Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1912-09-12
The Mountain Fiend.
A Tale of Tug River.
BY H. A. COMPTON.

0ering the unimportance .of their DELAY
and the Importance of pushing on. start
ed again up the path.
They realized that they had been
wasting valuable time and now pushed
forward at a rapid gait. They had been
walking hard for an hour or so when
Randolph, addressing Jim, asked
Where DO you look to overtake them.
Mr.. SAMPSON"
We'll, Use lookin' to come I'm on ON,
way up on Knox somewhars. Nv course
they went % Their river. and hits nat'ral
they II rike fer that rattlesnake den
NV creek, fer he hiss been seed thar
several times afore They tell me the
O'pperhead's got friends up thar. ANY
way that whar m goin' fust. -
The creek to which he alluded flows
INTO Tug river at the spot where the
little town of Devon now stands. This
community Was then bowling wilder
ness. inhabited only by rnoonshiners and
desperate feudsmen. Where then stood
the little water-mil at the mouth of
Knox now stands a gigantic band mill
whose smOkestacks rival in height tho
tailest poplar which at the period of orr
story stood 10 countless numbers all
over the mountainsides.
The crooked path in which the little
oand were now vending their tir. some
way has been supplanted bv double
tracked railroad. Where the mountain.
eer then heard the frightful scream of
the panther they now hear the shr;u
whistle Of the locomotive and the thun-
dering of the iron horse, bearing awsv
to every cline the untold riches of the
hills.
Knox creek has since that time be-
come one OF the most active lumber dis
tricts IN southwest Virginia, and besides
mas been the scene of many dark crimes
which remain blot on the fair narna If
buchanan county-one being so heniors
that 1t startled the whole southland and
furnished one of the most interesting
trials IN the history of the state. And
not until the supposed perpetrator had
died in the electric chair and a dreadful
lynching had occurred, did the dilemma
pass.
Inc morning was very clear and beau
hful and just cold enough to enable ono
to travel rapidly without the feeling of
fatigue.
Hit shore is purity mornin' ,, said
JIM glancing at the sky as they trug-
ged along.
1t certainly is" replied Pete. land
It's pleasant to look out over the hills
and up the steep coves and eniov the
sunshine after being almost suffocated
down in the valley by the smoke"
But warn't it a sight, said Jim.
how quick hit left arter hit got START
ed But tell We hit looks to me like
hit stayed long ernough as hit WIZ
Looked es if old Satan had come to
reign fer while"
1t certainly did," replied Moore
not only because of the smoke bpt
also because of the deeds committed
around here within the past few davs -
EFF Mr.. Randolph's brother is to be
believed, said Reuben, "old Satan is
"anderin' aroun' on this earth some
Vhar shore 'nough"
"How's that?" asked Moore.
"Why don't We know he says the Con-
s nobody but the Devil"
"Oh, l see" said Moore, land he
sn't far wrong either. For anyone
WITH heart i'm him such as that old
lillian has, is but little short of being Il
he Devil himself"
The party by this time had gone about o
hree miles from the village and bad d
cached point where the hills almost o
anne together at the top. The river as u
flowed through dark thickets of rhod- .,
dendron and ,nder dropping hemlocks u
eemed to issue from subterraneso X
assage
Tbs IS wonderful scenery" said .
loore, looking up at the wild. over !,
angling cliffs. d'
Hit shore is desolate lookin' place. =,
piled Jim, "but bits not without hits III
sauty. Some people may not see hit u
do, but fird pleasure in lookin'
these barren bluffs and rocky pints 10
hey certainly air the handiwork nv nu
akin EN-"