Bestsellers, American, 1895-1923

The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan

CHAPTER PAGE I. The Bruised Reed 3 II. The Great Heart 19 III. The Man of War 33 IV. A Clash of Giants 38 IV. The Battle of Love 56 VI. The Assassination 61 VII. The Frenzy of a Nation 80

Chapters

10. Chapter 10

Captain Phil Stoneman, athletic, bronzed, a veteran of two years' service, dressed in his full uniform, was the ideal soldier, and yet he had never loved war. He was bubbling ov...

8. Chapter 8

Elsie secured from the Surgeon-General temporary passes for the day, and sent her friends to the hospital with the promise that she would not leave the White House until she had...

24. Chapter 24

Piedmont, South Carolina, which Elsie and Phil had selected for reasons best known to themselves as the place of retreat for their father, was a favourite summer resort of Charl...

27. Chapter 27

Within an hour from Ben's encounter he was arrested without warrant by the military commandant, handcuffed, and placed on the train for Columbia, more than a hundred miles dista...

5. Chapter 5

On the soft spring air came the roar of excited thousands sweeping down the avenue from the Capitol toward the White House. Above all rang the cries of struggling newsboys screa...

6. Chapter 6

The next morning, when Elsie reached the obscure boarding-house at which Mrs. Cameron stopped, the mother had gone to the market to buy a bunch of roses to place beside her boy'...

22. Chapter 22

It is the glory of the American Republic that every man who has filled the office of President has grown in stature when clothed with its power and has proved himself worthy of...

31. Chapter 31

Alarmed at the possible growth of the secret clan into which Ben had urged him to enter, Dr. Cameron determined to press for relief from oppression by an open appeal to the cons...

33. Chapter 33

When the old Commoner's private physician had gone and his mind had fully cleared, he would sit for hours in the sunshine of the vine-clad porch, asking Elsie of the village, it...

16. Chapter 16

When Ben had fully recovered and his father's case looked hopeful, Elsie turned to her study of music, and the Southern boy suddenly waked to the fact that the great mystery of...

18. Chapter 18

The first bill sent to the White House to Africanize the "conquered provinces" the President vetoed in a message of such logic, dignity, and power, the old leader found to his a...

13. Chapter 13

The heritage of centuries of heroic blood from the martyrs of old Scotland began to flash its inspiration from the past. Her heart beat with the unconscious life of men and wome...

12. Chapter 12

The little house on the Capitol hill now became the centre of fevered activity. This house, selected by its grim master to become the executive mansion of the Nation, was perhap...

29. Chapter 29

The excitement which preceded the first Reconstruction election in the South paralyzed the industries of the country. When demagogues poured down from the North and began their...

11. Chapter 11

Phil hurried through the excited crowds with Margaret and Elsie, left them at the hospital door, and ran to the War Department to report for duty. Already the tramp of regiments...

38. Chapter 38

The discovery of the Captain of the African Guards lying in his full uniform in Lynch's yard send a thrill of terror to the triumphant leagues. Across the breast of the body was...

40. Chapter 40

In quick succession every county followed the example of Ulster, and the arms furnished the negroes by the State and National governments were in the hands of the Klan. The Leag...

26. Chapter 26

Phil early found the home of the Camerons the most charming spot in town. As he sat in the old-fashioned parlour beside Margaret, his brain seethed with plans for building a hot...

30. Chapter 30

On the night of the election Mrs. Lenoir gave a ball at the hotel in honour of Marion's entrance into society. She was only in her sixteenth year, yet older than her mother when...

20. Chapter 20

His bill to confiscate the property of the Southern people was already pending on the calendar of the House. This bill was the most remarkable ever written in the English langua...

37. Chapter 37

The clansmen with their prisoner skirted the village and halted in the woods on the river bank. The Night Hawk signalled for single file, and in a few minutes they stood against...

36. Chapter 36

Aunt Cindy came at seven o'clock to get breakfast, and finding the house closed and no one at home, supposed Mrs. Lenoir and Marion had remained at the Cameron House for the nig...

28. Chapter 28

When Phil returned with Margaret, he drove at Mrs. Cameron's request to find Ben, brought him with all speed to the hotel, took him to his room, and locked the door before he to...

23. Chapter 23

For two weeks the old Commoner wrestled in silence with Death. When at last he spoke, it was to the stalwart negroes who had called to see him and were standing by his bedside.

32. Chapter 32

In spite of the pitiful collapse of old Stoneman under his stroke of paralysis, his children still saw the unconquered soul shining in his colourless eyes. They had both been on...

34. Chapter 34

Dr. Cameron's appeal had left the old Commoner unshaken in his idea. There could be but one side to any question with such a man, and that was his side. He would stand by his ow...

43. Chapter 43

When Ben Cameron failed to find either Elsie or her father at home, he hurried to the hotel, walking under the shadows of the trees to avoid recognition, though his resemblance...

41. Chapter 41

From the hour he had watched the capture of the armoury old Stoneman felt in the air a current against him which was electric, as if the dead had heard the cry of the clansmen's...

15. Chapter 15

Ben had spent a month of vain effort to secure his father's release. He had succeeded in obtaining for him a removal to more comfortable quarters, books to read, and the privile...

44. Chapter 44

It was dark long before Margaret and Stoneman reached Piedmont. A mile out of town a horse neighed in the woods, and, tired as she was, Queen threw her head high and answered th...

9. Chapter 9

Elsie carried Ben Cameron's pardon to the anxious mother and sister with her mind in a tumult. The name on these fateful papers fascinated her. She read it again and again with...

17. Chapter 17

The day of the first meeting of the National Congress after the war was one of intense excitement. The galleries of the House were packed. Elsie was there with Ben in a fever of...

25. Chapter 25

Elsie stood dreaming for a moment in the shadow of the arbor-vitae, breathing the sensuous perfumed air and listening to the distant music of the falls, her heart quivering in p...

7. Chapter 7

He was a man in the full prime of life, intellectual and physical, low and heavy set, about five feet eight inches in height and inclined to fat. His movements, however, were qu...

39. Chapter 39

He returned home and ate a hearty meal. As he emerged from the dining-room, Phil seized him by the arm and led him under the big oak on the lawn:

19. Chapter 19

Elsie spent weeks of happiness in an abandonment of joy to the spell of her lover. His charm was resistless. His gift of delicate intimacy, the eloquence with which he expressed...

35. Chapter 35

"No one must ever know. We will hide quickly every trace of crime. They will think we strolled to Lover's Leap and fell over the cliff, and my name will always be sweet and clea...

42. Chapter 42

Sweet was the secret joy of old Stoneman over the fate of Ben Cameron. His death sentence would strike terror to his party, and his prompt execution, on the morning of the elect...

21. Chapter 21

As the storm of passion raised by the clash between her father and the President rose steadily to the sweep of a cyclone, Elsie felt her own life but a leaf driven before its fury.

14. Chapter 14

Within two weeks after the departure of Mrs. Cameron and Margaret, the wounded soldier had left the hospital with Elsie's hand resting on his arm and her keen eyes watching his...

4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER PAGE I. The Hunt for the Animal 309 II. The Fiery Cross 318 III. The Parting of the Ways 327 IV. The Banner of the Dragon 337 V. The Reign of the Klan 341 VI. The Counte...

3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER PAGE I. A Fallen Slaveholder's Mansion 187 II. The Eyes of the Jungle 204 III. Augustus Caesar 209 IV. At the Point of the Bayonet 218 V. Forty Acres and a Mule 235 VI....

2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER PAGE I. The First Lady of the Land 90 II. Sweethearts 101 III. The Joy of Living 112 IV. Hidden Treasure 115 V. Across the Chasm 120 VI. The Gauge of Battle 131 VII. A W...

1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER PAGE I. The Bruised Reed 3 II. The Great Heart 19 III. The Man of War 33 IV. A Clash of Giants 38 IV. The Battle of Love 56 VI. The Assassination 61 VII. The Frenzy of a...