The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-04-24

bO0A uC1 uduQs
Polly" he began, and his voice
was full of emotion, "I can see I'm
losin' ye, an it's breakin' my
heart, girl"
What do ye mean, Ben 7"
II guess ye know what I mean,
Polly. But l want to tell ye, that
chaps skunk, jest plain skunk.
He pertends to be prospectin' round
here for gold-but we all have cal
c'lated he's prospectin' for somethin'
else. He keeps a nosin' round the
cove, and today he bumped right up
agin our still on Soce. Jim Turpin
an Lee Hooper was watchin' him !;
an the way he sneaked away from
there an took his bearin' S as he went
was site too plain. So we've laid a
trap for him, Polly-a trap that will
get him if he's what we think he is,
but won't get him if he's all right,
little girl. So, ifwe're wrong, Polly,
why-I-I jest wanted to tell ye,
girl, that arter all's over I'll still be
comm back to ye-an' maybe yer
love will come back to me-"
Ben squeezed her hand once and
released it. There was silence a mo-
ment, then the girl said:
IT think you're wrong, Ben"
Maybe so, Polly, maybe so. Well
soon find out. Goodbye"
Ben strobe away and left the girl
to return slowly toward the house,
wondering what manner of trap the
boys had set, though stoutly resist
ing the fear it might capture Cor
don.
The evening waned, Gordon's sto-
ries grew uninteresting, Blake nodded
by the hearth corner and Polly wait
ed for the opportunity to give the
prospector one more warning. So
when Gordon arose to go to his room,
a low shed room at one end of the
veranda, Polly stole to the doorway
and slipped into the darkness outside.
"I wanted to tell ye agin to be
keerful," she whispered, as Gordon
paused near her. "Ye've raised sus-
picions, an'-but 1 can't tell ye any
more. Only be powerful keerful." F"
Gordon laughed softly. "Oh, I'll
be careful, little Polly" he said !;
"never fear about that"
He attempted to take her hand,
but the girl lodged back into the
main room and was gone.
The next morning Gordon failed
to respond when called to an early
breakfast.
"'Pears to me the prospector's
sleepin' mighty sound this mornin' "
said Blake, as he returned to the
waiting family in the main room.
Polly's heart took fright at once.
A hundred things might have hap.
pened to Gordon during the night
the methods of the moonshiners were
inscrutable.
"Pap, I reckon ye'd better go in
an wake him. she suggested, for
the meat on the table "a gettin' cold.
With candle in hand Blake went
back to Gordon's door, opened it and
peered inside.
"Why, by the livin' % he exclaim-
ed, "this bed amt been teched."
At this moment Polly S knees quak-
ed, and her fingers clinched together
impulsively. And at this moment,
too, she hated all her race, all her
kind among the mountains, her BROTH
ers and their co-partners, Ben Martin
and all the rest. She turned her eyes
toward the rafters and allowed a
thought of revenge to take shape in
her brain.
"Well, be's not here" said Blake,
returning so thar's no use to wait
for him. Let's eat.'
Polly minced her breakfast, hur-
riedly MIXED the one-horned cow,
cleaned the kitchen things, then stole
out over the mountain toward the
Horse Shoe Cove on Soco. She knew
we'll the spot where the still stood and
she knew the narrow defile through
which alone the cove was accessible.
The trail wound like a snake round
over the mountain, down into the
valley, then along up the creek be-
tween the cliffs. Where the trail as
cended Polly climbed feverishly /;
where it descended she ran. In this
manner the three miles to the neck of
the cove were soon covered and she
was speeding along the path to where
it crossed the DEVILS Sink Hole.
This was a narrow fssure whose
mouth was not over six feet wide,
and whose greatest length was not
over twenty feet, yet it opened away
into the earth to depth of forty feet.
A narrow bridge, just the width of
the trail had spanned the opening and
when Polly reached the spot this
morning she saw that the bridge was
no longer there. She ran to the
edge of the hole and dropped to her
knees. 1t required some moments
for her gaze to pierce the gloom down
there, but presently she saw the pro-
spector, with disheveled hair and
torn clothing, seated at the bottom of
the fissure.
Silence reigned throughout b e
wood and the low sound of Polly S
voice when she spoke seemed to echo
mile away. But Gordon had caught
the call and he looked up.
"Ah, is it you, Polly - he ex-
claimed.
eyes; an ye didn't listen when l
warned ye last night, though I didn' t
think about this place when l told
ye."
''I am a conceited sort of fellow,
Polly, and thought I could take care
of myself. But I've learned lesson
this time sure"
"Do ye know what was meant for
ye when ye fell into this hole?'
"Why it was meant for ye to per-
ish to death down there, for nobody
ever comes this trail but them that
laid the trap for ye.'
"But you have come to help me
out, sweetheart" :"
Polly's heart thrilled at this title
of endearment and once more an I'M