Toward eleven o'clock on the evening before election day, a long, low
roadster swept up to the door of a stately country home near Richmond,
Va., crunched to a stop, the lights were extinguished and two men, one
tall and angular, the other huge and stout, catapulted from the car.
Without wasting words, they raced around the house and down a small
driveway to a rambling shed in a level field about three hundred yards
to the rear. Breathless, they halted before the door and beat upon it
excitedly.
"Open up there, Frazier!" ordered Snobbcraft, for it was he. "Open that
door." There was no answer. The only reply was the chirping of crickets
and the rustle of branches.
"He must not be here," said Dr. Buggerie, glancing fearfully over his
shoulder and wiping a perspiring brow with a damp handkerchief.
"The damned rascal had better be here," thundered the Democratic
candidate for Vice-President, beating again on the door. "I telephoned
him two hours ago to be ready."
As he spoke someone unlocked the door and rolled it aside an inch or
two.
"Is that you, Mr. Snobbcraft?" asked a sleepy voice from the darkness
within.
"Open that damned door, you fool," barked Snobbcraft. "Didn't I tell
you to have that plane ready when we got here? Why don't you do
as you're told?" He and Dr. Buggerie helped slide the great doors
back. The man Frazier snapped on the lights, revealing within a big,
three-motored plane with an automobile nestling under each of its wings.
"I-I kinda fell asleep waitin' for you, Mr. Snobbcraft," Frazier
apologized, "but everything's ready."
"All right, man," shouted the president of the Anglo-Saxon Association,
"let's get away from here then. This is a matter of life and death. You
ought to have had the plane outside and all warmed up to go."
"Yes sir," the man mumbled meekly, busying himself.
"These damned, stupid, poor white trash!" growled Snobbcraft, glaring
balefully at the departing aviator.
"D-D-Don't antagonize him," muttered Buggerie. "He's our only chance to
get away."
"Shut up, fool! If it hadn't been for you and your damned fool
statistics we wouldn't be in this fix."
"You wanted them, didn't you?" whined the statistician in defense.
"Well, I didn't tell you to leave that damned summary where anybody
could get hold of it." Snobbcraft replied, reproachfully. "That was the
most stupid thing I ever heard of."
Buggerie opened his mouth to reply but said nothing. He just glared at
Snobbcraft who glared back at him. The two men presented a disheveled
appearance. The Vice-Presidential candidate was haggard, hatless,
collarless and still wore his smoking jacket. The eminent statistician
and author of _The Incidence of Psittacosis among the Hiphopa Indians
of the Amazon Valley and Its Relation to Life Insurance Rates in the
United States_, looked far from dignified with no necktie, canvas
breeches, no socks and wearing a shooting jacket he had snatched from
a closet on his way out of the house. He had forgotten his thick
spectacles and his bulging eyes were red and watery. They paced
impatiently back and forth, glancing first at the swiftly working
Frazier and then down the long driveway toward the glowing city.
Ten minutes they waited while Frazier went over the plane to see that
all was well. Then they helped him roll the huge metal bird out of the
hangar and on to the field. Gratefully they climbed inside and fell
exhausted on the soft-cushioned seats.
"Well, that sure is a relief," gasped the ponderous Buggerie, mopping
his brow.
"Wait until we get in the air," growled Snobbcraft. "Anything's liable
to happen after that mob tonight. I was never so humiliated in my life.
The idea of that gang of poor white trash crowding up my steps and
yelling nigger. It was disgraceful."
"Yes, it was terrible," agreed Buggerie. "It's a good thing they didn't
go in the rear where your car was. We wouldn't have been able to get
away."
"I thought there would be a demonstration," said Snobbcraft, some
of his old sureness returning, "that's why I 'phoned Frazier to get
ready.... Oh, it's a damned shame to be run out of your own home in
this way!"
He glared balefully at the statistician who averted his gaze.
"All ready, sir," announced Frazier, "where are we headed?"
"To my ranch in Chihuahua, and hurry up," snapped Snobbcraft.
"But--But we ain't got enough gas to go that far," said Frazier.
"I-I-You didn't say you wanted to go to Mexico, Boss."
Snobbcraft stared incredulously at the man. His rage was so great
that he could not speak for a moment or two. Then he launched into a
stream of curses that would have delighted a pirate captain, while the
unfortunate aviator gaped indecisively.
In the midst of this diatribe, the sound of automobile horns and
klaxons rent the air, punctuated by shouts and pistol shots. The three
men in the plane saw coming down the road from the city a bobbing
stream of headlights. Already the cavalcade was almost to the gate of
the Snobbcraft country estate.
"Come on, get out of here," gasped Snobbcraft. "We'll get some gas
farther down the line. Hurry up!"
Dr. Buggerie, speechless and purple with fear, pushed the aviator out
of the plane. The fellow gave the propeller a whirl, jumped back into
the cabin, took the controls and the great machine rolled out across
the field.
They had started none too soon. The automobile cavalcade was already
coming up the driveway. The drone of the motor drowned out the sound of
the approaching mob but the two fearful men saw several flashes that
betokened pistol shots. Several of the automobiles took out across the
field in the wake of the plane. They seemed to gain on it. Snobbcraft
and Buggerie gazed nervously ahead. They were almost at the end of
the field and the plane had not yet taken to the air. The pursuing
automobiles drew closer. There were several more flashes from firearms.
A bullet tore through the side of the cabin. Simultaneously Snobbcraft
and Buggerie fell to the floor.
At last the ship rose, cleared the trees at the end of the field and
began to attain altitude. The two men took deep breaths of relief, rose
and flung themselves on the richly upholstered seats.
A terrible stench suddenly became noticeable to the two passengers
and the aviator. The latter looked inquiringly over his shoulder;
Snobbcraft and Buggerie, their noses wrinkled and their foreheads
corrugated, glanced suspiciously at each other. Both moved uneasily
in their seats and looks of guilt succeeded those of accusation.
Snobbcraft retreated precipitously to the rear cabin while the
statistician flung open several windows and then followed the
Vice-Presidential candidate.
Fifteen minutes later two bundles were tossed out of the window of the
rear cabin and the two passengers, looking sheepish but much relieved,
resumed their seats. Snobbcraft was wearing a suit of brown dungarees
belonging to Frazier while his scientific friend had wedged himself
into a pair of white trousers usually worn by Snobbcraft's valet.
Frazier turned, saw them, and grinned.
Hour after hour the plane winged its way through the night. Going a
hundred miles an hour it passed town after town. About dawn, as they
were passing over Meridian, Mississippi, the motor began to miss.
"What's the matter there?" Snobbcraft inquired nervously into the
pilot's ear.
"The gas is runnin' low," Frazier replied grimly. "We'll have to land
pretty soon."
"No, no, not in Mississippi!" gasped Buggerie, growing purple with
apprehension. "They'll lynch us if they find out who we are."
"Well, we can't stay up here much longer," the pilot warned.
Snobbcraft bit his lip and thought furiously. It was true they would
be taking a chance by landing anywhere in the South, let alone in
Mississippi, but what could they do? The motor was missing more
frequently and Frazier had cut down their speed to save gasoline. They
were just idling along. The pilot looked back at Snobbcraft inquiringly.
"By God, we're in a fix now," said the president of the Anglo-Saxon
Association. Then he brightened with a sudden idea. "We could hide in
the rear cabin while Frazier gets gasoline," he suggested.
"Suppose somebody looks in the rear cabin?" queried Buggerie,
dolefully, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his white trousers.
"There's bound to be a lot of curious people about when a big plane
like this lands in a farming district."
As he spoke his left hand encountered something hard in the pocket. It
felt like a box of salve. He withdrew it curiously. It was a box of
shoe polish which the valet doubtless used on Snobbcraft's footgear.
He looked at it aimlessly and was about to thrust it back into the
pocket when he had a brilliant idea.
"Look here, Snobbcraft," he cried excitedly, his rheumy eyes popping
out of his head farther than usual. "This is just the thing."
"What do you mean?" asked his friend, eyeing the little tin box.
"Well," explained the scientist, "you know real niggers are scarce
now and nobody would think of bothering a couple of them, even in
Mississippi. They'd probably be a curiosity."
"What are you getting at, man?"
"This: we can put this blacking on our head, face, neck and hands,
and no one will take us for Snobbcraft and Buggerie. Frazier can tell
anybody that inquires that we're two darkies he's taking out of the
country, or something like that. Then, after we get our gas and start
off again, we can wash the stuff off with gasoline. It's our only
chance, Arthur. If we go down like we are, they'll kill us sure."
Snobbcraft pursed his lips and pondered the proposition for a moment.
It was indeed, he saw, their only chance to effectively escape
detection.
"All right," he agreed, "let's hurry up. This ship Won't stay up much
longer."
Industriously they daubed each other's head, neck, face, chest, hands
and arms with the shoe polish. In five minutes they closely resembled
a brace of mammy singers. Snobbcraft hurriedly instructed Frazier.
The plane slowly circled to the ground. The region was slightly rolling
and there was no good landing place. There could be no delay, however,
so Frazier did his best. The big ship bumped over logs and through
weeds, heading straight for a clump of trees. Quickly the pilot steered
it to the left only to send it head first into a ditch. The plane
turned completely over, one wing was entirely smashed and Frazier,
caught in the wreckage under the engine, cried feebly for help for a
few moments and then lay still.
Shaken up and bruised, the two passengers, managed to crawl out of
the cabin window to safety. Dolefully they stood in the Mississippi
sunlight, surveying the wreckage and looking questioningly at each
other.
"Well," whined Dr. Buggerie, rubbing one large sore buttock, "what now?"
"Shut up," growled Snobbcraft. "If it hadn't been for you, we wouldn't
be here."
* * * * *
Happy Hill, Mississippi, was all aflutter. For some days it had been
preparing for the great, open-air revival of the True Faith Christ
Lovers' Church. The faithful for miles around were expected to attend
the services scheduled for the afternoon of Election Day and which all
hoped would last well into the night.
This section of the state had been untouched by the troubles through
which the rest of the South had gone as a result of the activities of
Black-No-More, Incorporated. The people for miles around were with
very few exceptions old residents and thence known to be genuine
blue-blooded Caucasians for as far back as any resident could remember
which was at least fifty years. The people were proud of this fact.
They were more proud, however, of the fact that Happy Hill was the
home and birthplace of the True Faith Christ Lovers' Church, which
made the prodigious boast of being the most truly Fundamentalist of
all the Christian sects in the United States. Other things of which
the community might have boasted were its inordinately high illiteracy
rate and its lynching record--but these things were seldom mentioned,
although no one was ashamed of them. Certain things are taken for
granted everywhere.
Long before the United States had rid themselves of their Negroes
through the good but unsolicited offices of Dr. Junius Crookman, Happy
Hill had not only rid itself of what few Negroes had resided in its
vicinity but of all itinerant blackamoors who lucklessly came through
the place. Ever since the Civil War when the proud and courageous
forefathers of the Caucasian inhabitants had vigorously resisted all
efforts to draft them into the Confederate Army, there had been a sign
nailed over the general store and post office reading, "NIGER REDE &
RUN. IF U CAN'T REDE, RUN ENEYHOWE." The literate denizens of Happy
Hill would sometimes stand off and spell out the words with the pride
that usually accompanies erudition.
The method by which Happy Hill discouraged blackamoors who sought the
hospitality of the place, was simple: the offending Ethiopian was
either hung or shot and then broiled. Across from the general store
and post office was a large iron post about five feet high. On it all
blacks were burned. Down one side of it was a long line of nicks made
with hammer and chisel. Each nick stood for a Negro dispatched. This
post was one of the landmarks of the community and was pointed out
to visitors with pardonable civic pride by local boosters. Sage old
fellows frequently remarked between expectorations of tobacco juice
that the only Negro problem in Happy Hill was the difficulty of getting
hold of a sufficient number of the Sons or Daughters of Ham to lighten
the dullness of the place.
Quite naturally the news that all Negroes had disappeared, not only
from their state but from the entire country, had been received with
sincere regret by the inhabitants of Happy Hill. They envisioned the
passing of an old, established custom. Now there was nothing left to
stimulate them but the old time religion and the clandestine sex orgies
that invariably and immediately followed the great revival meetings.
So the simple country folk had turned to religion with renewed ardor.
There were several churches in the county, Methodist, Baptist,
Campbellite and, of course, Holy Roller. The latter, indeed, had the
largest membership. But the people, eager for something new, found all
of the old churches too tame. They wanted a faith with more punch to
it; a faith that would fittingly accompany the fierce corn liquor which
all consumed, albeit they were all confirmed Prohibitionists.
Whenever and wherever there is a social need, some agency arises to
supply it. The needs of Happy Hill were no exception. One day, several
weeks previously, there had come to the community one Rev. Alex McPhule
who claimed to be the founder of a new faith, a true faith, that would
save all from the machinations of the Evil One. The other churches,
he averred, had failed. The other churches had grown soft and were
flirting with atheism and Modernism which, according to Rev. McPhule,
were the same thing. An angel of God had visited him one summer evening
in Meridian, he told them, when he was down sick in bed as the result
of his sinning ways, and had told him to reform and go forth into the
world and preach the true faith of Christ's love. He had promised to
do so, of course, and then the angel had placed the palm of his right
hand on Rev. McPhule's forehead and all of the sickness and misery had
departed.
The residents of Happy Hill and vicinity listened with rapt attention
and respect. The man was sincere, eloquent and obviously a Nordic.
He was tall, thin, slightly knock-kneed, with a shock of unkempt red
hair, wild blue eyes, hollow cheeks, lantern jaw and long ape-like
arms that looked very impressive when he waved them up and down during
a harangue. His story sounded logical to the country people and they
flocked in droves to his first revival held in a picturesque natural
amphitheater about a mile from town.
No one had any difficulty in understanding the new faith. No music
was allowed besides singing and thumping the bottom of a wooden tub.
There were no chairs. Everybody sat on the ground in a circle with Rev.
McPhule in the center. The holy man would begin an extemporaneous song
and would soon have the faithful singing it after him and swinging from
side to side in unison. Then he would break off abruptly and launch
into an old fashion hellfire-and-damnation sermon in which demons,
brimstone, adultery, rum, and other evils prominently figured. At the
height of his remarks, he would roll his eyes heavenward, froth at
the mouth, run around on all fours and embrace in turn each member
of the congregation, especially the buxom ladies. This would be the
signal for others to follow his example. The sisters and brothers
osculated, embraced and rolled, shouting meanwhile: "Christ is Love!...
Love Christ!... Oh, be happy in the arms of Jesus!... Oh, Jesus, my
Sweetheart!... Heavenly Father!" Frequently these revivals took place
on the darkest nights with the place of worship dimly illuminated by
pine torches. As these torches always seemed to conveniently burn out
about the time the embracing and rolling started, the new faith rapidly
became popular.
In a very short time nothing in Happy Hill was too good for Rev. Alex
McPhule. Every latch-string hung out for him. As usual with gentlemen
of the cloth, he was especially popular with the ladies. When the men
were at work in the fields, the Man of God would visit house after
house and comfort the womenfolk with his Christian message. Being a
bachelor, he made these professional calls with great frequency.
The Rev. Alex McPhule also held private audiences with the sick,
sinful and neurotic in his little cabin. There he had erected an altar
covered with the white marble top from an old bureau. Around this altar
were painted some grotesque figures, evidently the handiwork of the
evangelist, while on the wall in back of the altar hung a large square
of white oilcloth upon which was painted a huge eye. The sinner seeking
surcease was commanded to gaze upon the eye while making confessions
and requests. On the altar reposed a crudely-bound manuscript about
three inches thick. This was the "Bible" of the Christ Lovers which the
Rev. McPhule declared he had written at the command of Jesus Christ
Himself. The majority of his visitors were middle-aged wives and
adenoidal and neurotic young girls. None departed unsatisfied.
With all the good fortune that had come to the Rev. McPhule as a result
of engaging in the Lord's work, he was still dissatisfied. He never
passed a Baptist, Methodist or Holy Roller church without jealousy and
ambition surging up within him. He wanted everybody in the county in
his flock. He wanted to do God's work so effectually that the other
churches would be put out of business. He could only do this, he knew,
with the aid of a message straight from Heaven. That alone would
impress them.
He began to talk in his meetings about a sign coming down from Heaven
to convince all doubters and infidels like Methodists and Baptists. His
flock was soon on the nervous edge of expectancy but the Lord failed,
for some reason, to answer the prayer of his right-hand man.
Rev. McPhule began to wonder what he had done to offend the Almighty.
He prayed long and fervently in the quiet of his bedchamber, except
when he didn't have company, but no sign appeared. Possibly, thought
the evangelist, some big demonstration might attract the attention of
Jesus; something bigger than the revivals he had been staging. Then
one day somebody brought him a copy of _The Warning_ and upon reading
it he got an idea. If the Lord would only send him a nigger for his
congregation to lynch! That would, indeed, be marked evidence of the
power of Rev. Alex McPhule.
He prayed with increased fervency but no African put in an appearance.
Two nights later as he sat before his altar, his "Bible" clutched in
his hands, a bat flew in the window. It rapidly circled the room and
flew out again. Rev. McPhule could feel the wind from its wings. He
stood erect with a wild look in his watery blue eyes and screamed, "A
sign! A sign! Oh, Glory be! The Lord has answered my prayer! Oh, thank
you, God! A sign! A sign!" Then he grew dizzy, his eyes dimmed and he
fell twitching across the altar, unconscious.
Next day he went around Happy Hill telling of his experience of the
night before. An angel of the Lord, he told the gaping villagers, had
flown through the window, alighted on his "Bible" and, kissing him on
his forehead, had declared that the Lord would answer his prayer and
send a sign. As proof of his tale, Rev. McPhule exhibited a red spot
on his forehead which he had received when his head struck the marble
altar top but which he claimed marked the place where the messenger of
the Lord had kissed him.
The simple folk of Happy Hill were, with few exceptions, convinced that
the Rev. McPhule stood in well with the celestial authorities. Nervous
and expectant they talked of nothing but The Sign. They were on edge
for the great revival scheduled for Election Day at which time they
fervently hoped the Lord would make good.
At last the great day had arrived. From far and near came the good
people of the countryside on horseback, in farm wagons and battered
mud-caked flivvers. Many paused to cast their ballots for Givens
and Snobbcraft, not having heard of the developments of the past
twenty-four hours, but the bulk of the folk repaired immediately to the
sacred grove where the preaching would take place.
Rev. Alex McPhule gloated inwardly at the many concentric circles of
upturned faces. They were eager, he saw, to drink in his words of
wisdom and be elevated. He noted with satisfaction that there were
many strange people in the congregation. It showed that his power was
growing. He glanced up apprehensively at the blue heavens. Would The
Sign come? Would the Lord answer his prayers? He muttered another
prayer and then proceeded to business.
He was an impressive figure today. He had draped himself in a long,
white robe with a great red cross on the left breast and he looked not
unlike one of the Prophets of old. He walked back and forth in the
little circle surrounded by close-packed humanity, bending backward and
forward, swinging his arms, shaking his head and rolling his eyes while
he retold for the fiftieth time the story of the angel's visit. The man
was a natural actor and his voice had that sepulchral tone universally
associated with Men of God, court criers and Independence Day orators.
In the first row squatted the Happy Hill True Faith Choir of eight
young women with grizzled old man Yawbrew, the tub-thumper, among them.
They groaned, amened and Yes-Lorded at irregular intervals.
Then, having concluded his story, the evangelist launched into song in
a harsh, nasal voice:
_I done come to Happy Hill to save you from Sin,
Salvation's door is open and you'd better come in,
Oh, Glory Hallelujah! you'd better come in.
Jesus Christ has called me to save this white race,
And with His Help I'll save you from awful disgrace.
Oh, Glory Hallelujah! We must save this race._
Old man Yawbrew beat on his tub while the sisters swayed and
accompanied their pastor. The congregation joined in.
Suddenly Rev. McPhule stopped, glared at the rows of strained, upturned
faces and extending his long arms to the sun, he shouted:
"It'll come I tell yuh. Yes Lord, the sign will come--ugh. I know
that my Lord liveth and the sign will come--ugh. If--ugh--you just
have faith--ugh. Oh, Jesus--ugh. Brothers and Sisters--ugh. Just
have faith--ugh--and the Lord--ugh--will answer your prayers....
Oh, Christ--ugh. Oh, Little Jesus--ugh.... Oh, God--ugh--answer our
prayers.... Save us--ugh. Send us the Sign...."
The congregation shouted after him "Send us the Sign!" Then he again
launched into a hymn composed on the spot:
"_He will send the Sign,
Oh, He will send the Sign
Loving Little Jesus Christ
He will send the Sign._"
Over and over he sang the verse. The people joined him until the volume
of sound was tremendous. Then with a piercing scream, Rev. McPhule fell
on all fours and running among the people hugged one after the other,
crying "Christ is Love!... He'll send the Sign!... Oh, Jesus! send us
The Sign!" The cries of the others mingled with his and there was a
general kissing, embracing and rolling there in the green-walled grove
under the midday sun.
* * * * *
As the sun approached its zenith, Mr. Arthur Snobbcraft and Dr. Samuel
Buggerie, grotesque in their nondescript clothing and their blackened
skins, trudged along the dusty road in what they hoped was the
direction of a town. For three hours, now, they had been on the way,
skirting isolated farmhouses and cabins, hoping to get to a place where
they could catch a train. They had fiddled aimlessly around the wrecked
plane for two or three hours before getting up courage enough to take
to the highroad. Suddenly they both thrilled with pleasure somewhat
dampened by apprehension as they espied from a rise in the road, a
considerable collection of houses.
"There's a town," exclaimed Snobbcraft. "Now let's get this damned
stuff off our faces. There's probably a telegraph office there."
"Oh, don't be crazy," Buggerie pleaded. "If we take off this blacking
we're lost. The whole country has heard the news about us by this time,
even in Mississippi. Let's go right in as we are, pretending we're
niggers, and I'll bet we'll be treated all right. We won't have to stay
long. With our pictures all over the country, it would be suicidal to
turn up here in one of these hotbeds of bigotry and ignorance."
"Well, maybe you're right," Snobbcraft grudgingly admitted. He was
eager to get the shoe polish off his skin. Both men had perspired
freely during their hike and the sweat had mixed with the blacking much
to their discomfort.
As they started toward the little settlement, they heard shouts and
singing on their left.
"What's that?" cried Dr. Buggerie, stopping to listen.
"Sounds like a camp meeting," Snobbcraft replied. "Hope it is. We can
be sure those folks will treat us right. One thing about these people
down here they are real, sincere Christians."
"I don't think it will be wise to go where there's any crowds," warned
the statistician. "You never can tell what a crowd will do."
"Oh, shut up, and come on!" Snobbcraft snapped. "I've listened to you
long enough. If it hadn't been for you we would never have had all of
this trouble. Statistics! Bah!"
They struck off over the fields toward the sound of the singing. Soon
they reached the edge of the ravine and looked down on the assemblage.
At about the same time, some of the people facing in that direction
saw them and started yelling "The Sign! Look! Niggers! Praise God! The
Sign! Lynch 'em!" Others joined in the cry. Rev. McPhule turned loose
a buxom sister and stood wide-eyed and erect. His prayers had come
true! "Lynch 'em!" he roared.
"We'd better get out of here," said Buggerie, quaking.
"Yes," agreed Snobbcraft, as the assemblage started to move toward them.
Over fences, through bushes, across ditches sped the two men, puffing
and wheezing at the unaccustomed exertion, while in hot pursuit came
Rev. McPhule followed by his enthusiastic flock.
Slowly the mob gained on the two Virginia aristocrats. Dr. Buggerie
stumbled and sprawled on the ground. A dozen men and women fell upon
him while he yelled to the speeding Snobbcraft for help. The angular
Snobbcraft kept on but Rev. McPhule and several others soon overtook
him.
The two men were marched protesting to Happy Hill. The enthused
villagers pinched them, pulled them, playfully punched and kicked them
during their triumphant march. No one paid the slightest attention to
their pleas. Too long had Happy Hill waited for a Negro to lynch. Could
the good people hesitate now that the Lord had answered their prayers?
Buggerie wept and Snobbcraft offered large sums of money for their
freedom. The money was taken and distributed but the two men were not
liberated. They insisted that they were not Negroes but they were only
cudgeled for their pains.
At last the gay procession arrived at the long-unused iron post in
front of the general store and post office in Happy Hill. As soon as
Mr. Snobbcraft saw the post he guessed its significance. Something must
be done quickly.
"We're not niggers," he yelled to the mob. "Take off our clothes and
look at us. See for yourself. My God! don't lynch white men. We're
white the same as you are."
"Yes, gentlemen," bleated Dr. Buggerie, "we're really white men.
We just came from a masquerade ball over at Meridian and our plane
wrecked. You can't do a thing like this. We're white men, I tell you."
The crowd paused. Even Rev. McPhule seemed convinced. Eager hands tore
off the men's garments and revealed their pale white skins underneath.
Immediately apology took the place of hatred. The two men were taken
over to the general store and permitted to wash off the shoe polish
while the crowd, a little disappointed, stood around wondering what to
do. They felt cheated. Somebody must be to blame for depriving them of
their fun. They began to eye Rev. McPhule. He glanced around nervously.
Suddenly, in the midst of this growing tenseness, an ancient Ford drove
up to the outskirts of the crowd and a young man jumped out waving a
newspaper.
"Looky here!" he yelled. "They've found out th' damned Demmycratic
candidates is niggers. See here: Givens and Snobbcraft. Them's their
pictures. They pulled out in airplanes last night or th' mobs wouldda
lynched 'em." Men, women and children crowded around the newcomer while
he read the account of the flight of the Democratic standard bearers.
They gazed at each other bewildered and hurled imprecations upon the
heads of the vanished candidates.
Washed and refreshed, Mr. Arthur Snobbcraft and Dr. Samuel Buggerie,
each puffing a five-cent cigar (the most expensive sold in the store)
appeared again on the porch of the general store. They felt greatly
relieved after their narrow escape.
"I told you they wouldn't know who we were," said Snobbcraft
disdainfully but softly.
"Who are you folks, anyway?" asked Rev. McPhule, suddenly at their
elbow. He was holding the newspaper in his hand. The crowd was watching
breathlessly.
"Why-why-y I'm-a-er-a that is ..." spluttered Snobbcraft.
"Ain't that your pichure?" thundered the evangelist, pointing to the
likeness on the front page of the newspaper.
"Why no," Snobbcraft lied, "but--but it looks like me, doesn't it?"
"You're mighty right it does!" said Rev. McPhule, sternly, "and it _is_
you, too!"
"No, no, no, that's not me," cried the president of the Anglo-Saxon
Association.
"Yes it is," roared McPhule, as the crowd closed in on the two hapless
men. "It's you and you're a nigger, accordin' to this here paper, an' a
newspaper wouldn't lie." Turning to his followers he commanded, "Take
'em. They're niggers just as I thought. The Lord's will be done. Idea
of niggers runnin' on th' Demmycratic ticket!"
The crowd came closer. Buggerie protested that he was really white but
it was of no avail. The crowd had sufficient excuse for doing what they
had wanted to do at first. They shook their fists in the two men's
faces, kicked them, tore off their nondescript garments, searched their
pockets and found cards and papers proving their identity, and but for
the calmness and presence of mind of the Rev. McPhule, the True Faith
Christ Lovers would have torn the unfortunate men limb from limb. The
evangelist restrained the more hot-headed individuals and insisted that
the ceremonies proceed according to time-honored custom.
So the impetuous yielded to wiser counsel. The two men, vociferously
protesting, were stripped naked, held down by husky and willing farm
hands and their ears and genitals cut off with jack knives amid the
fiendish cries of men and women. When this crude surgery was completed,
some wag sewed their ears to their backs and they were released and
told to run. Eagerly, in spite of their pain, both men tried to
avail themselves of the opportunity. Anything was better than this.
Staggering forward through an opening made in the crowd, they attempted
to run down the dusty road, blood streaming down their bodies. They had
only gone a few feet when, at a signal from the militant evangelist,
a half-dozen revolvers cracked and the two Virginians pitched forward
into the dust amid the uproarious laughter of the congregation.
The preliminaries ended, the two victims, not yet dead, were picked up,
dragged to the stake and bound to it, back to back. Little boys and
girls gaily gathered excelsior, scrap paper, twigs and small branches
while their proud parents fetched logs, boxes, kerosene and the staves
from a cider barrel. The fuel was piled up around the groaning men
until only their heads were visible.
When all was in readiness, the people fell back and the Rev. McPhule,
as master of ceremonies, ignited the pyre. As the flames shot upward,
the dazed men, roused by the flames, strained vainly at the chains that
held them. Buggerie found his voice and let out yelp after yelp as the
flames licked at his fat flesh. The crowd whooped with glee and Rev.
McPhule beamed with satisfaction. The flames rose higher and completely
hid the victims from view. The fire crackled merrily and the intense
heat drove the spectators back. The odor of cooking meat permeated
the clear, country air and many a nostril was guiltily distended. The
flames subsided to reveal a red-hot stake supporting two charred hulks.
There were in the assemblage two or three whitened Negroes, who,
remembering what their race had suffered in the past, would fain
have gone to the assistance of the two men but fear for their own
lives restrained them. Even so they were looked at rather sharply by
some of the Christ Lovers because they did not appear to be enjoying
the spectacle as thoroughly as the rest. Noticing these questioning
glances, the whitened Negroes began to yell and prod the burning
bodies with sticks and cast stones at them. This exhibition restored
them to favor and banished any suspicion that they might not be
one-hundred-per-cent Americans.
When the roasting was over and the embers had cooled, the more
adventurous members of Rev. McPhule's flock rushed to the stake and
groped in the two bodies for skeletal souvenirs such as forefingers,
toes and teeth. Proudly their pastor looked on. This was the crowning
of a life's ambition. Tomorrow his name would be in every newspaper
in the United States. God had indeed answered his prayers. He breathed
again his thanks as he thrust his hand into his pocket and felt the
soothing touch of the hundred-dollar bill he had extracted from
Snobbcraft's pocket. He was supremely happy.