HELD UP BY MOONSHINERS. 



433 



of any investigation he might make. After 

 telling his comrade to take care of me, jie 

 went out. My guard took a small dipper 

 from the wall and dipping it half full, from 

 a tub containing several gallons of liquid, 

 handed it to me. It was pure rum, but I 

 drank it down, and nectar of the gods 

 would have tasted no better at that time. 

 I then begged I might have a short nap. 

 The man threw a bed-spread over a lot of 

 cane leaves in the corner of the room, and 

 in a minute I was sound asleep. 



When I awoke the sun was well over 

 to the West. Both men were present. They 

 had eaten their dinner and put aside a 

 bountiful supply for me. The food was 

 coarse but wholesome, and 1 don't know 

 when I ever enjoyed a meal more. I noticed 

 the meat was fresh venison. After finish- 

 ing my dinner and settling it with a dipper 

 of rum and water, I turned to my captors 

 and asked them what they intended doing 

 with me. The man who had been away 

 answered : 



"I have been to Otter creek and seen yer 

 brother and I hev seen yer camo and hev 

 found that yer story is correct. So yer can 

 git in the cart whenever ye'er ready an' 

 I'll take yer to the railroad an' show yer 

 the way ter yer camp. But before yer go, 

 let me tell yer: we- are a makin' of rum 

 here and hev ter look out for ourselves. 

 We know yer, know where yer live, and 

 all about yer, an' we've got friends in yer 

 town. Ef yer ever tell anybody ye've been 



here or ever seen this place, ye're a dead 

 man. D'ye understand?" 



1 assured him I understood the whole 

 thing and knew how to keep my mouth 

 shut. I did not tell him, however, that in 

 spite of his long hair and bushy whiskers 

 I recognized in him an engineer, who, a 

 year or 2 previous had, while drunk, blown 

 up his engine and lost his job. I announced 

 myself ready to be off and climbed into the 

 cart. He put in my deer, and getting in 

 himself, drew the lines over the little old 

 mule and headed for the forest. He made 

 many turns through the woods, but fol- 

 lowed no road and after a while stopped 

 beside the railroad. He had said nothing 

 all the way except to warn me of the cer- 

 tain death that awaited me if I gave him 

 and his partner away, even to the boys in 

 camp. I got out of the cart and he told me 

 to follow the track 500 yards and I would 

 find the camp. Once more shouldering my 

 deer and my gun I bade him good-bye, and 

 in 10 minutes more received a hearty wel- 

 come from Sam, who was the only man in 

 camp when I arrived. The rest of the party 

 were out searching for me. A few shots 

 and incessant blowing of a horn by Sam 

 soon brought them in, fagged by their long 

 search, but much relieved at seeing me safe. 



I invented a story which satisfied them 

 and made me the hero of the hour, without 

 giving the moonshiners away ; but I had 

 the devil's own time convincing the boys 

 that they did not smell rum on my breath. 



AMATEUR P.-.OTO BY F, N. WOOD 



TAKING A SUN BATH. 

 Winner of 26th Prize in Recreation's 6th Annual Photo Competition. 



