Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1897-10-07

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The MoonShiner'S Revenge.
The little group had been indulgin9
in "reminiscences through the smoke o
their cigars. The stories had been oil
a tragic turn. In the party was
representative from Southern State
and when the others stopped as though
it had come to his turn, he was SLOW
to break the silence. He ran-hi
fingers through his mass of iron-gray
hair, as if in meditation, and theI
leisurely consulted his watch.
II might tell you bit of history,
said he, "a story which was familiar
to almost all the inhabitants in oul
section some thirty years ago, but
do not know that l can expect you t
believe it, things are so different now
than they were then, you know.
There was general request to "gc
on, and during the time consumed by
the congressman in relating the story
each one present sat as if bound by
spell, no one uttering a word from
start to finish. This is what he said
to the best of my recollection, and
paid strict attention to every word he
uttered:
"At the time this little tragedy was
enacted the mountainous regions Of oul
State were infested with illicit distill'
ers. They were dangerous men, and
as reckless Of the consequences of law
breaking as they were dangerous. II
happened one day, after an exciting
chase, sheriff's posse overlook and
captured two of the moonshiners who
were most wanted, and, as result o.
the trial which followed, each receiv.
ing long sentence in prison. re-
member the incident quite well, and
| recall with distinctness that there
were many threats, some of them made
openly, that the witnesses for the pros,
ecution would suffer dire consequences
for having taken the parts they did
One of these witnesses was a man oi
middle age, as fearless as lion, who
lived in a small log cabin, some three
and a-half miles from the county seat
where the trial had been held, in an
isolated mountainous region. He
lived with his son, young fellow, born
and reared in the section, man who
had seemingly inherited the courage
and vigor Of his father. He was of my
own age, and as | was, and have since
been, on intimate terms with him,
am able to relate the incidents which
occurred in an accurate manner.
Scarcely a week.had elapsed from
the time the pair aoOnsbiners were
convicted when the old man was sur
prised one afternoon, an hour before
sunset, just as he was entering his
cabin home. Two men had their rifles
leveled at his breast, and, being taken
unawares, he had no course left but to
throw up his hands as they command
ed. AS it turned out, had the out
laws been content to shoot their victim
then and there, and thus ended the
affair, it would have been well for
them, but they were intent upon tor
turing their enemy, and the means
they employed were the most fendish
and cold-blooded that pair Of cut
throats' minds could well conjure up.
They followed the old man into his
cabin home, bound his hands securely
behind his back, tied his feet tightly
together and finally lashed him in an
upright position to the stone work OF
the fireplace. They next gagged their
prisoner, dragged the heavy article OF
furniture which answered for table
to position in front of him, placing
an old-fashioned homemade chair on
| its top. In another moment they had
securely fastened the barrel of the old
| mans rife to the chair, in such man.
ner that its ominous muzzle was di-
rectly on level with his heart. One
of the villains next produced piece
of stout cord, carefully made a slip
moose in one end and drew the moose
tightly over the hammer of the weap'
on. The other end of the cord wal
soon fastened to a convenient nail II
the wall at the other side of the room
after which, with deliberate coolness
the heavy table and chair were pushed
little nearer to the bound man unti