The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1848-09-01
From Holders Dollar Magazine
The Mysterious Iiuntsman.
a tale Of Illinois.
By PAUL GRAFTON.
BY PAUL GRAFTON.


Tie Family on he RiUcr Dcs PLANES.
TO him who has been pcnt up in the
walls of a city during a portion Of his life.
or 20 him who has sailed for months upon
the ocean without behoding the land, there
can he no sight more beautiful, more re-
/ ircShing, than the prarie, between the
months of May and October.
/ We speak not of the prairie which has
been described as low, monotonouS, and ca.
/ pable Of giving root and nourishmeut tc
naught but tall coarse grass but Of the prai.
RE as il really eXistS-broad, fertile, un.
dulatins, covered with robe of the rich
est green, and ornamcnted with a variety
/ Of the lovlcst wild flowcrs-in short, ofthc
prairie which the first Of American Poets
has so beautifully described, and which we
have wandered over in person, day after
/ day, with no companion save our dog and
gun.
/ Within a few years the population Of the
prairicS Of Illinois, has increased with as
toniShing rapidly. The banks of all the
principal rivers. which are bordoled for the
most partwith thickets and heavy oak trees
are now inhabited by cmicrantS from almost
every portion of the world. The timber is
fallen, the deer is hunted from his naive
home, and OF the broad prairics, which ex.
tend from stream to stream, houses, barns
and fields Of grain appear.
I Upon the banks Ofthe Ririere DIES Plaine;.
several miles south ofthe famous Mount Ju-
lict. which Schoolcraft has so ably desert.
bed, there dwelt not many years ago, a
/ tanilywhich had cmigrated from Vermont
The population at that time was somewhat
thinner than AT present.. bnt still the neigh.
borhood in which this family rdsided, boast.
ed Of many respectable emigrants from the
] Eastern States. OfiheSc. none were more
highly esteemed than the family in question
and surely none possessed a inerlocality OF
richer lands. In short, Mr.. Austin was ar
industrious, enterpriSing and benevolent
man; his wife a fit companion for such NJ
individual. and the fair Ellen, the worthy
offspring Of an upright father, and once
beautiful and still good-looking mother.
! Besides Ellen, who was sixteen years o
age, Mr., Austin had another child-a sol
who had remained at the East TO Gnisl
his education, and who. at the time Our Sto
~ opens. was daily expected by his parents
in the West. This young man was Of ;
fiery disposition talented but seif.conceited
hcad5rong, and above all, bitterly satiri
cal.
Not farfrom the residence Of Mr.. Austin
which. as we have said, was on the bank,
OF the Des PLANES, there lived young maj
of an excentric disposition, about whose ex
istence a sort of mystery hung. He was a
bout twenty-five years Of age, tall, wei
made, dark complexoned, and possessed o
a most striking and expressive countenanct
which. if not handsome, was at least digni
fled and manly. He lived alone upon the
edge Of the prairie, dividing his time be
tween hunting, and fishing, and cultva.ne
a small tract Of land which he had purcha
scd. lie was amiable TO all; butthere wa.
only one being whose society he courtcd
aud that one was Ellen Austin. In fact
matters had been carried so far that il wa.
rumorcd that Clinton Grover and Ellen Aus
tin were soon to be united by bands which
death alone can sever. 1t is needless Il
say that Ellen'S companions cautioned he
against encouraging the addresses of ont
she scarcely knew. and who was apparent
ly poor and fricndlesS. However there wa
something in Clinton's appearance that dis
PEELED all her doubts. and won her heart il
spite of his poverty and mysterious cours
Of life.