rds was violating this part of the
contract. Coburn did not send for a revenue officer; he merely set forth
on a little still-hunt of his own. Before starting, he picked up a
revolver and was about to stick it in his pocket, but, on second
thought, he concluded that no red-headed man should be trusted with a
loaded gun, even in such a case as this; so he thrust the weapon back
into its drawer, and strode away, with nothing but his two big fists to
enforce a seizure.

Coburn searched long and diligently, but could find no sign of a still.
Finally, when he was about to give it up, his curiosity was aroused by
the particularly dense browse in the top of an enormous hemlock that had
recently been felled. Pushing his way forward, he discovered a neat
little copper still installed in the treetop itself. He picked up the
contraband utensil, and marched away with it.

Meantime, Edwards had not been asleep. When Jack came in sight of the
farmhouse, humped under his bulky burden, the enraged moonshiner seized
a shotgun and ran toward him, breathing death and destruction. Jack,
however, trudged along about his business. Edwards, seeing that no bluff
would work, fired; but the range was too great for his birdshot even to
pepper holes through the copper still.

Edwards made a mistake in firing that shot. It did not hurt Coburn's
skin, but it ruffled his dignity. In this case it was out of the
question to pommel the blackguard, for he had swiftly reloaded his gun.
So Jack ran off with the still, carried it home, sought out our
magistrate, Brooks, and forthwith swore out a warrant.

Brooks did not fuss over any law books. Moonshining in itself may be
only a peccadillo, a venial sin--let the Government skin its own
skunks--but when a man has promised not to moonshine, and then goes and
does it, why that, by Jeremy, is a breach of contract! Straightway the
magistrate hastened to the post-office, and swore in, as a posse
comitatus, the first four men that he met.

Now, when four men are picked up at random in our township, it is safe
to assume that at least three of them have been moonshiners themselves,
and know how this sort of thing should be done. At any rate, the posse
wasted no time in discussion. They went straight after that malefactor,
got him, and, within an hour after the shot was fired, he was drummed
out of the county for good and forever.

But Edwards had a son who was a trifle brash. This son armed himself,
and offe