292 Hills and Lakes. 



only kindred. There lay my father and mother, my 

 little brother and sisters, a shapeless mass, in the midst 

 of the desolation. They buried them without a cofiin ; 

 and all that I had ever loved, all the kindred I ever 

 knew, lay together, beneath a little mound raised over 

 them, by the kind hands of the settlers from the 

 River Bottoms. I went with them, a desolate-hearted 

 and sorrowful boy. I had nobody to love, nobody to 

 live for. My father and mother, brother, and little 

 sisters, all were gone, and I was alone. The neigh- 

 bors were all kind to me, and I was among them as 

 one of their own, wherever I chose to go ; but for all 

 tha,t I was alone. The voices that I loved were all 

 gone, the faces that I loved were all gone, and every- 

 thing round which my heart clung, had passed away. 

 I went with the old man that bathed my temples at 

 the spring that morning, and my home was for a time 

 with him. I said I was a strong, hearty boy of my 

 years. I worked for him, late and early. I was up 

 before the sun in the morning, and was by the side of 

 full grown men, doin' the work of a man, all the day. 

 I had but one desire, and that was a deep, restless, 

 consumin' thirst for vengeance — ^but one hope, and 

 that was cf the bloody destruction of those who liad. 



