JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 37 
kill yon stranger and secure the watch. 
He was just on the point of springing up 
to shoot his would-be murderers, when 
the door burst open, and two travellers, 
each with a long knife, appeared. 
Audubon jumped up and told them his 
situation. The drunken sons and the 
woman were bound, and in the morning 
they were taken out into the woods and 
were treated as the Regulators treated 
delinquents in those days. ‘They were 
shot. Whether Audubon did any of the 
shooting or not, he does notsay. But he 
aided and abetted, and his Spanish 
blood must have tingled in his veins. 
Then the cabin was set on fire, and the 
travellers proceeded on their way. 
It must be confessed that this story 
sounds a good deal like an episode in a 
dime novel, and may well be taken with 
agrain ofallowance. Did remote prairie 
cabins in those days have grindstones 
and carving knives? And why should 
the would-be murderers use a knife when 
they had guns? 
