"Does this concern the man who attacked Dr. Quinn and Mrs. Jennings?" interjected McKay.  "Do you have more information about him?"

     Hank nodded slightly.  "You could say that," he replied.

     "In that case, I also would like to hear what you have to report," McKay announced.

     Hank shrugged.  "I don't got any objection if Sully don't."

     "Mr. Lawson, I don't need Sully's permission to sit in on a discussion relating to an official army investigation," McKay remarked.  "Still—“  His eyes turned to Sully.  "Is that acceptable to you?" he asked.

     "Yeah, sure—whatever you want," Sully replied distractedly.  He was still trying to read Hank's mood, but without success.   With a combination of eagerness and apprehension, he tried to prepare himself for whatever Hank had to say.

     Just then Andrew entered the room.  "Hank," he said in surprise.  "Did you need to see me?  Is your hay asthma acting up again?"

     "Naw," said Hank, shaking his head.  "I'm fine—‘sides, after my last bout with it, Michaela gave me an extra supply of stingin' nettles.

     "I'm here to talk to Sully and the sergeant," he added.  "Official business."  Andrew looked curious, but let Hank's remark pass without comment.

     "Well, then, I'll leave you to it," he said, preparing to leave.

     "Andrew—how is she?" Sully asked, way-laying him.

     "Doing well," Andrew told him.  "The morphine will probably make her sleep for a while."

     "I promised her that the family would be there waitin' when she woke up again," Sully reported.

     "I'll see if I can round up everyone for you," Andrew offered.

     "Much obliged," said Sully.

     Andrew took his hat and coat from their hook by the door.  Nodding to them all, he left the clinic.

     "So Michaela's awake?" Hank asked.

     "Yeah," Sully answered, giving him a slight smile of relief.  "She's gonna make it."

     "What did I tell ya?" Hank said a trifle cockily.  "That woman's too stubborn—and too gutsy—to stay down for long."

     "It was close though," Sully said.  "She needed a blood transfusion to save her life."

     Hank looked surprised.  "Who gave her blood?" he asked curiously.

     "Lady Sutcliffe," replied Sully.

     "I'll be," Hank remarked.  "Hey—is it true what I heard—that this woman's your kin, and a member of royalty?"

     "She's my aunt," Sully acknowledged.

     "So what does that make you—‘Lord Byron?'" Hank said, chuckling slightly at his own joke.  Sully gave him a pained expression.

     "Do I look like royalty?" he said somewhat sarcastically.

     "Nope," Hank said flatly.  "But—stranger things have happened, I guess."  His expresion softened.  "Seriously—I'm glad about Michaela," he added.

     Sully nodded.  "I appreciate it," he said.  "But let's get down to the reason why you come.  What did you find out in Denver?'

     "Maybe we should sit down," Hank suggested.

     Sully's apprehension went up a notch, but he complied with Hank's request without comment.  He and McKay resumed their seats, and Hank sat on the edge of the desk.

     "So who is he?" Sully said without preamble.

     "I can give ya his name, but it probably won't mean nothin' to ya," Hank said.  "It ain't him who's important here—it's who he works for."  That odd expression touched his eyes again.

     "Go on," said Sully.  His eyes were piercing as he watched Hank.

     "His name's Rider Flagg," Hank stated.  "But he goes by the name of 'Rebel.'  He's one of them boys who fought for the Confederacy durin' the war—and from what I could tell listenin' to him, as far as he's concerned the war never ended.  Ring a bell?"

     Sully shook his head.

     "Didn't think it would," Hank said, unsurprised.  "Like I said, he was just followin' orders from somebody else."

     "Who?" Sully said in a low voice.  His eyes had taken on a dangerous cast.

     Hank's blue eyes stared directly into Sully's.

     "Jedidiah Bancroft," he said.

* * * * * * * * * *

     Sully felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him.  "You're jokin'."

     "No, I ain't," Hank said soberly.  "Shocked me too, when I finally got Flagg to admit it.  Turns out Bancroft read about ya in the Denver paper, and sent Flagg after you and Michaela—it was all his doin'."

     "Who is this Jedidiah Bancroft?" McKay asked.  "Obviously, both of you are well acquainted with him."

     "That's true," Sully said quietly, recovering somewhat from the shock of Hank's revelation.  "Bancroft is the President of the First National Bank of Denver—or at least  he used to be," he explained  to McKay.

     "Still is," Hank confirmed.  "Though he won't be for much longer.  Right now he and Flagg are coolin' their heels in a couple of jail cells.  And one other thing—these days, he's minus an arm," he added siginificantly.

     McKay saw Sully's eyes glitter ominously as Hank's words seemed to trigger a significant and also very unpleasant memory in his mind.  A look of disgust crossed Sully's face, as if he had suddenly and unexpectedly touched something repulsive.  His shoulders jerked, as if to cast off the repellent feel of the thoughts in his mind.

     "So Michaela was right," Sully said half-under his breath.

     "Yeah, she was," Hank agreed.

     "What do you mean?" asked McKay.

     Sully shook his head slightly, returning to the moment.  "Sorry—I'm gettin' way ahead of myself," he said.  "You'll understand, directly."

     Taking a breath, he went on, "Bancroft came to Colorado Springs about four years ago.   He was holdin' an auction of some of the property hereabouts.  One of the buildins' up for sale was the house between the boardin' house and the general store.  Someone in the crowd bid seven hundred dollars--fifty dollars more than the next highest bid--and Bancroft sold it to him.  Wasn't till Bancroft told the buyer to come up to the block and get his title, that he discovered the buyers were Robert E. and Grace.  As soon as Bancroft realized that he'd sold the property to a black man, he started makin' excuses—sayin' he'd set the minimum bid too low, the bank would have his head if he let it go for that price, and so on.  Robert E. and Grace knew what he was doin'—and so did Michaela.  Robert E. and Grace refused to give up the house, and Michaela backed them up.

     "It wasn't the first time Bancroft and Michaela had locked horns," Sully elaborated.  "When Michaela had been in Colorado Springs about a year, she tried to buy the clinic, but Bancroft wouldn't give her a mortgage 'cause she was a woman, and didn't have no husband to sign for her.  Luckily, Michaela's ma gave her extra money for a down payment, and Bancroft finally gave in.  But he didn't like it.  That's what probably started his grudge against her—and when she spoke up for Robert E. and Grace, it just added fuel to his fire."

     "I can see why he might have been prejudiced against Dr. Quinn, but how did you come into it?" McKay asked.

     "Michaela supportin' Grace and Robert E. was just the tip of the iceberg," Sully said.  "There was a lot more goin' on with this man—which we found out a couple nights later.  Hank can tell you," he added, looking at Hank meaningfully.

     McKay looked at Hank expectantly.

     Hank cleared his throat.  He looked uncomfortable, but picked up the thread of the story.

     "The night of the auction—there was a meetin' for the menfolk—‘sposed to be a new 'social club,'" he began slowly.  "Most of the men from the town—plus a fair number of farmers and ranchers from around these parts—were there.  It seemed harmless enough—even Matthew was there."

     "But you weren't?" questioned McKay, directing his remark to Sully.

     Sully shook his head again.  "I didn't even know about it till after supper that night, when Matthew said he was goin'," he said.  "But even if I'd known, I probably wouldn't have gone—I don't much care for things like that."

     "What was this meeting about?" McKay asked.

     For a long moment Hank hesitated, then he said, "Have you ever heard of the 'Klan'?"

     Knowledge dawned in McKay's eyes.  After a pause he said soberly, "I was born in Georgia—lived there till I was thirteen years old and my pa went up north lookin' for work and took the family with him."

     "That how you came to be in the Union Army?" Sully asked.

     McKay nodded.  "But I still had kin down south, and they wrote to me about the start-up of the Klan and their raids after the war."

     "So you understand," Hank said.

     "I'm beginning to," McKay answered.  "Go on," he encouraged.

     "Bancroft decided to start a chapter of the Klan in Colorado Springs," Hank went on.  "He talked to us about Nathan Bedford Forrest--how he was the 'Imperial Wizard' of the KKK.  Bancroft said that he was the 'Grand Dragon' of the Colorado Territory.

     "Matthew asked him what the 'KKK' stood for.  Bancroft said it meant Ku Klux Klan.  Jake said it sounded like some kinda Injun gibberish.  But Bancroft said it was Greek—it meant 'circle.'  He said a circle was round and strong, 'cause it don't got any openins'.  He said it was solid—and that was the way we gotta be.

     "None of this meant anythin' to us at first," Hank continued.  "Bancroft was real slick—he made it sound as if we were doin' a good thing—an important thing—protectin' our town, makin' sure that we kept our town safe—the way it *ought* to be," he added grimly.

     "Bancroft wasn't clear that first meetin'," Hank resumed.  "He never said exactly who we were 'sposed to be protectin' our town *from.*  Mostly he just flattered us—said we were where we were 'sposed to be, that we were courageous for comin'—stuff like that.  But he promised that the next night, we were gonna do somethin' special—have a little 'fun.'  But even though Loren asked him, he wouldn't say what kind of 'fun.'"

     "What was Mr. Cooper's impression?" McKay asked Sully.

     "The same, far as I could tell," Sully answered.  "He didn't seem to be bothered by anythin' he'd heard.  But after the followin' night—he was horrified that he'd been fooled into goin' along with what happened."

     "What *did* happen?" McKay said.

     "After that first meetin', Bancroft and his boys passed out robes and hoods, and these round cloth badges with the symbol of the KKK on 'em, to everybody," Hank continued.  "Said to have our womenfolk sew the badges on the robes and wear the robes the followin' night.

     "We still didn't understand what it was all about," Hank repeated, as if to justify the story he had yet to tell.  "Nobody is town did.  Even Michaela—with her fancy Boston education and bein' the daughter of an abolitionist—didn't know about the Klan."  He waited for a response from Sully or McKay, and when none was forthcoming, he reluctantly resumed his tale.

     "When we showed up the next night, I didn't want to wear the robe—thought it looked like a dress.  Horace said that Jedidiah told us we *had* ta wear 'em—all the fellas in Denver did.  And Jake said he kinda liked it—Matthew too."  He glanced quickly at Sully, who was watching him impassively, then somewhat shame-facedly, he looked away.

     "Bancroft said he was gonna teach us somethin' new—the secret sign," Hank went on.  He held out his arm to demonstrate.  "Then he told us to repeat the 'sacred oath:'  'Fight for the right, die if we must, and always remember in God we trust!'" he recited.  "Then Bancroft said we was gonna have a little 'huntin' party.'  Horace asked what we was huntin', but Bancroft just said, 'You'll see.'

     "Next thing I know, we were ridin' into town.  We snuck into the livery, and turned all the horses loose.   Robert E. was closin' up for the night.  As soon as he saw us, we surounded him.  Bancroft told us to get him—and get him good.

     "We set on him," Hank said simply.  "Robert E. tried to fight back, but weren't nothin' he could do—there were too many of us.  As soon as Matthew saw what was happenin', he pulled off his hood and tried to help Robert E.--but someone hit him in the back of the head, knocked him down.  Horace took off his hood, too--even though Loren yelled at him to put it back on so he wouldn't be recognized.  By then, we were scared of bein' spotted, so we took off.  Left Robert E. just lyin' there, in the dirt."   Hank sighed heavily, and Sully took up the thread.

     "Michaela and me were in the clinic, when we heard Matthew yellin' for Dr. Mike," he said.  "We threw open the door, and Matthew and Horace came in carryin' Robert E. between them.  He was all beaten and bloody."  As he spoke, Sully could picture the scene again in his mind's eye.  Painfully his mind focused on the naked anguish in Matthew's face as the young man repeated, "I didn't know.  I didn't know."

     "You and Dr. Quinn must have been very shocked by the attack on your friend," McKay said to Sully.

     "Yeah—shocked and angry," Sully answered grimly.  "Unfortunately, that was only the beginnin'."