Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1888-06-04
aRMONT. MONDAY. JUNE 4, Il

like spectres, we closed in on them
till within forty yards, when one c'
the party stumbled over a dead
branch and made a noise which woke
up cur dog sleeping by the fire. 1t
4 began to bark and instantly the men
at the fire started up, each with his
long rifle, while towering among
them was the gigantic form of Hew-
son, shading his eyes from the fire.
light, as he peered out into the night.
""Throw up your hands, Hewson %
shouted the captain "the first of you
that offers to shoot dies like dog %
"It's the revenue-men, boys, kill
every one of them !" roared Hewson,
with fearful oath, tossing up his ri
fie and firing as he spoke.
Then began a wild and desperate
conflict, the gloom of the forest being
lighted by the rapidly discharged
weapons, and the silence broken by
the oaths and yells of the combat
ants.
In the midst of the fight barrel
of whiskey became ignited and blew
up with dull report, scattering
the burning fluid in all directions and
setting fire to the bark roof of the
still. Thus pressed the moonshiners
broke and fed, four of them however
being captured and tied at once to
trees. Hewson was among those who
escaped, though it was said that he
| had been wounded. Pursuit was out
of the question, so the next thing to
| do was to attend to the injured. Three
/ of our four prisoners had been hit
though not very seriously hurt, and
one mOonshiner was lying dead by
the fire. On calling the roll we found
that several of our men had narrow
escapes, the captain having hole in
his hat while a watch in my pocket
had been smashed to fragments.
But Ray was missing. On making
search we found him gasping for
breath behind the still house, a rifle
ball having passed entirely through
his body.
He was evidently mortally hurt, but
,,-oO ,;oly al m and oorr;ad tn tho fra
Some of us hastily constructed a lit
ter, while the others went to destroy
the still and worm. A man with an
axe soon cut them to pieces. The
whiskey was poured on the ground
and the mash tubs knocked to bits.
We generally took the still and worm
with us, as they are made of copper
and are therefore valuable, but the
trail was SO rough and there was no
way of getting them out. The still
house was then fired, the barrels and
mash tubs thrown in, and with the
prisoners tied on their horses, which
we found hitched in the woods near
by, we started on our homeward
march, the litter being carried by two
men.
1t was slow travelling and the sun
had risen before we reached our stop
ping place. Poor Ray was sinking
fast, but he was tenderly lifted and
placed on a bed in the house the pris-
oners placed under guard and a watch
set on the road, as we had every rea-
son to expect that an attempt at res
cue would be made by their friends.
| wa. husv with the horses when
one of them came to me saying,
"Poor Ben is dying fast, but wants
particularly to see you" | at cnce
went to him he motinned to those
around him to leave us alone. When
the door was shut he looked steadily
at Inc and in weak voice, so unlike
the firm, manly tones | knew so well,
said:
"Tom, old fellow, | am going to
leave you soon, but before | 60
want to tell you a piece of my histo-
ry. Sit down beside me and listen,
for I've very little breath.
You've always known me as Ray
my real name is George Benson. |
was born in Ohio and lived with my
father, my mother having died while
l was very young, till | was fifteen
years old, when my father died, leav-
ing me without a relative in the world.
To make living | went on one of
the river steamers plying between
New Orleans and Cincinnati. Being
thrown with a rough crowd | soon
picked up their evil ways, and by the
time | was eighteen | was as hard a
case as there was on the river.
Being on a spree in New Orleans,
my boat started on her trip without
me, and as my money was all gone |
was obliged to get something to do
at once, so l shipped on the Lily
Belle as deck hand, for the up-river
trip. Among the saloon passengers
was a gentleman with his little girl,
a lovely little thing, with long curly |
hair and deep blue eyes. She asked
me some questions one day about a
passing boat and then talked to me
for several minutes, her innocent,
childish prattle waking within me |
memories of my own childhood, when
1 too, was young and undefled by
sin. To cut short the story, Tom, |
made up my mind to turn over a new
leaf, leave the river and my evil as
sociations and lead better life. One |.
night, when near ST. Louis, in the
midst of a northeast storm the steam
n. +ooIz Hra frha ,Niloto triad 70 run I