“No; but we thought to overrule God’s laws, and we enslaved these people for our greed, and sought to escape the manstealer’s curse by laying to our souls the flattering unction that we were making of barbarous negroes civilized and Christian men.  If we did not, if instead of making them Christians we have made some of them brutes, we have only ourselves to blame, and if these prey upon society, it is our just punishment!  But my negroes, Carteret, were well raised and well behaved.  This man is innocent of this offense, I solemnly affirm, and I want your aid to secure his safety until a fair trial can be had.”

“On your bare word, sir?” asked Carteret, not at all moved by this outburst.

Old Mr. Delamere trembled with anger, and his withered cheek flushed darkly, but he restrained his feelings, and answered with an attempt at calmness:—­

“Time was, sir, when the word of a Delamere was held as good as his bond, and those who questioned it were forced to maintain their skepticism upon the field of honor.  Time was, sir, when the law was enforced in this state in a manner to command the respect of the world!  Our lawyers, our judges, our courts, were a credit to humanity and civilization.  I fear I have outlasted my epoch,—­I have lived to hear of white men, the most favored of races, the heirs of civilization, the conservators of liberty, howling like red Indians around a human being slowly roasting at the stake.”

“My dear sir,” said Carteret soothingly, “you should undeceive yourself.  This man is no longer your property.  The negroes are no longer under our control, and with their emancipation ceased our responsibility.  Their insolence and disregard for law have reached a point where they must be sternly rebuked.”

“The law,” retorted Mr. Delamere, “furnishes a sufficient penalty for any crime, however heinous, and our code is by no means lenient.  To my old-fashioned notions, death would seem an adequate punishment for any crime, and torture has been abolished in civilized countries for a hundred years.  It would be better to let a crime go entirely unpunished, than to use it as a pretext for turning the whole white population into a mob of primitive savages, dancing in hellish glee around the mangled body of a man who has never been tried for a crime.  All this, however, is apart from my errand, which is to secure your assistance in heading off this mob until Sandy can have a fair hearing and an opportunity to prove his innocence.”

“How can I do that, Mr. Delamere?”

“You are editor of the Morning Chronicle.  The Chronicle is the leading newspaper of the city.  This morning’s issue practically suggested the mob; the same means will stop it.  I will pay the expense of an extra edition, calling off the mob, on the ground that newly discovered evidence has shown the prisoner’s innocence.”

“But where is the evidence?” asked Carteret.

Again Mr. Delamere flushed and trembled.  “My evidence, sir!  I say the negro was morally incapable of the crime.  A man of forty-five does not change his nature over-night.  He is no more capable of a disgraceful deed than my grandson would be!”