The herald., 1895-03-24
The r1an Who
Brooded too r1uch

About o'clock in the afternoon, ao 1
was following the rough and rocky rosA
up the mountains, / encountered dep.
uty marshal and his posse. They had
been raidng two or three miles above,
and had captured a still and prisoner.
The prisoner was young man about -
years old, and a native mountaineer.
here were eight men in the posse, al
armed and double armed, and yet they
had the prisoner handcuffed, and seemed
to look upon him as a savage. He had
been caught at the still, while his father
had escaped. That meant six months or
year in some filthy county Jail, with
trial and a long sentence to prison.
Two miles above where | met the party
| came to the rude cabin of a mountaineer.
On rock in front OF the door saJ II gray
haired woman about so years old. On an
other rock opposite sat her htisoand--a
gray-haired man at least ten years older.
Though so far advanced in age he was
still strong and vigorous, but he sat with
his head in his hands like one suffering
mental anguish. l saw the pair while vet
forty rods away. The woman sat acing
me; the man had his eyes on the earth at
his feet. AS came to halt and looked
from one to the other, the woman whis-
pered:
"Cribbins to yo', stranger"
'Cribbins, ma'am."
Reckon yo' met 'em down thar some-
wharf"
1.-The raiders-yes was it your stilf'
''Yes, our still, and they kotched our
boy Bill. Him (nodding toward her hus-
band) was gwine ter shuse, but the gun
| understood. The still was a small
one. He had somehow raised money
enough to buy it, and was distilling Il
few gallons month and selling 1t to MAKE
living. All the arguments ever adj
that he was doing any wrong. He had
no market for his corn as cereal. In
the form of whisky men would buy it.
1t was against the law, but had the gov
ernment any right to make law which
prevented man from making a living?
l wanted to 60 on, but the woman raised
her hand in protest. The sentiment Of
hospitality was stronger than the feeling
of despair which had settled upon them
She made room for me beside her. and as
l sat down she whispered:
did you see our Bill?"
They had irons on hims"
''Yes"
"Him was cast DOWN."
''Yes, but you must hope that he will
soon be free to return to you. Your hus-
band shouldn't take it so much to heart"
70 see. Hims old and pore. Him's
bound to brood over it, Come in to
snack
followed her into the cabin. What lit
tie furniture was in sight was old and
cheap. Everything In the room could
have been loaded into mule cart. She
stirred up the fire and fried some bacon
and made corn coffee, and our smack
consisted OF pone bread and the two arti
cles l have named. She did not call to her
husband, nor did he leave his seat on the
rock. Not word was addressed to me
until we had finished eating. l then re-
marked that | thought had better go OH
to the hamlet, three miles above.
"Yo' must drap (stay) right yere fur
tonight, she replied. "Him's broodin'
powerful hard. and don't know whatn
happen r .,
Reckon not Let him hgger it out. -
We sat down on the rock again, and |
gave her some tobacco for her pipe. The
sun went down and evening came on, but
to be part of the rock on which he +.
clined Now and then heard him groau
out as if in pain, but he had never a word
to say. l could not say that he had even
looked at me, though, of course, he knew
of my presence.
fAS udTkHcSS Icll tHc lull IuOOH TOSe. we
had been silent for an hour. when the wo-
man turned and whispered:
reckon A%s Ib%roodin too iong; Rin Ri% is
too troubled to igger it.
Suppose talk to him?'
''Better not; him's queer just now!'
Five minutes later he rose and entered
the cabin and picked up his long bar
relied rife, and as he came out he started
off up the trail without word.
Hes gwine to the still spot!' she
said, when he was out OF sight and hear.
ing; 49,,
as l remembered how pale faced and anx-
ious he looked as he rose up.
"Mebbe!" she replied, as she filled her
pipe for another smoke.
Not over quarter of an hour had
passed when we heard the report of a
rifle from the direction the old man had
gone.
up and moved away.
walked beside her up the rough
trail, neither saying word. We had
gone about 200 yards when she turned to
a path to the right and descended into
ravine The still had been located down
there. We reached the bottom to find
level stretch of ground about 100 feet long
by SO broad. The moon shone full upon
the spot. In the center lay the dead
body of the old man, with his dis
charged rifle still clutched in his ri'ht
hand. He had shot himself through the
heart.
cried out as l caught sight of the
body, but the woman made no sound.
She sat down and took the gray head in
her lap and rocked to and fro and ca
ressed the wrinkled cheeks, and said:
Him brooded too powerfully! Him
figured that hecouldn' t abide the trouble!'