MONTGOMERY'S EXPEDITION. 419 



old Shed. Half the people went to chasm' that 

 dorg, while the balance held onto the others. But 

 Shed just stuck to that coon track, like all possessed, 

 dodgin' atween our legs, or sheerin' off, and catchin' 

 ther trail agin just beyond. He finally upset Old 

 Squire Bundy's wife, and the Squire got mad, and 

 slapped some No. 7 into his ribs." 



The shed-tail's owner, waxing more and more elo- 

 quent with his subject, had just commenced the 

 narrative of another Indian battle in which his 

 favorite liad figured, when we became interested in a 

 wordy political combat between Tenacious Gripe and 

 a genuine specimen of the "reconstructed," the first 

 and only one of that genus that we saw in Kansas. 

 His clothes had the famous butternut dye, and his 

 shirt bosom was mapped into numerous creeks and 

 rivers by the brown stains of tobacco overflows. 

 The dispute waxed warm, and grew more and more 

 prolific of eloquence. At length, the reconstructed 

 beat a retreat, and our orator was left in triumphant 

 possession of the field. 



Drawing fresh inspiration from his success, Gripe 

 devoted another hour to an account of the early 

 struggles in Kansas against these "mean whites." 

 He gave us many vivid descriptions of the time 

 when men died that their children might live. 

 Among other relations was that of the expedition 

 under Montgomery, to rescue the two companions of 

 old John Brown from the prison at Charlestown, 

 Virginia, a short time after the stern hero himself 

 had there been hung. 



The dozen of brave Kansas men interested in the 



