 confused medley of conjectures,
counterfeiting, and every thing else that was wicked and dangerous to the peace
of society, suggested themselves to the busy fancies of the populace.
    While the public mind was in this feverish state, it was hinted that the
wood had been set on fire by Edwards and the Leather-stocking, and that,
consequently, they alone were responsible for the damages. This opinion soon
gained ground, being most circulated by those who, by their own heedlessness,
had caused the evil; and there was one irresistible burst of the common
sentiment, that an attempt should be made to punish the offenders. Richard was
by no means deaf to this appeal, and by noon he set about in earnest, to see the
laws executed.
    Several stout young men were selected, and taken apart, with an appearance
of secrecy, where they received some important charge from the Sheriff,
immediately under the eyes, but far removed from the ears, of all in the
village. Possessed of a knowledge of their duty, these youths hurried into the
hills, with a bustling manner, as if the fate of the world depended on their
diligence, and, at the same time, with an air of mystery, as great as if they
were engaged on secret matters of the state.
    At twelve precisely, a drum beat the long roll before the Bold Dragoon, and
Richard appeared, accompanied by Captain Hollister, who was clad in his
vestments as commander of the Templeton Light-Infantry, when the former demanded
of the latter the aid of the posse comitatus, in enforcing the laws of the
country. We have not room to record the speeches of the two gentlemen on this
occasion, but they are preserved in the columns of the little blue newspaper,
which is yet to be found on file, and are said to be highly creditable to the
legal formula of one of the parties, and to the military precision of the other.
Every thing had been previously arranged, and as the red-coated drummer
continued to roll out his clattering notes, some five-and-twenty privates
appeared in the ranks, and arranged themselves in order of battle.
    As this corps was composed of volunteers, and was commanded by a man who had
passed the first five-and-thirty years of his life in camps and garrisons, it
was the nonpareil of military science in that country, and was confidently
pronounced, by the judicious part of the Templeton community, to be equal in
skill and appearance to any troops in the known world; in physical endowments
they were, certainly, much superior! To
