_A Point of Honor_
There was no disturbance that night, and the next morning Tom took his
two soldiers and went hunting again. Tom had a positive genius for
getting game. This time he brought back no deer, no wild boar, and no
half grown bear; but he and his soldiers were loaded down with turkeys,
squirrels and hares. There was meat enough in the camp now to last for a
day or two, but the bread supply was nearly exhausted, inasmuch as the
boys had divided their meal with the soldiers.
In this situation the lieutenant went to Tom and engaged him in
conversation.
"Now, I know," he said, "that there are many stills around here. Every
one of them has a supply of ground up grain, and I want some of it. You
have hunted all over the mountains, and of course you know where some at
least of the stills are."
"Yes, I know where several of them are," answered Tom.
"Well, I propose to raid some of them, to get breadstuffs. Will you go
with my men and point out the stills?"
"No!" answered Tom, with emphasis on the monosyllable.
"But why not?" asked the lieutenant. "Surely you are not afraid."
"Not the least bit," answered Tom. "But I've entered into an honorable
agreement with the moonshiners and I mean to keep it. I've assured them
that we boys were not here to spy them out and betray them, and I've
pledged them my honor that if they let us alone we would let them alone.
You see this illicit distilling is none of my business, or yours either,
Lieutenant. It's the business of the revenue officers. Now under our
honorable agreement these people, who began by ordering us off the
mountain and followed that up by shooting at us for not going, have let
us alone for many weeks past, and I am going to keep my promise to let
them alone in return."
"But they haven't let you alone," answered the lieutenant. "Their
assault upon the camp--"
"Pardon me," answered Tom. "That was not an assault upon us, but upon
the revenue officers and their military support. I do not think it
absolves me from my promise. Besides that, I doubt if you have any right
to raid stills except under orders of the revenue officers, and they
are too badly frightened to undertake anything of the kind. You have no
warrants. Your sole duty and right and privilege is to go with these
revenue officers and protect them in the execution of their duty."
"That is certainly true," answered the lieutenant after a moment's pause
for consideration. "I hadn't thought of it in that way."
"And still further," said Tom, "it is very certain that there isn't an
illicit still now running on this mountain. The moment you fellows
appeared every still was ripped off its furnace and buried somewhere,
every mash tub was emptied and sent bowling down the mountain, and every
scrap of evidence that there had ever been an illicit still there was
completely destroyed. So, even if you find the buildings in which the
business was formerly carried on, what right will you have to seize upon
the meal or anything else you may find there? You might as well raid a
mill and seize all that you find in it."
"But you know, Tom, and I know, that these people are lawlessly engaged
in defrauding the revenue."
"Of course," said Tom. "But that doesn't justify you in violating the
law and robbing them of their meal. If you could catch them in
defrauding the revenue you might perhaps have a right to confiscate
their materials, as the law prescribes, though as you're not a revenue
officer I doubt that. Just now you can't possibly catch them doing
anything of the kind. Understand me, Lieutenant, I am as much devoted as
you are to law and order. I know these men to be thieves and upon
occasion murderers. But neither of us has a right to convict them
without proof of their guilt."
Tom had never made so long a speech in all his life or one inspired by
so much of earnestness.
The lieutenant sat silent for a while, thinking the matter over.
Presently he arose, took Tom's hand and said:
"I believe you are right, Tom. At any rate you are right on the point of
honor that controls your own course in this matter. We are taught at
West Point that whenever there is the least or the greatest doubt as to
a point of honor, it is an honorable man's duty to give honor the
benefit of the doubt. We'll make no raids except under the warrants of
the revenue officers. We'll live on meat till the caravan comes up the
mountain."