It is the supreme moment to impart the last orders of the Southern
leaders. The Washington chiefs assign the duties of each, in view
of the violent rupture which will follow Lincoln's inauguration.
Fifty or sixty in number, these brave and desperate souls are ready
to cast all in jeopardy. Life, fortune, and fame. They represent
every city and county of California.
Hardin, high priest of this awful propaganda, opens the business
of the session with a cool statement of facts. Every man is now
sworn and under obligation to the work. Hardin's eye kindles as
he sees these brothers of the Southern Cross. Each of them has a
dozen friends or subordinates under him. To them these tidings will
be only divulged under the awful seal of the death penalty. There
are scores of army and navy officers with high civil officials on
the coast whose finely drawn scruples will keep them out until the
first gun is fired, Then these powerful allies, freed by resignation,
can come in. They are holding places of power and immense importance
to the last. The Knights are wealthy, powerful, and desperate.
As Valois hears Hardin's address, he appreciates the labor of years,
in weaving the network which is to hold California, Arizona, and
New Mexico for the South.
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