Harold the Klansman

"What are we going to do, mother?" asked little ten-year-old Grace Armstrong. Mrs. Armstrong wiped away a tear and answered, "I don't know what, but I think God will help us fin...

The bookkeeper of the S & M mine had worked for an hour after the miners had quit work, balancing his books for the day. All of the other clerks had left the office. He had clos...

The night following the election jollification the Stover-McBryan machine gang met in their consultation room where they were in close touch with Hennesy's beverages and where t...

The next day after Stover's arrest the town was in a furore. The man who had for years been looked upon as one of Wilford Springs' most successful business men had been charged...

The Reverend Earl Benton, pastor of the Methodist Church of Wilford Springs, took an active interest in the Klan. He made several speeches on Americanism and had publicly stated...

Harold King was walking in the clouds. He had received a letter from J.C. Welty asking him to come to the capital at once. He stated that he was going to build a large hotel, wo...

She was a slip of a girl--not more than sixteen years of age. She had boarded the early morning train at a little station and took a seat on the east side of the coach where she...

As the fall election drew near when county and state officers were to be elected, a tremendous effort was being made by all opposing factions to defeat those candidates that the...

The door between Ruth's office and the president's office was slightly ajar. She could hear the suppressed voices of Stover and another man. She caught a sentence that caused he...

Ruth Babcock was a heroine. To be sure folk did not think of her as deserving a place in any catalogue where the names of heroic folk are recorded. She was known in the communit...

Charles Wilson, a prosperous real estate dealer, sat in his office enjoying the breeze from his electric fan. Charles was a hustling real estate agent in spite of his two hundre...

Ruth watched the want ads in the papers and made many inquiries in her effort to secure employment. It was now three weeks since she had quit her job at the bank, and she had no...

During the summer several public meetings of the Klan were held near Wilford Springs. Ruth accompanied Harold to one of these and remarked, when she saw some Klansmen in robes,...

When Ruth reached her home she found her father worrying a great deal because of his inability to remember past things. "Ruth," he said, "it's a shame that you have to work so h...

"I don't care how much it injured the Ku Klux Klan; it deserves all the criticism it gets. What I dislike about it is that it causes comment about one of my employees and subjec...

"Have a chair. I will call her," Clara Babcock said to the young man who had called and asked for Ruth. She went to Ruth's room where she was pounding away on a typewriter. Seve...

Reverend Rossini was the priest who presided over the Roman Catholic parish in Wilford Springs. He was an Italian by birth and was educated for the priesthood in Italy. He had b...

Golter entered the banking room attired in a natty business suit. There was nothing unusual about Golter's being well dressed. He was always neatly attired. The unusual thing ab...

"Someone told Stover that I am a member and that they would fix me. Stover suggested that I be given one chance. I don't know what that chance is to be nor how Stover's informan...

The city election resulted in a complete triumph for the anti-law enforcement, anti-prohibition, anti-Ku Klux crowd. The Klan not being fully organized took no active part, as a...

When the Reverend Benton crossed under a street light soon after saying good-night to Harold King a large car stopped, the driver opened the door and asked, "Reverend, are you g...

When her aunt left the room Ruth fell into a reverie. She thought of the past years of anxiety and hardship; they were behind her now. The last few months had removed so much of...

Ruth was proud that her friend, Harold King, had courageously turned his back on the proposition that would have meant the prostitution of his manhood. She was not altogether ha...

"Paper. Morning paper! All about the whipping of the mayor of Freeburg, by members of the Ku Klux Klan," shouted the newsboys in the ears of the business men as they went to the...

A group of white robed figures were gathered on the summit of White Eagle mound. A great fiery cross was visible for many miles. Many of the citizens of Wilford Springs who had...

The Klan meeting held in the open was well attended. Stover, Springer and McBryan had predicted that there would be but few there. Contrary to their prediction, there were thous...

Stover called a caucus of the faithful. They met in the rear room at Hennesy's place. The curtains were drawn on the two windows next to the alley. Stover, Hennesy, Goldberg, Mc...

When the new officials of Rush County took their offices there was a great deal of anxiety among the law violators in Wilford Springs and not without reason. C.M. Stanton, the c...

When Harold saw Ruth after she secured the position with the Wing Mortgage Company one of the first things she wanted to know was why he had asked over the 'phone as to her asso...