Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1854-01-04
WHOLE No. 1I3.

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Iany secret worth knowing. They sepa-
rated themselves into as many detached
parties as there were fres burning on the
hills about them, the guager himself ra-
solving to make for that which Darby
Neil had in his keeping. for he could mot
help thinking that the yidette's story was
too natural TO be false. They were just
in the act of separating themselves to
pursue their different routes. when tho
lad said, 5s8 sa egR
. Look. sir look, sir bad scfan be
| from me. but there's a still any way
Sure, often seen still that's just like
the one that Philip Hogan, the tinker,
mended in George Stems barn ga
Halo, boys" exclaimed Pentland,
"stoop stoop they are coming thissway.
have discovered us now, and are off to-
bitter trick if they succeed eonfOnnd
them, they are bent for Ballagh, which is
my own property and may be hanged
liz we don't Intercept them, but il is my
self who will have to pay the fine. ''NsNn
The pursuit Instantly commenced with
a speed and yigor equal to this singular
act of retaliation on the guager, Pent-
land himself, being long5winded from
much practice in this way, and being fur
ther stimulated by the prospective loss
which he dreaded, made as beautifulfa
run of it as any man of his years could do.
1t was all in vain, however. He merely
got far enough to see the still. head aud
worm, heaved across the march ditch into
his own property, and to reflect after see
ing it that he was certain to have the
double consolation of being made sLand-
ingjoke Of for life, and of paying heavily
of-the Jest out Of his own pocket, In the
meantime, he was bound to seize the still
and report the caption and he himself,
farmed the town land in question, the iine
was levied to the last shilling, upon the
very natural principle, thatif he had been
sufficiently active and vigilant, no man
would have attempted to set up still so
convenient to his own residence and pro-
perty.
This man@uvre ofkeeping in reserve an
old or second set ofapparatus for the pur-
pose of acting the laywing and mislead.
ing the gauger, was afterwards often prac-
tised with success: but the first Disco
verer of it was undoubtedly Mickey NJ
Quade, although the honor ofthe discoye-
ry is attributed to his friend George Steon.
The matter, however, did not actually
end here, for in a few days Afterwards.
some malicious wag-in other words,
George himself-had correct information
sent to Pentland touching the locality Of
the cavern and the secret Of its entrance.
On this occasion, the. latter brought
larger military party than usual along
NDit hut lNy'f u Is,. IL.
feel that he stood in position il possible
more ridiculous than the first. He found,
indeed, the marks of recent distillation in
that place, but nothing else. Every YES
sci and implement connected with the
process had been removed with the ex4
ception of one bottle of whiskey, to which
was attached by bit oftwine the follow.
ing friendly note: 2a
"MR. PEwTLAND: 1Sir-Take this bot.
tie home and drink your own health. -
You can't do less. II was distilled under
your nose the FIRST day you came to look
for you while you were speaking to the
little boy that made hare of you. Be-
ing then distilled under your nose, let It
be drank in the same place, and don't for
get while doing so to drink the health of
q. So
The incident won't abroad like wildfre,
and was known everywhere. Indeed for
a long time it was the standing topic Of
the parish; and so sharply was it felt by
PentIand, that he could never keep his
temper, if asked, (" Mr.. PenlIand, when
did you see IitteSGeorge Steen ?" ques.
ton to which he was never known to give
a civil reply.