Passaic City record., 1893-01-14

slowly homeward alone.
Then there happened that which was
the talk of the mountain exclusively fol
many many day after.
Different accounts of the occurrence
percolated into the country papers, the
the chief of which read somewhat as
| follows:
A gang of young ruffians on Clay Noun
| tain, ten miles from Hydesvllle, committed
deed OF daring lawlessness the other day.
They ran away with the daughter OF
mountaineer, whom they met driving
teams of mules alone at nightfall. The des
peradoes constrained the young girl tt
mount a horse they had kept in ambush fol
the purpose and with her rode many miles
into the mountains The men have beer
caught and will be tried to-day at Hydes-
vile. The brothers of the girl and young
mountaineer, whom she was to marry, have
been carefully watched, as they have sworn
terrible vengeance on the miscreants.
The fire had been left to go out in the
stove of the court room, but that pro-
duct of partial and makeshift civiliza-
ton still served as long suffering target
for the expectorated tobacco juice OF the
habitues and assembled loungers.
The wielder CT the verdicts of the law
sat back tilted in chair, his hat upon
the nape of his neck, his brown jeans
trousers disappearing in clay -colored
boots. Facing him, on the other side
of the insecure table, sat the victim OF
the offense and the other plaintiffs, her
brothers and Budd Wayne.
To these the accused never turned his
eyes. Whether, without looking he
could see the slim, delicate brown face
of Idelia under Its yellow sun bonnet,
the young man himself probably best
knew. There was nothing in his aspect
which could be construed as indicating
repentance. He sat stolid and uDmoved I;
and only once the suppressed fires came
to the surface, and that was when Bud
Wayne stepped up, as upon an impro-
vised witness stand, and made his cir
cumstantial deposition.
s.Thls hyar Rufe Pierson has been a..
hangin' round to Tennent's and a-tryin'
fur ter git Ideely ter choose him ruther'n n
me this yere long spell. He lowed ter
me ez how she didn't set no store by me,
but was a-bein' compelled into giyin' her
cornsent ter marry me jist along O. Ike
an 'Lijah-them two brothers o. hern
a-settin' thar. An he war mighty vio-
lint an got PLUMB crazy onct, bekase
tole him I had powerful pore 'pinion
of emmy man what couldn't git no gal
his own, but he'd to KEN a-querrelin'
and a'-ightin' around fur them thet set
mo- store by him" u
The prisoner started to his feet with
the dark blood swelling the veins in his
neck and forehead. But he was con-
strained into his seat again promptly.
Idelia's brown eyes, IN whose depths
there was the touch of yellow one sees in
an autumn leaf, had been raised one mo-
ment in startled alright. Then they
had dropped again and the yellow sun
bonnet framed face as still as before.
The Judge projected another jet OF
tobacco juice at the cold stove. A bag
of apples was brought In and circulated
among the lawyers. The jurors sat in
bovine immobility. The trial went on.
It was proven satisfactorily that Rufe
Pierson was sufficiently reckless char
acter; but then again it was proven that
he meant no harm by the girl, or by any
one else; that he had captured her by
main force because he wanted to marry
her, thereby also saving her from the
tyranny of her brothers. With these
brothers it was apparent that she had
had no particularly happy life. They.
too, were sspowerful no count critters" ;"
supposed to be more or less given to the
continuous consumption of illicitly dis
titled whisky and s'applejack."
In view of all these things the final
verdict consisted in a fine of $500, which
Rufe Pierson and his brother were called
upon promptly to pay.
Five hundred dollars meant the selling
of one or two of the Pierson ssbeastises"
and of much other struck" beside; but
this could be lived through. This was
not what the Tennent brother and Budd
Wayne, in his vindictiveness, uneasily
spiced with the corrosive tang of jea-
lousy, had expected. They drank deeply
and talked late the following nights,
and the more they talked and drank the
hotter grew their disappointment and
wrath. From this condition to deter
mination to take retribution into their
own hands and dispatch it more effec-
tually than the law had done the step
was but short.
Meantime great change had come
over Rufe Pierson. His friendliness had
given place to dogged melancholy.
"T'warnt tn e payin' O. the fines I
minds" be said to his faithful hench-
man and brother. ssBut I've KEN to
see ez Ideely an me amt fixed ez l
lowed we was. I allus lowed she he'd a
notion o. keepin' company together with
me same ez he'd with her. n I
lowed eff TUX her away from them
brothers o. hern she'd show me how it
war with her feelin's. But she amt
done it. Ye knows, reckon, thet l
never sot out ter do her no hurt, but
was Jest meanin' to stop this yere fool
shnass 'bout'n Budd Wayne. But sh Q
air been so cole an curious thet l
doesn't see clar in this yere consarn no
mol Gals air quare an ef,ater all, Ideely
amt a-minded ter keep fer me, but air