. . t *.. . ~> ^Ajjfcv^-V.v -_;. V, .-.. . . ;V.*. ..-. ?, v ;?* j*l?_ y?aninwh Ti Iil'w^m r"< ^-^T^irfl^tilmi^w^liS^TjriOqBrfri i"lfW Mt?WttlMMM - # - ^^^^ffHBpgBBgsgaHggHggMaB 11111 1 '" 11 " ' ' gBegsgggaggBBBgB ^ 1 I 111 1 J- I 1 mmmaammmsssmmmmmBB-mmmj~??-&* THE CAROLINA SPARTAN. by cavis & trimmier. Deuoleft Jo Southern iiifi[l)ts, politics, ft-griculture, aitfc Hliscellamj. 32 per ahvuh. VOL. XIII. fct*ARTAl\BURG, S. C., THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1856. ^ , , . THE CAROLINA SPARTAN. BY CAVI8 & TRIMMIER. T. 0. P. VERNON, Associate Editor, Price Two Dollars per unouin in advance, or $'2.50 ut the cud of the year. If not paid until after the year expires $3.00. Puyinont will bo considered iu advance if made within three months. No subscription taken for less than six months. Money may bo remitted through postmasters at our risk. Advertisements inserted at the usual rates, ntul contracts made on reasonable terms. The Spartan circulates largely over this and adjoining districts, and oilers an admirable medium to our friends to reach customers. .fob work of all kinds promptly executed. Illanks, Law and K juity, continually on liauJ or priri ed to order. BLACK THUltSDAY. Aa the vtynger Approaches the shores of j Victoria, the first welcome land which greets i him is the bold promontory of Cape Otway. If it l>o at night, the blaze from tho light- | house on its southern point sends hi in its j choering welcome for many a league ncross the ocean which he has so long traversed . in expectation, and calls forth rapturous ! hurrahs from the throng of passengers who ' crowd to the forecastle. If it Ixj day, the I eye rests on its lofty forest hills with a rpiiet ! and singular delight. These heights fully rospond to llio ideal of a new land only recently peopled. Clothed with for- j csls from tho margin of the sea to their very summtU, thoy realize vividly tho ap- ' proach to a vast region of primaeval nature. The lull while stems of tho gum-trees stand ; thickly side by side like so many hoary columns; and here and there ainoug them descend dmk ravines, while piles of rocks on the heights, alternating with jugged chines , and projecting spurs of tho mountains, present their solitary masses to the breeze of 1 ocean. Amongst the locks of this wild shore j there are sea-caves of vast extent and sol emn aspect, which have never y :t been J thoroughly explored. The forest, extend- | ing fifty miles or more in all diioclions, is one of the most denso and savage in the whole colony. Until lately it was almost Impassable from tho density of the scrub, and from tho masses of v nes, (that i >, almasor creeping cord like plants,-chiefly parnsi tical,) which, as in the forests of South Amoiica, climb Iron) tree to tree, knitting the woods into an obs-uro and impenetrable shade. Expecting along the track from Mr. lloadkuiglu's station, near the source^ . of tho liar war, through tho heart of the . forest to Apollo Hay, u di?tuMCO of forty miles, you might cut your way wiih an are, butavoul I find it difficult to make prngre s otherwise. The. greater part of the pro- j inonlory consisting of strep hills covered t with gigantic trees intersected by shelving Valleys, and dark witii congregated ferntree*, beetling precipice*. and stony deelivi- ( ties?Kflbrds no final for enllle. In oiio day, ! however, known l?> the colonist.'? as Ml.u-k ; 'l'liui.-day, a Iintiie.me of tkune opened iis I ru le and imprnctienble v\ iI terno-s to the fool of man, but presented hiin at the same j with a black and blasted chaos of charred trees and gigantic fallen trunks and branches. It vras in this forest, in the early morning ! \>f this memorable day, the sixth of Kcbru , aVy, eighteen hundu-d and fifty one, tlint a young man opened liis eyes and sat up to ' look about Ikiin. lie had, the day before, driven a herd of fifty bullocks from the sla? . tiort of Mr. Roadknight tlius far on bis way towards bis own rosideiico in the country j between Lake Coritngamito and Mount (>cllibiand. lie bad reached at evening a small grassy valley in tho outskiits of the forest, watered by a creek fulling into (he western lbtrwar, and b;ul there paused for the night, liis mob of cattle, tii.danl hungry, were not inclined to stray from the rich pasturage before them; and, hobbling out his splendid black horse Sorcerer, he prepared to pass the night it) the simple fashion of tho settler on such journeys. .\ fallen log supplied bint with a convenient; scat, a tire was quickly lit from the dead , boughs which lay plentifully around, and his quart cup, replenished at the c ?ek, was soon hissing and bubbling with its side thrust into tho glowing tiro, lie hud a good stoie of kangaroo sandwiches, and there he sat with his cop of btror.g bitah-tcu ?looking alternately at the grazing cattle, and into tho solemn, gloomy, and sound- , loss woods, in which even tho laughing i ja kass failod to shout his clamorous adieu to tho falling day. Only the distant monotone of tho inoropork?the nocturnal cue | koo of the Australian wilds? reached his] ? ir, making the profound soHtdde still idore. solitary. 1 Lo very soon rolled himself in 9 his travelling-rug, and flung himself down uerore tuo liro?having previously piled fresh supply of limber upon it?near where his trusty dogs lay, and where Sorcerer, in j the favorite fashion of the bush-horse, slept I Ms he stood. The morning was hushed and breathless. Instead of that bracing chill, with which the Australian lodger out of doors generally wakes up, ltobort Patterson found the ( perspiration standing thick on his face,: and ho fell a strange longing for a deep breath of fresh air. liift motion there was none, except in the little creek which trickled with a fresh and inviting nspect at a few yards from him. He arose, and strip- j ping, plunged into the deepest spot of it that he could find, and thus refreshed re- 1 kindled his fire, and made his solitary broakfast. l>ut all around him hung, as it ! were, a leaden and death like heaviness. ' Not a bough nor a blade of grass was mov-1 ed by the air. The trees stood inanimately moody and sullen. ilo cast his eyes through tbo gloomy shadow beneath them, and a sultry suffocating densi- : ty seomod to chargo the atmosphere. The sky nbove him was dimmed by a groy haze, ' Thero is something in tbo wind to day, old fellow," he said, addressing iiis horse. In bin usual way; for he had long looked ' ou hi? as a companion, and firmly beiiev J ed that he understood till that he said to t hiiu. "There is something in the wiud; c yot, where is the wind ?" v The perspiration streamed from him with a the mere exertion of saddling his horse, o and as ho mounted him to rouse up his cat- v tie, horse, dogs, and cattle, manifested a t listlessness that only an extraordinary con- fi dition of tho atmosphere could produce. If 1 you had seen the tall, handsome young v man seated on his tall and noble horse, c you would have felt that they were togetli- f< or formed for any exploit of strength and g speed. Hut tho whole troop?cattle, man, and horse?went slowly and soberly along, v as if they were oppressed by u groat fatigue ? or the extreme exhaustion of famine. j a Tho forest closed in upon them again, h and they proceeded along a narrow truck, t Hanked on each side by tall and densely- n growing trees*, tho creeping vines making t of tho whole forest ono intricate, impeno- t trnble scene. All was hushed as at mid- t night. No bird enlivened the solitude by r its cries, and they had loft tho little stream, ii Suddenly there came a puff of air; hut it o was like the air from the jaws of a furnace: ' * hot, dry, withering in its very touch. The * young settler looked quickly in the diroc- ' c lion from which it came, and instantly r shouted to the cattle before him, in a wild, abrupt, startling shout, swung aloft the I stock whip which ho hold in his hand, and J brought it down with the report of a pistol, 1 and the sharp cut as with a knife, 011 the 0 ear of the huge bullock just before him. The stock whip, with a handle about a , a note of terror f to tho cattle?it is like tho report of a s blunderbuss, and the stockman at full u gallon will hit any given spot on the beast i that he is within reach of, and cut the piece ) clean away through the thickest hide that ; s hull or bison ever woro. lie will striko a , s lly on a spot of mud at full speed, and take t away tho skin with him, making the rosy 1 Ii blond spting into the wind, and tho astnn* ished animal dart forward as if mad. 0 Louder and louder, wilder and more 11 fiercely, shouted the sniinttrr. and IasIio.I !i his horse forward over (allot trees, through crashing thickets, first on one side of lire I road, and then on tho other. Crack, crack, J went tho stingilvg, flashing whip; loud was , I tho l?ui k of dogs; and the mob of cattle o rushed forward* at headlong speed. The t young man gazed upwards; and, through ) the only uariow opening of the forest, saw i i strange volumes of smoke toiling south- : t ward. Hotter, hotter, stronger, nud more I steadily eajue tho wind. JIo suddenly > clucked his horse, and listening, grew pale 1 at the sonud which reached lum. It was ' fi a low deep roar, as of a wind in the tieo i I top, oi of a heavy waterfall, distant, and t smothered in sOtno deep ravine. 1 t *'G< d have lucrcy! ' ho exclaimed, "a s hush fuel and in this thick forest!'' Once j I' tUoie he sprang fotwatd, shouting, tLun* 1 doting with his whip. Jle and the herd j e were galloping along tlio narr-w wt .1 , t track. J?ul as ho had turned westward in j tho direction of his homo, the woods?< f ; t which ho had before seen the loundary? I now cloved for some miles upon him; and 1 as ho could not turn right or left for the t clmos of vines and scrub that ob tructed the forest, the idea of being overtaken there by I the bush lire was horrible. Such ail event I would be death, and death only. < Therefore, ho urged on his living herd a with desperation. Crack upon crack fioni >' his long whip resounded through the hoi- il low wood. The cattle themselves seemed J to hear the ominous sound, and Miilf the c now stroii"lv liori?i'nlilil.i B-J l 1 " 11..: lour of the tito came louder, and evei r and anon seemed to swell and surge us if f urged on by a rough rising blast. The heal n was fierce and sutlbcatiiig. The young 1 squatter's clothes hung to hiiu with stream- > it.g prespiration, 'lhe horse and cattle t steamed and smoked with boiling heat, s Yet onward, onward they dashed with loll- r ing tongues. Sorcerer,specked with patches . of foam on his dark shining body, seetned r to grow-furiously impatient of the obslrtie i tion offered by tlie bullocks in bis path. i As bis master's whip exploded on their flanks, lie laid back bis curs; and, with I llainiug eyeballs and bared teeth, strove to t tear them in his rage. 1 Robert Patterson knew that the extraor- ? dinnry heat and drought of the summer had I scorched up the gras->?the very ground; '< had licked np the water from crabhole, t pool, and many a creek; had withered the I herbage into crisp hay, and so withered the s foliage, that you might crumble it between I your fingers. The country appeared tho- I roughly prepared for a conflagration, nn.] i only required this fiery wi'ul to send a blase 1 of extermination over the whole land. For < weeks?-nay, months?iho shephetds and ' sawyeis had spoken of tires binning in tho t hills; and in the fern treo bieaks of this I very foiest ho had boon recently told that 1 ' llamcs had been observed in vaiious direc- 1 lions burning redly by night. If the firo reached hitn attd his herd before they escaped into tho opun plains, they must bo consumed like stubble. The cattle began to show signs of exhaustion, t hanging out their parched tongues, and 1 panting heavily; tho prespiration on himself < and horso was dried up by tho awful heat; < and the dogs tan silently, or only whining lowly t? themselves, as they hunted every i hollow in their way for water. Suddenly, I they were out in an open plain, yet with I the forest on either hand, but at a conside- 1 raid* distanco. i What a scene! The woods were flaming t and crackling in ono illimitable conflagra- j lion. Tho wind, dashing from the north I ^ in gusts of incouccivablo heat, secuiod to t sear the very face and shrivel up tho lungs. 1 Tho firo leaped from treo to tree, flashing and roaring along with tho speed and tho i * dostructivoness of lightning. Tho sore fo- i 1 liage seemed to snatch tho fire, and to per- 11 ish in it iu a riot of demouiacal revelry. On t it flow, fast as the fleetest horse could gallop;'s and consuming acres of leaves in a niomeut, l still remained to rage and roar amongst the I <1 tranches ami in tho hollow stems of an-1 in a ient trees. Tho whole wood on tho left 1 mind ras an enormous region of intenses! flame, 1 her v ,nd that on the right sent forllrtho sounds ' emin >f the snino ravaging Grcs; but, being to } boy r riudward, tho tlames could not bo seen fbr | her a ho vast clouds of smoke, mingled with 1 had iery sparks, which were rolled on tho air. her h rbero was a sound as of thunder, mingled there villi tho crash of fulling trees, and tho wild ! in th lies of legions of birds of all kinds, which wilhi till scorched and blackened and dead to tho ( not r ;round. > a re Onco out on this open plain, the cattle I \vhol< tore speedily lost in the blinding ocean of built moke, and the young settler obliged to she c bandou them, made a dash onward for 1 the h lis life. Now tho Humes came racing along 1 Th ho grass with the speed of the wind, and eon v nowiug all smooth as a pavement; now it Tho ore fmiously t rough some near point of wliol ho forest, and Hung burning ashes and tho i angles of blazing bark upon tho galloping Then ider. Hut Sorcerer, with an instinct more cauli nfallible than human sagacity, sped on, looter ver thicket, and stone, and fallen lice, Thill norting in tho thick masses of sinoke, and j stock tretching forward his gasping jaws as if to comj atch ovoiy broath of air to sustain impelled had 1 expiration. i they When the wind veered, the reek driven I'atu nckward revealed a most amazing sight. \ horse 'ho blazing skirts of tho forest; huge bo- tiou utod trees, glaring red?standing columns and 1 if fiie; hero a vast troop of wild horses with i herd; lying manes and tails, rushing with ilium men, leiing hoofs over the plain; llicro herds of troo| attle iunuing, with bloodshot eyes and open langing tongues, they knew not whither, porai rom the firc?; troops of kangaroos leaping housi ranlically across the rider's path, their hair J one * inged nnd giving out strongly the stench j row. f lite; birds of all kinds nnd colors slniek- was ng pileously as they drove wildly bv. and coulc et saw no sj ot of safety; thousands <. f flock beep, standing huddled in terror on the ; eatth corclied flats, with singed wool, deserted ine; ?y their shepherd-, who had fled for their scout ives. but Hut onward flow the intrepid Sorccier, Lake inward stretched his rider, thinking light- pastt: ling winged thought of home, and of his dozei lelpless, paralyzed mother theie. ' fully With a caution inspired by foimcr out- : loss, ireaks of bush fires, lie had made at some ' of ye listunce round hi< homestead a bare ciicle. be f? ie had felled the fo:est trees, leaving only T1 ilie here and there nL *iii-li .15 ?t?in/? ?.. il.-.t hero was iittle fear of ignition. As tlio lloch uinmor diied the grass, lie had set tiro t<> miv.1 t on days when the wind was gentle enough ni. 0 leave the lhuuo at command, watching, catth irnnch in linud, to bout out any blaze ilia: pooh night have travelled into the forest. Uv ilami his moans lie had hitherto prevented the with iie hum reaching his homestead; and he ; blind 1 id stiougly recommended the saino plan fund! o his neighbors, though generally with lit iho ?3 le effect. Now, the tire was so teirible, and wi.h paiks tlow so wide on the wind, that lie 1 he eared they might kindle the grass round of t!. .is homestead, and that he ini^ht tin ! ho'.:: vervthiittf and eveiv per- n tlier'.'ccnsunt 1 ealal d.' ' i "1 Iiilt, behold! the g'eMijing, Wei onto wa e l ? irs of l.ake Oolae! Soieercr rubln-d head "x mig towards it; and wading hastily up to his i lis side- in its cooling tloo I, thrust his head ate < o the eyes into it, and diuuk as if he could ed y leyei bo satistie I with le>s than the whole I doi ake. Europeans, now to the scene, would j of re ihvo trembled for the horse; hut the bush ? ) teed, knowing best what ho needs, eats clt c aid drinks as likes him l>est, and flourish- . > t>n it. Smoking liut, the rider lots him Mrs. Irinlc his till, and all g as well. The luat s;i;, ' >reduces perspiration, and tlio evaporation p|cni i?ols and so"lhes him. lJobert Patterson ol,t , lid not luse a moaicut in followint? S.ire.i- 1 ..s t-r's example. lie llurg himself headloi g | iout llio saddle, droned us lie was, dived, far." ind ^dashed, and urank exuberantly, lie i infield again and again his smarting face and | inged hands in the delicious water; then toui lirew it over the steed, that now, satiated, tood panting in the flood. Ho laved and . ;t frc ubbed down the grateful animal with : ?ow.i vave after wave, cleaning the dried pernpi- i juile ation from every hair, giving him refresh told uent at every pore. Then up and away t|u, | 'gain. i )je h lie had not ridden two hundiel I him efoio he saw, lying on the plain, a horse ' j,r i,j hat had fallen in saddle and bridle, and .-Tra? ay with his logs under him, and head ! , trclcheJ atilHy forward, with glaring eye- |,llLrt >alls, but dead. Near bint was a man, with dive, but sunk in exhaustion. Ilia eyes j H j*lir limed wildly on the young squatter, and wjtJ, lis parchod lips moved, but without a j barn ound. Robert Patterson comprehended 1 smol lis need; and, running to the lake, brought ; W:is lis pannikin full of water, and put it to his saw noulb, It was the water of life to him.! wct|. lis voice and some degree of strength caino ^v0i! lecd was too urgeul for delay, lie found 1 |,.IS | ho uian had no lack of provisions; lie carrie 1 i dm in his arms to llio margin of the s?.arl ake, mounted, and rodo on. 1|(J ; As lio galloped forward, it was still tire and ?firo everywhere, lie felt convinced that and he conflagration?fanned by llio strong vis;L vind, and acting upon fires in a hundred hoaj punters?extcudod over the wholo sun- The iiied colony. di?pl It was still caily noon, when, with strain- iiio. ng eyes, and a heart which seemed almost T1 0 stand still with a tciriblo anxiety, drea io cauio near his own home, lio daited mo t >ver the biow of a hill?there It lay safe! j 'II 1 he circle within his cleared boundary was his intoticliod by tlm tire. I hero wore hix with Ktddocka, his. cattle, his hut*, and home. 'T iVith a lightning thought his thanks flow up UJ o J leaven, anil ho was the next moment at "I lis door, in his house, in his mother's arms. I "l Hubert's anxiety had been great for the said afoty of hi* mother?her anxiety was tiip- "I ud for him. Terror occasioned by a for- ing 1 ncr conflagration had paralyzed her lower earn xtreiuities; and now, the idea of her only fatht on, her only remaining relative in rhecolo j laid iy, being met by this unexampled tire in the rrstf' lenae defile* of the Otway Forest, kept her i the*. stale of tlio most fearful tension of Mrs, Patterson, though confined lo wheeled chair, was a woman of pre* ent eneigy and ability. Left with her i more infant, she bad managed all Hairs with a skill nnd discretion tlmi produced great prosperity. Though icart was kind, her word was law; and was no man on her run who dared o slightest to disobey bur, nor olio n thu whole country round who did espcct and revere her. She had been mnrkably handsome woman. 'Ihc* e of tbe floors of tho station being upon one level, in her wheeled chair onld be nt any moment in any part of ouso or promises. 0 moment tho Aral joy of mother and 1 as ever, what a scene presented ilsulf! stnlion was like a fair. From the e country round people had tied from the, and had instinctively tied thoie. c was a feeling that tho Patterson preons, which they themselves had nog* 1, were tho guarantee* of safety. ior shepherds had driven their lloeks, men tlieir herds, and whole families, telled to tleofiom their burning houses, tiurriod thither with tho fe.v ctlect* that could snatch up and bear with them, srson's paddocks were crowded with is and cattle; the bush round his stawas literally hidden beneath his own lis neighbors* lloeks. Stockmen, aliep substantial squatters, now housclos were in the throng. Families, with is of children, had encamped in the ground near his house, beneath tcmy ton tn of sheets and blanket*. 11 is wa- crammed with fugitives; nt.d was iccno of crowding, confusion and sor Luckily l!io l'atteison store room well-stocked with flour, ami there I be no want of meat with all tho*e s and herds about thorn. Hut for tin* j themselves there must soon bo a f.unaud the luoinout that the lite abated, s must be sent oft' in all directions? especially to the high plains around Corangnuiitu?in search of temporary ire. Meantime, tiros were lighted in a II places, and frying-pans and kettles employed?for, spite of flight, and and grief, hunger, as Homer thousands ais ago asserted, is itnpu lent, and will d. ic stories that the people had to loll roost melancholy?house- burnt down, s dostioyed, children suffocated in tho ;o or lost in the rapid flight, shepherds l u'.! h- Itivtrs consumed with their Numbers had fled to crocks an t ., mid y t Ii.nl been severely burnt -tinj-. dtiving over the surface of the water devouring force. Some had laid in ow l?iook?, turning ?<\>-r and ?>v>t, till v forced to get tip and fir. Still, as ay wore on, numbers came poiuingiti fre-h talcs of horror and devastation, whole eounlri npp aied lol>e the prey e flame*; n:t 1 en who were, a few bef ro, out of tho reach of poverty or i< '.v. were to w hotnehs, pauper*, he M i\woI ?, mother," i'altorsuu a-k "i- there any new* of litem;" < no, my dear Robert, none, ' replied author. "I hope and believe that they ; lite safe. I hey have long ag ? adopt our own plan of a clearance ring, ?nd ibl not areju- t now as much a centre fligo as wft ate." Jut 1 should iiko to be sure," said Kol> cri >u?ly. "1 inn?t ride or or an ! ?ee." lu t you? 1 think you must not,'' said l'atterson. "Hut if you cannot be hd let some of the men g >?there arc ly at band, and you aie already worn ivi'.h fatigue and excitement." su, I am tpiilu Well Rlid bosh- I had ir go myself," said Uobeit; "it is not And he strode out, his mother .*ayf you find all right, don't come hark giit." 'boit 1'alter-on was soon mounted on ,1. ...1 . ..... .?..! i.? . 1 - ' -1 ti f?UU I'VMKII.i: liui>t, iiw Si.niig Oil >Ui bal.KS. il,i i iwlllCt i nearly all consumed from his back? tat was the merest remaining fragment, rhed and shrivelled. The man whs ing himself to and fro and groan ing. than!" exclaimed l'attersorj. "What happened to yoni" iu man turned upon him a visago that ltd liint with terror. It was, indeed, tiger a human visage, but a scorched sw ollen mass of deformity. The beard hair were burnt away?eyes were not 'e the whole face being a confused > of red flesh and hanging blisters, poor fellow iniscd a pair of bands that y. d equally the dreadful works of lh? 10 young squatter exclaimed?"I! >w dful! I,it me help you, Feh.ui?let ako you lioine." ic man groaned again, and, opening distorted month w 1? difliouhy, and ag?>ny, said ? lia\o no homo?it i.-> burnt.'' ^ml your famih 1" lead - all dead." hit are vou sure?arc you quite sure?' Rubort, excitedly. saw ono- -my oldest boy; ho was lymint near tho house. 1 lifted him, to i him away, hut he said, 'Lay mo down, ir?lay mo down, I caunot bear it.' I him Clown, nnd asked, 'Where aro the ' VII (led into tho bush,' ho said, and he died. 1hay aro all burnt." I Hubert Patterson flung tire wretched b man a linen handkerchiof, bidding hiin dij> S it in tbo creek and lay it on bis face to ll keep the air from it and turned bis horse, tl saying ho would look for the family, j si 1 lie noon found the placo when, tbo hut o 1 bad stood. It was burnt to ashes. On the ' lj ' ground, not far from it, lay the body of the j dead little boy. Patterson hastened along | o 1 the liaek of the old road to tbo Maxwells' e station, tracing it as well as he could in j e the tire and the flaming branches, lie fell , h ! suro that the flying family would take tha. a > way. In a few minutes it brought him li : agaain upon the creek by which the poor li man sat, but lower down. j l< There stood a but in a damp spot, which . v had been used years ago for tbo sheep ' ii I washing, but bad long been deseiled. li C was surrounded by thick wattles,still burn- s I ing. The but was on lire, but its rotten ! n limbers fotciug out far more smoke than ' d flame. As be approached, lie heard low l< ! cries and lamentations. "Tbo family is ti fled thither," lie said to himself, "and two ' t perishing of suffocation." He sprang to t! 1 the ground, and dashed forward tlirough t? i columns of heavy smoke. It was bop-less a to breatbo in it, for its pungent and sting- < ing strength seemed to close his lungs, and j e ; vvatci rushed from his eyes in torrents. \ L Hut pushing in. he seized the fiiat living 1 thing that be laid bis bauds on, and bore ' v it away. It was a child. Again Lo made ! 1: the desperate essay, and succeeded in bring | v out no less than four children and the | mother, who was sunk on the floor as dead, a ! but who soon g ive signs of life and return- , f< I ing consciousness. t The young man was now in tbo utmost a perplexity with his charge, ft was a heart d rending sight. The whole group wcio | s more or less hurt, but, ac it-.coined to him, li | not so much buit as lo aflecl their li\es. a j I heir station was three milts distant, and , e lie bad no alternative but to leave ilium i s ! there till he rode and rent a curl for j { them. With much labor, carrying the j h 1 children one after another in his arms, be 1 I conveyed the weful group to the father. i r , A- tho young man stood bew ildered by ' d : the cries and lamentations of the family on j f : meeting the father, a horse, ridden by a 1 c bnly, approached at n gallop. This appari- i lion contrasted strangely with the luiuonta-1 t bio "IO'ITi of slltlnr< r< T!m ' t I O I \ J"""*. ; wits tall and of a most beautiful figure. and o was mounted on a fine bay hone. A Ii^lit a : skit m il broad Kit lint were ull ll?o devia- v I lions from her homo costume that haste a | had I d Iicr to asiumo. IKr face, fresh I and roseate, full of youth, loveliness and i f -? lb g, w.i% at the sumo time grave and anxi ;i , as she ga? d in -prcJdess wonder I ! On the group. I "Mb. Maxwell'." Patterson exclaimed, < ''in the n unc t>! lle.awn, what lunvd How t i ". all at the Mount? Yet, on this dreadful t d iy, what l-ut ill can happen T* "Nothing is ami-s, that I know of," said | the \olli 4 lady. "We arc all safe at home, c The the has not cmne near us." s " l b.f . ii j family. As ih?? nearest neighbors of the < ' I'attersons, they had grown into intimate j . , friends. George and P. bert had Ken . , playfellows in Van Dieman** Land; and | lure, where they had come in their boy- \ ,! hood, they wore schoolfellows. Siuce then they had gradually grown, from a similari- t ty of tastes and modes of life, tho most in- | j tiintitu friend*. It was not likely that Uob- , ert Patterson and Kllen Maxwell could < avoid liking one another. They possessed i everything in mind, p.-rson, and estate, | which made ouch an attachment lire most ? natural in the world. Kllen wa-> extremely attached to Mrs. Patterson, for whom sire , had lit" highest veneration, Ellon had ! ' received an excellent education in Kdin* 1 . i burg, whither she had been sent to her ' | friend-. In her nature she was fiank, joy- | | , oris and affectionate, but not without a , k> on sense of womanly pride, wl? ch gave ' | , a certain dignity to her manner and a repn- j ( lation for high spirits. , All had gone well betwrocn herself and 1 Kobeil till Mtuie-ix inonthi ago. Put since 1 then there sprung up a misunderstanding i Nobody could loll how it had arisen?no- t body except Kllen knew, anil whatever was i the secret cau-e, she locked it impenetrably < within her own bosom. All at one* she i had assumed a distant and haughty man- | ' ner towards Robert Patterson. From him I , she did not conceal that she full she had i cause for her dissatisfaction, but she refuser! r i to explain. Whoo, confounded at the cir*! 1 1 cumstance, be sought for an explanation, I i Pre baJe him serrch hit own memory and ' i is heart, and they would instruct him. | ? lie insisted that they should cease to regard | t jCinselves as aflianccd, and only consented 1 int nothing as yet should be said on the I abject to her brother or Mrs. Patterson, n the ground that it would most painful- 1 f afllict them. . I Ellen, who used to bo continually riding I ver to see Mrs. Patterson with her broth- ' a r, now rarely appeared, and proudly do- i a lined to give her reason foi the change in I er?adding that she must absent herself ^ I 'icgc-thci' if the subject WefO letiev.vd lo I er brother she was equally reserved, and i o attributed it to caprice, bidding Robert i j tako no notice of it. Fllei) was not , ithout other admirers, but llial was noth- i ig new. Ono young man who had lately i otne into the neighborhood paid her a9 j s idiious attention, and gossip did nqt fail t o attribute the cause of Robert Patterson's ! i celine of favor to his influence. Lint El- : < in gave no countenance to sueli a supposi ; i ion. She was evidently under no desire I i r> pique her old lover by any marked pro I iilection for a new one. Her nature was ; do noble for tho pettiness of coquetry, and | uy desire to add poignancy to coldness, i hi the other baud, it was clear to the qrii- I tly watchful eye of her brother that she was i icraelf even more unhappy than Robert. : l ler oyes often betrayed the effuets of secret roeping, and tho paleness of her cheek to ied the assumed air of cheerfulness -l^p ' ' rorc. Things were in this uncomfortable stale > ,t the outbreak of the lire. It was llieie- I uru a most cheeiiug thought to Patterson* hat, iu her distress, she had !l mi fit at, and t onco, to him. This demonstrated conli- i eucc iu liis friendship. True, on all occa- ( ions she had protested that her souse ??fl i lis high moral character was nut nr. ioln bated; but, iu this spoutum oi*s act, Hobrl'a heart persuaded himself that there lay ij omething nt'-re. No-souiier did he toaeh the Mount, than,! caving Ellen to send off assistance to the 'ehnns, he took Tureen, the stockman, and ode into the forest hills. It was soon lark, and they had to halt; but not fur rom the spot where Tureen had lost sight f his muster. They tethered their horses u a space clear of trees and fire, and gave hern corn that they had brought with hem. When the moon to-e, they went m to some distance uttering lottd coooea to ttract the ear of the lost man; but all in ain. The lite had left tho ground hot u>J covered with ashen, and here nml there tugo trees burning like columns of red-hot ron. Finding all their efforts for tho night fruit ess, they llung themselves down beside heir horses; and with the earliest peep of lawn ti#e\ were up and off higher into Ire hills. Their way presented at every step he shocking effects of tho tire. Kver and iron they came upon bullock* which had icrished in it. llcro and there, too, they IvsorioU the remains ?>T kangaroos, oposurns, and hundreds of birds, scared and hovelled into sable masses of cinder. They came at length to tho spot where lurecti ami George Maxwell had parted; tud tiio experienced bush than carefully mught out the tracks of the horses' feel, md followed them. These wcro either ob iterated by tho lite, ur failed (rum the ocky hat Incss of tho ground; but, by in lefaligable search, they regained them, and voro led at 1eng*h to the c ; 1* C ' s. II . I " **" ' tv ! *"? IiiCiUi C'jtJdiiV liloiC'^. I ?ilt |?i v60il t?T j ic heard the faint sound of A human mice. There lay (reorgo, stretched in the mid?t , >f a grassy thicket, with a lace expressing j ig >uy and exhaustion. Robert seized his ' ilVre 1 hand, and Geoigc called first fur j valor. His friend started tip and ran dow n j ho valley ht full ep?. M- 'die w as soon i t?aok w illi i\ pannikin ??f wnt^r, Which tlx; ! (UtlVrer drank unh avidity. lie now learned that, as In 1 bocn sup posed, in tlx) thick smoke, the horse had gone over the precipice, and \wa* killed in in instant, lloorgo ha 1 escajKjd.' his fall !??ing broken b v It is stood; nn?V J?e whs ilung back into tlie thicket, Hgain j iofteiied the shock of Ids do ho tad a broken leg, and was, Ircutely bruised and torn. Life, IWWHkr ' ?r:\% strong within him*, and Turecrr%Ji?' II >hcrt lost no time in having a litter ot j polos bound together with string}- bark, j made soft with grass and leaves, laid in a dieet of lite same bark. They had three! miles to bear the shattered patient, to w hom j ivory movement proJuoed excruciating igonios. It was nut long l>eforo they heard people in different parts of the wood fondly cooeeing; and their answers soon brought not only a number of mon w ho had been lent out in que?t of them, but also Miss; Maxwell herself We shall not attempt to describe the m land i at T.-jvcr tho spirit of Ellen Maxwell had van abed. She was herself again; always kind ind open, yet with a mournful tone iu her bearing with Robert, which surprised and yet pleased him. It looked like regret for past utikiiidiiess. As they sat one evening over their tea, while Oeorge was in a profound sleep in the next room, Ellen looking with emotion at him, said, iu a low, tremulous voire, "Robert, 1 owe much to yon.*' ' To rue?" said Robert, hastily. '*Isu*t George as much a brother to tue as to you." "It is uot that which I mean,1* added Ellen, coloring deeply, yet speaking more (irmly; "it is that i have done you a great iv rong. I believed that you had said a in<>iLed for the expression of his liberal political principles in hard and bigoted times. There was not a man in a penal settlement who did not honor his political iutcgritj and (brc-ight, and who did not reverence his character. Rut the convicts as n body were proud to claim him as of their claw. I.'>.1^1, sent limber on!v for the crime of a ll:?TU|KJcn or a Sidney. Whenever reproach as thrown On the convict section of society, the insulted party pointed to the venerahlo exile, and triumphantly bailed biru as their chief. No endeavors, though ibey were tunny, and conducted by |>owerful bunds, hnd over hec-tt aide t t procure a reversal ot his scutenco. 'J'ho injuries of a man of his high talents and noble nature might be comparatively buried at the antipodes: at homo, they would be h present, a perpetual, and a damaging reproach. He had lit ed and died a banished, but a highly honored, matt. Still, as iio n>se to a higher estimation and an manual affluence, there were little mini's who delighted occasion ally to whisper? "After all, he is but a lag." And it wxa on this tender point that the minds of hia children, who o ears such remarks had reached and wounded, had become morbid* ly' sensitive. Amid the general calamity, this recoil* cilhtion was like a song of thanksgiving in the generous heart of Robert Patterson* and quickened it to tenfold exertions in alleviating the sufJctiugs of his neighbors. IT is joy was made boundless and overflowing by a circumstance which appeared |> he little short of a miracle. AVlien R