Part 19

"I think the ten days are not up yet, gentlemen," said he mildly.

"Yes, they are," answered Elwood quickly; "and we are here to know whether you intend to obey the authorities, and leave the country?"

"I think, Elwood," said the young man, not directly replying, "this matter can be settled between you and me, without bloodshed, and even without trouble. If you will come in with George and John [his sons], I will introduce you to my wife, and we can talk it over, with a glass of whiskey."

Another consultation ensued, when, in order to prove their dignified moderation, they agreed that Elwood and his sons should "go in and see what he had to say."

Elwood, the elder, entered first: directly before him, holding her sides and shaking with laughter, stood his rosy daughter, Hannah!

"My wife, gentlemen," said Grayson, gravely introducing them. Hannah's laughter exploded.

"O, father, father, father!" she exclaimed, leaning forward and extending her hands; "ain't you caught, beautifully!"

The laugh was contagious; and though the elder knit his brows, and was evidently on the point of bursting with very different emotions, his sons yielded to its influence, and, joining Hannah and her husband, laughed loudly, peal after peal!

The father could bear it no longer--he seized Hannah by the arm and shook her violently, till she restrained herself sufficiently to speak; as for him, he was speechless with rage.

"It's entirely too late to make a 'fuss,' father," she said at length, "for here is the marriage-certificate, and Grayson is your son!"

"I have not stolen your horse, Elwood," said the bridegroom, taking the paper which the father rejected, "though I have run away with your daughter. And," he added, significantly, "since if you had this land, you would probably give it to Hannah, I think you and I had better be friends, and I'll take it as her marriage-portion."

"If you can show that you did not take the horse, Grayson," said George, the elder of the two sons, "I'll answer for that: but----"

"That I can do very easily," interrupted the young husband, "I have the proof in my pocket."

He caught Elwood's eye as he spoke, and reassured him with a look, for he could see that the old man began to apprehend an exposure in the presence of his sons. This forbearance did more to reconcile him to his discomfiture than aught else, save the influence of George; for, like all passionate men, he was easily swayed by his cooler children. While Hannah and her brothers examined the marriage certificate, and laughed over "the stratagem," Grayson drew Elwood aside and exhibited a paper, written in a cramped, uneven hand, as follows:--

"This is to certify, that it was not Josiah Grayson who took Robert Elwood's horse from his stable, last night--but I took him myself, by arrangement, so as to accuse Grayson of the theft, and drive him to leave his new farm.

"THOMAS DRISCOL."

Elwood blushed as he came to the words "by arrangement," but read on without speaking. Grayson then related the manner in which he had entrapped the lieutenant, and the joke soon put him in a good humor. The regulators were called in, and heard the explanation, and all laughing heartily over the capture of Driscol, they insisted that Hannah and her husband should mount, and ride with them to Elwood's. Neither of them needed much persuasion--the whole party rode away together--the "lads and lasses" of the neighborhood were summoned, and the day and night were spent in merriment and dancing.

Grayson and his wife returned on the following morning to their new home, where a life of steady and honorable industry, was rewarded with affluence and content. Their descendants still live upon the place, one of the most beautiful and extensive farms upon that fertile prairie. But on the spot where the disputed cabin stood, has since been built a handsome brick-house, and I pay only a just tribute to amiable character, when I say that a more hospitable mansion is not to be found in the western country.

This was the last attempt at "regulating" in that region, for emigration came in so rapidly, that the supremacy of the law was soon asserted and maintained. Whenever this came to be so, the regulators, of course, ceased to be types of the state of society, and were succeeded by other characters and institutions.

To these we must now proceed.

"Know all men by these presents:

"That we [here follow twelve names], citizens of ---- settlement, in the state of Illinois, have this day, jointly and severally, bound ourselves together as a company of Rangers and Regulators, to protect this settlement against the crimes and misdemeanors of, all and singular, every person or persons whomsoever, and especially against all horse-thieves, renegades, and robbers. And we do by these presents, hereby bind ourselves, jointly and severally as aforesaid, unto each other, and to the fellow-citizens of this settlement, to punish, according to the code of his honor, Judge Lynch, all violations of the law, against the peace and dignity of the said people of ---- settlement; and to discover and bring to speedy punishment, all illegal combinations--to rid the country of such as are dangerous to the welfare of this settlement--to preserve the peace, and generally to vindicate the law, within the settlement aforesaid. All of which purposes we are to accomplish as peaceably as possible: but we are to accomplish them one way or another.

"In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and affixed our seals, this twelfth day of October, Anno Domini, eighteen hundred and twenty.

"(Signed by twelve men.)

"Acknowledged and subscribed in the presence of "C---- T. H----n, "J---- P. D----n,"

and five others, who seem to have been a portion of "the fellow-citizens of this settlement," referred to in the document.]

FOOTNOTES:

See note at the close of this article.