Carpenter looked at me, and said: "You had the door locked?"
I summoned my nerve, and answered, "Yes."
Said he: "What is the difference to me between being your prisoner
and being the prisoner of your rulers?"
Said I: "Mr. Carpenter, the difference is that we don't intend to
hang you."
"And how long do you propose to keep me here?"
"For about four days," I said; "until the convention disbands. If
you will only give me your word to wait that time, you may have the
freedom of this beautiful place, and when the period is over, I
pledge you every help I can give to make known your message to the
people."
I waited for an answer, but none came, so I set down the tray and
went out, locking the door again. And downstairs was one of T-S's
secretaries, with copies of the morning newspapers, and I picked up
a "Times," and there was a headline, all the way across the page:
KU KLUX KLAN KIDNAPS KARPENTER RANTING RED PROPHET DISAPPEARS IN
TOOTING AUTOS
I understood, of icourse, that the secret agency which had
engineered the mobbing of the prophet would have had their stories
all ready for our morning newspapers--stories which played up to
the full the finding of an infernal machine, and an unprovoked
attack upon ex-service men by the armed followers of the "Red
Prophet.
Pages:
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271