News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1892-08-11
AN OUTLAW.
"Hold your hands up, Eli p


"Hold your hands up, Eli"
The tall form bending over the lit
tie crib by the stove rose from it's
kneeling position with the hands
raised above the head.
"All right, Harley, you've got me;
I'll be with you in a few moments.
Allies sick" The words fell sadly
from the mans lips; there was a
wistful look in the deep-set eyes rest
ing upon the tiny creature in the
crib.
The group about the doorway fall
tered and failed to enter the rude
structure into which their leader had
intruded with drawn revolvers.
1t was a curious scene, one per-
haps which would not have been met
outside of the mountains of Georgia.
1t was the interior of moonshiner's
lowly cabin. Eli Bargy had been
under suspicion for several months;
the little still had been located in
ravine down the side of the noun
tain, and the officers, after confscat-
ing the plant, had moved in a body
further up the mountain to arrest
the owner, Bargy.
"You'll have to come with us, Eli"
spoke the man who stood just inside
the doorway, a revolver in each
| hand.
eyes, l know, Harley. I'll go with
you in a moment. There, good girl,
she'll be all right in the morning."
Eli bent and patted the brown head
of the woman kneeling upon the other
side of the crib. Then, recollecting
himself, he said as he stood up again
with his HANDS raised:
81 forgot, Harley; the baby's been
sick, is sick now, and helittle woman
is in trouble It'll worry her to stay
here alone with little Allie
eli, say goodbye and come"
''In a minute, ust minute. Yes,
I'll go. The baby is breathing easier
now. Little woman, rest easy; she'll
get well. Now L am ready, Harley"
The mOOnshiner came forward and
reached out his hands; but, oh
there was such a sorrow in the
depths of his eyes, such unspeakahle
misery in the tones of his voice, that
the officer said, as he concealed his
weapons:
II understand the case, Eli. [ am
human, | hope. I'll go outside with
the men and give you five minutes
alone with your wife and child"
THANK you, Harley; you need
not fear, for you can trust me. You
are a square man.
Harley closed the door as he went
out; he told his men the situation.
A couple of them said that 1T was
foolish in him to trust n mOonshiner;
but the rest agreed that their leader
had done right. They had wives and
children at home.
After the five minutes had passed,
the door opened and Eli Bargy came
out with his hat upon his head.
There was a trace of sadness about
his eyes and a teardrop or two glis-
tened upon his beard.
PUT on the irons, Harley. l could
have made a fight for it; but | didn't
feel like shedding blood-And Allie,
my baby, so sick"
1.-The irons were placed upon the
mans wrists, and he was led away
from all that he held dear in this life.
Led away to prison, taken to place
that was almost like death to this
man, who, though a lawbreaker, left
his heart in the little cabin of the
mountain side.
All how long the days seemed to
him, and how long the silent hours
of the night dragged on.
Ten days passed, and Eli Bargy
had heard no word from his sick ba-
by and distressed wife. How vividly
his home came up before him as he
tossed upon his prison bed. How
cruelty he had wrOnged his good lit
tie wife by placing her in such try
ing situation. Ali If he had only
stuck to what was lawful; but it was
too late now-tOo late.
In two days time he would be tried.
Two DAYS only What might they
not bring forth?
1t was night, the tenth night he
had spent behind the doors of the
prison. 1t was to him like ten years.
The rain fell upon the uplifted face
of the moonshiner as he pressed his
forehead against the bars and Hooked
out upon the night. There was not
| 1 IIlUO MlIllOuU UilClb wac AtNOs hC
whippoorwill in the magnolia tree
was free, but it's notes came to the
moonshiner's ear like knells of de-
spair. The sobbing of the rustling
leaves brought to him the sad MUIR
murs of woe. How his hands clench-
ed the bars, and from the depths of
his bosom came his words:
"Allie, Allie, my little baby! Are
YOU better, worse, DYING"
And the voices of the night cameto
him out of the dark shadows without
and sobbed:
Dying, dying, dyingl"
The man started as though struck
with a bullet. He sank upon his
knees. bowed his head in his hands
and wept like child.
"Alie, my baby-my baby " came
from his lips.
Then he started to his feet; his
hands gripped the bars. They were
firm he could not move them. "Dy-
inc. diving, dyingl" again came the
whispering voices of the night. And
when the agony of the whipporwill's
notes followed, a supherhuman
! StrengUn IrnHl soiiie ull0ceh PoMel
was forced into the mans muscles
and-the bars were sent away from
the sockets like weak weeds. Free
dom was before him-and Allie, his
baby.
The next morning when the jailer
made his rounds he found that the