Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1845-04-03

never troubled himself about them one
way or the other. He kept himself to
himself, hunted necessarily, and nobo-
dy knew much about him. Jack had
come of a swild-turkey breed,' as the
western term is for rowing family
and tho still a young man, had pushed
on ahead of the settlement oftwo terri
tories, and had at last followed the
game towards the south, and finding ii
abundant in Shelby county, had stop
ped here, just as he would have stop
ped at the foot of the Rocky Mountains,
had it been necessary to pursue it so
FAR.
The honest brotherhood had made
several attempts to feel Jacks pulse &
ascertaining his availability but he
had always seemed SO impassively good
natured, and put them off SO pleasant
ly, that they could find no ground for
either disturbing orquarelling with him.
What was more, he was physically ra-
Their an ugly-looking 'customer,' with
his six feet four inches of braEn and
bone; tho the inclination, just discov
cradle IN his figure, to corpulency, to-
gether with broad, full, good-humor-
ed face, gave an air Of sluggishness to
his energies; and an expression Of ca
sy simplicity to his temper, which Of
fered neither invitation to gratuitous
insult nor provocation to dislike. He
was the very impersonation of inoffen-
sive, loyal honesty, slumbering on its
conscious strength; and these men,
without exactly knowing why, felt some
little Discrimination TO waking him. =
Happening to fall short of ammuni-
ton. he went one day to 'the store for
fresh supply. This cabin, together
with the blacksmith's shop and one or
two other huts, constituted the county
town, and as powder and liquor were
only to be obtained there, it was the
central resort of the Regulators. Jack
found them all collected for a great
shooting match, in preparation for
which they were getting drunk as fast
as possible, to steady their nerves.
Hinch, the Regulator captain, had al
ways been the hero of such occasions !;
for, in addition to being a frst-rate
shot, it was known that it would be a
dangerous exertion of skill for any man
to beat him-for he was a furious and
vindictive bully, and would not fail to
make personal affair Of it with any one
who should mortify his vanity by car.
rying ofthe prize from him. In addi-
ton, the band of scoundrels he com
manded was entirely at his service in
any extreme, SC that they made fearful
odds for single man to contend with
( Everybody else in the country was
aware of this state of things but Jack
Long, and he either didn't know OF
didn't care. After they had fired sew
eral rounds, he went lounging listlessly
into the crowd which had gathered a
round the target, exclaiming in admira-
ton over the last brilliant shot Of Hinch.
which was triumphantly the best. The
bully was as usual clustering vehement
ly, taunting every one around him, and
( when he saw Jack looking very coolly
at the famous shot, with no grain OF
1 that deferentlal admiration in his ex-
| preston which was demanded, he
! snatched up the board, and thrusting i,
lnsultingly close to his face, roared out
Here! You Jack Long shanks-
look at that!~-Take good look! Can
| you beat it'' Jack drew back with q
! quiet laugh, and said good-humoredly;
'Pshal you don't brag on such shoe
tim as that, doyou''
! Drag of it! I'd like TO see such S
moon-eyed chap as you beat it!'
4 don't know as I'd be very proud
to beat such bunglin' work as that
! you don't! don't you!' yelled the fe1-
low, now fairly in rage at Jacks cool
ness. You'll try it, won't you? You
must try it! You shall try it, by Cd
Well see what sort of swell you
are
ooh, WELT said Jack, interrupting
him as he was proceeding to rave fol
quantity-SJust set up your board, il
| you want to see me put a ball thro' ev-
cry hole you can make
| Perfectly astounded at this rash bear
ding of the lion-for it was difficult to
4 tell whether contempt or simplicity die
tated Jacks manner-the men set ul
the board, while he walked back to the
stand, and carelessly swinging his hea-
! w rifle from his shoulder, fred seem
ingly as quick as thought. 'It's trick
/ Of mine, said he, moving towards the
mark, as he lowered his gun; q caught
it from shootin' yarmints in the eyes,
always takes 'em there. It's a notion