Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1896-05-08
CUPID AND BICYCLES.
A Government Officer Captured
by a Moonshiner's
Daughter.

ana DlCyCleS.
In the summer a suspiCiO
which the rev nue. departmer
had long entertained ripened il
to certainty that there was a
Illicit distillerv somewhere i
this vicinity which was produC
ing large quantities of f"Mountai
Dew" The local officials bein,
well known 20 the inhabitants
the department sent here a youn!
man from New York, one Jacl
Dickson by name whose instruc
lions were to ferret out such in
formation as he could get, Whil,
apparently occupied sol y in nsh
ing, hunting and otherwise pass
ing months $ vacation.
The programme was duly ca,
ried out. Dickson hunted anG
hshed and kept his eyes open, but
not even a whiff could he get OF
the forbidden liquor. One day
nearly two weeks after his ar
rival, he took his fishing rod and
1Journeyed in a direction not
hitherto taken. Trying many
mountain streams, he caught a
few fish, but his spying efforts
were as vain as heretofore.
Evening came on, and not
knowing his whereabouts, he
was delighted to succeed in get>
ting out of the underbrush On to
a good wagon road. Undecided
which direction to take, he
paused by the roadside a mos
ment, when an apparition darted
around the bend of the road and
fairly took away his breath. A
bicycle in this wilderness, and
what is more, ridden by most
attractive girl! She saw him, of
course, and as he admitted him>
self to be lost, she directed him
how to reach her fathers farm
house, extending a cordial invi,
tation to stop, with all the free
good fellowship for which our
girls hereabouts are noted. Then
mounting her wheel, she sped
away, while Dickson hurried be-
hind.
The farmer insisted upon his
staying all night, and lie did SO.
1t was a case of love at first sight.
Dickson being an expert wheel
man himself, was captivated by
the beautiful mountain rider.
Moonshiners We're forgotten in
the next few days. Within a
week he had his own wheel sent
hither by express, and was more
than pleased to comply with
Sallie Newman's laughing orders
that it must be kept at the farm.
Every day they went out togeth-
er, starting from the farm in the
afternoon and riding through the
leaty byways, frequently stop
ping at the residence of Sallies
aunt in the village for supper,
and then going home III the |
moonlight.
Weeks sped away, until one
day Dickson was TudeIY awaken |
d from his dream IF bIlss u, =!
prenptory order from Washing |
ton to return home, his 1nissioi4
having proven fruitless. Sadly |
he started out with Sallie for a
final ride. All unconscious of
his woes, Sallie twitted him up
on his strange silence, and then
challenged him to race. Away
she sped, and he was sorely tried
to keep at her side. Neither no.
ticed the fragments of a pane of
window glass, dropped on the
road by some unlucky farmer,
until too late.
"Hold on, our tires are punc~
tured," shouted Dickson, Jump
ing from his wheel; "by the horn
spoon, what's that" he added |
gazing with amazement at tiny
stream Of liquor squirting from
both front and rear tires. Al
moment later the whole situa,
tion fell upon him. "Oh, you
little moonshiner," he murmur-
ed, and then he let his wheel
tall, and sprang to catch Sallie,
who had swooned.
For six weeks the valiant
Dickson had been assisting TN
awares the moonshiners by car
rY1ng Wh1skey III his pneumatic
tires, inserted at the farmhouse
and deftly removed by Aunt
Jane in the village
Did he arrest the guilty naido
Not much. He resigned his po-
sition and married her, and the |
happy pair now live in Plliladel-
phia, where they are often seen |
on tandem in the park. |
1t is scarcely necessary to add |
the tires are now inflated solely
with air.-Philadelphia Times