The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1889-07-05
miscellaneous.
ON THE PATH BELOW

| reached BurtOnS III the mOu talns be.
You'd Bristol late in the evening, having, as
usual Numbered about the trail The cabin
stood just Of the road, and all around it was
silent and dark. 1t has always been wonder
that his dogs did not attack me. He had
three, and they were as cross and grabbed as
old bears. They came running down the
trail to meet me- growing and barking, but
MS soon as they came up they made friends
They were playing around when | stood in
front of the cabin and called:
Hello! you! Hello Helow
In about II minute a voice answered
who is yer, an what's wanted ~
Stranger IN search Of lodgings"
He seemed to doubt il, tor he made no i'm
mediate reply After a long minute heard
a woman arguing:
II tell You he must be all right. If he
wasn't them dogs would hev devoured him -
wall, come in, called the man, and |
stumbled along to the cabin to find HIM in
the half open door with his rifle in his hand.
My explanations soon satisfied him that was
all right and he struck a light, piled some
blankets in corner and said:
Stranger, that's the best l0p kin fix We
off hand. Jst tumble down and d0an' worry
about nOthin'."
was soon fast asleep, having nothing to
keep me awake. Right in the heart OF tue
grim old mountain-among people whose
faces had only glanced at-among men who
settle their disputes with knife or bullet-en-
tirely at their mercy and in their power il
they wanted to rob or kill, and yet there was
no cause to be afraid. When you are the
guest of a mOuntainCer you are safe.
Next morning found the family to con-
sist of husband, wife and three children. The
Oldest Of the three children was boy of 10,
who had killed a bear and was dead shot.
AS soon as | had looked around me | knew
that 4 dislilery could be found near by. After
breakfast Burton pumped me FOR few min
utes, sized me up in his mind as 80. Il" and
said:
Come up with me and see the boys. And
| want to tell you that we've bin expecting
visitors fur the last two days an we may hev
u scare beio' night"
"What sort of visitOrs?"
United States chaps arter our still. They've
had spy in yere trying to locate it. We
saw him twice yesterday"
There were three other men at the still
which was hidden away in dark and rugged
ravine, approached by Il footpalh which
could be ambushed at every rod. All the corn
was "toted" on the mems back over this path,
and the kegs Of whisky were slung to pole
perfect, but small, and in the five or six
months it had been in operation the men had
not made the wages OF mechanics ] asked
one of them how long since he had had five
dollar bill, and he squinted his eyes, counted
his fingers, scratched his head and finally re.
piled;
"Wall, stranger, you may remember the bat
tie of Stone River"
Yes"
"A right smart ago, wasn't it?"
Yes twenty five years ago"
oval, list arter that fight | had fve-dol
lar bill, and that's the fust and last time"
What money they made by Illicit distill-
ing went for boots and shoes, clothing of the
panest kind, tinware, tobacco and tea. One
Of them had had three pounds Of brown
sugar in his house within a year. The Others
had not had an ounce; one had not tasted tea
coffee, sugar, wheat bread or fresh meat tout
side of wild meat for over two years.
| The still was about mile from the house
II any stranger came by the trail one OF the
dogs was sent up the ravlne with II piece Of
cloth tied to lis neck. Half way between the
| two, as | discovered later on, was another
path intersecting This came out OF an
other ravine, and was used by the men only
occasionally. Tho boy was stationed at this
intersection to watch both paths and give al
alarm if danger threatened. 1t was about
II o'clock in the morning when he CANT
running in and said
| Spy coming, pop"
Then an instantaneous and terrible change
took place in the bearing of the men. We
| had been lying about at case, every man seem
| ingly having heart full of kindness, but this
announcement started blazing fire 10 every
eye, set every jaw, and | could see despera
tionn each face. 1t needed no handwriting or
the wall to tell me that the spy would bt
wiped of the face of the earth without COM
junction if discovery threatened Burton
beckoned to me, made signal 10 the other!
which they understood, a1d we climbed W
the rugged face of rock, ran for quartet
of mile over broken ground which was
well wooded, and then suddenly halted at 8
spot overlooking the second path and higt
above 1t. Burton made me a sign as hi
crouched down beside a large rock, anC
cautiously approaching looked down into
the ravine and saw Il solitary man-the spy
He was coming up the path. If he passed
the spot where we were stationed his seen
alone would locate the still.
"Clck Click"
Good heavens but you are not going to
shoot hm" whispered to Burton as he
cooked his rifle.
He half turned to look at me- His face was
as hard set as iron
For the sake of earning n few dollars ht
would see us starven he replied. "He know
his danger. Let him pass this rock and
will shoot him "
dared say no more. Burton was desper
ate and determined.
We looked down at an angle of forty
five degrees on the spy. You could hav'
! .,ll ~ h, n b,,l
had the gait of an Indian bent on a surprise
He looked about him like one who expected
the whistle of bullet at any moment. III,
came slowly on.
Could signal him?
No! He was not looking up but arount
him.
Coming-coming- c0ming-advancin a.
steady pace toward death Would Burton
shootg He already had the man covered
Thump! thump! thump
1t was my heart pounding away like a pile
driver 1t would be murder. | would be &C
cessory. If dared to shout-to-
Thank God Was it the fall of fragment
ofrock up on the mountain side, or the
hoarse call of the great buzzard poised above
us which made the spy halt in his tracks
Ten feet more and a finger will press thu
trigger. He peers this way and that-ht
looks up and around-he starts to advance
but halts again. Is some one praying for him
has he guardian angel who whispers {
warning?
1t is two minutes-two minutes which tick
away 80 slowly that they seem to be hourt
in length. l lean against the great rock
almost gasping for breath, while Burton hal
his eye at the sights and his finger ready tc
pull. II is tableau on the threshold O
death. 1t Isl pantomime at the edge OF q