New-York tribune., 1900-04-01
aunt CHARETTE.
LIE OF THE MAINE LIQUOR Law.

had
II'. complaints from the respectable ele-
Fort Kent she officers had come up there
Aos sxooped on The liquor dealers AND
,-,ong the liquor dealers was Aunt Cha
T, eact- she was the local wholesaler She
..,sf.,- VAS Aunt Charette- She had credit
-o,,ts ,oIl in $500 worth Of ''lnorson." or
-,-, Of one time The smaller dealers uT
49,, the St John from St Francis to
,.,fia folud il more convenient TO buy OF
hsr
90 l.ass and black silk dress O. Sundays
r~ba-at-e wear Broad was she, with
-,..-,5a NJ waist and scarcity Of lap She sat
- ro,- IN her little sitting room and inter
= ho- knitting only long enough TO answer
80 5oor Sometimes the caller would be
.-or, Connor with gray wool trousers and
s. ,an Another would be a Frenchville
- Nth empty Jugs under the seat OF his
narrow blackboard
r4,- told her whether they wanted morson
-yn or -wheesk'' or alcohol Then
u. rsaratte went out in the little dark lean
: So and rattIed the tunnel and clinked the
. and at last came pudging back with a
- smile between her big gold earrings.
80 sba always knew whether TO give or refuse
"a All sorts Of queer accounts had She
.,.,,sr45 all over the countryside
r-ncle C-harette was very silent partner in
~ a-n. He used TO tell the priest that he had
.-a5 and tried to induce Aunt Charette TO give
:, .be business OF selling liquor Stin Uncle
-Asrptte mad discovered years before that he
.,u,s not have % 90 into the woods winters
v r,ore that there was always spare change
A. him 20 buy MS tobacco; that he was never
,ssas 10 earn any money for the groceries
-v,,4 4 year aunt Charette purchased new
voo5 --ousers Of Canadian gray. AS for his long
,slas coat Uncle Charette seemed unable to
sssr that out for the reason that most OF the
.ns he went about II his shirt sleeves
ADd though Uncle Charette never went out
n.s me dark leanto, still on a corner Of the
kitchen shelf stood 2 little earthen Jug that
Lunt Charette never allowed to be less than half
MI Of brandy She had TO pour some into it
ron the keg every day. Uncle Charette de-
cared that il helped his rheumatism
When the officers came riding up 10 the door
ua big sled drawn by Two horses and ran in
without knocking aunt Charette chung to the
C-rns q aer chair
-Ie bon Dieu. Wat ees eetc~ she cried
Aunt Charette, you've beer complained
against said the local deputy sheriff "and
we've got to take what stuff you've got on the
premises, I suppose its al in the leanto, as
zual"
When The discovery Is made n Prohibition
Maine mat there IS liquor selling in a commu-
rty The local deputy Is usually well acquainted
viii ne location Of Il he liquor deposits.
Wat screamed aunt Charette but in sor-
uE not II anger. Wat tax ma leetle stock7
Why. msisu. yo' can't DO not-ains lax dat
geet ma pairmeet trom dat man-w'at yo' call
hse-- de Comfy AttOrnee. Here-h -here-here il
BE- and With trembling hand she poked under
lie ieputy's nose the receipt showing that she
s2d paid q fine al the last term Of court She
INSISTED hat Il was q permit TO sell liquor Aunt
ChaTeite 5elieved that Il was.
= haiH't got anything 70 Go with that" said
he deputy. I've got search warrant, and I'm
uoered TO search and seize"
Ee dncked past and started for the leanto
And Aunt charette, her keys jangling. her hands
cp7a-sed her tongue flying ike a shuttle, fol-
1Fed on ais heels Uncle Charette sat wholly
A-sni In corner. Tie only sign Of emotion he
cspayed was 10 blink every thirty seconds. So
Absolutely impassiVe was he that 7, unseen, took
l. photograph IN q twenty seconds exposure
III there wasn't smooch On the negative
ann Charette protested against opening the
1o0f- The deputy. with one blow OF his boot,
E2Tiered The lock Then he and MS men rolled
vi ne barrels and tae kegs and the dernijohns.
AIN caarette, as they laid their hands on each
E-'ie screamed Al mon Dieu, Non! non.
W taken enoughI Leeve dat wanAIeeve
III van
6at the officers were inex0rabIe. They rolled
everything out They had 10 send for another