Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-22

and they had a four-mile march to the
Big Ben distillery through the low marsh
wade through mud and water up to the
armpits.
Kelly took the lead, with his assistants
following some distance behind. He head
ed straight for the Big Ben distillery.
Detective Brooks. with another detail of
men. was after another establishment in
a different section. Things had been plan
ned so that the various chiefs should
simultaneously swoop down on the sew
eral law-breaking concerns. Kelly stum-
bled ahead, sometimes falling into puddles
of water. and at other times being con-
fronted with great hillocKs of mud, until
the affair began to lose all of the flavor
Of romance. But he was accustomed to
hard. everyday prosaic work. and he
coming nearer to the goal.
From the Information they had received.
all Of the watchmen at the distillery were
either asleep or on guard. They were
soon undeceived. Presently the was of
the building doomed up IN the distance. A
gate leading into the premises was locked.
It was forced open. AS Detective Kelly
stepped inside, a figure emerged out OF
the darkness.
"Wbo goes there?" called a voice.
had been given the countersign.
Something in the tone of the reply
must have reused the mans suspicious,
for he hurried forth with a pistol in his
hand. He confronted the detective.
81
"what do you want here?" he said men.
acingly.
|. That's my business" was the jaunty
reply. You go back to your post"
MY posts here" was the stubborn re.
ply.
ooh. get away" cried the detective
giving him a push.
The trick did not work. Instead of dis.
arming his suspicious, the move only con.
firmed them. The guard leveled has pis'
toll at Kelly.
Move one step and you're dead
man."
The detective had to move and act
quickly. It was either surrender or fight
ment almost as quick as thought itself ht
hauled back his right leg and raising il
up high in the air, gave the point of the
pistol kick that sent 1t flying dozer
yards away. The blow struck the trigger
and in midair the weapon exploded witt
loud report. In kicking the pistol
Kelly struck the mans hand ind bruised
It in way that brought shower O
profanity from the guard. He made &
mad rush for Kelly. The first impulse
Of the detective was to pull his owt
pistol, but on second thought he refrainet
from doing 30. The guard in his owl
crude way believed he was doing his duty
He was defending the property Of his EN-
ployer-although that employer was ;
| lawbreaker.
AS he rushed on Kelly caught him b.
the shoulders and the. next moment tn,
| two men had clinched and were strug
! Cling in the mud. A half dozen assistant
were in the near distance, but the detec
| tive disdained to call upon them for help
| This was his own battle. He would figh
It out in his own way. The guard was
powerful fellow. The chief moonshine
| had reckoned we'll when he selected hln
| to keep intruders from the plant. Blu
Kelly was in his prime at that time. H
| had dealt with the most dangerous crimi
nails in America, and he was not to b
worsted by the unarmed Waterman of a
Illicit distil1ery. In less than a minute h
| had the man on his back. Ills associate
came up at this moment, and in les
time almost than 1t takes to tell tn
story, the guard was bound and gagged.
Events moved quickly after that. Whe
they reached the distillery proper the
met an armed resistance, but the pha
lanx Of secret service men. reinforced b
a detachment of United States soldiers
induced surrender without the firing Of