The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1895-09-20

For a moment the old man SCENE,
e inclined To resent this last remark. bu
only for a moment. Then southern
hospitality asserted itself.
well, gentlemen, he said, chow
can | serve your"
by putting us On the road for
Asheville. +"
Il could not do it. Asheville's good
30 miles beyond this, and the trails
far too bad for strangers to follow in
the dark. You must bunk with me,
gentlemen, this night"
/ There was a little more talk, and
then the horses were led round To q
barn at the back, unsaddled. rubbed
down roughly and presentd with sin
corncobs apiece, after which the two
adjourned to the cabin, supped oil
heavy corn bread, strong favored bacon
and raw, biting, smoky corn whisky.
After the meal the Yankee, pleading
tiredness, retired to the far room and
slept. The Briton, who was travelling
in the mountains to pick up character,
was glad enough To sit up with his
host and talk beside the smelly kero-
sene lamp over graduated tobacco and
corncob pipes.
Their conversation was, on the
whole, desultory. Only twice was it
interrupted. On these occasions foot
steps made themselves heard on the
hard. red ground outside, and then,
after pause, a silver half dollar rolled
in under the door. The old man peck
eted the coin, lifted the LATCH and,
reaching hand out into the darkness,
brought in quart bottle, which he
proceeded to fill from a keg that watt
ed through the hut a strong smell OF
smoky spirit. Afterward he thrust out
the bottle into the night, and the
heavy footsteps recommended and died
out in diminucndo.
On the first occasion the old man
commented to his guest: Say, sir,
you're what they call in the mountains
a tenderfoot; but, from the face of
you, you seem straight. Please re
member you've seen nothing"
I'm under the tie of bread and
salt, " said the Englishman. "lou
needn't fear me. " And he fell to talk
ing about the game in the woods
! When the Englishman awoke next
morning, he found that his travelling
companion had already departed.
81 didn't press him to stay" said
the old man, but | hope you will
honor me with a longer visit. My
name is Colonel Swanlec, which you
may have seen mentioned in accounts
of the war, and once | had 10 room
house here and close on 20 niggers
working on a fine estate. The house
and the niggers are gone, and the
estate has run back for the most part
into forest You know the war ruined
most of us southern gentlemen, and
our lands were bought up by pork
packers and successful drummers and
Yankee trash generally. I've been
luekier than some. | haven't sold a
rod of ground, I've been spared seeing
filthy railroads pillow through my land,
and " some other mercies to be
thankful for. That northerner was
right when he limited at my having a
blocakde still round here. | do run
one, | know it's against the law,
but the law-as laid down by Yankees
ruined me. Consequently I've but
small respect for it, specially as now |
it's sized to suit all shades of color.
Come, sir. You said last night you
were in no hurry to get on. Will you |
saty awhile and rough it with me|'
The invitation was genuine, and the |
Englishman remained. and because the |
life was fresh and interesting to him,
and because old man Swanlee was |
loath To let him go, he staid on till |
the weeks grew to over month. |
There was much to occupy his time. |
Any one with a taste for scenery may
crafty it to the full in the wooded /
and valleys of the 4 lleghany
country. Sometimes he took his horse
and rode along the rough trails far
atield over the great Smokes and
looked down on Tennessee Some
times he roamcd through the second
growth forest which had sprung up in
tropical luxuriance over the once
cleared land, occasionally shooting
wild turkey, or a hawk, or a flying
squirrel, or whipping in two a small
rattlesnake, but for the most part find
ing full enjoyment in admiring this
gallery of pictures which nature by
herself had painted.
Once indeed he visited the distilleIt
in its weird hiding place under the
and glanced curiously over
the crude appliances with which the
fiery corn whiskey was produced. But
that was only once and indeed the
still was seldom referred to- In the
|
The wooden piazza, the Englishman
II silence, looking into the warm ,
myriad insect noises, or else the old
)ast southern spendor in NE halcyon |
lays ''hefor' the war. They seemed {
o be living then in an atmosphere Of S
81, In1 30 |
lines the Englshman had hard work \
o bring himself back to the true real
ties. But at last there came break S
ny up of the PASTORAL and it arrived |
n barbarous shape. The place was 5
aided by the revenue men. |
The visitor was away bee hunting in
he woods when they arrived. but /
fastened back when the sound of .
leavy firing came down to him over
he timber, a
He gained the hut, perhaps luckily, c
90 late for interference, but the his a
DRY of what had occurred was written h
ut before him in ruddy lettering v
'hree officers of the excise lay twisted b
nd dead on the red soil, shot down by "
hat terrible ten fire repeater, which
arried its charge like heavy ball for a
he short distance. Farther out was
'anrennan, doubled up over stump .
Ike a half filled meal sack Fitting e.
q and about trees, still farther down n
ne trail, were four saddled horses
,isurely grazing. |
There was no sign of old man Swan b
,e. CO
Had he run for the woods, or "
The newcomer rushed across the 81
earing and into the cabin The Caro- >
ma planter, the Confederate colonel, IL