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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.