The Kentucky Ranger | Page 7

preachers to his home to talk
with the woman and bring her to a better frame of mind, but she cursed
them to their face and raged like one possessed. Several times he
invited me to go home with him, but I was afraid to trust myself. I
pitied the poor little man so much that finally I yielded, and went home
with him one evening. When we arrived I saw she was mad, and the
devil was in her as big as an alligator. So I determined on my course.
After supper her husband said very kindly: 'Come, wife, stop your little

affairs, and let us have prayers.' To this she replied: 'I will have none of
your praying about me.' Speaking mildly, I expostulated with her, but
to no use; for the longer I spoke the more wrathful she became, and she
cursed me most bitterly. Then I spoke sternly and said: 'Madam, if you
were a wife of mine, I would break you of your bad ways, or I would
break your neck.'
"'The devil you would!' she said. With this she poured upon me such a
torrent of curses as was almost beyond endurance.
"'Be still,' said I, 'we must and will have prayer.' Again she declared we
should not.
"'Now,' I remarked to her, 'if you do not be still, and behave yourself,
I'll put you out of doors.' At this she clenched her fist, swore at me, and
told me I could not put her out. I caught her by the arm, and swinging
her round in a circle brought her up to the cabin door, and shoved her
out. She jumped up, tore her hair, foamed, all the time swearing in a
terrible way. The door was made very strong to keep out hostile Indians.
I shut it tightly, barred it, and went to prayer. Under such conditions
praying was difficult, I assure you, but I was determined to conquer or
die.
"While she was raging, foaming and roaring on the outside I was
singing with a loud voice spiritual hymns on the inside to drown her
words as much as possible. At last she became perfectly exhausted and
panted for breath. Then she became calm and still, and knocking at the
door said: 'Mr. Very, please let me in.'
"'Will you behave yourself, if I let you in?' said I.
"'O yes,' replied she, 'I will.' With this I opened the door, took her by
the hand, led her in, and seated her by the fire-place. She was in a high
perspiration, and looked pale as death. After she was seated she said:
'What a fool I am.' 'Yes,' said I, 'about one of the biggest fools I ever
saw in my life. Now, you have to repent of all this or your soul will be
lost.' She sat silent, and I said 'Brother C., let us pray again.' We
kneeled down and both prayed. His wife was as quiet as a lamb. And

what is better, in less than six months this woman was soundly
converted, and became as bold in the cause of God as she had been in
the cause of the wicked one.'"
CHAPTER IV.
The Trail of the Serpent.
While these ministers of grace were engaged in pleasant conversation a
different kind of a crowd had met not far away. They were moonshiners.
Their rendezvous was a cave near the top of a hill about one mile back
from the Cumberland River. A motley company of about a dozen men
they were, dressed in cheap trousers supported by "galluses," coarse
shirts, and wide-brim straw hats.
Sam Wiles was leader of this band. As these pages are often to be
burdened with his name, we shall now take his measure. He belonged
to that part of the population called "poor whites." His parents had
come to the settlement when Sam was a little boy. They were poor,
shiftless, improvident, ignorant, 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