The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1875-12-02


was missing from the camp. He had
made his escape to the woods. The
mans naturally hot and hasty spirit had
been reused by the injustice which he
had received, and his former resolves
had given way.
Search was made for Basset with all
the vigor and vigilance which at that
time attended the pursuit of escaped
convicts; but in this instance it proved
frnitless. The surrounding country had
but recently been opened up, and was
as yet little known. Basset got clear
away to the woods, and penetrating
daily deeper into the fastnesses of the
forest fell in with small tribe of black
fellows, with whom he at once cast in his
lot. He knew that this would be the
surest of all means of escape. His new
acquaintances extended to him all the
hospitality within their knowledge, and
their unsuspicious demeanor won his
confidence. Mingling with the uncouth
savagery of their life, he found gentler
traits of character, which made exist
ence among them tolerable. His life
now approximated, as nearly as possi-
BILE, to that of those around him. He
soon spoke their language, learned to
hunt and trap the wild animals which
supplied them with food-the kangaroo,
the wallaby and the native bear; learned
to lure the bird to the snare BY the SIM
ulated call and whistle, Taught himself to
hr L.
erang and the jayelin, to spear the fish
in the river, to fashion cunningly with
his own hand the rude but deadly i'm
plements of the chase; and in all these,
and the various other arts of savage life,
he became as skillful as the most expert
of those about him. Ere long, too, the
ascendency Of his higher race exerted
and manifested its influence. Tacitly
his dark-skinned companions confessed
his supremacy, Obeyed his will, estab-
hshed him as their leader and king.
| Basset was now tasting freedom in its
most unrestricted forms, and for time
he enjoyed it keenly, yielding himself
with heart and mind to its unfettered
abandon, and freedom from all care be-
yond the day. The nomadic instinct,
which is inherent, though often dor
mant, in most men, and which was es-
pecially strong in him, now had full
scope and liberty. The authority, too,
which he exercised over his swarthy
comrades in the camp and chase sweet
ened his wild existence. But the time
came when these pleasures palled upon
him. The companionship of his uncouth
though faithful followers, grew irksome
to him, and the power he welded over
them lost its zest. He cast about him
how he might escape the tribe, and was
at last successful in eluding them. He
buried himself in the recesses of re-
mote mountain gully, which he had
one day by chance wandered into dur.
ing a solitary hunting expedition, and Of
the existence of which he felt certain
that his companions were ignorant
The black men sought their missing
chief in vain, and then mourned for him
as dead. It was wild, lonely, yet beau
tiful spot where Basset had made hii
retreat; deep and narrow reft in ths
heart of the hills. Basset cleared !
space on small grassy plateau at thu
head of the gully, and here, with thu
stems Of fallen gum trees, withes of th'
willow, and clay from the bed of th'
s. stream, built himself hut. The cap
lture of such animals and birds as he re
auired for food employed but a small
part of the day. He did not usual.
stray far outside the confines OF hi
mountain valley, lest he should agail
! meet with any of his late companions
but one day he had wandered lon.
way beyond the boundaries OF tn
gorge. He had left the mountains be
, hind, and had descended upon the plain
Wandering on, with no fixed purpose j
Z his mind, he came upon solitary home
, stead standing in the midst of q levt
. well-grassed country, sparsely sprinkle
!, with woodland. It was the dwelling {
; Hugh Kavanagh, spirited squattel
4 who, seeking new and wider pasture
!. | for his increasing focks, had pushe
: farther and farther into the interior (
! the country until at last, and what b
thought would be his final resting plac'
|, was one Of the remotest stations in II
, colony. As Basset contemplated Il
: home Of Mr.. Kavanagh and its su
! roundings-the garden in front and Il
small farmyard and outhouses in Il
s rear, an air of thriving and civilize
: comfort pervading the whole An ids
took possession Of him. C0ncealin
: himself in the neighborhood he waite
I till nightfall. When all lights had be<
s extinguished in the house, and evel
! thing seemed quiet and at rest, Bass
: stole from his hiding place. First
3 entered one of the out-houses al
3 stealthily explored its interior. It VI
: q bright moonlight night-a circur