Year: 1859

sive fellow they hung and cut down four
or tive times to make him confess; but


nothing was ELECTED; and they left him


with barely spark of life.


That evening as they were returning to


their head quarters at the store, one of


them named Winter, missed portion of


his horse furniture, which had become


accidentally detached. He said he OBJ


served it in its place mile back; that he


would return and get it and rejoin them


at the store by the time they should be


ready to commence the spree they had


determined on going into that night. He


left them and never returned. They soon


got drunk, and did not particularly notice


his absence until some time next day, when


his family, alarmed by the return of his


horse with an empty saddle, sent to in
quire after him. This sort of inquiries


had come to be so significant of late, that


they were instantly sobered and mounting


rode back on their trail. Very soon


swarm of buzzards and wolves, near


line of thicket ahead, designated the


Whereabouts of the object of their search,


and they found his feshless bones scat


tered on every side. They were appalled,.


The reddest, bloated cheek among them


blanched. 1t was terriblel They seemed


to be doomed. Three of their number


dead and torn to pieces within ten days,


and yet not the slightest clue to the re.


lentless and invisible foe, but that ghostly


story of Henry's, and the tracks which


only served to tantalize them. 1t must


be some dread supernatural visitation of


their hideous crimes. They shivered


while great drops started from their fore


head, and without thinking of looking for


any trail, or even gathering up the bones,


they started back at full speed, spreading


the alarm every where. The excitement


now became universal and Tremendous


Nearly the whole country turned out for


the purpose of unraveling this alarming


mystery and the superstitious frenzy


was in no small degree heightened by the


report that this man had been shot in the


same way as the others-in the buck Of


the head!


These incidents were all so unaccount-


able, that l own felt no little sympathy


with the popular association of super


natural agency in their perpetration.-


Henry laughed at all this, but insisted


that it was maniac, and to account for


the peculiar dexterity of his escape and


whole management, related many anec-


dotes of the proverbial cunning of mad


men. The widest, most absurd, and in


credible stories were now afoat among


the people concerning this deadly and
} subtle foe of the regulators; for it was now


universally believed and remarked, that
it was against them alone that his enmity
was directed. The story of Henry was
! greatly improved upon and added to, and
, as some reports had it, the madman, as
others, the bearded ghost, was seen in a


half dozen places at the same timei
now on foot, stalking enormous strides
! across some open glade from thicket tc


.thicket, passing out of sight again before
the observer could recover from his sur


prise; then mounted, he was seen flying
like a shadow of summer cloud over the


prairie, or beneath the gloom of forests
r always haggard, and lean, dressed in skin:
with the hair on, and that long, heavy
: terrible rife on his shoulder. noticed
, that there was only one class of men who
| ventured to assert that they had actually
! seen with their own eyes these wonderful
sights, and that was constituted of thoss
who either had suffered, or from theil


characters and pursuits, were most likely


to suffer persecution from the regulators
the class Of hunter emigrants. These
2 men were most industrious in embellish
!; ing all the circumstances of characters
D feats and relentless hatred to the regu
Q lators, as highly as the excited credulit!
d of the public would bear. They neve
v saw him except in the vicinity of th'


homes of some one of these hated tyrants
= In their version this being was foreve
S lowering around them, waiting the mo
1t ment to strike while they were alone ant
n far from any help.


a They carried this thing so far as to at
/ tract attention to it, and aroused in tn
e cunning mind of Hinch the same suspicion


which occurred to Henry and myself
h namely, that all of this was the result Q
v a profoundly acute and well organize
e scheme of this class. headed by some ma
g of peculiar personalities and consummat
Ie skill, with the object of exterminating
e driving off the regulators. 1t seemed i'm
1t possible, that without collusion with man
l. others, the murderer should have bee
m able to SO battle our pursuit. Hinch an
10 his band had been thoroughly cowed an
lg awed; but the moment this idea occurre
Id to them, the reaction of their base fea
h was savage exultation. Here was som'
lie thing tangible; their open and united fore
n could easily exterminate an enemy WI
Ill had acknowledged their weakness in n
re sorting to secret combination and ASA
as sination from "the bush" They fortl
of with proclaimed "war to the knife" vii
ia the whole class; and during the ne,
u week several outrages, SO revolving tn
ng l will not detail them, were perpetratt
al upon these men in different parts of Il
at country; and the fact, that during tt
1t general tumult, nothing was seen or hea
es of the mysterious riheman, encourage
as them with the belief that they had su
IN ceeded in getting rid of him through Il
Iy, intimidation of his confederates.


ire They had now been for nearly a fol
ii. night in the saddle, and glutted theI
nd seves with vengeance, and as they co
nd ceived, broken down this dangerous co
X spiracy against their power; and if tn
les had not succeeded in detecting and pu
ice ishiug, had at least frightened off tn
ere singular foe. They now concluded tn
lat might safely disband. That day, af
'ur they separated, one their number, nam
ing Rees, almost as bad and savage man
= Hinch himself, was riding past thick
en- in sight of his own house, when he v
Of shot from it. His negroes heard the g
vas and seeing his horse galloping up to
lily house riderless, and snorting wildly, th
ing ran down and found him stretched in
up road, dead. He was shot in The eye .
md the ball passed out at the back Of
i've head.


When Hinch heard of this, he turr
ned perfectly livid, his knees smote togetl
Is a and with horrible oath, he exclaimed
as sits Jack Long, or his ghost. by G.
,dy come back for Vengeance 1t was T
YES. perceived for the first time, that all
hot man had haau shot throuoh the az a inat