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There also one may read of the shooting of Mrs. Larbey when she was nursing her husband, who had been beaten almost to death by orders of Boss McGinty.

The killing of the elder Jenkins, shortly followed by that of his brother, the mutilation of James Murdoch, the blowing up of the Staphouse family, and the murder of the Stendals all followed hard upon one another in the same terrible winter.

Darkly the shadow lay upon the Valley of Fear.

The spring had come with running brooks and blossoming trees.

There was hope for all Nature bound so long in an iron grip; but nowhere was there any hope for the men and women who lived under the yoke of the terror.

Never had the cloud above them been so dark and hopeless as in the early summer of the year 1875.

It was the height of the reign of terror.

McMurdo, who had already been appointed Inner Deacon, with every prospect of some day succeeding McGinty as Bodymaster, was now so necessary to the councils of his comrades that nothing was done without his help and advice.

The more popular he became, however, with the Freemen, the blacker were the scowls which greeted him as he passed along the streets of Vermissa.

In spite of their terror the citizens were taking heart to band themselves together against their oppressors.

Rumours had reached the lodge of secret gatherings in the Herald office and of distribution of firearms among the law-abiding people.

But McGinty and his men were undisturbed by such reports.

They were numerous, resolute, and well armed.

Their opponents were scattered and powerless.

It would all end, as it had done in the past, in aimless talk and possibly in impotent arrests.

So said McGinty, McMurdo, and all the bolder spirits.

It was a Saturday evening in May. Saturday was always the lodge night, and McMurdo was leaving his house to attend it when Morris, the weaker brother of the order, came to see him. His brow was creased with care, and his kindly face was drawn and haggard.

"Can I speak with you freely, Mr. McMurdo?"

"Sure."

"I can't forget that I spoke my heart to you once, and that you kept it to yourself, even though the Boss himself came to ask you about it."

"What else could I do if you trusted me? It wasn't that I agreed with what you said."

"I know that well.

But you are the one that I can speak to and be safe.

I've a secret here," he put his hand to his breast, "and it is just burning the life out of me.

Chapter 6. Danger

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