a wild beast.  An African lion hunter, when questioned, “Is it not fine sport to hunt lions?” replied, “Yes, it is fine sport to hunt lions, but if the lion hunts you it is not so fine.”  H. Clay Pate went to hunt the lion, and found the lion was hunting him.  John Brown attacked Pate with an inferior force, dispersed his command, and took him prisoner, together with twenty-eight of his men, and kept them in an inaccessible fastness which he made his hiding place.  A number of Pro-slavery men fled from the Territory, telling everywhere a blood-curdling story of hard and cruel treatment.  The people of the State of Missouri were filled with rage and horror, and its presses groaned with frantic appeals to the people to rise in their might and avenge the blood of their murdered brethren.  Hitherto they had witnessed with perfect composure the savage butchery of the Free State men, and the outrage of Free State families; but now the case was bravely altered.  It was their ox that was being gored.

Gov.  Shannon passed as usual from the extreme of insolence to the extreme of helpless imbecility, and called on Col.  Sumner to come forward and put a stop to this riot of confusion, blood-shedding and violence.  The Governor really wanted Col.  S. to disarm only the Free State guerrillas; but Mr. S. made a more liberal interpretation of his orders, and proceeded to disarm all armed bands in the Territory.  He visited Old John Brown’s hiding place, told him he must consider himself under arrest, and intimated to Deputy Marshal Fain that he was at liberty to arrest these men, who were under charge of murder.  But the Marshal replied that he had no arrests to make.  Marshal Fain had no stomach for the business of lion hunting.  It is said that Col.  S. gave Marshal Fain a piece of his mind that was more explicit than polite.

Col.  Sumner ordered John Brown to give up his prisoners, and disband his men.  John Brown expostulated with him, that it was not right to require him to do this, while the country was full of armed bands of Pro-slavery militia and guerrillas.  Col.  S. agreed to disband and disarm all companies of persons armed, and then John Brown agreed to comply with his requests.  Gen. Whitfield was in the vicinity, and at the request of Col.  S. agreed to remove his men from the Territory; but while doing this they continued the business of riot, robbery and murder.

Thus wearily passed the month of June of 1856, on the south bank of the Kaw River.  The coming Fourth of July was looked forward to with intense interest by both parties, and on the north side of the Kaw River, as well as on its south side.  The Fourth of July was the day on which the Legislature, elected under the Free State Constitution, was to meet at Topeka; and on that day, and at that place, a mass convention of all the Free State men in Kansas had also been called to meet and agree on their future policy.  Col.  Sumner had at least done this