CHAPTER VI.

The Regulators

One of the range of hills which extended around the western side of the village was occupied by several families, known as the “Hillers.”  They were ignorant, degraded people, living in miserable hovels, and obtaining a precarious subsistence by hunting, fishing, and stealing.  With them the villagers rarely, if ever, had intercourse, and respectable persons seldom crossed their thresholds.  The principal man among the Hillers was known as Bill Powell.  He was a giant in strength and stature, and used to boast that he could visit “any hen-roost in the village every night in the week, and carry off a dozen chickens each time, without being nabbed.”  He was very fond of liquor, too indolent to work, and spent most of his time, when out of jail, on the river, fishing, or roaming through the woods with his gun.  He had one son, whose name was Lee, and a smarter boy it was hard to find.  He possessed many good traits of character, but, as they had never been developed, it was difficult to discover them.  He had always lived in the midst of evil influences, led by the example of a drunken, brutal father, and surrounded by wicked companions, and it is no wonder that his youthful aspirations were in the wrong direction.

Lee and his associates, as they were not obliged so attend school, and were under no parental control, always amused themselves as they saw it.  Most of their time was spent on the river or in the woods, and, when weary of this sport, the orchards and melon-patches around the village, although closely guarded, were sure to suffer at their hands; and they planned and executed their plundering expeditions with so much skill and cunning, that they were rarely detected.

A day or two after the events related in the preceding chapter transpired, Charles Morgan, in company with two or three of his chosen companions, was enjoying a sail on the river.  During their conversation, one of the boys chanced to say something about the Hillers, and Charles inquired who they were.  His companions gave him the desired information, and ended by denouncing them in the strongest terms.

Charles, after hearing them through, exclaimed, “I’d just like to catch one of those boys robbing our orchard or hen-roost.  One or the of us would get a pummeling, sure as shooting.”

“Yes,” said one of the boys, “but, you see, they do not go alone.  If they did, it would be an easy matter to catch them.  But they all go together, and half of them keep watch, and the rest bag the plunder; and they move around so still that even the dogs don’t hear them.”

“I should think you fellows here in the village would take the matter into your own hands,” said Charles.

“What do you mean?” inquired his companions.

“Why don’t you club together, and every time you see one of the Hillers, go to work and thrash him like blazes?  I guess, after you had half-killed two or three of them, they would learn to let things alone.”