THE REGULATORS. 67 
provisions, the favourite booty. The unscru- 
pulous depravity of these emigrants, the refuse 
population of other lands, msds them willingly 
retreat to regions on the extreme verge of civili- 
zation, where they imagined they could indulge, 
unmolested, their evil propensities, 
Fortunately, a formidable power existed fox 
the punishment of their lawlessness. It was 
that body of energetic and honourable citizens 
who—vested with powers suited to the necessi- 
ties of the occasion—courageously undertook to 
preserve order on the frontiers, under the name 
of Regulators. On the commission of an offence 
by some delinquent, an assembly of them imme- 
diately takes place for the purpose of investiga- 
tion and judgment. Should the offender prove 
regardless of the first sentence, which is gene- 
rally simple banishment, his cabin is burnt 
down, and he receives a severe castigation. On 
a repetition of great crimes, the delinquent is 
shot, that the recognition of a comrade’s head 
fixed on a pole may deter others from following 
his example. Against the notorious Mason, 
these Regulators engaged. Though, through 
their watchfulness, many of his haunts were 
discovered, he yet contrived, by the aid of his 
numerous spies, to escape. One day, however, 
having mounted a beautiful Virginian horse— 
his booty—he was recognized by a guard, whe 
