The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1851-03-12

OF the blow made me sick at the stomach
but could notfeel any compassion for the
wretch vino would deliberately rob his
partner in the wilderness and mediate his
murder in cold blood. In q moment re.
covered from the shock the quadroon's
death had given me, and springing up
made after the other robber.
caught him returning to complete his
work Of plumber. He was in no respect
abashed by my appearance, but coolly
drawing his pistols, and taking his knife
between his teeth, said he 'ss'posed he'd
have TO fight me-" Before | could give
him my answer, the Pawnees we're up and
about US. Weighing the whole event in
the balance against strict justice, am con
strained to admit that the Yankee deserved
TO die, but II "went against my grain" as
the sayingis, 10 take his life. In the wilds
OF the New World there is no law but that
Of might. Judges and juries are never
found there, excepting the self-elected self.
constituted order, and they have only to
act sharply up to the stern requirements
OF the welfare Of the majority. TO punisi,
the thief there. such as either the quad.
room or Yankee, slightly, would be pro-
ductive of no service whatever. The light
penalty accomplished, the thief would re-
turn to his work again, and with it endeavor
to wreak his vengeance upon the authors
Of his disgrace.
In the wilderness, extremes are alto
gether patronized. No man steals there
who is not thoroughly desperate, and will
ling to take or yield lie, as the chance
may direct. Nothing, save moral law, OF
very peculiar nature, governs adventur-
crs like my associates and myself we're.
The Pawnees, children of the soil, as wild
as the panihers they loved to destroy, had
determined, in accordance with forest stat
ute, that the Yankee must cease to live,
and he was well aware of the fate in store
for him. One of the Pawnees ordered
him to lay down his weapons, but he re-
fused. Ten seconds afterwards. he was
PROSTATE upon the ground, dead, with five
or six halchets buried in his body. His
goods, and those Of his accomplice. were
offered TO us, but we declined having any,
thing TO do with them, and the Pawnees,
with few gestures Of surprise. divided
them among themselves. In the morning
iioy departed. leaving US at the scene of
The nights disaster. We buried the bodies
of the illfated, treacherous men, aud sad
ly oppressed. slowly peregrinaled towards
lit;lc stream entitled the "Elkhorn."-
Thus ended our night. How much more
pleasantly our day was spent, presume
my readers will ere long ascertain.
We lorded the '.Elkhorn." and struck
into region Of country AS rugged as the
Alps, and as picturesque and terrific as
original chaos. As stated in my prev.
Gus sketch, human i,abtation is what the
wanderer is always most anxiously in
quest Of should, moreover, inform the
reader that in taking this route, we deviat-
ed from that first marked out. We had
obtained license ut Council Bluffs to
trade above, and, in remembrance Of the
horrid circumstances have detailed, we
concluded to make use of it. We travel
ed over cray and precipice until after meri
dian without meeting a solitary sign, in the
vicinity Of the existence of humanity other
than that comprised in ourselves. Faint,
weary and hungered, we clambered to the
top of the Ilill shaded by tall pines, in Or
der to catch the breeze, and cast ourselves
among the tall crab grass, which grew
around in abundance. I
While reclining here. gnawng our hard
and scanty fare, and marveli2g as to what
would be The ultimate result Of our hazard
Gus experiment, we heard voices; and our
hearts bounded with delight when we dis
covered that they were not the voices Of
Indians. o! mother tongue, with what
power do you appeal to our tenderest sus-
capabilities! Tutored to fear nothing. we
did not hesitate TO search for the authors
o.! the sounds which gave joy TO our hearts,
Hastily finishing our meal, we once more
strapped our packs to our backs they
now seemed as light US the down OF the
thistlc-and scampe.ed over the hill and
down on the other side. This led US into
large open space Of quagmire, into which
we sank to our knees ut about every step.
But every now and then the voices pierced
the still air, and we tolled on cheerlully.
Halt mile Of travel through-this mo.
rass ushcred US into forest OF saplings,
in which we made path with little diff
Guilty, only once in while breaking the
rest OF few lizards, or upsetiing the equan-
unity Of serpent We were used to
those trifling annoyances. Crossing the
sapling forest we emerged upon a prairie,
and there--happiness unutterable!--stood
cabin. 1t was surrounded by men who
were dressed in the rude costume Of the
trapper. They were hurrying from point
to point, as if excited powerfully, and at
very short intervals they would pause to
huzza, or laugh in concert.
There was something wrong!-that was
apparent. But what cared we--tired, shell
terless. purposeless and companionless,
with the memory Of two recent bloody exc.
cutions dancing through our brains! Not