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der. He didn’t blame the widder for beeln
skeered, an wus purfectly willin' ter pay
her damages that wus rightly due from Bill
Shepherd ef she’d take it in a note on Squar
Cowpcr fer milkin’ his first chiles cradle,
with interest fer twenty-seven year. You
orter seen ole Cowper scringe at that. The
widder wus in cote, an he’d jest told her he
wus barely turned forty-five, an I know ter
see fifty-five he’ll have ter look back. The
waggin case an the geese raised sich er jow-
erin I couldn’t make head ner tail to it,
'ce'ptin that Squar Weldon shot up thar
chefiin ’bout Bets. lie’s got gals of ’la own,
an I reckin the thought er them made ’im
do it.
Well, sir, I’ve been to school wliar we all
spelt out; ter ’lections an dog fights that
swum in hard-cider; ter gander-pullin at
Chrismus, with er shootin’ match at the
wind up, ter fother July barbecues, an the
loudest sort er campmeetins, but you may
shoot me fer er Arab, an no mistake, ef that
ar trile wasn’t the most goldurnedest racket
that ever I mixed up with, an I don’t bleeve
thars been one ter head it sence they started
that ole tower when Adam was a yearlin.
When Squar Jones thought they ail orter be
through, he called “order, order," esloud es
he could, but for all the good hit done he’d
jest as well spoke ter the wind. They kept
prancin’ an a tarin an a jawin, an I don’t
bleeve they’d er stopped till jedgment day ef
Nath Sanders hadn't er flung Mose Heed’s
bull-fice at a feller that wus settin pyearched
up on the Squar’s table, an sent him an the
dog both windin’ inter the middle on ’em.
That sorter cooled the bilin, an artera spell
er bubblin’ like, it got so you could hear yo
ears, an Squar Jones gin jedgmeat. I 'low
he meant ter sorter even tilings, fer he said
Jim wus ter lose his fines, though Squar
Weldon iiad showed 'im the pint er the cuss-
law plain.
Bill was ter lose the dog an pay Jim fer
mendin his cart. The widder must take
Cowper’s notes or go without damages an
the sow an pigs be sold ter pay cost an Bill
Shepherd’s sheer er that for the first trial,
wus to go to Bets fer tiie goslins. I reckin
he thought hisself er Chanc’ry court an wus
runnin equity agin law, but Joe’s a nigger
ef he didn’t raise er pluin hornets nest.
Squar Weldon wus that stirred up he tole
Jim that any man outside er the loonatic
’sylum er oir the magistrates bench, would
-turn ids sheer on it, squar over* Bill for
got ’is religion an ’lowed he'd see the whole
caboodle in blue blazes befo he'd pay er
cent on Jim’s cartwheel, er gin Bets’s costs
either; the widder knowed Cowpers note
wus no luor’n waste paper on ercount er the
statute er limitation,onies she’d say yes. An
her mouth wus sot fer a younger feller’n
him, so she sot in to snuiHin ’bout ther
takin the salute erway outen her po olphcn
cliilderns mouths, fer ef that male-cow
wernt ordered shot, she’d feel 'twus er much
es ’er life wus with ter go an out eny mo,
an oie Cowpor squeaked out 'at twos mighty
onneighborly ter be a callen on er man fer
ole British debts, when he wus po an hard
run and jest had burial expenses ter pay too;
so altogether they sot up another repeal, an
cross-repeal an repeal ergin; this time ter
Surkit court, on that’s what’s er fetchin uv
’em ter town ter day. They’ll come liore an
give you lowyersmor’n all the money they’ve
got an tr chance fer er year’s laughin. An
you’ll get up an ra’ar an cavort 'bout yo
clients rights an wrongs, an the Jedge’ll
nod, between drinks an the witnesses’ll
sweat bac’ards an for’ards from now till
nex fall an 'bout two er the jury’ll lose thar
religion overgettin caught on it an the bal
ance’ll be mighty glad on it, fer its thar
best chance ter get er dollar er day fer doin
nothin, an the neighborhood’ll feel like hits
been struck by lightenin an fust an last
wear an tear loss an cross, Jack Weem’s
joke'll cost us nigh outo er thousand dollars
right here in the beginin."
“You are mode to be kind, boys,” says
.Horace Mann—“generous, magnanimous. If
there is a boy in school who has a club-foot,
don’t let him know you ever saw it. If
there is a poor boy with ragged clothes,
don’t talk about rags in bis hearing. If
there is a lame boy, assign him some part in
the game that doesn’t require running. If
there is a hungry one, give him some
part of your dinner. If there is a dull one,
help him learn his lessons. If there Is a
bright one, be not envious of him; for If
one boy is proud of his talents and another
is envious of them, there are two great
wrongs, and no more talent than before. If
a larger or stronger boy has injured you
and is sorry for it, forgive him. All the
school will show by their countenances how
much better it is than to hare a great fuss.”
THE SOUTHERN WORLD, JUNE 1,1882.
Written specially for the Southern World.
“THE BOYDEN BAND.”
BY HELEN HARCOUBT.
Yes, sir, you’re about right there—I have
seen some pretty rough times in my days;
I've been knockin’ about now, man and boy,
these fifty years, out in this wild western
country, and I can tell you stranger, that
the more the white men push their civiliza
tion out here, the wilder it gits, and the
madder the Injuns git.
This is the way of it; you see, when the
whites is a long way off, the Injuns live
quiet like, huntin’ and fishin’and when they
fight, its among themselves; when they aint
worried they don't often meddle with the
stray white men that go among ’em as hunt
ers or traders, if they act honest and civil
with ’em, but when the whites come pokin’
into their lands a stealin’ of ’em and sellin’
fire-water to ’em, and guns and powder—
and givin’ ’em sickness that come with civ
ilization, why, then in course, the ‘Old
Boys’ let loose, and he has to be paid, as the
sayin’ is.
And then the Injuns aint the worst of it,*
either. The worst fellows among tne whites
swarm out here, and as soon os the mail route
or a station is set up, then you hear of road
agents, and robberies and murders, and
stealin' of horses and cattle; why, the In
juns is angels to ’em, and I say it, that has
had a pretty good knowedge of both.
Bid I know anything about the “Boyden
Band?" well I rather reckon I did I That
there question makes me laugh, stranger,
and makes it sartin to me that you don’t
know much about ’em yourself.
You don’t eh 1 Thought so for sure, light
your pipe, then and as it is early to settle
down yet, I’ll tell you about ’em, never a
man in these parts can do it better that’s
sartin’.
The Boyden Band was the terror of the
country round here, about ten years ago;
there was six of ’em—four brothers, all
strong, strapping fellows, that laughed at
the gallows, and two Injuns; rare hands
these last fellows was with the lasso, and
many's the poor wretch they hauled out of
his saddle to kill in cold blood, with them
twisted thongs, that they flung around their
heads and sent them spinning up in the air,
to fall down over the head and shoulders of
the man they were after.
Of course once the lasso was round him,
a fellow had no showing to defend himself,
so them Injuns was the most feared by long
odds, of any of the rest of the Band, for
while you were fightin’ with the Boydens,
them sly chaps would sneak up close, if you
didn’t keep your eyes on ’em, and then
there would be a whirlin’ black line on your
shoulders and you was done for. So what
with the Injuns lasso and the Boyden boys
rifles, the Band had things pretty much their
own way, and the settlement for miles
round got a regular panic over it, their
horses and cattle were run off, their fields
stripped of corn in a night, their mails rob
bed and themselves stopped on the road and
if they showed fight, murdered.
Several times the Governor sent troops out
after ’em, but they never could find ’em,
they always disappeared like magic until
the soldiers went back to their quarters,
thinking they bad drove ’em out of the coun
try; and then, the very day may be, they
was gone, out would come the Boyden Band
again, as bold as brass, and go to work worse
than ever.
I was a Government detective in those
days; It was my business to hunt up cases
in the wild parts of the West, and among
the Injuns, so I wasn’t surprised when I
got orders one day to do my best to hunt
out the hidden place of the Boyden Band so
they could be trapped.
I wasn't no coward, sir; if I had been I’d
have taken up a mighty different kind of
business, but I confess I didn’t take much
joy out of the idea of trackin’ those fellows,
and it wasn’t the men either, that I dreaded,
but those terrible lassos; they always seem
to me as if they were alive, and wus devils,
neither more nor less; they kind of made my
flesh creep.
But I made up my mind to do my best;
I bad one thing in my favor, I knew the lay
of the country pretty well, had been around
them a good deal as a boy, but I’d been
away so long that the people had forgotten
my face, so there wasn’t no one to suspect
my real business, and I made out I was a
merchant traveler, and awfully afraid
of bein' robbed by the Boyden Band; that,
you see, gave me a reason for inquirin’ par
ticular where they had been workin’.
I heard enough to start me off towards a
sartin road in the mountains, and just as I
was itartln’, a man came up to me rayin’ he
heard I was goin’ that way, and as be was
forced to go the same way himself, he want
ed us to find company, as two men could
fight better than one.
I distrusted him at first, though he was an
honest lookin’ chap, but I asked around and
found lie was just wbat he said, a merchant
travelin* on bus ness, who had been huntin'
around for company on the road, before he
had heard of my goin',
“How do you know mister,” says I “that
I aint one of the Boyden Band, or just as
bad, myself?”
He looked atmesarchingly, then laughed.
"You haven't got the look of a rascal,” says
he, “your face is honest and I’ll trust you.”
“And I won’t go back on you either,
friend,” says I, so we shook bands on it and
started together.
For two days we traveled along quietly;
on horseback we was of course, there wasn’t
no other way of travellin’ hcreubouts then,
and no mischief befell us, but on the third
day the fun began.
In the first place before daylight there
came a tremendous pour of rain, thunder
and lightnin’, and water by the river-full
just plunging down out of the sky, and the
wind rourin’ like a wild beast, and rollin’
big trees over on to the ground all around
us; we didn’t mind the storm so much,
though it wasn’t pleasant to hear the trees
crashin' down in the darkness, andwesittin’
shiverin’ in the wet in the midst of them;
no, it wasn’t the storm itself that made us
uneasy, but what the rain was sure to do to
a river we had to cross that day.
It was a wide stream but shallow, and
easy to ford in dry weather, butafter a storm
like this, it always filled up and rushed
along like a crazy critter; and if a man
hasn’t a good, obedient horse, why then,
good-bye to him.
Tiie merchant chap had a first-rate horse,
however, and so had I; so when we reached
the river about noon and found it racin’
and roarin’ just as we had looked to see it,
we made no bones about pushin’ into the
water, the horses didn’t like it, at first,
though, the noise and tiie flash of the waters
skeered ’em, but they soon found it wasn’t
no wild beast to hurt ’em, so they went
along steady, I leadin’ the way, till all at
once, right in the middle, where the current
was strongest, iny poor critter stumbled into
a deep hole, that flung him clear off his
feet, and that was just enough for them
ragin’ waters; I had only time to slide down
on my feet holdin’ up my rifle and powder
over my head, when the poor wretch was
hustled down the stream, rollin' over and
over, and screamin’ with terror, as well he
might; I never saw him again; there was
a rapids just below us, and I reckon no doubt
he was ponnded to death on the rocks, if
he didn't a drown first.
The merchant guided his horse clear of
the hole, and then I grabbed it by the tail,
und we landed safe.
It was -a nice fix we were in, there was I
without a horse, and none to be hud for love
or money, within a hundred miles, that I
knew of, and at any moment the Boyden
Band might be upon us, and then I’d need
a good horse, if ever I did, any how I felt
thankful that I had saved my rifle and pow
der in good order, and my saddle-bags too,
for I fortunately had strapped them on my
back to keep them dry while fording.
There was nothing for it, however, but to
foot it the rest of tiie way, a hundred miles
and as the stranger was in a hurry to get on,
I told him to push ahead unless ho was
ufraid to travel alone. “I’ll do nothing of
the kind,” says he, "for two reasons. Tiie
first is, I’m not the man to desert a comrade
in distress; tiie second is, I think both of
us will be sufer to keep together, we’ll take
turns ridin’ on my horse, till you can pick
up another. 1 '
So, after takin’ our lunch, we started on
agin, he ridin’, I walkin’ along side. The
road was close and narrow, but directly we
come out Into a kind of open place, with
fallen trees lyin around pretty thick, when
all of a sudden we heard a gallopin’ ahead
of us, and tl^re burst out of the thickets
six horsemen—two Injuns leadin’ and four
white men follenn* behind.
"The Boyden Band!” I exclaimed. “Now,
friend, down from your horse, drop his
bridle over that branch, and get on the
ground behind them logs; get out your little
pop-gun and keep cool; you've got six shots
in your revolver, and I’ve got two in my
rifle; we’ll make some of ’em warm any
how.”
In the twinklin’ of an eye, we was both
lyin’ flat behind a kind of breastwork of
logs, and a blessed thing it was for us, that
they was there just where the attack was
made. You we the Bead hadn't calkilated
on them, for they was fresh fallen; had come
down that very night in the storm; the leaves
wasn’t wilted even, and only for them it
was a first rate place for horsemen to work
in, and that’s what they expected; we would
have had no show at all but for them blessed
trees, so we thanked the storm after all.
Up they came gallopin’ to the logs, the
Injuns still leadin’, and whirlin’ their rope
devils, as I called ’em in my mind, round
their heads. I rose up on my knee all of a
sudden, took a quick aim and fired just as
the lasso came sirclin down and caught on
a branch just above my head, where it
stayed, for the Injun that throwed it just
toppled over out of his saddle like a stone,
and his horse went rushin' off to the woods.
I had another load in my rifle, and os the
other Injun came dashin’ up with a fierce
yell, I let him have it; I was a prime shot—
my bullets always went square to their
mark, and over he dropped like his mate,
while his horse, with the lasso trailin’ from
tiie saddle, galloped off ufter the other one.
"Now friend," says I, to the merchant,
who was waitin’ my orders, “fire them six
shots in your pop-gun right square at them
other rascals, while I load up mighty quick.
Its half the battle to be rid of them red
skins with their rope-devils.”
The four men half drew rein when the
second Injun went down and consulted a
moment, but then with a snout, they came
dashin’ on again firin’ as they came. Their
bullets did no harm; they couldn't see us
clear for the logs and branches, and we took
good care to keep covered, you may believe.
I loaded like lightnin’, und the merchant's
pop-gun spoke up lively; he wasn’t much
used to shoutin’, but his six balls knocked
over two of the horses and one man, and by
that time my rifle was ready to talk agin.
The bullets was flyin’ round us pretty lively,
and the merchant laid fiat on tiie ground
behind the log and loaded his revolver,
while I propped up on my knee, and bang,
bang, and over went tiie two men who was
still mounted, dead as door nails; 1 aimed at
their heads, and they was so close that the
powder burnt their faces bluck.
That only left us one man to deal with, and
he bein’ the one whose horse the merchant
had shot, seein’ bow it was with his mates,
jumped on one of their horses quick as a
wink, and clappin'spurs into its side, started
off at a gallop.
“Now’s your time, friend,” says I, “pop
over that man or horse, or do somethin’ to
stop him, while I load up again. We’ll
make a clean sweep of the Boyden Band,
for sartin, and that’s mare than I calkilated
on, or them ns sent me on their tracks
either! I reckon the Gnviner will rub his
hands when he hears of this endin' of ’em!”
The merchant looked at me a second:
“Thought you wasn’t u (ravelin’merchant!”
says he, "You know too little about goods,
and too much about fightin’. You can tell
me about it directly.”
Pop, pop, pop, pop, went the revolver, and
still the man galloped on unhurt; pop, pop,
and with the last of the six shots down
went the horse, head over heels, pitchln'liis
rider clean over his head into the midst of a
pile of logs and tree-tops. We waited a mo
ment to see if the fellow was goin’ toget up,
but he didn’t; so we crept cautiously to
wards the place, not knowin’ but he was
playin’ 'possum and would pick ub off.
But he was far enough from such doins as
we soon found, for he had lighted on his
head right square on a log, and besides his
skull bein’ crushed in, a thorn had gono
straight into one of his eyes and must have
readied the brain, for when we pulled It
out it measured four inches; so he was twice
killed us you might say. So there was an
end of the Boyden Band, and there wasn’t
no need for me to hunt out their hidin’
place.
Me and the merchant would have liked to
bury the dead rascals decently, but we had
no way to dig a grave; so we dragged the six
bodies to one spot and heaped logs and
brushwood on ’em to keep off the wild
beasts, and then he mounted bis own horse,
and I got hold of one of the dead robbers'
critters, the only one left that wasn’t hurt;
one of the three the merchant had dropped
was dead, but the others we had to shoot in
the head to put ’em out of their sufferin’.
The next mornin’ we happened to come
across the two that the Injuns had been
ridin'; fine beasts they was too; the one that
had the lasso trailin' from the saddle bad
got hitched to a branch and there he bad to
stay, and the other one kept him company;
we would have passed ’em but for their
hearin’ us and whlnneyin’ for us to come
and help 'em; horse-sense, let me tell you
aint no mean thing either, not by a long
ways.