and, worse than all, apparently contented with
their lot. They dwelt in a log cabin in the hills, and in a haphazard
way cultivated a few acres of half-barren land, raising a little corn,
tobacco, hay, fruit, and a few vegetables. There were six children in
the family, of whom Sam was the oldest. Five dogs guarded the house and
helped to make the inmates poor. "Tige," the coon dog, was the favorite
of this quintette.

Sam Wiles was the brightest of the children, his mind being naturally
active; but he had little disposition for study and very meager
opportunities, for "school kept" only a few weeks in a year. At the
time of this story he had just passed his majority, was somewhat above
medium height, solidly built, with broad, square shoulders. His brown
hair hung several inches below a coonskin cap he wore, and was
supplemented by a large mustache of which he was very proud.

Behold this leader of the moonshiners as he stirs the fire of logs
under the still and speaks to his pals:

"That war a mighty fine trick I played on Dick Granger, the revenue
deputy t'other night. He was after me with his dorgs, and saw me as I
was crossin' the road near Franklin Schoolhouse. 'Halt, there!' he
hollored; but I was not in the haltin' bizness, and I made tracks fur
Pigeon Crick close by. As I run he fired off his gun; but the light was
dim and I was mighty peart, and dodged in time. He called to his
bloodhounds and said, 'Sic 'im, Rex; ketch 'im Bull,' but by that time
I was wadin' in the crick. I run 'long till I cum to that big white oak
which grows by the crick where it makes a turn north, and I jumped and
caught a big branch an' pulled myself up into the tree. Then I walked
on the thick branches till I got to the furder side, and there war
standin' by the oak a mighty fine sugar maple with branches which
touched the oak. I walked out on an oak branch as fur as I could go,
and then swung from my hands back and for'ard with all my might. At
last my feet touched a branch and letting go my hands, I swung down
like a ham of meat in a smokehouse. Soon I pulled myself up and made
fifty feet crossing that tree, and then I dun the same turn to a big
walnut tree; and so on till I knew the dorgs could not track me, when I
clim down to the ground and got safe back to the cave."

"That war a monkey trick, shore nuff," said Tom Walker, a gaunt fellow
over six feet tall, who was stretched on the ground by the fire, and
who, because of his