Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-01-22
THE MOONSHINER'S DREAM.
By MATT GRIM
BIZ MATT GRIM,
AUTHOR OF THE ADVENTURES OF FAIR
REBEL.
Copyright, 1894. by Bachelor, johnson s
Bacheller.l
CONTINUED from yesterday.


reached home. Al carried his sweet
heart over the threshold into the room.
Poor Lizzy sat before the fire with her
apron over her face, weeping duly.
''Oh, me; oh, me; Eph, an Eddy an
now her too"
On the bed the sick child tossed and
moaned.
Il wants my pa; wants my pa"
That gray wintry morning found the
revenue officers and their prisoner far
on the way to Atlanta, and at nightfaH
Ephraim White was lodged in Jail. 1t
gave him a strange feeling to hear the
cell doors close and the key turn in the
lock-. He sat down on the edge of the
hard cot, and put his face in his hands
for moment. 1t was the first time he
fully realized the situation and what
it meant to be behind the bolts and
bars of prison. His bold, free spirit
quailed little; he thought of his wife
and child with poignant regret, with
deep and keen sympathy. Others had
been captured and carried away from
the mountains, and he had listened to
tales of prison-life that set his heart
afiame with anger, but he had never
believed such a fate would be his.
Who gave that alarm on the noun
tain? He felt again the thrill it sent
through him when it pierced the
silence of the night. He remembered
just where he was standing, what he
was doing. He had raised a blazing
splinter from the fire to light his pipe.
But the pipe must have shared the fate
of the 'still'ry. He ground his teeth
as he thought of standing helplessly
by while his property was being de-
suroyed.
I'D like to "a TUX a hand agin 'em
for a few minutes" he muttered to
himself, grimly. 81 low they'd a ben
somethin' like a wreck, too"
How his tameless spirit, bred in the
wild Businesses of the mountains, chafed
and ragged during the ensuing week. A
weight of anxiety hung upon him. He
had never before been separate from
ais wife and child for so long a time.
What would Eddy think of the long
absence and would they dare explain
it's meaning to him? Eph writhed and
paced the narrow limits of his cell as
he, in fancy, saw the pale little fellow,
watching for him da- after day. He
had never been robust and full Of
healthy animal spirits lil1e other chill
dren, and the fathers heart had yearned
over him from his birth. The idle
days Jagged drearily to the imprisoned
D,,+D 1nttnr 40
for him, an i'll spelt scrawl that he had
to ask fellow prisoner to read to him.
The news it brought was worse than
anything he could have imagined.
Eddy was sick, sick unto death, and
constantly calling for him. If he did
not come home the. child would certain,
ly die, buteif he did the doctor thought
there might be chance of saving his
life.
'.Oh, du cum. du cum, eff you have tn
break jail tn git here" Lizzy prayed
in conclusion. "Mebby they'll let you
out, if they know he's so sick
Eph heard the reading with ashen
cheeks and wild eyes.
$50. reckon will go eff I have to
pull down every brick in this Jail
house. Eddy sick an me not there to
take keer o. him. Hep me Almighty
God, oh hep me-"
It is needless to dwell upon his vain
appeals first to the jailer, and then to
the federal authorities, for liberty.
Their dealings with men had not been
of q kind to increase their faith in
human nature. Some believed that it
was clumsy scheme to escape, others
that if the child was i'll, no good could
be accomplished by his presence. His
promises to return and give himself up
were heard with dcrision and doubt.
"As the Almighty hears me l will
come back when he gets better" he
said with tears running down his face.
Hes the only little I'm I've got.
Lemme see him fore he dies"
But that night he lay down on his
prison cot stupid with despair, know
ing that he could only get his liberty
by.breaking Jail, and how could he do
that? He had dim remembrance of
prison doors opening for the escape of
certain Apostles. but that happened
only in the days of miracles. 1t never
could happen to poor sinner like him.
Nevertheless, he prayed, and prayed
after different fashion than ever he
had wordcd his petitions before, prayed
with fervDr and passion called forth
by his extreme need.
1t must have been near midnight or
perhaps later that it seemed to him he
was awakened by some one calling him
and he looked up and saw his child
with outstretched arms.
''Pa, oh pa
Eyes. honey. Yes, yes, I'm comm"
he cried leaping out on the cold floor.
But the vision had fled. Nothing more
than blank darkness met his gaze. He
dashed to the iron grated window. His
hands, his arms, his whole body
seemed endowed with the strength of
zen men.
"Yes, honey, yes; pas comm" he
muttered again and wrenched the bars
like a mad man.
He never could have told himself
how they were loosened and torn ont,
nor how he managed to escape detec-
ton as he scaled the high spiked fence.
He only knew that presently he stood
upon the deserted street, shivering
with cold and fumbling in an inner