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Show lflKl&lEjfc i ji m iiwii hi 1 rViniii-rrnflir i r rnVT irfi irmHTr f J$P'. ,7 ; a'dramain! real life How It Was Unfolded to tlic Mas I I Who Tells It I ) I By WILLIS BARKER I 1 1 & Copyright by American Press Asao- 3. S elation, 1911. T When tho civil wnr closed the south had for four yearn boon suffering from a depletion of evcrj-thln needful to humnn belnjjs. It occurred to me that 1 might turn an lioncat penny by load-liiU load-liiU n wagon with household articles. Including provisions, drlv It through tho country and sell to the inhabitants. inhab-itants. I started from NashYlllc, Tcun., with n two horso team. proponing to drive down to Sholbyvlllp. then ascending tho Cumberland plateau aud working toward cast Tennessee. Not far from Shelhyvlllo I overtook n man on horseback horse-back whose mount had cone lame. lie nslced mo where I was going, and when I I told him ho said he believed he would leave his horse and proceed on I my wagon. To accommodate him and for company I agreed to take him. und at tho next farm wo came to we stopped stop-ped to leave his horse. While he was dickering for tho animal's ani-mal's keep we heard tho tread of a loping lop-ing horse up the road, and a girl on its back came hurrying along. The man who was to join mo on seeing ' her looked annoyed nnd went toward her, evidently with the intention of meeting her where they would not le II overheard in what they said. They i' talked for some time, the man nppar- ontly trying to persuade hen to do or u refrain from doing something. He was ft evidently not making much headway IT with her, and Anally they came to ll ward mo. H "This Is Nancy Parks." he said. "She u would like to Join us, go over the ffl plateau nnd take n train nt Bridge- Ja! ""' port for Knoxvllle." 'l would bo very happy to have her." I replied. Tho girl dismounted, nnd tho man led her horse awny to tho barn, where his own had been put. nnd left him there. MIbs -Parka was nn exeejlent U)ecIsMi6r'xWpoor whlto fM of 'tin ojjth. WieHM'ww-n jnl?nnHet; a cnl- L,o;drfe nnd QP2 cov.'blt(o blioes,. NVBrrWe33 tn'crt"wu8 something of ,y.lf3"Dui.,fnbout her. Tier cltoekH Were a thrown and led, lier hair nnd oyes'jot black, tho hnlr being out square Jint above her nhoulders. She climbed up Into tho rear of tho wagon, mounting by means of tho wheel, and , Rcttled herself comfortably among Bono bar' of coffee. The man got up I benldo me. S Ky tho time wo had reached tho foot j of tho Cumberland plateau ho had g! told me that his name was Barker and K that ho was a northerner looking for la plnco In tho outli on which to set-raj set-raj tlo. This was faNe. ns I afterward R learned. Ho wa In quest of something W very different from this. As for the 9 girl, he Intended to tell me tho truth 1 about her, saying that he had spent a I day or two on her father's farm. r Silo had taken a su lden fancy to him. nnd when he parted with her sho had made n great ado nt the separation, with tho result that she had followed him. lie said ho didn't know what to do with her. but thought when n favorable opportunity occurred he vmlil "chako" her. sTho story about her taking n train at Bridgeport was n blind. I didn't .care what el'uer of then did so long tts I was not mixed up In their affairs. Barker whenever we sfoyipciT at a farmor In the road tojolk with any ' I one linked a good many questions ! about the country, the soil and the 1 people. Vctt'iie, so fir as I could Judge. r I upon his own settlement anions' them I' J no nskel rtlPYrout persons with whom l' til we chatted nUnit a man mined Klljoh 'J Hanks. No on" hoemed to bo Inclined 11 to give nnr d.fiulte information about V. Mr. Hanks. o?re Baying they had n I Very slight acquaintance with him. 1 II others thnt thv didn't wigh to know I 1 4dm at all. Barker heemed to bo try-r try-r JMt ?i: to Pct n description of Hanks by Sh'ch he wou'd recognize htm. I no- Tlced that when Barker Inquired of I -p person rbout Hanks the timnignvc l m ' n quick, hi'splclous glance. tl l1 t'10 flf-'0'1 munching f.omeiap M IOfho fouiid there nnd of whldi ll II Sl hor'fa p-irift'ce. She Beomed-to m Wgrtstled ill simply being with Bar- m t?'vst I" v-'v.t was going on, ' fl Uftftt'r nxi' got up on to the plateats i 1 jyt a man whe n Barker stopped 11 T quostioiiN mt tho country 11 Stt peopl nnd If ho knew of a f a !PVw fr i,,,'t T':e ,nnn rpnpi1 K ppp so-.iorors o!tv. I Irippened IK tP"" "' d'(l H0 t'"1"11 the back ii5 t,'57'1"0"5 end uyJcod a marked Siti Xfinei. T!w voice of tho IM SfeSSkT wii quext lonlng seemed iiiiumniii i , i i Mm win, mi TljYr7i every wora ho'sndRS,- Wrf tttfa BlffW' rtttflned'hlniH'ir to itiqtilries nlxjut gen crol matters, not seeking information as to special iiersons. Elijah Hanks was not mentioned. AW drove on. nnd I, turning for another an-other glance at Nancy Pnrks, saw her eyes fixed Intently upon the man wo were leaving behind, while his face was turned toward us with an expression expres-sion of wonder. Then she pointed in the direction opposite to the one wo were going, indicating that ho was to go buck. Tho man stood Irresolute for awhile, then nlowly followed us, much to the girl's appnrcnt discomfiture. Coming to n little place called Tracy. Barker eald ho thought he would Icavo me. giving as n reason that he had heard of a farm for aalo lu the locality and he would look it up. Since it was evening, I concluded to go no further that day, and, driving my team into a wood, I unharnessed my horses, fed them, made some coffee and prepared to spond the night thero. Barker, who by this time seemed to repose in rac a confidence that I didn't care to have-told have-told me that the girl was going to Bleep In n house In lracy, and when she awoke In the morning he wonld be missing. I mado no reply to this. I was not especially prejudiced in his favor, und there was something about the girl that drew mo to her. I confess I had come to bellevo that some game was being played between the two. uitd 1 had sufficient curiosity to lie interested In It. There are so many possible complications in any affair in which a woman is concerned that I had no faith In any theory I formed with regard re-gard to tho couple. It appeared, however, how-ever, that they were deceiving t?nch other. About 0 o'clock Barker and I turned In. The night being pleasant I didn't sleep in the wagon, nor did he. 1 slept n few hours when something awakened me. Barker was standing nenr with hN back to mn. ne had something In his hands, and. although I could not see what It was, I lenow by n Berles of clicks that It was a revolver re-volver which he was examining, cock-lug cock-lug it nnd lowering the hnmmer 1o tc-volve tc-volve tho chambers. Then he put It In his hip pocket, nnd, taking another pistol from his other hip, he examined that In tho name way. lie next loolicd at his watch, trying to make out the time of night, then, stepping stealthily, moved awny from the bivouac. My curiosity In the little play that was jfCjlnt on vo nw row, impeded to? tfkjMffllllB l! it road ligullnir .soutliwnrrt down ' Tjvp.rJjn Utile town'Vtlierooit of tht plateau culled Jasper. I dored aot , ynlit nisnr him lest my stops be heord. 1 therefore kept about a hundred yards In his rear. I was in danger of losing him, but I would rather do so than have him know that I followed him. I finally did lose him. but soon again caimht sight of him or what I sup posed was he. What was my surprise, keeping my eye on the flpuro before me, upon its passing over u rise in the ground and showing Its silhouette against the sky to bee the garments of a woman Instead of a man. Had Barker taken on a disguise? nnd I lost hltn and fi::cd my gazo on another? An explanation soon developed. de-veloped. Against the sky I saw two figures. They looked to be side by side, but ono wus in renr of the other. I could sec the legs of one: the other from the waist down was bell shaped like a woman's dress. As I looked the man turned to the right and entered a wood. Then I saw the woman do the same. I entered the wood at tho point as near ns I could determine It thnt they had entered und soon found myself In n ravine. It was dark as pitch In there, and I could not choose my steps. Occnslonolly I would cutch a faint sound ns one of tho persons I followed dislodged a stono or broke a stick tindor foot Guided by s'leh Indications I pushed on till suddenly I wus halted by a sound of another kind. It wis the crack of a pistol or rlfic. All vr.s still for a few minutes. Then ! heard some one hurry past me up the declivity, but I could uot see W''o It was. I ston! listening till I het'rd n groan cmilng from below. Then 1 v out down as rapidly as 1 could in the dark and after going some dlstuuce stopped and llstcnod. Another groan nearer guided me, and, moving award It. I ho:i camo to an openlug In the trees admitting enough starlight to show mo a body lying on the ground. I bent over It, at the same time asking: "Who are youV" "I'm Barker. Is that you?" "Yes, it's 1. What's the trouble?" ".I've been shot." '.Badly hurt?" ",I thin': I'm dmt for. 1 must give you some Informal u:. nt once I'm John .Archnrd, a V" tted States government gov-ernment detective empUirod to hunt up these Illicit nimv tuwt whisky stilla and bring those wti run tlioin to Justice. Jus-tice. J've come her .utr a man who Is rrnmlug a still. Kuij.e one who ha got on to what I : after has fol-Viwetl fol-Viwetl aud shot we " "Whom do you tttr. V "I'm at a loa t i - It'muy be that Nancy Park. !" that I was intending to M r. watched nnd fqy.uv.'wl me. -!:.' &QS' ... .,,.(., i i,i, TIiiT1iT.iWi - ; tmng or my mrHaitfirafcarthuuitfg my object to bo simply to get rid of her." A very different theory, occurred to me. Judging from what I had seen, I surmised that In Nancy Parks he had happened on ono who loved tho man ho was nftor. 1 reckoned thnt man to be Klljah nanks. Likely tho government govern-ment man had led Nancy to sl?. him up for what ho really was anil to feel assured that ho proposed to arrest her lover. Sho had pretended to lo Infatuated Infat-uated wlttt Arehord and followed him to keep him in view till she could warn her lover. Having failed to make Hanks understand her when aho nnw him from the wagon, Bho had stuck to the man who was trying to get him. followed him and shot him Just before he was nbout to raid the still. Tills turned out to be the tru Torsion Tor-sion -of the Ktory. But 1 kept my luiowbdgo of It n secret, and Nancy Parks wan never neensed of the shoot lug. The covernment man recovered, lnt vis I'fver convinced that Nancy ' w.s not lufutuatcd with klia. j |