The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-12-19

Zebi White Tells of His Cioses' Sh"'"
While MAILING uoonshine WhiskeN.

ono ovo,Ing when the old 'possum
hunter Of Tennessee was in s1o'S
! telling mood / asked him how close
shave he had ever had from the revenue
officers while making mooshine whi5keE'
and after a little thought ne repiieu'
Wall the cum poewrful clus 70 me
/ three or 70 times. but on one otO"1.''.
was saved In a mighty Gurus y,
| They knowed | had still up yer -,
! the mountings. and they was Jest Dou',,'
| 10 find II or bust. They knowed' 100
| that everybody up we're was aeih 80
| and so they had to be mighty keerlui'
They didn't cum huntin' around IN an
open way hut sent spies 20 trap us. ne
| fust Teller that Gums along purtended l"
/ he a preacher and he preached 10 us OF
! 70 different Sundays down az the scnooi
! house. 7 can { say As I niistrusted MN
| tho least bit but arfer his fust sermon
the ole woman said to me:
Zcb White If that preacher ain
one o. them rcvenoo spies then lH go
barcfut az winter, 7 follored his sermon
mighty clus and ne amt neither Bap-
fist. Methodist. Presbyterian. Mormon or
any other perticulcr faith. lie amt fer
hcll-fre nor agin II. He amt fer heaven
nor asin It. lie was lest smelln' Of every
hodv's breath al the time. and do yo
look ont or YOU git five vars in state
prison" "
"And did he turn out 10 be spy?' l
asked
eur suah. sor." replied 'he old man.
Eyes sab We found him gpyin around
o. the hills and IN the hollers and gin
him two hours 20 pack mp and GIT he
went off on the tiot. and the Nashville
nlpers afterwards had a long piece about
him. The next feller 70 cum wanted 70
find coal and ircn. and he was -irh an
honcsl-lookn' chan that ! took him 10
20 hoard our week. and on two or three
occashuns ! tramDed around with him.
IL found wha. he WAS ar'er. and he
talked about buving an tho land around
we're but one mornin my ole woman SCI
20 mo.
'Zeb White. kin q man find iron or
coal I'm the darkness Of night?'
Tie skasslv can't sen ;.
d" But fur these last two nights tho
stranger has slipped out o. bed and bin
gone 70 or 0vo hours. If he amt huntln
fur coal and iron then he's huntin' fur
your still. and VOID better look out
THAT set me 20 thinking. and whom
night cum again ! was on the watch.
Tho Teller went 20 bed about nine o'clock.
but climbed outer the winGer an hour
later and started up the Hill. Yo' kin
allus get the smell ~ SIN better by
night. yo see and from tho way that
Teller was headed he would have run
plump on II. plaved that ] was n bar.
however. and 7 skeert him so that he
made back for the cabin. Next mawnin'
7 aXed him 10 move on and he rot ont
Of the neghborhood in hurry 7 though;
IA ltetch on 70 the next man they sent
MP but they was too tricky fur mo. One
Gay a Teller appeared who said he was an
artist and wanted 10 paint some mount
ing scenery FUR ono o. the biggest men I'm
New York He drawod a picture Of the
ole woman on paper. and was 50 handy
about II that 7 reckoned he was all right.
lie went 10 stop with Dan Shaw and he
had paints and breshes and things and
used 10 work away by the hour Nobody
was mindn' him I'm the least when my
ole woman speaks up one day and SEE:
'Zcb White. hev yo' token a good
look at that artists nose vito
Not so very partcular--why?'
" Cause II was made for smellin' out
stills and hos allus snhin about Hes
out on the Bald Hill every mawnin soon