood, raged
around the bus for half an hour until they were dispersed by the
arrival of the state police.
Cagle, the driver, was located and, with the state police escorting
him, he drove the bus to Biloxi.
There the Negro man was questioned and finally released. He gave
his name as Brown. He went to the home of the Rev. James Evander, a
prominent Negro clergyman, to spend the night.
Cagle was reprimanded by the bus company, which said the Negro man
had been entirely within his rights. A company spokesman said he
did not know at the moment what it planned to do about the damage
to its bus.
Sheriff Grout was reported to be in fair condition in the hospital.
I made only minor changes in the story before I sent it on to London,
under a byline. I don't know what color Mr. Patterson, our Mount Pelley
stringer, is. It isn't one of the questions we ask at World Wide. I
suppose he'd have to be white in a place like that. But I'm sure Mr.
Brown would have been glad to know he existed, to help balance Sheriff
Grout.