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Had the circumstances been different had the "two niggers" I had stolen belonged to a popular planter, and not to Monsieur Dominique Gayarre had Ruffin been a respectable citizen, instead of the dissipated half outlaw that he was had there not been a suspicion in the minds of many present that it was not a case of ordinary nigger-stealing, then indeed might it have gone ill with me, in spite of the sheriff and his party.
"Hues!" cried Murrell in astonishment, for the man confronting him was the Clan's messenger who should have been speeding across the state. "Toss up your hands, Murrell," said Hues quietly. One of the other men spoke. "You are under arrest!" "Arrest!" "You are wanted for nigger-stealing," said the man. Still Murrell did not seem to comprehend. He looked at Hues in dull wonder.
"I've just caught two of the men in a little job o' nigger-stealin', and I was about to learn them a lesson which will break them of the habit. With your consent I'll go on with the work." "Nigger-stealing?" said the Colonel quietly. "You mean helping a slave to get away? Did you learn whether the owner was a loyal man?"
They alleged that I had already been tried by a jury of twelve free citizens that I had been found guilty of nigger-stealing that I had stolen two niggers that I had resisted when pursued, and had "wownded" one of my pursuers; and that, as all this had been "clarly made out," they couldn't see what more was wanted to establish my guilt, and that I ought to be hung on the spot, without further loss of time.
"Strike that flag, I say," called the oarsman. "I won't. Who are you? Strike your own flag." "I am Norman Wentworth. That's who I am, and if you don't take that flag down I will take it down for you, you little nigger-driving rebel." Gordon Keith was not a boy to neglect the amenities of the occasion. "Come and try it then, will you, you nigger-stealing Yankees!" he called.
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