Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1886-06-17

minutes to cut my bonds with the knife th
outlaw had given me, and then | took a,
inventory of the contents of the cavern
The place had evidently been fitted up TO
the illicit manufacture of mountain dew
and "tangle-foot" and "red-sye," for ther
were the wornout copper still, the worm
the mash-t tub, jugs, and TASKS, and othe
apparatus of the moonshiner The cav
was about the size Of railroad box car
except that the roof was higher and NOR,
arched l jabbed my knife into ever,
square foot of the walls They were O
solid rock. In a vain, mad effort to rol
the bowlder from the entrance l drew tn,
blood from my shoulder. 1t was all of n,
use. Unless help came to me- from withou
my doom was sealed
dull, heavy feeling came over me anc
/ sat down near the fire. The confined all
was getting close. Suddenly, on looking
up, was appalled, at the discovery OF q
new danger. The roof Of the cavern wa:
no longer visible. The dense, black smoke
of the pitch pine, unable to escape, was
banked above me like an ominous cloud
ever growing denser and blacker and de-
scending steadily, remorselessly, upon me
like veritable shadow of death
Already the asphyxiating gases were caus
ing my brain to whirl l crawled' to the
fire and stamped upon the blazing knots un-
til every spark was extinguished, but they
continued to send up their sitting smoke I
could feel it ascending, hot and pitiless
Falling fiat upon the ground / saturated
my coat sleeve with the water the outlaws
had left me, and placing it against my
mouth secured a few full breaths of strained
p,,~ 81, 1,k%l
high pressure Of the atmosphere made my
veins swell almost to bursting, my hands
and feet were benumbed, and l was soor
unable to move muscle. Then | longed
for death.
Suddenly there was loud explosion, fol
lowed by falling of loose earth and rock
and rush of air. A faint ray of light ap-
peared in the corner of the cavern over the
still, growing broader and stronger as the
smoke cleared away. With life and
strength renewed, l made my way to the
opening, where | drank in the fresh air with
swelling heart and lighter conscience
than l had ever hoped to possess The ex-
plosion had torn away some rough masonry
with which the moonshiners had stopped up
a fissure in the rock. 1t never occurred to
me in my investigation of the cave that
the smoke of the still But everything was
plain enough now l had found the chimney,
and it was my determination to use it to
advantage. In moment, forgetful of the
pains and bruises, was climbing for free
dom. 1t was tight squeeze now and then,
but made rapid progress, and felt SO good
over my prospects of escape that l wanted
to shout. But prudence restrained me-
Soon the rocky sides of the chimney gave
place to wood, and the opening changed
from Hat to round. Still climbed ON, my
spirits rising with my ascent My progress
was made comparatively easy by the imita-
tion of Brer Rabbits method of climbing
stump hollow-that is, By bracing my back
against one side of the chimney and my
feet and hands against the other But the
opening grew tighter and tighter, like an
inverted funnel, and still the top seemed a
long way off. l must have climbed some
thirty feet in all when l stopped to rest,
proppiEg my foot against a knot-like pro-
lection, which suddenly breaking Off left a
hole through which the daylight streamed
Then for the first time, it flashed upon me
that was in hollow tree. A glance
through the knothole proved this to be the
case, for there was the ground ten feet be-
low me-the bench of earth l had noticed
when the outlaws were making ready for
my Incarceration.
Escape now seemed certain. The wall Of
my prison was only two inches thick, and
though the wood was dry and hard from
age and exposure to smoke and heat my
knife was soon at work enlarging the knot
hole. As this faced the cove, could keep
a lookout for the moonshiners and stop cut
ting at the least suspicious noise. Night
soon shut in, and with the darkness there
came peculiar sounds from cliff and wood
land. But paused not to think of ghoul
Or goblin. 1t would have taken something
far more terrible than ghostly warnings to
check the steady going of my knife in the
weary hours that followed the sunset, for |
hoped to turn my back on Sleepy cove ere
The dawn IF another day. But when the
'un rose my task seemed not nearly done
rhs knife was dulled, and my strength had
slowly ebbed away.
The baying of a hound reached me- 1t
vas repeated, and in moment the thrilling
music of the pack walked again and again
he sleeping echoes of Sleepy cove Nearer
md nearer it came, until dozen fine blood
,ounds burst through the underbrush and
lashed up to the bowlder at the entrance to
smoky hole. Then opening again they
ped away on the cold trail of the moon
liners
"Dan, here Dan; down. sir" I shouted to
ia leader with all my might. the obedi- |
MT brute, recognizing my voice, dropped to
be ground L called him to me, and soon
he entire pack was barking playfully at
he roots OF my novel prison, rejoicing, no
loubt, at having treed their master. Hear
nc well known signal in the woods l
nswered it, and one by one five of my
riends crept cautiously up to the cave, car
ines in hand. When l spoke to them from
ny port hoe there was a broad smile on
very face An ak was procured, and,
While four of the men guarded against sur
rise, the fifth cut window in my jail,
trough which / crawled, having been q
risoner nearly twenty hours.
When we reached the big poplar that
yards the pass to Sleepy cove l fastened in
be fourth notch piece Of paper bearing
hese words:
Gap Hawkins, beware The colonel is on
our trail Go look for his bones in Smoky
ole. EUHARLER"
Chicago Times.
A Paper without a Motto.
One or two persons have suggested that