The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-06-10

and followed II for half mile, when l
came upon cabin about Is feet square.
| made of unhown logs with a porch in
front and shed room IN tho rear. a small
| yard was enclosed In which were variety
OF flowers. Everything indicated neatness,
taste and poveEjy. n lady. whom i took
to be 40, neatly dressed, and five or six
cleanly, well behaved children, consti-
tuted the family present. She gave mo
| half gallon OF fresh buttermilk and "a
couple OF pones of cornbread, refusing pay
| for them. This was all sho had left from
! her dinner. she offered 20 fry me some
meat and make me some coffee, but / re-
| fused. ! learned from her that her hus-
! band was cripple from the effects of
rheumatism and was engaged In soliciting
! subscribers for books. lie was thon selling
! the life of Gen. Grant she Informed
me that she had grown daughter, who
taught school about four months In the
! year. We fishcd In the neighborhood the
| remainder Of the lay, ard abou5 sunset
| returned, where we were cordially re-
ceived, and treated with well-bred atten-
! tiop.
Tho day following we found a narrow
opening, into tho swamp about one
mile above the log mentioned above IL was
| tortuous and made 10y carefully cutting
out the alder bushes and swamp dogwood
here and there. Tho canal was barely
| two feet wide, but could be easily traced
| after we left the river. We followed its
| scrpentine course for several hundred
! yards, when we came To an island not
! Inches above the water, about half an acre
In extent, and covered by % dense growth
| Of alders swamp doRwood and briars.
| Opposite the canal was we'll defined boat
| landing. stob was driven into the
| ground, and marks of chain and the inn
! print OF the bow Of boat were plainly
visible. zigzag path led from this
| at0t four ard hAr ~ ha iala a
tracks Of a man with heavy boots, Of "a
barefooted person and No. rub.
| ber boot were visible. Taking off
our shoes, TO avoid detection, and fasten-
| Ing our boat, we cautiously followed the
path until we came % a low log house,
chinke1 and daubed, with window faston-
ned down and door secured by large
| paddock. Through apertures here and
there we could discern small distillery
furnace In the center, washtubs made
! of molasses barrels arranged around the
rooms worm sunk In tho ground near
the corner. IL was the neatest, coolest
outfit had ever seen. On the opposite
of the island we found n wider channel in
! the swamp Lending In an opposite direo
| tion from the one we came. Taking our
| boat out Of the water and carrying 10 over
the island, we followed this channel until
| we came TO an inclosure with at least
| twenty five head of fat hogs i'm 10. An
| old fiat bottom boat about 10 feet long
| and 2 feet wide was tied TO the fence op
| posite some troughs on the inside. Here
was where the slop was fed. We retraccd
| our steps got into the river again and
| floated down tho stream and concealed
| our boat. IL was important To find out
| who owned the hogs and we returned
| rather unexpectedly To the house where
we had been stopping While wo were
waiting for our landlady To prepare our
meal, IA young lady, whom judged To no
nr I'm nd
| introduced 20 her as the daughter of our
| hostess. She was without doubt the most
| beautiful and perfect specimen OF young
womanhood that had ever seen. Five
feet six inches, broad shoulders, SNOWY
! limbs, with perfect mock, that
and surmounted by head that
would have set phrenologist
crazy. Her hair was n dark chestnut.
and, Judging from the coil. sufficient 10
have made her cloak Her eyes were
large full and light blue. She returned
but i imagined that her very look was
an Interrogation point. who are your'
What are You doing horer' was uttered
by her very countenance. Her mother
noticed it, and as rapidly as possible pro-
cceded to explain to her all that she
knew, with politeness ana tact that sur
priscd me. The young lady excused her
self as soon as she could do SO politely,
and / could sea In her EXPRESSION IA de-
| termination Co do little investigation
on her own hook. When she had changed
hor dress and arranged her toilet, she
| returned, and Immediately engaged
| Strong in conversation. She had been To
| Lexington on visit, which accounted
| for our not meeting her sooner. / left
| her and Strong together, borrowed n
horse and went 10 the Rock after my
mail. / returned tho next day 10y way
- q 10, gtI
of the swamp. Judging from what l
learned on this trip. l concluded that
the hogs belonged TO the owner OF the
mill, and that the still house was little
north OF his house.
That night Strong told me that
the mother of the young lady
was graduate of Mary Sharp Col
lege, in Middle Tennessee, aud that the
young lady herself had attended that in
stitution two or three years The father
was whisky distiller before and during
tho war in Moore county, and had amassed
considerable property. Financial re-
verses followed after the war and with
these the fathnr was stricken with rheu-
matism that twisted his once fine physical
frame and throw him upon the world
wreck Her mother secured the high
school at Hollow Rock In 1870 and the
family removed TO that point In tho SOS
the town went down and with It the
school, She secured public school about
two miles from where they lived. that
gave her employment for four months in
the year, and they removed 20 their pres
ent residence. The father, after they loit
Hollow Rock, was compelled 20 do some
thing To assist In the support Of the family
and was engaged In taking subscriptions
for popular books Strong had extracted
this family history during the IL or Is
hours he had been with her, which struck
me as very fair work.
some Of my readers are impatient TO
know why, when we found an Illicit still,
we did not destroy It, The reason is
obvious. We wished 90 capture md punish
the parties operating it. and 90 do so wo
must catch them while M work within IL.
10 Is not an offense 20 go 10 one or 10 be
al one, but ~ 90 operate o. own one ! could
not fail @ observe that Strong was all out
Of sorts lie was avcrsc 30 going fishing
until the young lady invited him 90 ac-
company her. ] attributed it 20 having
caught cold IN exploring the island bare
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