"On boys! if they're going below, we'll follow them!"

The men cheered, and they swept after them beneath the wood. One short minute beneath the shadows-a little time of darkened, breathless speed, and they burst into the sunlight of the prairie beyond. Their eyes were dazzled! Their senses stunned! It was but for an instant. The harsh and stunning howl that greeted them to this dazzling light, they had heard before those dusky, hideous forms, rush upon them from every side-but they had seen their long lances and feathered crowns shake and toss in fight before-and though they came like a torrent closing round them, these brave men were not unnerved!

The ring of their rifles rose in deadly lullaby over the triumphingly howls of successful strategy-recoiling the overwhelming waves in silence for a moment, while the smoke arose-but then the recoil was stayed by the tremendous rush from the circles without-for they were in the very middle of a camp-or rather ambush of three hundred Comanches, and only those nearest could reach them, of course, but then this rush drove on those before upon them, trampling the bodies of their own slain that had fallen by the first fire, and in spite of the terrible execution done by the pistols of the Rangers, the roaring tide rushed on. The Comanches were wild with ferocious exultation for here they had, at last, entrapped their formidable and most audacious foe, the Little Red-Head, whose fiery scalp was worth the feathered coronet of a chief to any one of them. Terribly these barbaric billows swayed and rolled before the murderous fire of fifteen hemmed in and desperate men.

The pistols soon became useless. Recoil after recoil of the Indians had been driven in, yet the relentless thirst for vengeance and that fiery scalp grew more and more unappeasable; and though lance grated against lance in the bodies of Ranger after Ranger, and arrows flew like hail, still this strange and furious fight went on. The Rangers had drawn their heavy bowie-knives, and laid about them with desperate strength, clipping off the lance-heads like carrot-tops, as they were frequently crossed above them in the wild tumultuous struggle.

It was a volcanic chaos of fringed buckskins-breech-clouts—streaming

feathers-rifles-lances-pistols-arrows-horses-oaths--knives -death-groans-screams-yells and whoops, boiling and tumbling beneath the smiling sun of God's own blessed, gentle spring.

Ah, it was horrible enough!

It would seem as if this presumptuous squad should have been borne down at once, and utterly exterminated by this tremendous pressure-but it should be kept in view, that the Comanches had at that time little knowledge of fire-arms beyond the effects from which they had suffered, or been witnesses of, and therefore greatly amplified them, and indeed held them in a sort of superstitious awe.

Be this as it may, perhaps the world never witnessed-on a small scale, to be sure-a more remarkable instance of an agile, fierce, relentless struggle, than this between these few men and the comparative host by whom they were surrounded. Think of it!-fifteen to three hundred !-taken by surprise, too!

There was one young man in this doomed party who had acted wildly since they set off on this fatal chase. He it was who had whispered hurriedly in the ear of Little Red-Head something that caused his sudden and unexpected proposition to follow the Comanches. He had been one of those who came out in the party with the lieutenant whom I have mentioned as my informant. His real name had not been given. He had been the most eager and rash of the Rangers, and had fought with almost superhuman fierceness. Since the moment of their falling into this ambush, his object had seemed to have been to cut his way through the overwhelming mass in the direction of a group of warriors that took no part in what was going on, but were evidently in charge of the prisoners. He had even taken the lead of his captain, and by his frantic efforts had succeeded in carving a bloody lane through the Indians to this point. They had evidently been impressed with a sort of panic by his incredible fury, and gave way before a desperation which seemed to bear a charmed life. Now was the time to escape, if ever!

But his eager eye had sought for one form among the prisoners. There were but three. The glance was quick as lightning, but seemed to be sufficient.

"Oh God! she is not here!"

He rather shrieked these words than spoke them. He turned ashy pale, and without a word more, or a single groan, pitched forward over the head of his horse among the trampling hoofs. Little Red-Head was at his side when he thus fell without a wound, for, strangely enough, he had as yet entirely escaped. With a strange, sorrowful cry, he reined in his horse, and the last that was seen of Little Red-Head, twenty lances were meeting through his unresisting body; and as the two young men who escaped burst free upon the open ground again, and made off, bleeding with many wounds, the demoniac yells of triumph from the Comanches, echoed horribly in their ears. There was little attempt made to overtake them, and they got in safe the lieutenant, with the loss of the finger and thumb of one hand, together with half a dozen body wounds, and his friend reeling in the saddle from the loss of blood from as many more.

Thus ended this horrible and strange affair, which, perhaps, has hardly a parallel in any annals. But not the least singular part of it was revealed afterwards.

From papers discovered among the effects of Little Red-Head, it appeared that this young man was Mark Catesby, and that Red was his natural brother--an illegitimate son of old Catesby !

A paper of instructions with regard to Mark was found, too, containing the mysterious signature, "Regulus," and which was worded in the imperious language of entire despotism. What became of the young girl Juliet we may yet hear. That she was snatched up on the street and carried off by the Comanches, is all we can say at present.

ART. III-INSURANCE OF CHARACTER.

WHILE Our Insurance Companies are daily taking risks against fire, life, and the dangers of the sea, there is still one important branch of the business heretofore overlooked in this country, which would materially contribute both to their own profits and the advancement of the industrial interests of the people. We mean that of affording security ship on the bonds of applicants for public offices, banks, &c., or any situation of responsibility, or the extension of the present system of Insurance, so as to embrace the character as well as the life of the insured party.

The advantages of such companies are twofold, the benefit resulting not being confined to the party more immediately interested. Relief is at once afforded to many liberal-hearted friends, who have experienced the inconvenience of being often called upon to assume for others, who become candidates for office, a heavy weight of pecuniary responsibility. Here is, of itself, no small inducement to such unlucky wights to become members of an Association of the kind, and thereby diminish their own personal liabilities. The individual insured, by paying a premium for the benefit, is saved either the unpleasant condition of dependence and indebtedness, to which the boon which he is compelled to ask gratuitously from an individual invariably subjects him, or else the humiliating mortification of a refusal. The insurer, instead of becoming individually in danger of suffering from his agency in the matter, throws his annual contribution into the general fund, and shares with a hundred others, not the risk of loss, but the certainty of a handsome dividend. To illustrate what may appear to some an extravagant conclusion, let us suppose for a moment, that every bank officer, (to say nothing of officers in various grades and departments of labor, who are required to give security for the faithful discharge of their duties,) instead of having been compelled to incur obligations to individual friends, had been in the habit of paying to an Insurance Company, annually, a per centage on the amount of security ship, for which those individuals have been hitherto nominally liable. What a large amount of revenue might have been accumulated to add to the funds of the Company; and what an immense disproportion would this be to the losses incurred, (if any of consequence have been incurred during the last ten or fifteen years.)-Losses by fire, shipwreck, and other casualties, are not only frequent, but absolutely certain and inevitable in the common course of nature. Our banks and corporations, on the contrary, exhibit little or no evidence of the danger to be apprehended from responsibility for the character of their officers. Individual securityship (admitting, of course, some occasional exceptions) has been so far in a great measure nominal. Indeed, so great is the disproportion between the amount of security required in many instances, and the largest possible amount for which the officer can ever become a defaulter, (admitting him to be the very quintessence of knavery!) that the apparent responsibility is, to a great extent, nominal, and

merely for effect. Still the obligation conferred is not the less binding, as the security is sometimes compelled to prove himself, on oath, to be worth double the already extravagant sum demanded, on his client's bond.

To the poor man, especially, such an institution is most desirable. It is chiefly in subordinate situations, where the salaries are moderate and the amount of security disproportionately large, that the benefits of insuring character are experienced. A man, with a family dependent upon him for support, would cheerfully appropriate, every year, a certain portion of the proceeds of the office which he may seek, in order that he may obtain, for a consideration, that guarantee of character which he would be reluctant to purchase at the expense perhaps of his own independence, or at any rate, of incurring obligation to a friend or patron.

There is but one institution of the kind that we know of in the world, and we have been at some difficulty to ascertain definitely the precise modus operandi by which its movements are regulated. The Guarantee Society of London was established in 1840. This Society is empowered to give security for the fidelity of persons holding situations of trust where securities are required, on the annual payment of a stipulated rate per cent. Security is granted to all approved persons employed by public companies, by the great trading and banking interests in London and the country; also to persons in any capacity, either at home or abroad, who may be called upon to furnish security to their employers, for honesty and the faithful performance of their duties. No demand is made for stamps, legal charge or otherwise, in addition to the premium. Forms of proposal, or other information, are furnished by the Secretary, Thomas Dodgsonoffice, 19 Birchin Lane, and by the Society's agents in all the principal cities throughout the kingdom. These forms embrace all necessary particulars relative to the condition of the applicant-age, residence, occupation, standing in respect to character and habits, relations in life, and extent of responsibility attached to the office. The premium which the office-holder pays, is graduated in reference to these attendant circumstances; so that, instead of the applicant obtaining accommodation in proportion to his means, it is rather according to the estimated risk which the Company undertakes in becoming responsible for the honesty of the insured. One who se character is above suspicion in the community in which he resides, would thus become entitled to be insured at a lower rate of premium than his less circumspect neighbor-a decided improvement upon the policy of banking privileges, which often reverses the picture.

The salutary effect of such an enlargement of the benefits of insurance, would, it is natural to suppose, be soon felt, in the more favorable tone which it would impart to the general aspect of business, and the influence which it would exert in placing the poor man, without means or friends, and him who is blessed with both, on the same footing. Many worthy and capable men, whose qualifications would confer dignity upon the offices to which they may be chosen, are deterred from offering their names for office, through an indispo

sition to place themselves in situations where they must become indebted for favors. And instances have often occurred, where persons who have been unanimously called to fill such positions have been compelled to decline for the same reason. The per centage of insurance in such cases may be graduated, in reference to the known and acknowledged character and standing of the applicant; and the risk incurred (at least in the community where we have enjoyed the most opportunities of observation) would be far less than that involved in any other contingency provided against by associations now in existence.

There are many in every community who feel deeply the embarrassment of being frequently called upon to assume the responsibilities of securityship. Unbounded as may be the confidence reposed in the integrity of a friend whom he may desire to serve, the individual insurer of character feels it to be an investment which yields no premium, and may, one day or other, through some accident by no means affecting his friend's integrity, reduce him and his family to beggary. A single loss of a few thousands, by fire or any other catastrophe, may break an individual, but would be an every-day trifle to a wealthy corporation. The advantage of association, for any object, cannot, of course, be questioned in this age of the world. To both the insurer and insured, then, the system proposed would appear to be a blessing. The former is subjected to far less risk, the latter is relieved of his unpleasant position of dependence. Such an improvement in the financial condition of society is worth striving after. No better mode of investment can be devised, whether for capitalists or every citizen who has the means of purchasing a single share. Many of our citizens with very moderate means would willingly unite in such an organization, if those more able, and possess ing the requisite means and influence, would only take the lead. We have had occasion before, at the suggestion of others, to present this subject for consideration through the medium of the press, and now would most respectfully invite the views of our friends with regard to it, in your columns. The proposition strikes us as especially adapted to the interests of the industrial pursuits of our times, one of the great objects which it is the province and duty of the press to watch over and foster. An association such as it contemplates, would be one of general public utility, inasmuch as the plan involves the encouragement of industry and economy, and the equitable division of labor-two essential elements in the politico-economical organization of wealth.