The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-02-18
THE BARON OF THE PINES.
A Story of Fierce Outlaws, by Ev
erett 7. TomlinSon.

erett T. Tomlinson.
Copyright, 1897, by Everett T. Tomlin-
SON.
James Wells was almost a mass OF
bruises. His eyes were discolored,
patches were on his cheeks, and he
was carrying one arm in sling. And
yet, bruised as he was, he was seated
on a board thrown across the box Of a
lumber wagon, and behind a smart
team of horses was driving through
that portion of New Jersey which 120
years ago was known as THE Pines. "
On the seat beside him, on that
morning late in June, IT'S, was Ser
geant Brown of the Continental army,
and both young men were glancing
keenly about them as they rode on
Many invalids seek that same region
today, and find in the soft air. tenn
pered as it is by the breath of the
pines and the air of the sea. a tonic
for tired nerves and worn bodies, but
neither Wells nor his companion were
searching for anything of that kind.
With them were two soldiers, but
their presence could not easily have
been detected. If. however, you had
stirred the straw that covered the bot
tom of the wagon, you might have
found them beneath it, and their mus
kets also. A strange load, and yet they
had been carrying it since the Dreced-
ing day, when they had left the camp
of General Lee at Monmouth court
house and at the command of the gen.
eral himself.
It's desperate chase" said the SER
geant. THE chances are all against
US"
Nay, not So" replied his companion,
land if we succeed just think of the
good done"
You don't look as though you could
do much,'' said the young soldier with
"a sympathetic glance at his friend.
I'm not the only man who has re-
ceived the attentions of this outlaw.
You see / was on my way home from
the mill with load of meal. The first
1 knew this Fenton and his gang were
right in front of me in the road. l
knew 1 couldn't do anything, so 1 gave
in at once. They thought l had some
money, but when they couldn't find it
Fenton turned on me and l thought my
last hour had come. o, he's power
full mani You know he was a black
smith at Freehold before the war, and
1 presume his work made him all the
stronger / don't know another man
his equal anywhere.
But General Lee is going to put q
stop to his tricks. That story of yours
and the one about his treatment of old
man FAIR up at Imlaystown were too
much. You know, l suppose, how he
and his gang behaved there. The OLD
man barricaded the door and kept the
scoundrels back for time. but Fen
ton smashed a piece of the door and
broke the old mans thigh. Finally
they got into the house and murdered
the old man and his wife, but his
daughter, for all that she was fear
fully wounded, managed to get away.
Yes, know about that, but it's only
a sample of what's been going on for
two years"
Il never saw General Lee so stirred"
said the sergeant, ''as he was by your
story And now that he's sent us after
this outlaw we'll hope the end has
come, if we can only find him.
II.
This, then. was the expedition on
which our little party had been sent.
No one can picture the sufferings of the
wings of New Jersey during the early
years of the revolution. The British
and HessianJ pillaged and burned I'M
til every family lived in a state of
constant terror. They barred their
windows and double locked their doors
were of no avail.
But there were others besides the
soldiers who engaged in the vile work.
In this region, through which our party
was passing, known then as THE Pine
Barrens," six bands of outlaws had
made their homes. They were desper
ate men and loyal to neither side,
though the wings were the chief suf-
ferers at their hands. BY night they
started on their raids. and murder and
fire almost always followed them. They
had dug or burrowed under the sand
hills, and there made their homes, and
stored their plumber.
The most desperate and feared of all
these men were Fenton and his gang
of 20 ruffians. OF late, in his reckless
ness. he had taken to himself the name
of the Baron of the Pines'-whether
this was designed as a play upon the
name of the region where he had his
headquarters-"The Pine Barrens"-I
cannot say, but the title he had as
sumed was now familiar to all, and
whenever THE Baron of the Pines"
was mentioned, all knew that il re-
ferred to Fenton, the powerful outlaw
blacksmith of Freehold.
Two or three days before this time he
had fallen upon young James Wells. as
he has already described, and had left
him dead as he thought by the road
side; but the young man had recovered
and made his way to the quarters of
General Lee. There he had related his
story, and the general had promptly
dispatched our little party with in
structions to shoot the outlaw at sight
if they could not take him prisoner.
The task was no slight one, as it was
more than likely that they would not
find Fenton alone. and if his comrades
were with him there was no doubt or
which side victory would fall.
The party had started promptly at
General Lees command. with the SOL
diers concealed beneath the straw, and
the sergeant and James Wells dis