The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1903-04-23
THE MOONSHINER'S
BETRAYAL
BY CHARLES SLOAN REID.
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Copyright, 1908, by Daily Story Pub. Coz

VoU GIT hurry too darned easy
for your own good, Mag. You
ought to curb hat temper"
Temper! I'm proud O. my temper,
Bill Burl! I wouldn't give a copper
for a woman, or a man either, without
temper. They'd about as well be
stumps a settin' off in the deepwoods."
The dark eyes of the little woman
flashed a CLEAN of defiance into the
face of her big husband, who was
standing in the doorway with his back
to the road, which lay only a few feet
from the cabin.
"Bill Burl, air you goin' to take me
to Ann Bakers party?" asked Mag
in a tone which was meant to be calm,
but which was, nevertheless, wavering
just a little from the throbbings of
her pent-up anger.
Z, "1've told you once, Mag" answered
Bill, in a half severe tone, "that I can't
take you to Ann Bakers party. Bust
ness comes fore frollickin', an them,
singlin's has to be worked off tonight"
He turned his head and glanced up
the road. The setting sun was flash
ing its last rays through the doorway.
"Fhen I can tell you. you'll regret
it fore another night, Bill Burl,' de-
clared Mag spitefully.
GIVE heard you talk that way afore,"
replied Bill, stepping out into the yard.
The, big moonshiner sent one swift
glance over the hollow below the cabin,
which was already immersed in the
gray shadow; then crossed the road
and turned his footsteps along a mar
row hillside trail. But as he made his
way among the dense timber, which
clothed the mountain side, he began to
reflect. He loved the girl-wife back
in the, cabin with all the strength of
his big, rugged heart, but he thought
it wise not to give way before the out
bursts of her quick temper. 1t was
true that on the present occasion she
had asked for only a trife, merely that
he should accompany her to Ann Bax-
ter's party; and he had refused rather
CURLY, because he felt that she must
have known the necessity Of his hav-
ing to work off withouttoo much delay
the singlings left over from the last
nights work, in the well-conceaIed
distillery not more than a mile and a
half over the mountain from the public
highway. But Bills quick step soon
slackened to a much slower pace, as his
thoughts dwelt upon the subject of his
girl-wife's burst of passion, and the
cause of it.
eyes, I reckon I'd ought to go back"
repeated Bill, with his fingers still
twirling his brown locks. "Who knows
a, revenue bullet might git into me this
very night, 'an-an' I'd die without
Mays forgiveness. An twarn't but a
little. thing she asked, either; an l
could ha' gotBen Downs to work off
them singlin's."
''I--I-wish I could kiss her jest once.
anyhow" he stammered to himself. 81
know I'd feel better about it. But
she's too 'tarnal mad right now" he
added a moment later, and with a shake
of the head as he arose from the log
and stepped across the stream.
Meanwhile, Mag. with her cheeks
still glowing from the heat of her late
passionate outburst, had left the cabin
and gone down the road in an almost
opposite direction from that taken by
her husbands; and Bill would have
found only an empty cabin had he re-
turned on the impulse of his half
formed resolution.
A hazy half moon reclined in the lap
of the western sky, its dim rays steal
ing softly through the tops of the
scrubby trees on the mountain side and
casting faint, weird shadows on the
ground. It was scarcely lighter than
bright starlight, yetit seemed not dark
enough for the purpose Of three men,
who had cautiously entered the woods
from the highway in front. of Bill Burl's
cabin, for they looked at each other
doubtfully, and two of them shook
their heads. They were following the
same trail which Bill Burl had followed
only a few hours before, and several
yards in advance of them glided the
1.-THE form of a young woman Two
hours before, this girl had appeared at.
the temporary headquarters of Deputy
Marshal John higgins, four miles dis
tant, on the road leading to Dillsboro,
and had brought the information that
she could lead the officer and his 'asso-
ciates to the very door Of the still
house, where the man they were most
anxious to capture could be found en-
ployed at his illegal business.
But as the men had entered the
woods, the doubt seemedgto strike each
mind at the same time. Possibly they
were to be the victims of adecoy plan.
But they did not turn about. With
firm grips on their weapons, and with
strained ears and eyes, the three kept