Evening star., 1897-04-17
An Incident in the Life of Southern Repre-
sentative.
Written for The EveniG Star.

Written for The EveniGE Star. ..-.--
The little group had been indulging in
| "reminiscences through the smoke of their
cigars. The stories had taken on a tragic
tern. In the party was a representative
from a southern state, and when the 9TH
ers stopped as though it had come to his
turn he was slow to break the silence. He
ran his fingers through his mass of iron
gray hair as if in meditation and then leis-
urely consulted his watch
Il might tell You a, bit sof history" said
he. "a story which was familiar to almost
all the inha abitants in our section some thir-
ty years ago, but / do not know that 1 can
/ expect you to believe it. things are so differ
| ent now than they were, then. you know
There was general request to .'go on,'
and during the time consumed by the con-
gresham in relating the story each one
present sat as If bound by spell. no one
! uttering word from start to finish. This
is what he said. to the best of my recol!ec-
tion, and 1 paid strict attention to every
word he uttered:
AT the time this little tragedy was en-
acted the noun famous regions of our state
wereS infested with Illicit dstillers. They
were dangerous men. and as reckless cf
the consequences of law-breaking as they
were dangerous, It happened that one day.
after an exciting chase. sheriff's posse
overlook and captured two of the moon
sinners who We're most wanted and as a
result of the trial which followed, each re-
cefved long sentence in prison. 1 remen,-
per the incidents quite well and l recall
with distinctpess that there were many
threats. some of them made openly thai
the witnesses for the prosecution would
suffer dire consequences for having taken
! the parts they did,. One of these with. sses
va: vas a man OF middle age. as fearless as a
hon. who lived in small log cabin, some
three and half miles from the county seat
wnere the trial had been held. in an iso-
| iateu mountainous region. He lived with
mis- son. young fellow, born and reared In
the section, man who had seemingly in
herited the courage and vigor of his ather
ne was OF my own age, and as L was and
have since been, on 'frt innate 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 of moonshfners were con-
Victed when the old man was surprised one
afternoon. an hour before sunset. lust as
ne was entering his cabin ,ome Two men
had their rifles leveled at his breast and.
ieft but to throw up his hand as they com,
manded As it turned out. had the ou.-
laws been content to shoot their victim
a. .hen ana there and thus ended the affair
II would nave been well for them but they
were intent" Hpen 'torturing their enemy
ana the means they employed were the
most fiendish and cold-b!ooded that pair
OF cut-throats' minds could well coniure
up. They followed the old man into his
home. bound his hands securely behind his
back, tied his feet tightly together and
inaily ly lashed him in an upright position to
the stonewofk of the fireplace They NEXT
Gagged their prisoner. dragged the heavy
article of furniture which answered for a
table to position in front of him. placing
an old-fashioned homemade chair on ito
top In another moment they had secureiy
Fastened the barrel of the old mans rifle
10 the chair, In such a manner that its
ominoSs .,iiih us; muzzie was directly on a level
nf ba
produced piece of stout cord, carefully
maze p-noose in one end and drew the
moose tightly over the hammer of the
weapon The other end of the cord was
soon fastened to convenient naiI in The
wall at the other side of the room after
which, with deliberate coolness the heavy
"a, taoie anu chair were pushed a little nearer
the bound an until the rifle was almost
at q full cock. 1t would he difficult for any
man accustomed though he might be to
Danger and death to imagine the feelings
OF the prisoner as he realized that the
seyering Of the cord meant instant death!
he was not left long in suspense as to the
nature of the death-dealing means his enc
mics had prepared for him, for in a short
er time than 1t takes to relate IL, they
had taken acah1le from the window sill.
lighted 1t, placed it conveniently upon
small box they had placed upon the table
in such manner that the fame had but to
burn half hour until IL should reach the
cord and burn 1t in two. And in another
moment. with a lew taunting remarks,
they were gone.
"How the helpless man must have ionged
for the return of his son! How he must
have watched with bulging eyes and faint
ing heart the fame Of doom burn closer
and closer! 1t was situation to drive the
strongest man to madness. But with not
dwell at any length upon that sad portion
Of the story. A few moments more short
ly before sunset, the son came down the
lonely mountain road. whistling a merry
tune. Wholly unconscious of what he
should find. he approached his cabin
hny a nd fS.,pva olxv
locked. Not sound came from within. |
Still unaware that anything unusual had
happened. he placed his rifle beside the
door and walked slowly to the first OF the
two windows the cabin contained. 1t was
fastened nailed securely from the inside. |
A look inside and wonderful change
the one remaining window, only to find
thai Il also resisted his best efforts 10 open