A burst of almost hysteric applause and enthusiasm broke from the
assembly, and made the dim, vault-like passages and corridors of the
casa ring. Cheer after cheer went up to the veiled gallery and the misty
sky beyond. Men mounted on the tables and waved their hands frantically,
and in the midst of this bewildering turbulence of sound and motion
Clarence saw his wife mounted on a chair, with burning cheeks and
flashing eyes, waving her handkerchief like an inspired priestess. Only
the stranger, still standing beside Colonel Starbottle, remained unmoved
and impassive. Then, with an imperative gesture, he demanded a sudden
silence.

"Convincing and unanimous as this demonstration is, gentlemen," he began
quietly, "it is my duty, nevertheless, to ask you if you have seriously
considered the meaning of the news I have brought. It is my duty to
tell you that it means civil war. It means the clash of arms between two
sections of a mighty country; it means the disruption of friends, the
breaking of family ties, the separation of fathers and sons, of brothers
and sisters--even, perhaps, to the disseverment of husband and wife!"

"It means the sovereignty of the South--and the breaking of a covenant
with lowborn traders and abolitionists," said Captain Pinckney.

"If there are any gentlemen present," continued the stranger, without
heeding the interruption, "who have pledged this State to the support
of the South in this emergency, or to the establishment of a Pacific
republic in aid and sympathy with it, whose names are on this paper"--he
lifted a sheet of paper lying before Colonel Starbottle--"but who now
feel that the gravity of the news demands a more serious consideration
of the purpose, they are at liberty to withdraw from the meeting, giving
their honor, as Southern gentlemen, to keep the secret intact."