76 
KANSAS. 
of this month. A large pailful of grapes was also seM in. 
These are smaller, and not as sweet as those which ripen in Octo¬ 
ber. We had rain with furious wind beforehand. Such clouds 
of dust arose as to hide the town from our sight. Several panes 
of glass blew out, and, in attempting to put boards at the window, 
to keep out the pouring rain, we were thoroughly drenched. The 
little calf in the pen seems frightened too, breaks his rope, leaps 
the fence, and scuds before the wind like a frightened hare. We 
have a general hubbub. Mr. 0., a lawyer here, was assaulted by 
Dr. Wood, this afternoon. Dr. Wood invited Mr. C. to his 
house, saying he wanfed to talk with him. On reaching the 
house, however, he declined to go into it, and took Mr. C. 
around on the east side of it, and there they sat down. Dr. Wood 
then asked him if he thought so and so in regard to the settlement 
of the city property, making his own action in the affair fair and 
honorable. Mr. C. said he thought not; whereupon Dr. Wood 
struck Mr. C., with a piece of iron, or a slung shot, upon his head, 
cutting a deep gash in it. He then ran. Mr. C. soon came into 
the street, and, as the brave doctor was picking up a stone to 
throw at the wounded man, several of the citizens gathered around 
and put an end to it. 
24 th .— We were scarcely up this morning before word came 
that Mrs. L. was dead or dying. She was taken ill last evening. 
Two of the children are also dead. It is thought their deaths 
were occasioned by eating very freely of mandrakes yesterday — a 
disease like cholera being the result. Remembering her as I saw 
her in the little, pent-up cabin, I can but think the change a glo¬ 
rious one, for now there must be room, room for the freed spirit, 
earth’s fetters broken. There are now two motherless little girls. 
The mother and youngest two are buried in one grave. 
“ Thou hast all seasons for thine own, 0 Death ! ” 
28 th. — As a relaxation, being wearied with constant company 
and continued care of so large a family, with want of quiet, the 
doctor proposed a ride to Fish’s. With a full carriage load, we 
made the proposed visit. Fish’s is a sort of stopping-place by the 
way, nine miles from Lawrence, and between thirty and forty 
