The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1891-04-18

What had become of my old fricn,
and his daughter | could not conjec
ture. II was with II heavy heart, there
fore, that turned away, determined, ~
hazardous Us the undertaking was, {,
go to some of the neighboring house
and enquire.
As started to leave the premises,
shock-headed urchin came slouchins
up the bridle-path.
care you un the chap rs was her,
last ycre?n he asked
~ am,' was the reply. "And say, ;
said |, handing him silver com, ''cal
you tell me what has become of Mr. Al
derson and his daughter?"
"Naw,' said the boy, ''only sh,
be done ruined away with Captain Bill
Brownlow, an the old man he g'lans
too"
knew the urchin was lying, as fal
rs the action of Annie Anderson wa.
concerned, but she may have been alb
Quoted by the william Brownlow, anC
possibly she and her father were now
prisoners in his hands. | knew thai
all the people for miles around wer,
adherents of the outlaw, or held him il
such dresd, that they would do moth
ing against him, and until could come
with men enough to root ont the entire
moonshiner gang, any attempt al
rescue would be futile. So, returning
to where | had hitched my horse,
vanlted into the saddle and rode away
| I had gone back about two miles
toward where the posse / had come
with was eamped, when, on turning q
sharp angle in the road, saw blind.
ing flash directly in front. A sharp
report followed, and felt the sting of s
bullet in my side. Drawing my gun
dashed at the wretch who had shot me,
and before he could reload his rifle,
sent bullet crashing through his
brain. One of us had to die, and very
naturally preferred it should be the
other fellow
How / got to camp, hardly knew.
| My wound was bad one; and, weak
from loss of blood and pain, | tainted rs
| fell from my saddle into the arms OF
one of the men. ! was kindly cared for
The surgeon was skillful one and in 8
short time he had me out of danger. II
was this wound that took me to my
kind old relative in Springfield.
now return to the night when
recognized my old enemy, William
Brownlow, standing over me with ;
knife in his hand, while we were sleep
ing by the cave down in the OZARK
mountains. Fortunately he did no
recognize me or might not now b'
telling this story.
Apparently satisfied that / was no
the man he feared l was, Brownlow
turned and walked away rs noiselessl,
as he had come. watched him an,
saw that he went directly towards th'
cave. | moved forward, determined
to see what game Brownlow and hi
pals were up TO.
For nearly an hour | watched TIN
black hole that led TO the chamber, an,
seeing and hearing nothing, slowl
worked my way inside.
1t was black as Egypt, but had tn
advantage of being afflicted with nyc
talopia, Mt times, and on this occasion
did not consider it any aflliction what
ever, rs it enabled me to see thing
with remarkable distinctness i'm tn
darkest part of the cave without tn
aid of an artificial light
When | got well inside made
startling discovery!
The room was empty. Not n soul il
there, save myself,
4 What had become of Brownlow an
the four menp
| examined every nook and corner
but not Il trace of the moonshiner chic
or any of his band, could I find.
l Was il possible they could hay
slipped out at the entrance No; fo
from the time | had seen them enter ii
up TO the time had followed them in
| had never taken my eyes away from il
| then concluded it would be best I
return to the tent and resume my form
er position and watch.
On the following night could sli
into the cave under cover Of the dark
ness and observe things on the inside
There was a mystery here was deter
mined TO fathom; and moreover,
was fully bent on bringing Williar
Brownlow to bay, and force the secre
of the disappearance of Edward Alder
son and his daughter out of him.
had hardly gotten well compose
Brownlow and his companions emers
from the cave again. To assure hin
self that none of our party had bee
watching his movements, he once mol
, approached close enough to the tent t
, , satisfy himself we were all there an
asleep; then turning away he and TIL
;; four men soon disappeared down III
valley.
The impulse to shoot him as he ~
T preached the tent was strong upon III
| and | would have done so, but wan
ed TO force him TO tell me where he ha
:, concealed the Aldersons. Beside,
a had no doubt whatever he would retur
f to the cave. He evidently considere
it Il very safe retreat.
The next day our party moved the
hunting grounds over beyond ii
mountain, to the eastward, sendi
their wagon around into the new tern
tory. During the afternoon manag,
Il to slip away from them, ,and concealir
| myself in Il thicket of aldcrs, awaitt
o the coming of night. As soon as
d was dark ! set out rapidly for the cav
: Arriving there and seeing no oi
r. around, went inside, and taking u pos
Y ton from whence could watch 81
: entrance, awaited further development
| had not long 10 wait. Hearing Il
II hum of voices, looked toward Il
/. entrance and saw several men con
inside. One of them lighted II tore
e and saw that it was Brownlow.
d They came straight towards where
II lay, and got my pistol ready for d
l.. fense. The men turned and went
|. where the water was boiling up IN Il
o corner of the cave. heard Brownie
Is say:
o IL see them hunters is gone; but
tell you what, one of them looked PoN
IS erful like Duke Denham. IF he
V our trail we've got To look sharp.
o thought sure had him dead onct, b
r ole Anderson, cuss him, brought him
life again; but, never mind, if they
l. lust give me five days more, can sn.
d my fingers in their faces and bid d
Il tiance To them.
IL While the rutlian was talking,
d knrll down and saw him reach b
II arm into the wafer. When he wit
n drew his band he held n small hamme
With this he struck the wall five iii
a. Al