An infantile captive wields certain coercions to fair
treatment peculiar to nonage. The moonshiners had suddenly before their
eyes the menace of croup or pneumonia, and, to do them justice, the
destruction of the child had not been part of their project. There ensued
gruff criminations and recriminations among them before the baby was
rolled up in a foul old horse-blanket, and a dose of the pure moonshine
whisky, tempered with river water, was poured down his throat. It may
have been the slumber induced by this potent elixir, or it may have been
the effects of fever, but he was not conscious when they reached the
forks of the Tennessee and were pulling up the Oconalufty River. He only
knew vaguely when once more they had disembarked, though now and then he
sought vainly to rouse himself to the incidents of a long march. Finally
he was still and silent so long in old Clenk's arms as to excite
immediate fears. Now and again as they forged along at the extreme limit
of their endurance they took the time to shake up the poor baby and seek
by suggestion to induce him to say that he felt better.
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