hat he it was, who had way-laid me with
criminal intent.

I afterwards learned, that those three men left the settlement at dusk,
for the swamp; that they stationed themselves one rod apart, all on one
side of the road, each man with a loaded rifle,--the poorest marksman was
to fire first, and if he did not bring me down, probably the second
would; but Lewis being the best shot of the three, was to reserve his fire
until the last, which they supposed I could not escape. It was quite dark
in the thicket, and my spirited horse plunged in every direction so
furiously, that they could take no aim at me, until he had started to run,
when we were soon beyond their reach.

We had already had so much difficulty in our little colony that we were
getting heartily sick of it. I was well aware that Lewis was thirsting for
revenge; that he wished to do me a great wrong; and yet I was thankful on
his account, as well as on my own, that he had been prevented from
imbruing his hands in the blood of a fellow being.

Had he succeeded in taking my life, as he undoubtedly intended to do, he
would have been arrested immediately, and most likely punished as a
murderer. He had boldly threatened my life, and the colonists were
expecting something of the kind to take place. Had I not arrived at the
colony, it was known at London that I had started for the settlement that
night, and an immediate search would have been instituted; nor could the
wicked deed have brought the least peace to the mind of Lewis or his
companions,

"No peace of mind does that man know,
Who bears a guilty breast;
His conscience drives him to and fro,
And never lets him rest."

CHAPTER XXX.

DEATH OF B. PAUL, AND RETURN OF HIS BROTHER.

The bold and wicked attempt to take my life, recorded in the preceding
chapter, aroused a feeling of indignation in the community against Lewis,
and completely destroyed the little influence he had left; moreover, he
had now been so extensively published as an impostor, that he could
collect no more money on the false pretense of raising it for the benefit
of the colony. As soon as his money was gone and his influence destroyed,
--many who had been his firmest friends, turned against him, and among
this class was the Rev. Benjamin Paul. He had ever professed the greatest
friendship for, and interest in the success of Mr. Lewis. Heretofore,
whenever he went to the States he was commissioned by that gentleman's
fa