The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-12-15

below, but the lin 5 wus thick An
stout an thcr' wan t no trouble in
hol in on.
could hear them revenue officers
as they were prowlin ronn on the
fiat top o the mount II. an ter while
hcarn one fetch whoop nigh the
place where the still was hid. an
knowcd they'd found it, In few
minits they'd all gcthcrcd roum' the
spo' an conld hear en- talkin' an
laughin while they sampled the fresh
con lickcr an a ter while hcarn cm
Dustin up the still that we spent so
much time Oh, an hit made me grind
lily teeth AS ! didn't near nothin
mo NV Bud | concluded that he'd got
away, an | made up my min that L d
set right thar on that lin tell they
conc atcr me fore Id take any
chances.
"-A'tcr they'd broke up the still
they gun to arch 'rouu' fur
me an Bud. an they walked right up
to the root o that ere cncs nut an
two uv en- popped the 'rsclvcs down
on it fer consultation. Ther' wus a
whole lot o dry leaves in the cracks
q the rocks nigh the place an one NV
EN- struck match an lit cigar, an
then stuck the match to the leaves.
They sot thar an talked few minits
an then they got up an ga ntcrcd off
down the path long the edge o the
bluff.
SID bin layin' low an didn sea &C
ly kctch my breath while they wus
thar, but as soon as they got out n
sight / felt 80 we'll ticklcd that nat
ly shuk that tree latin at EN-. They
KEEP trarnpoosin' 'roun' thar an hol
lerin to one mother till it gun to git
late an got so tired crouchi char
on that lin like hungry pant CIR that
/ wus amos ready to drap. The
day d bin br'ilin' hot an long bout 2
o'clock hit gun to cloud up an looked
like hit might rain. At las l hcarn
'cm talkin' to one mother nigh the
slope O the mount'n an 7 knnwcd
they wus givin up the drive, 40 riz
up an sorter crope back to ards the
root O the tree where I wouldn't be
so cramped up.
81 got bout twenty foot f'on the
root o the tree an l noticed that the
dry leaves had sot an Oh rotten stumn
airc in crevicc O the rock. an les
taen I hearn a. s-A-s.s: that like to
made me dfap shore 'nough. A mon
st oaa 'oig Of rattlesnakc'd bin routed
out'en his den By the Ger, an he had
crawled out on the log an camped
'twix' me an the bluff. Great Lawd!
I had to ketch hold NV linn to keep
f'om tumblin' of heels over head into
the valley below. lie was coiled up
shar n pile 'hout as big 81 las's
bushel measure, an he had his head
stuck up an looked as mad as hor-
net.
"Yc kin jes imagine how I felt.
Tine wind wus risin an the clouds
comm up like they allcrs does in
them mounths, an 1 seed that hit
wus likely to be storm. But I orope
hack m far as ! could scm that ere
snake and ketohed holt wv big lin
and clung on for dear life. Every
move Id make that burned snake'd
jar his rattles an they sounded like
there wus dozen rattlcsnakes all
'roun me. The col sweat busted out
all over me on | wus never so skeered
in all my bo'ncd days.
"Thc wind KEEP risin' an a'ter
while tho thunder gun to crash an
seed that was in ferit. The ol tree
rocked an tossed like it would blow
way every mint, an had to cling
On with both my hans to geep f'om
fallin Hit kindled the fer in that
ol' stump an stidder that snake gwine
back to his hole, he crawled out few
feet further Oil the log TO git way
f'om the blaze. I wus gittin desput,
an Irun my han in my pocket to git
my knife. thought Id manage to
cut off one o the smaller Inns an
git out n my misfortinit perdick yment
But wus so nervous that the fust
rake | made with my knife hit shct
up on my han an the pain caused me
to sling hit loose, an l heard hit
strike the rocks way down below.
"Thc wind had rix till hit wus
BLOWN harrikin an hit wus all
could do to keep my perch. The
clouds wus so thick that could hard
ly see the wall O the cliff, an when
hit gun to rain, hit seemed to me like
ralc watcrsp0ut'd struck the place