The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1893-10-19
BRAVE BETTY.

oner was brought In by half q dozen Of
ficers and chained to a ring in the wall.
The prisoner was a broad shouldered
young man, with long, black hair and
piercing eyes. AS he passed into the Jail
part Of the building Betty Rainsford.
the pretty wild flower daughter of Jailer
Rainsford, caught sight of him. She
sprang forward with the word t'Jim"
trembling on her lips, but instantly re-
strained herself and turned away with
apparent
Jim Springston was a moonshiner. In
other words, he manufactured liquor
without a government license and was
therefore hunted by United States de-
tectives. He had a still among the dark
recesses Of the mountains, where for
years he had pursued his unlawful call
ing. At last, however, he had been
trapped by Detective johnson and his
deputies, but his capture was effected
only after q hard fight, in which Spring
ston had wounded two deputies slightly
and had himself received a flesh wound
in his left arm.
swell, we've got another desperate,
and the court will soon make short work
Of him" said johnson to the jailer as he
came put from securing the prisoner.
ST shall look to you to see that he does
not escape" and the officer twirled be-
tween his fingers the key Of the paddock
which secured Springston, at the same
time striding out. After placing his
deputies on guard around the insecure
structure to prevent recapture by the
prisoners friends, or to circumvent any
efforts on the part of the prisoner him
self to escape, Captain Johnson went to
the only lodging house in the village.
where he put up for the night.
The reader has already surmised that
the members of the Rainsford family
were at least acquainted with Jim
| Springston. He was, in fact, the aft
anced husband of Betty, who had al
ready resolved to rescue her lover at all
hazards. Her father was, to say the
least, morally responsible to the law for
the safekeeping of Springston, and she
knew it would be of no avail to turn in
that direction for relief. In fact, she
would not have released Jim from Jail
If she could have done so with her own
hands, as it would have brought censure
and disgrace down on the head Of her
father and created the suspicion that
the Rainsford family was in league with
| the illicit disti]lers.
Jim Springston had been a frequent
| visitor to the Rainsford household for
the previous year or two and had won
his promised bride over numerous rival
s~uitors, but the head of the household
did not know he was a ~violator of the
law until brought in that evening.
Neither had Betty known of this fact,
but the moment she had learned of the
arrest she decided in favor of Jim.
AT supper that evening the elder Rains
ford stated that, while he sympathized
with Springston, he could see no way
but that he would have to go to prison.
Betty acquiesced meekly. but her brain
was busy with a plan of her own.
A passing country doctor had dressed
the wounds of the deputies and the pris.
oner. Betty looked down at the latter
operation, but not wen a look of recog.
milton passed between herself and lover,
They seemed to pursue that course intu,
itively. They were as strangers, and
thus darkness settled over the quie1
country village.
+ Just after midnight, when the a~lertnes!
of the guards was benumbed by drowsi
ness, a dark figure stole to the window
of the Jail. A voice almost as still q
the night itself called: "Jim! Oh, Jim
Don't stir or make a noise. It's Betty.
There was a soft answer denoting tina
he heard her, and she went on thus
"Read this note when daytime come
and obey instructions carefully" thrust
ing the paper through the bars and int
the hands of the prisoner by means OF
long stick.
After breakfast the next morning tn
prisoner was taken out and mounte,
on a horse, and the officers also MOUNTS
their horses, and the party set of for til
nearest railroad station, q distance Of 5
miles. Just as the horsemen cantere
, away q glance from Betty to Jim n
sured each that both understood th
programme.
Captain johnson felt elated over til
81 CdptuKO Va OpLAA6neOA AOA tAO IodSOl
! first, that there was q handsome rewar
awaiting his safe delivery into the hand
!, of the government and, secondly, b
. canse the capture added another lare
feather to the already well decorate
: cap Of the detective.
: It was a delightful summer morning
and as the party rode along the bire
chirped and the dew sparkled like not
ing had happened or was about to hal
pen among the lonesome mountains.
] The road was little more than q brid
l. path in places, and for two miles frol
the Rainsford house it bore around Il
foot of a mountain, forming>a semicirc
q and coming back to within half a mi
y Of the starting point on the opposite sii
Of the range. For a long distance
this point the roadway was oyerhur
with thick branches, producing twiligl
except in the middle of the day.
In q few moments after the dcpartu
. of the officers and their prisoner,
% slight, boyish figure, wearing an i'll 4
z ting suit and q SLOUGH hat half conces