Such a course had
become essential to the repose and protection of the more quiet and more
honest adventurer whose possessions they not only entered upon and
despoiled, but whose lives, in numerous instances, had been made to pay
the penalty of their enterprise. Such a force could alone meet the
exigency, in a country where the sheriff dared not often show himself;
and, thus accoutred, and with full authority, the guard, either _en
masse_, or in small divisions like the present, was employed, at all
times, in scouring, though without any great success, the infested
districts.
The body now approaching was readily distinguishable, though yet at a
considerable distance--the road over which it came lying upon a long
ridge of bald and elevated rocks. Its number was not large, comprising
not more than forty persons; but, as the squatters were most commonly
distrustful of one another, not living together or in much harmony, and
having but seldom, as in the present instance, a community of interest
or unity of purpose, such a force was considered adequate to all the
duties assigned it.
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