Omaha daily bee., 1896-05-23

OF diamonds by way Of the Plattsburgh trail.
When pursuit on the Plattsburgh route be-
Genes too hot, the trail changes to ST. AL
bans; to Niagara Falls, TO St. stephens and
at times to Detroit. 1t never leaves the
settled lines Of travel however. There are
no detours through woods and swamps, no
hiding by day and travelling by night. The
dangers Of the customs service are less
dreaded than the perils and dscomforts OF
unknown routes. In short as an old. we'll
trained smuggler put II day CT two ago,
the customs service Is looked upon as an
annoyance. not real danger
TRICKED BY a YANKEE SMUGGLER.
The boundary line between the United
States and Canada, slys the Lewiston tMe)
| Journal, has been the scene of no end Of
exciting adventures because the desire to
cheat our Uncle Samuel out of his lawful
| tariff dues is something that seems to be
deeply rooted in the human breast There
are protest. nal smugelers but the larger
per cent, imagine. are those who, being
| on the Canadian side of the line and finding
| goods very cheap, cannot resist the tempta-
| tion to try to get them across.
Between Maine and the British possessions
| is an enormously lCng stretch of boundary
! line, and patroling II is entirely cut of the
question, but still with all their Sins, the
customs officers do occasionally get hold OF
| clue and run II to the gTound-scmctime
with results that are not so pleasant. This
was the case with the officer whose story
| am about to tell. At just what part of
| Uncle Sans farm line IL occurred need not
be told. The story starts upon the Canadian
side at secluded spot IN the woods whore
a man, a horse sled with an enormously
big box upon II, a good horse, and a trunk
filled with valuable articles, make a break
for the American side of the line. In some
way an officer has got wind tf the at
tempted smuggling, and with a still better
horse he starts at full speed after the mys-
tetious trunk and the driver of the horse
sled
1t was not until some distance across the
line upon the American side that the driver
of the horse sled discovered that he was
pursued.
Far back on distant hill he saw team
coming at full speed, and knew its meaning.
He got up steam on his own craft immed-
ately, and the old sled Slid into and out Il
thank -ye-marms' in way to make ones
hair rise. but the driver knew very we'll
that he could not escape being ovGItdkGr. He
only desired to get over the next hilltop and
out of sight for a moment When over the
brow of the hill he suddenly pulled up, took
the trunk up in his arms, climbed on top
of the enormous box ON the sled, and holding
the trunk as high as he could over the side
dropped it into big snow drift, where it
sank completely cut CT sight Then the race
began again.
Back at the summit of the last hill APP
peared the customs officer in hot pursuit.
| and now he yelled to the man ahead to stop,
but that individual appeared singularly deaf
and in a great hurry we'll. He kept his
horse at top speed, and looked neither to the
right nor left.
half mile more and the officer had
drawn up cl sc behind, when pretense of not
hearing his pr fame calls could no longer
be made The driver of the sled gazed
backward over his shoulder, and then, in
apparently great surprise, he pulled up-so
suddenly that the officers foamng horse
nearly plunged head foremost into the big
box
"Wha- -wha-what dye want?" drawled the
The reply of the officer is totally unsuted
for publication. II swar to ye | hain't
got thing here" said the driver of the
horse sled.
Then l should like t. know what in hades
you were trying to get away from me for
said the officer
Cit away from ye?" said the other; "wy
gosh mighty! l got ter git home n milk
eight caows afore dark, SO | haint got no
time ter be a-loafn' on the road"
We'll, you just haul up" replied the
collectr r of Uncle Sans duties. "and I'll
have look. l know well enough just what
you've got there
Tell ye I hain't got thing here but this
old sled N box" protested the other but the
more he protested the more certain became
his pursuer that he mad contraband goods
concealed in the big box, the only opening
to which was a little door at the end, the
normal use Of the box being for the con-
veyance Of live pigs.
The two teams came to a standstill and
the officer got out and investigated the turn
out ahead. He opened the little door in the
rear and looked in. With his eyes blinded
by the glare of the bright snow, he could
see nothing but Stygian blackness. He looked
about for pole or stick with which to probe
the inky interior. Stone walls were beside
the road, and nothing else.
The suppressor of smuggling was a man
Of action. There was nothing else to do, so
he would crawl in the box and explore the
interior. He did so, when, quick a fash,
the door flew to, the button turned. and the
horse in front of the old sled broke into
run that threatened demolition to the whole
outfit. Over the uneven road went the team
at the top of its speed, the sled swaying
fearfuly and jumping into the air at every
leap of the horse. The man inside was
shaken about like peas in a bladder, the
man outside all the while plying the whip