CHAPTER VI.
The Regulators One of the range of hills which extended around the western side of the village was occupied by several families, known as the "Hillers." They were ignorant, degraded people, living in miserable hovels, and obtaining a precarious subsistence by hunting, fishing, and stealing.
With them the villagers rarely, if ever, had intercourse, and respectable persons seldom crossed their thresholds.

The principal man among the Hillers was known as Bill Powell.

He was a giant in strength and stature, and used to boast that he could visit "any hen-roost in the village every night in the week, and carry off a dozen chickens each time, without being nabbed." He was very fond of liquor, too indolent to work, and spent most of his time, when out of jail, on the river, fishing, or roaming through the woods with his gun.

He had one son, whose name was Lee, and a smarter boy it was hard to find.

He possessed many good traits of character, but, as they had never been developed, it was difficult to discover them.