The Rangers | Page 9

suspicions and a court of law
will not give me justice, I will have it elsewhere! There, sir, go," he
added, relinquishing his hold on the horse, and stepping aside,--"go!
but remember I claim a future reckoning at your hands!"
The sleigh now passed on to the yard of the inn, where the company
alighted, and soon disappeared within its doors, leaving the young man
standing alone in the road, gazing after them with that moody and
disquieted kind of countenance which usually settles on the face on the
subsidence of a strong gust of passion.
"Poor pony!" he at length muttered, sadly, as, rousing himself, he now
turned towards his petted beast, that lay dead in his rude
harness,--"poor pony! But there is no help for you now, nor for me
either, I fear, as illy as I can afford to lose you. But it is not so much the
loss, as the manner--the manner!" he repeated, bitterly, as he proceeded
to undo the fastenings of the tackle, with the view of removing the
carcass and the broken sleigh from the road.
While he was thus engaged, a number of men, most of them his
townsmen, who being, like himself, on their way to court, had stopped
at the inn, or store, near by, where the noise of the fray had aroused

them, now came hastening to the spot.
"What is all this, Harry?" exclaimed the foremost, as he came up and
threw a glance of surprise and concern on the ruins before him.
"You can see for yourselves," was his moody reply, as others now
arrived, and, with inquiring looks, gathered around him.
"Yes, yes; but how was it done?"
"John Peters, who just drove up to the tavern, yonder, with a load of
court gentry, run over me--that's all," he answered, with an air that
showed his feelings to be still too much irritated to be communicative.
But the company, among whom he seemed to be a favorite were not to
be repulsed by a humor for which they appeared to understand how to
make allowance, but continued to press him with inquiries and soothing
words, till their manifestations of sympathy and offers of assistance had
gradually won him into a more cheerful mood; when, throwing off his
reserve, he thanked them kindly, and frankly related what he knew of
the affair, the particulars of which obviously produced a deep sensation
among the listeners. All present, after hearing the recital of the facts,
and on coupling them with the well-known disposition of Peters, and
his previous injuries to Woodburn, at once declared their belief that the
aggression was intentional, and warmly espoused this cause of their
outraged friend and townsman. A sort of council of war was then
holden; the affair was discussed and set down as another item in the
catalogue of injuries and oppressions of which the court party had been
guilty. Individuals were despatched into all the nearest houses, and
elsewhere, for the purpose of discovering what evidence might be
obtained towards sustaining a prosecution. It was soon ascertained,
however, that no one had seen the fracas, except the parties in
interest,--all Peters's company being so accounted,--and that,
consequently, no hope remained of any legal redress. On this, some
proposed measures of club-law retaliation, some recommended
reprisals on the same principle, and others to force Peters, as soon as he
should appear in the street, to make restitution for the loss he had
occasioned. And so great was the excitement, that had the latter then
made his appearance,--which, it seemed, he was careful not to do,--it is
difficult to say what might have been his reception. But contrary to the
expectations of all, Woodburn, who had been thoughtfully pacing up
and down the road, a little aloof from the rest, during the discussion,

now came forward, and, in a firm and manly manner, opposed all the
propositions which had been made in his behalf.
"No," said he, in conclusion, "such measures will not bear thinking of. I
threatened him myself with something of the kind you have proposed.
But a little reflection has convinced me I was wrong; for should I take
this method of obtaining redress, nowever richly he might deserve it at
my hands, I should but be doing just what I condemn in him, and thus
place myself on a level with him in his despicable conduct. No, we will
let him alone, and give him all the rope he will take; and if he don't
hang for his misdeeds, he will doubtless, by his conduct, aid in
hastening on the time, which, from signs not to be mistaken, cannot, I
think, be far distant, when a general outbreak will place him, and all
like him, who have been riding over us here