The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1893-10-21
"sWhat is your narlen

fnc Dut LbySeII. DuG tiduh LHC Lolo,
I've managed to keep soll and body to-
gether.'
"All this time she was talking in
such a meek and innocent way that my
suspicious We're half disarmed: but
still | was unsatisfied, as that Whit of
savory steam. that thick-backed Chin
ney, and the name Of the woman,
coupled with the history of old Reub
Davis, had aroused my suspicious
'Isuppose a traveller couldn't get a
little dram hereabouts?.' l remarked.
"'God bless you, not as / knows of.
| never tech it. fur I'm a strick church
member, and eff / did | wouldn't know
whar to start to git a drap of Ticker
Much obliged. Good morning
"Good-by, sir. Wish / could accom-
modate We, but | can't
descending the path | met a gawl-
~ish-looking lad driving an OK team
loaded with wood, up a crooked road
toward the cabin. He eyed me askant
but continued his toilsome journey
without stopping to speak.
"'McDonald,' said |, you may think
| what you please, but we're right close
to the den, if we only knew how to
locate it.
Then | related all the circum-
stances, all the time casting about for
ONE solution of the mystery which ]
/ became more and more convinced by
some vague intuition existed near by.
A few steps from the road that led from
the woods to the cabin there was a
thicket that INSTRUCTED the rude track,
just below where it intersected with
the road we were travelling.
MACK, wait here a minute: there is
no harm in a little investigation and |
made my way down to the thicket, in
which i noticed an old door shutter ly-
ing negligently. half concealed by the
brambles. Making my way to it, !
carefully lifted it up and to my sur
prise found the mouth OF a cavern.
which, though narrow, showed signs of
recent use. Calling to McDonald to
fasten the horses and join me, We were
soon exploring the cave. A descent of
a dozen steps brought us to a turn in
the a and a rough door. l gave it a
kick, but there was no response except
a hollow reverberation which indicated
a considerable apartment beyond.
Get me a rock and Ill break it in
| called to Mcdonald. but just then /
was startled by a shrek in the rear.
Don't kill him. Please don't kill
him. and down came the old woman
had seen at the cabin. If you won't
kill him, I'll let you>in.
We don't want to kill anybody |
replied. Sc go ahead
she produced a rusty key. and un-
locked the door which grated roughly
against the rock as it turned on its rude
wooden hinges.
Come up. Reuben: they've found it
out, she cried. But no Reuben an
swered. oh. you've scarf him clean to
death, fur he weren't well nohow,' and
she Owed into the cave and we at her
heels. A slight glimpse of a smolder-
ing blaze guided US and we were soon
laundering among tub and kegs, from
among which we dragged the body of a
man.
WAKE up, old man, and kindle a
light said l.
"'Mister, I'll go, if you'll promise
not to hurt me-
mo danger of that. Come on
We'll, sir, he was the most forlorn
and abject specimen of a moonshiner |
ever saw. He looked as if he had not
seen the light in ten years, and / think
he hardly had. He had spent his days
in the cave. since he pretended to leave
for Texas, venturing forth only at
night, and then with every possible pre-
caution.
THE cave. partly natural and partly
artificial, extended as far as the CEN
ter of the main highway. which ran
along the side of the bluff at that
point, and our men had ridden over it
unsuspectingly hundreds of times. lie
brought the water through a covered
pipe from a spring above the house,
and by a cunningly eontrived counter
pipe conveyed the smoke and steam to
and up the rear of that double chin
ney, thus concealing every trace above.
Below he led the Stops down a subter-
ranean ditch to a point where the little
brook descended into Il wild and wood
ed glen broken by many cascades, SC
that no trace of it could be discovered
in that direction. The mouth of the
cave was SO carefully concealed that in
hauling wood a few sticks could be
thrown off, as if by accident, and ear.
ried down after dark, rs were the raw
materials for the distillery, and in the
same manner the liquor could be taken
out in small kegs and carted away.
'It looked almost like a shame to de.
stroy such a piece of ingenuity, but OF
course we did our duty, although the
old man fairly blubbered as he saw his
still. broken up. his kegs removed, his