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Show THE SALT HAKE TRIBUNE, SUNDAY MT p TICK 'em up, or I'll Butler' They were up Will J hand before hi ezrs bad time to entertain the threat Close to him, with a double barreled shot-guextended from a hip hold, the muzzle about level with Butler waistband. can) the man who bad challenged him. In the brackish moonlight through the night mlat on the Tallapoosa river' edge Butler mad him out to be a chunky, firmly knitted man In boot and soiled khaki, weering a cap over disorderly hair that ringed out under a shapeless cap. ' I What you all doin yareT asked the sentinel of th bank. Got ashore Lost my way," said Butler. hare to prospect around and get my bear- " Inge." Where dyou belong at?" cot a camp somewhere along here. Been down to th village, buying a few euppliee, and the bo ye promised to leave a bonfire to guide me to th landing. But I was delayed iby an oar that slipped me at tha little rapids, iqd had to chase it two mile on th other shore before it grounded and I could wad out after 1L Then I had to walk back to.th boat. I suppose the fir went out meanwhile, n APRIL 23, 1920. si') shuffled in behind the crackling dainties ex- tended on a tray, and Butler lifted hi fork. A city man with a country crave for break-fusalready whetted with adianc wUlffe so tantsilzlngly allut ing, might be regarded s ssfe from interruption in any narrative, lesvesand forest rubbish that scarcely any A Talc of Alabama Moonshine, a Girl and One Vlio Didnt Believe in Love at First Sight HUILMNG, tracks were made, and nowhere within th timber wa there visible a trait Ten minute of this travel brought them abruptly Into a clearing of several acres, where th outlines of half a dozen Utile building protruded through the misty darkness. To th largest of these Teddlgo led hi guest. lie opened the door and struck a light Butler waa startled at th handsome furnishings. He hsd scarcely expected yielding carpet on the floor, carved easy chaira, and a tapestried ottoman. He wa in a altting room aet and don in easy good tasta and at no picayune outlay. Peddlgo took down glasses and produced a decanter, from w hlch t, during at least the period between th lifting of hia fork and the fiist bite. But to Butler th soul of the adventure waa horn and the great moment of the episode transpired In tliat spilt second. For he hsd raised his eye as he had raised hi fork, and th eye remained fixed, for be aaw th and the most beautiful face he had ever seen. Wl'l Butler had manners. Any on In town would tell you thut, snd would tell you fk nethra dle-pos- il ' laby-riiiihi&- n. t . cant hav everything. Dad "O, well! has been a mother to me In his rough, gentle way. He made a pet of me and has treated me like a doll ever since I can remember. He sent me lo the state college and he indulges me In my wants for books and things. I dare say I could be right happy wsr it not for for there; youre lpttlng your bacon 1 - grow cold.. .. ! " For what?" asked Butler, earnestly and tenderly. " I shouldnt tell you.' I dont know why I am forcing confidence on you In this manner. But there Isnt any on near me with whom I can share most of my thoughts. . TA loul I ha ad venture uu barn. Ha had raistd hi eyes a A had rmtad hi ark, and tha eye and tha fork rmaimd Rxd. Peddlgo smiled. That Isnt gin, auh," he said, pleasantly. "That'p ouah con likker; non finer, we think. Thisyare i seven year old." Butler looked at it more closely and recognized lta oily "bead," the individual manifestation of whisky, whereas gin has a dry look in substance, like still champagn or ether. "I never saw white whisky before," he observed. Peddigo told him that moonshine Isnt artificially colored, and corn makes liquor as transparent as filtered water. Butler drank and found it all that hie host had claimed. v " Sleepy? inquired Peddigo. " A bit done In. yes now that you men-tio- r It." Th hospitable old rufflan led him through hi smartly furnished backwoods house Into a bedchamber, dug him up A linen night enirt, and bade him a solicitous good night. When Butler yawned himself into A do-- , licious consciousness after dawn he found shaving tool set out, and aaw himself amid bedroom surroundings that would not have shamed the guest room of a gentlemans country home. Dressed and primed for breakfast, he strolled out of his room and iflto the living room. It was a lovsly morning. The outer door was open. Through It Butler saw a neatly kept lawn, which seemed to serve a a general public square for the several cabins. cottages, and ebede, and beyond he saw the fresh, wet woods. Peddigo came in and greeted him with endearing warmth. Butler saw a man past 50, caraleaaly hut not so poorly dressed In outdoor stuff: only th cap, which had never been worthy of A for the picturesque costume of the rather romantic moonshiner, and waa now a disordered, colorless, patternless, and shapeless pulp, cried against the picture. Peddlgo did not trouble to take off th atrocious cap, but ceremoniously Inducted Butler to his dining room, loudly calling to a mammy, la a kitchen hut detached from the dwelling, to hustle with some breakfast. Poets hav raved in unashamed panegyrics, iambic hexameter, over th odor of slxtllng bacon and frying hominy. Butler was a poet for the moment, too. Any man with a spin, ited appetite may be when hi nostrils am-- brace what Butler's did, seeping through a foundation of languid southern ozone far- - o off handed like that you would know not acquired, Will Butler had manner studied, cultivated manners; just manners ' born, bred, loose fitting manners. Never in bis life had he stared into a Roman's ejes; never before. He would have stared longer. But she smiled. O, it wee not a reproving or amused smile; just a friendly and assuring smile. It was more captivating, even, than the picture which had hypnotized Butler, but the change of picture brought him back to himself. . His fork came down and Butler came up, feeling jmd looking a bit awkward. " Mab dgughtah, sah, said Peddigo. " Misa EmTy. May I pesent MUOab Butlah?" "Charmed, Miss Peddlgo. I "A plAsure, Mr. Butler. Please don't let me disturb your breekfaet." And she sat. And he found hi chair. Forgotten was the bacon, the intoxicating bacon. It is a famous truism that love is blind. Butler demonstrated rather that it also baa no sense of smell. Anyway, the ol- factory function failed to register against th great white light which dazzled his Impressions through the eyea Emily Peddigo looked better than the breakfast smelled. Butler fumbled his fork and bolted a bis' cuit. TouU find those biscuits toothsome, Mr. Butler," suggested Miss Emily. Rebecca is the state champion lightweight biscuit baker." Butler managed to steer one near enough to his mouth to nibble away some crust. But his heart wasn't in it. Reared through the graduating stages of urban boyhood, precocious mental adolescence, bias young manhood, and cynical maturity, he had held love at first eight" a melodramatlo artificiality, invented to bridge uninteresting detail for lurid stories. His sort took no stock In such paper covered poppyrot. It was very well for the films to stagger through five reels, three of those palpable padding, and bring th juvenile and th Ingenue into an embrace for the final fadeout, but .in hia observation life required, five reels to bring an understanding between a girl and a man who thought anything of conventions ( and stable values. Until two minutes before Mis Emily sat down he would hav wagered absurd odds that no woman could tilt him off his equilibrium. And there he was, beautifully spilled and sprawled, gaping and gasping, at one look Into th eyes of a jay girl and one or two sentences drawled frqra her throat. Butler bad approachad proposing term With a girl or two. Hia sense of humor had saved him from eloping with his boarding house keepers blonde dac-h-- -" w hen st col- v Irre ff v - there and denounced the irreverent clown who trafficked for a dishonorable livelihood it he poured A colorless fluid, A prodigal of it " No, thanks, Mr. Peddlgo," said Butler, " I cant drink gin neat, though I grant yeu it cock-tall.- " is an essential ingredient In a bang-u- " drink top-piec- e , 7. on puns and quip ridiculing the sacred, the fundamental social institutions? Folks were too ready to jeer at the truly holy. Now, marrlago "Father tells m you lost yeur way last night," said Mis Emily. Why, yee thanks. I mean, excuse me. Excuse me for Intruding, I should say." O, no Intrusion. We see so few strangers, you know." Good! That is. I am delighted to be made so welcome. Do you enjoy tbo theater? " " Which theater, sir? Th nearest theater is about thirty miles up the river, and that Is a moving picture house." O, too bad. I meant the theater generally. Of course I had forgotten. There are some rather interesting play In town this season, you tea" ' " I read about them. I have been to New Tork,' and father takes me to Birmingham twice a year or so. I saw a musical comedy once. Do you now, please dont take offense if this is a personal or Indiscreet question do you know any actresses? " Why, yes surely. I have met a number of stag women." "Must a girl bav a great gift to become an octrees? I suppose that I am very crude in my judgment, but several of the girls I have seen on the stage did not appear to me to be extraordinary. " Certainly not. Most of the professionals go Into It because they prefer acting to dishwashing or counter work. Not one in a hundred has either talent or Individuality. May I ask why you ask? " Miss Emily blushed. Butler thought no such perfect pink had aver graced such perfect prettlness. "Toull probably think me absurd. But, back here in these wyda, so far from what they call the temptations of the lights, I have a longing to become an actress which is an obsession. I read theatrical magazines, . I collect photogrsphs of famous stage wometn, I dream that some day some day O, It is entirely, ridiculous,-- 1 .know, but I couldn't stop dreaming and I wouldnt I m so wrapped up in my foolish fancies that I hav almost no other interest." Butler pricked up his ears. Th " no other interest " warmed him. I could scarcely find it my place to discourage your ambitions," he said. It is the fashionable end obvious thing to take on an air of wisdom and arbitrarily counsel young stage (truck girls to abandon their deiires. But Just why I dont know. The life has, I suppose, its hardships and disadvantages, but what life hasnt? May I inquire whether, your father approvea?" - -- ' The guest knew that it was meant to ple"e him on th presumption that b would wlah to hasten back to hi friends. How wide of bis wish that was bis host never knew. But it wa th summon gome time In th great crises of life, w do tha most childish and inexplicable thing Had Will Butler met Emily Peddlgo In a drawing room uptown or anywhere els where he had been properly presented sh would have invited him to call or he would have diplomatically Invited himself; or he would hav arranged a theater party or a dinner or a luuoheon or some other function In the sane temperature of which he might have prosecuted hia honorable campaign for the heart of this adorable girl. Now, as be stood at th threshold of her fathers house, it was hopelessly otherwls The metropolitan subterfuge snd instrument were defeated. Nor could hs stop by next day, as though by accident or for an informal drop In, as her home was inaccessible and he could not substantiate a motive for asking to be guided again through tha secret gates of th woods. Hs could scarcely ask her to visit him In ths camp that would hav been outrageou He did not. In th moment that sh could give him at th door In her fathers presence and In their fragile relations, ask bar to writ to him In th dty But h could not, either, walk out of th life of that girl who had transformed his world, nor walk his life Bo forever and irrevocably out of her aur h drew a notebook and a pencil and 'scratched his home address thereon, and gave It to Peddlgo: Ehould it ever ho my good fortune, sir, to be in position where I might he of service or where I might st any time have th privilege of reciprocating in a small measure the splendid hospitality which I hav enjoyed her will you do me the honor to communV cat with me?" he said. Peddlgo thanked bin Butler shook hands with tbs girl. His heart was tattooing. He . found no words, poised and seasoned men Wist he was, appropriate or desirable In th moment His handshake was not Intended to be subtty significant; it was frankly Illuminating, snd any girl not reared In he hinterlands would have been delighted, pleased, or puzzled with it Miss Emily returned it In kind. But Butler feared It was only hearty fellowship that sh offered, whereas he was offering s fellows heart As he walked off h turned and waved hi list' and she replied with her band. Butler was sick. It seemed such a monstrous thing to do to go sway from that girt Tst hia feet kept moving, step by step. His status was that of a wayfarer, a stronger; he 'could not declare himself. And If he could, what declaration could be make In the circumstances? To have told the girl that he loved her would have been asinine, a rude liberty against decorum, and a highly grotesque utterance In all. So be walked on. At the edge of the grass lnclosure, between the dense cypress and the high, barren, anal: Infested hills of rock that shut the pocket from the interior, he paused and for the last time signaled with his bat and received his last wigwag from Miss Emilys band. Then be plunged Into the forest snd in a few minutes was on the rivers bank, where a gangly boy eat, oars in band. Butler again thanked Peddigo snd reiterated bis wish to meet him snd hia 'daughter again. The grizzled moonshiner accepted ths amicable passage ae a matter of fitting amenities, and without direct weight in his word assured Butler that should he and Miss Emily visit New Tork again they would be pleased to hail him. A minute later the boat was In midstream snd In an hour Butler was back In camp what waa left of Butler, folks about me wouldnt understand of them, couldn't agree with others of them. I know you ar to be trusted, or dad So to wouldnt hav brought you her tell you what I was going to say. Im afraid. Deadly afraid. Tou know our business. It Is against the law. For years our men hav held off th revenOers until they hav them pretty thoroughly terrorized. But It can go on forever." I was thinking that," said Butler, "Subtl svasions of law may contlnus Indefinitely.' Sharp lawyers, you know, and hair splitting or technical constructions of But patent violation ambiguous clause such as la practiced here, It scarcely seems plausible that It ha survived so long, and It strikes me that this government, immeasurably powerful, will not forever be repulsed by the resistance of a bandful of men openly defying It, In spite of their rather astute defenses and armed courage. Especially now that prohibition has added a frenzied Impetus to antiliquor enforcements, the situation certainly Is much more grave than during the era when Illicit distilling was a placid tax collection matter alone." Miss Emily shook her fins bead gravely. Tou ar quite right. Tou must be. I lie awake bights shuddering over It. It is only a matter of time when this trade, which la notorious through the state, will attract the orders of an official determined and able to overpower ua What will happen then la too terrlbl to picture. At best, our men will be arrested and aent to prison. At best, I say,' becaus I know them. They win fight, no matter bow large a force breaks through here, and they will probably bt killed.-"Fo- r reasons too old and deep to be explained or even entirely understood, the men hereabout hav4 been schooled to regard th government a f their enemy. Our men are th eons of generation of moonshiner They are hasty on the trlggej, even toward one another, hot blooded, sensitive, and bitter toward the outer world. They believe bejond reason that they have a right to convert their own com with their own hands into liquor to sell. Their father believed it. These men have never quesUoned that privilege, and they accept as a truth their belief that strangers laws are aimed to cheat and rob them. Tlyy know their traffic is contraband. but they do not believe that it is criminal. that 1 For several days he plotted far fetched, My father, for example, has enough harum scarum schemes to once more see the money, I think, to enable him to give it all up and Uve in security during the rest of his But each girl before he left those part life, or at least engage in a safe and recog. plan was withdrawn as impolitic, boyish, imnlzed calling. But be wouldnt consider such possible. i And within th week camp broke a move. He pursues moonshlnlng almost as as had been calendared, snd Will Butler, as a vocation, assessing through it his Inso many of us have done befor followed grained convictions. He Is a good citizen othcommonplace conventions while the call of erwise. When war broke out we sent every the inspiring adventure raced through his available man from 6ere to the front. W veins snd hooked st his heart. bought Liberty bonds to our limit. We are The city, with it hourly changes of speed proud of American history and our national and view, its duties and its diversions, its atprogress as far as uneducated backwoodsmen tractions and its distractions, never took can take pride in such things as they only from his mind the vision of that lovely ftrl partially realize. in that weird retreat of desuetude and dan" But this moonshlnlng monomania reger. He felt Impelled at times to rush down sponds to no principle of general observance. to Alabama on the first train, proclaim himIt Is Indigenous and sul generis. Why, the self Uk a knight at the drawbridge of his largest building w have in this settlement enamors tas castle, and demand th hand of Is the still, and the second largest is the the fair Emily. But hie sense of th ridicuchapel. The only thing that would drag one lous his sense, some sense always hacked of our men out of meeting would be.to kill water, and eo he suffered and yearned, and a revenuer. The moonshiners reckon themfelt futile and foolish, and blundered on, selves as superior to the farmers whose unhappy, possessed, peevish, and bereft. grain they buy. And you might b amazed He laid out a weekend Jaunt and came to know that over the whole countryside home from hi office to order hta things put they are viewed rather worshlpfully. O, they up. His man carefully snd deftly carried hav eo many fine qualities. They are brave, out his each crisp command. When he had they are generous, they are affectionate fawasted aQ that precious time he ventured thers and doting husbands, they ar gallant to make known that there had been a tele- toward women and hospitable to friendly of message a young lady a Misa Pedphone neutral stranger But they ar demons . digo against law from the outside as It affect - Wh what? TVho?" their traffic, though they ar not greedy for A Miss Peddlgo had telephoned and left money when it is reduced to that." word that eh wa at th Pennsylvania hotel, Well, eah hows that bacon? Mlsa and that If Mr. Butler would be good enough Emily' father had returned. What, aah! to communicate with her Why, youve asahsely te h4 it." Butler wa out of ths house In a bound. Bytier looked guilty. He explained that h Ills runabout stood st th door. He whizzed had become eo engrossed in the intereeting traffic policemen and. went east on westpast viewa of the charming young mistress of the bound on way cross town street Ha mad house that he had breakfasted on dainties th Pennsylvania. That walled city haa even more palatable than th vaunted bacon thousands of room He tossed the M to R and the weightless biscuit information clerk a. bill that bought him a Whenever yo ready, sah." said Peddigo, Jt t vn CVt f the vorr-Continue d An fMlnr FITS'? re. Th soro apehts 'la n t daown yar I suppose you mean u Tea, Im on of seven chap In a party from civilization. W arrived some ten days ago." " To outfit la abaout fo' mils back that la If you all alnt "Why should I lie?" Ton shouldnt. But thah them 'at does. Thlsysre section ain't healthy for strangers, no ways, an for lyiu' stranger it's hell on wheels." ; "I shouldn't think you'd have many visitors her under any circumstances, and, in view of your particular prejudices, I suppose that even the famous southern hospitality would scarcely draw you a rush of tourist. , Will you be good enough to take down that piece? It give me gooefle6h." Th man hesitated. "Ten you what I'll do." ottered Butler. TO make a trad with you. If youll take down that gun I'll taka down my hands." .brother," cautioned s "Dont get frivlou the native. " Ton all either dont knaaw much about thisyare part of Alabara, or you're a purty game revenuer. or else youre just a fresh hombre from wh&h that kind head from. Any way, keep 'em high 'til I feel you aout." Butler submitted to the search ae tha man's free hand wandered over him In quest of weapons. He was not armed. Th man finished and grounded his artillery. Butler took it as leave to drop his tired arms. " Tell me," he asked, " just what did you expect to find about me, and just why did you hold me up as you did? I heard you mention revenuer that what you had in mind?" I "Uhu. We all are daownright decent to strangers If they let us he. 1 guess Its no dark secret for a hundred mllearaound that moonehlnin's the chief occupation In thiayara pahtlculah stretch o bottoms. Ain't hahdly no ua no moh to hid from ravenuera or ahgufy with em. W either Ju6 nachiy have to kill 'em or go aout o business. Can I offer you the shelter of my home for the , night, eah? Why thanks. Id rather get back to camp If you dont mind." Its a habd. long pull up again that current, frierd. If you all are minded to try It, luck be with you; but chance la you'd abaout miss yo landin same as befoh, cornin daown. Better take my advice and sbsre my poh dwellin with me tnight it' just a few yahdt up end in daylight you can find yo pahty; and take em back a jug o prime Alabama squirt likker thatll make yo city friends uproot a few saplin't an refer to one anothah by yo bony fldey names! Welcome, eah. May I have the honah of placin at yo such rude reeoce as ah within my means, sah?" i Butler accepted. , " Mab name Peddigo Vance Peddlgo." Peddlgo thrust forth his hand. Butler grasped It and Introduced himself. Th host led the way up a path discernible in th faint light, which brought them over an Incline and onto a level surface, where dens woods loomed ahead a few rode onward. Th way led directly at th woods and ended before apparently Impenetrable clumps. " Better take hold of my coat-taan follow me. stranger It'll be peaky otherwise, dahk." .. through th Butler did as he was asked. Peddlgo placed hie two arm between two trunks standing less than a foot apart, and with no great effort pushed them apart, the trees spreading near the roots as though on a single hinge somewhere above. Peddlgo explained, In answer to Butlers amazed ejaculation, that the trees were bound by strong wires connecting their upper branches, then were cleanly sawed from their stumps so that they opened at a push and then slid back to their positions. In daylight you could see the trick," be added. " But revenuer aint trab to sto'm us la daylight, we reckon. At night, some fool, might want to though, maybe 'chance It, and hed bav Kick's own time flndln th way in, which can be reached only by shovin' them two cypresee apaht" Twlc again trees were separated to give gangway to Peddigo and the visitor who clung to his coat. The progress waa Th gtuu.nl wax an strewn wi;h boat to row you back and ahow you whah to do. I am hia only child. But I hav never asked his approval in any concrete form, because I hare never bad the courage actually to make a start. I have only wished siul hoped so far, and he hs approved ao far. If I were to ask his downright pernils-ioto leave borne and eeek a place on th stag I dont know what be would aay. " If I had a daughter," aald Butler, not directly into her face, but almost in soliloquy, " I should want her to meet a man who loved her and whom she loved, and marry him," "Tea, I suppose that is what my father hopes for me. My mother met him When she was scarcely more than a child, and they ran away and were married. She wa kind of rich, you see, and h was 'poor. Her parent would never have countenanced it. I never saw my mother I came and she went" " Poor child!" One n " What camp was It? Thant H1 T that I on when a charming soubrett bad done him the honor to throw herself at him Inter, and his sense of discretion had been hia safety fuss when on th point of being brake trapped into a matrimonial commitment with a social pothunter who used scatter shot and observed no closed season. But now h had no tens at aik and it seemed so Hanging in his ear silly to hav it there at, this moment waa a witticism h had heard and smiled over at a vaudeville show in town: F1JE: A man never knows what happiness is until hes married. HE; And then if too late. Why had he not risen in hia seat then and 7f ' A r -- i - |
