38 LIFE OF AUDUBON. 



shooting her on the spot, but she was not to be punished thus. 

 The door was suddenly opened, and there entered two stout 

 travellers, each with a long rifle on his shoulder. I bounced 

 up on my feet, and making them most heartily welcome, told 

 them how well it was for me that they should have arrived at 

 that moment. The tale was told in a minute. The drunken 

 sons were secured, and the woman, in spite of her defence and 

 vociferations, shared the same fate. The Indian fairly danced 

 with joy, and gave us to understand that, as he could not sleep 

 for pain, he would watch over us. You may suppose we slept 

 much less than we talked. The two strangers gave me an 

 account of their once having been themselves in a similar 

 situation. Day came fair and rosy, and with it the punishment 

 of our captives. 



"They were quite sobered. Their feet were unbound, but 

 their arms were still securely tied. We marched them into the 

 woods off the road, and having used them as Eegulators were 

 wont to use such dehnquents, we set fire to the cabin, gave all 

 the skins and implements to the young Indian warrior, and 

 proceeded, well pleased, towards the settlements." 



At the period at which this incident occurred "Kegulator 

 Law " was the high tribunal in the Western States. A savage 

 and outcast population fringed the settled territories, and 

 among these the most dastardly crimes were current. " Regu- 

 lator Law " was administered by a body of American citizens, 

 and was akin to a Vigilance Committee in its self-assumed 

 functions. The punishment of felons, who could defy or were 

 likely to escape the law of the land, was the special duty of the 

 Eegulators, and the name acquired a terrible significance iu the 

 western wilds. Audubon relates that a notorious freebooter 

 named Mason, frequented M^olf's Island in the Mississippi, and 

 with a gang of marauders played pirate with impunity in that 

 river. He stripped the laden barges of all the valuables, stole 

 horses, and proved himself to be beyond the reach of the law. 

 A party of Eegulators descended the river, but failed to find him. 

 Finally, he was shot through the ready wit of one man. This 

 Eegulator met the ruffian in the forest, and, unsuspected, turned 

 after him and dogged his steps. Mason retired to a quiet dell, 

 hobbled his horse to prevent it escaping, and crept into a hollow 



