CHAPTER XIII.

The news of the coming of the South Carolinians had not reached Illinois when I started for Kansas, but when I had reached Western Missouri the country was alive with excitement.  Maj.  Jefferson Buford had arrived with 350 soldiers, and a part of them were quartered in Atchison.  Some persons whose acquaintance I had made, and who were my friends, besought me not to go on.

The last night I stayed in Missouri was at De Kalb.  A gentleman who had come from St. Joseph stayed over night at the hotel where I put up.  He was tall of stature, with a flowing beard sprinkled with gray, and was of a remarkably dignified and impressive presence.  We conversed during the evening on general topics, but no allusion was made to the one exciting topic, on which almost all seemed ready to talk instanter.

The next morning he overtook me.  He was on horseback, and mentioned that he was going to Atchison, and for some distance rode beside my buggy, continuing the conversation.  Then, as he could travel faster than myself, he rode on.

The reader will recognize this gentleman again in Atchison.  An account of my adventures [4] on the other side of the river will be found in a letter addressed by myself to the Herald of Freedom: 

[For the Herald of Freedom.]

STRANGER CREEK, Ocena P. O., May 6, 1856.

MR. EDITOR—­Dear Sir:  The bar of public opinion seems to be the only tribunal to which the free State men of Kansas can appeal for redress.  I must, therefore, ask your indulgence while I make a statement of facts.

One year ago I came to Kansas and bought a claim on Stranger Creek, Atchison county.  On the 17th of August, the Border Ruffians of the town of Atchison sent me down the Missouri River on a raft.  We parted under a mutual pledge:  I pledged myself that if my life was spared I would come back to Atchison, and they pledged themselves that if I did come back they would hang me.  Faithful to my promise, in November last I returned to Kansas, and visited Atchison in open day, announced myself on hand, and returned without molestation.  Kansas being sparsely settled, without churches or meeting-houses, it was determined that Mrs. Butler should live on our claim with her brother and her brother’s wife, while I should return to Illinois, and resume my labors as a preacher.

April 30th I returned to Kansas, crossing the Missouri River into Atchison.  I spoke with no one in the town, save with two merchants of the place, with whom I have had business transactions since my first arrival in the Territory.  Having remained only a few moments, I went to my buggy to resume my journey, when I was assaulted by Robert S. Kelley, co-editor of the Squatter Sovereign, and others, was dragged into a saloon, and there surrounded by a company of South Carolinians, who are reported to have been