The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1893-10-27
BRAVE BETTY.

one was brought in by half a dozen Of
fcers 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 Jim"
trembling IN 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 a hard fight, in which Spring
| ston had wounded two deputies slightly
| and had himself received a flesh wound
in his left arm.
"Well, we've got another desperate,
and the court will soon make short work
Of him." said johnson to the jailer as he
anne out from securing the prisoner.
81 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 a.
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 distillers.
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
| suitors, 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 even IA 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 quiet
| country village.
Just after midnight, when the a~lertness
| of the guards was benumbed by drowsi-
ness, a dark figure stole to the window
of the jail. A voice almost as still as
the night itself called: Jim! Oh. jim!
| Don't stir or make a noise. It's Betty"
There was a soft answer denoting that
he heard her, and she went on thus,
"Read this note when daytime comes
and obey instructions carefully" thrust
ing the paper through the oars and into
the hands Of the prisoner by means Of a
long stick.
After breakfast the next morning the
prisoner was taken out and mounted
on a horse. and the officers also mounted
their horses. and the party set off for the
nearest railroad station. a distance of so
miles. Just as the horselnen cantered
away a glance from Betty to Jim as
sured each that both understood the
programme.
Captain Johnson felt elated over the
capture Of S%pringston for the reason,
first, that there was a handsome reward
awaiting his safe delivery into the hands
of the government and. secondly. be-
cause the capture added another large
feather to the already well decorated
cap of the detective.
1t was a delightful summer morning.
and as the party rode along the birds
chirped and the dew sparkled like moth
ing had happened or was about to hap
pen among the lonesome mountains.
The road was little more than IL bride
path in places, and for two miles from
the Rainsford house it bore around the
foot of a mountain, forming a semicircle
and coming back to within half Il mile
of the starting point on the opposite side
Of the range. For a long distance at
this point the roadway was overhung
with thick branches, producing twilight
except in the middle of the day.
In a few moments after the departure
Of the officers and their prisoner, a
slight, boyish figure, wearing an i'll fit
ting suit and q SLOUGH hat half conceal
;pp fba focn dioappoorod into tho forost