The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part 20 (2/2)
”Then I do not see the point”
”There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the -shi+p It looks as if they always send their singular warning or token before the upon their n when it came from Dundee If they had come from Pondicherry in a steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter
But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed I think that those seven weeks represented the difference between thevessel which brought the writer”
”It is possible”
”More than that It is probable And now you see the deadly urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to caution The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which it would take the senders to travel the distance But this one comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay”
”Good God!” I cried ”What can it mean, this relentless persecution?”
”The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital i-shi+p I think that it is quite clear that there le man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way as to deceive a coroner's jury There must have been several in it, and they must have been men of resource and determination
Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may
In this way you see K K K ceases to be the initials of an individual and becoe of a society”
”But of what society?”
”Have you never--” said Sherlock Hol his voice--”have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?”
”I never have”
Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee ”Here it is,” said he presently:
”'Ku Klux Klan A name derived fro a rifle This terrible secret society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida Its poas used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of the negro voters and thefrom the country of those ere opposed to its views Its outrages were usually preceded by a warning sent to the nised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in so this the victiht fly from the country If he braved the ly coe and unforeseen anisation of the society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a case upon record where anyit with ies were traced hoanisation flourished in spite of the efforts of the United States government and of the better classes of the community in the South Eventually, in the year 1869, the h there have been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date'
”You will observe,” said Hol up of the society was coincident with the disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers It may well have been cause and effect It is no wonder that he and his family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track
You can understand that this register and diary may implicate some of the first men in the South, and that there ht until it is recovered”
”Then the page we have seen--”
”Is such as we ht, 'sent the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to them Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a sinister result for C Well, I think, Doctor, that we ht into this dark place, and I believe that the only chance young Openshaw has in theht, so hand et for half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable ways of our fellow-, and the sun was shi+ning with a subdued brightness through the direat city Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I ca for you,” said he; ”I have, I foresee, a very busy day beforeOpenshaw's”
”What steps will you take?” I asked
”It will very much depend upon the results of o down to Horshao there first?”
”No, I shall co the bell and theup your coffee”
As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper frolancedwhich sent a chill to my heart
”Holmes,” I cried, ”you are too late”