The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-05-05


His laughter echoed through the
| woods and sounded flemish as it came
back from the mountain side. l knew
Cap Haw kins we'll Lawless as he
was, there was in his composition q
certain wild chivalry peculiar to these
men of the mountains. Brave as q
lion, he had an unbounded admiration
for courage in others; cunning as a
fox, he respected a man who could
outdo him in craftiness. Knowing
this, l determined to assume a bold air
and affect supreme Indifference to
nv fate, whatever that was to be.
80, Cap, dry up" I began, winking
slvlv at him. ''Don't frighten the
revenue men; they'll be after you
again"
Again he roared as if he would
split his sides over the joke. lie was
immensely tickled.
"Sav your prayers, Cap" | con-
tinued. "It'll be long time before
you see daylight again"
"Whut air ye a-drivin' at, kurncl:''
he asked, seriously, casting his eyes
about him. Ny shot had missed, but l
kept firing.
"Wel.. you see, Hawkins, now that
I've got you in my power Pm going to
put you out Of the way for good. You
come along with me to the Cove.
There's warm hole in the side of the
mountain in which you can spend the
winter, board and lodging free. Come,
brace up, Cap; when you see how
comfortable it is in there you'll want
to lease the place tor life"
The outlaw made no response to my
random talk, nor did he laugh as be-
fore. Something seemed to worry
him, for he fidgeted about, scratched
his uncombed head and ran his bony
fingers through his grizzled, tangled
beard.
"Look a-hyar Kurnel," said the
moonshincr, leaning close to me and
boring into me with his black eyes,
"air We ever been thar?'
"There? Where, Cap"
''That thar hole ye air a-goin' on
about"
"Why, of course, don't 1 know every
hole and crag in the Cohuttas:"
"Then that settles it, hurnel. l
lowed We war jokin'. Waw, Patsy,
waw, Suck, wawp."
He reined in his horses and stopped
the wagon. Taking up an ak he handed
it to some person on the ground, and
said few words which did not un-
derstand. I tried to raise myself to
look out, but fell back helpless, full of
sharp, shooting pains. My joints re-
fused to bend, my neck creaked when
I tried to turn my head and the strug-
gle Of the night came back to me like q
horrible repetition. AT the first sound
of the Ak Cap Hawkins put his arm
under my back and forced me to sit
upright.
Kurnel, an l lowed ye'd like ter git a
last look"
To the right Of the wagon stood a
giant poplar lifting its shaggy top 800
feet above the road. In its trunk were
three gaping wounds, and a moon
sinner in broad hat and big boots was
cuttin. fourth. Two other ill-look-
ing men stock near, their guns in their
hands.
"Kurucl," continued my guard, "do
We wairt ter write yer epertaphw The
men laughed at their chief. "Them
other three Revies didn't git nary
chance ter write theirn. Boys, air any
n; yn uOt q DpncilI'
Too we'll l knew the meaning of that
notch from which the sappy chips were
flying. My heart quivcred as the ak
ate its way into the soft wood. My
face must have reflected my thought,
for the outlaw, giving me gentle
push, sent me Oh my back.
clay down, Kurnel, an don't git so
alfred skeered," he said. 'That air a
mighty cemf'table hole up in the hills
board an lodgin' free" And quot
ing my own words, he fairly made the
welkin ring with his coarse laughter.
"Surely you don't intend to murder
me, Cap"
s'That air jes about it, 1 reckon,
Kurnel. Ye air 'cross the dead line,
an yer epertaph air done been writ. "
Before I could say more his three
companions climbed into the wagon
beside me. Clucking to his horses he
drove on at trot through the pass,
aud as the sun rose over the mountain
we entered the precincts of Sleepy
Cove. 1t. must have been 10 O'Clock,
yet into that lonesome spot the sun
was just beginning to pour his rays.
By ? p. IN. he would disappear behind
the jagged cliff that formed the west
ern boundary Of the retreat, and the
long twilight would set in with its
spectral shadows chasing each other in
the dark wood. Often had | heard
the country folk talk with bated breath
of the horrors of Sleepy Cove. Cob
Inns, they said, dwelt in the mountain
caves, coming forth at dusk to frolic
with the fearless moo2shiners, and
dancing at midnight upon the slippery
crags. Ghouls, armed with the bones
of murdered men, kept nightly vigil at
the narrow pass, and if any human
being approached from the outside
they gathered around the giant poplar
and beat upon the bark till the frigh ght-
ened man disappeared in the direction
whence he came. No man but the
moonshiners had ever been known to
come from Sleepy Cove alive, conse-
ouentlv none ever voluntarily entered
that wild uncanny place.
These thoughts were passing through
nv mind when suddenly the wagon
stopped, and the four men threw them
selves into attitudes Of attention, grasp