s
instructed to call the hired man and Jane, who was almost as large and
quite as strong as the average man; and the three were armed and given
their cue. They were all handy with their weapons, but mother sought to
win by strategy, if possible. She bade the older girls don heavy boots,
and gave them further instructions. By this time the horsemen had
reached the gate. Their leader was the redoubtable Justice Sharpe. He
rode up to the door, and rapped with the but of his riding-whip. Mother
threw up the window overhead.

"Who's there? and what do you want?" she demanded.

"We want that old abolition husband of yours, and, dead or alive, we
mean to have him!"

"All right, Mr. Sharpe," was the steady answer. "I'll ask Colonel Lane
and his men to wait on you."

The hired man, who had served in the Mexican War, here gave a sharp word
of command, which was responded to by trampling of heavy boots upon the
bare floor. Then, calling a halt, the pretended Colonel Lane advanced to
the window, and shouted to the horsemen:

"Set foot inside that gate and my men will fire on you!"

Sharpe, an arrant coward, had retreated at the first sound of a man's
voice, and after a short parley with his nonplused companions, he led
them away--outwitted by a woman.

As a sort of consolation prize, Sharpe again made off with Prince; but
Will's sorrow in the morning was short-lived, for the sagacious little
creature slipped his halter and came flying home before the forenoon was
half spent.

After this experience, father decided that, for our sakes as well as for
his own, he must again leave home, and as soon as he recovered a measure
of his strength he went to Grasshopper Falls, thirty-five miles west
of Leavenworth. Here he erected a sawmill, and hoped that he had put
so many miles between him and his enemies that he might be allowed to
pursue a peaceful occupation. He made us occasional visits, so timing
his journey that he reached home after nightfall, and left again before
the sun was up.

One day when we were looking forward to one of these visits, our good
friend Mr. Hathaway made his appearance about eleven o'clock.

"It is too bad to be the bearer of ill tidings," said he, "but the news
of your husband's expected visit has been noised about in some way, and
another plot to kill him is afoot. Some of his enemies are camped at Big
Stranger's Creek, and intend to shoot him as he passes there."

Then followed a long and anxious