never have resisted the various tests of bone and sinew, tooth and nail,
to which they were indiscriminately subjected. Immeasurable was the
confusion that followed. All restraints were removed--all hindrances
withdrawn, and the tide rushed onward with a most headlong tendency.

Apprehensive of pecuniary responsibilities in his own person, and having
his neighbors wrought to the desired pitch--fearing, also, lest his
station might somewhat involve himself in the meshes he was weaving
around others, the sagacious chairman, upon the first show of violence,
roared out his resignation, and descended from his place. But this
movement did not impair the industry of the _regulators_. A voice was
heard proposing a bonfire of the merchandise, and no second suggestion
was necessary. All hands but those of the pedler and the attorney were
employed in building the pyre in front of the tavern some thirty yards;
and here, in choice confusion, lay flaming calicoes, illegitimate silks,
worsted hose, wooden clocks and nutmegs, maple-wood seeds of all
descriptions, plaid cloaks, scents, and spices, jumbled up in ludicrous
variety. A dozen hands busied themselves in applying the torch to the
devoted mass--howling over it, at every successive burst of flame that
went up into the dark atmosphere, a savage yell of triumph that tallied
well with the proceeding.

"Hurrah!"

The scene was one of indescribable confusion. The rioters danced about
the blaze like so many frenzied demons. Strange, no one attempted to
appropriate the property that must have been a temptation to all.

Our pedler, though he no longer strove to interfere, was by no means
insensible to the ruin of his stock in trade. It was calculated to move