THE u REIGN OF TERROR 99 IN KANSAS. 
253 
being fired upon by a part of the marshal’s posse. The balls 
whizzed about ; ;hem fearfully, and finally they reined in their mules 
and asked the reason of such a murderous fire. Their answer 
was substantially that, in firing before ordering a halt, they had 
acted in obedience to the marshal’s orders. The prisoners were 
taken by the ruffians one mile and a half to the encampment, and 
their pistols and valuable papers were taken from them by Capt. 
John Donaldson, the auditor. They were then put under guard. 
The reason of their detention was not given, but a promise was 
made that they should be told in the morning. Letters which 
Mr. Mitchell was carrying from the mail at Lawrence, to a friend, 
and supposed to contain several hundred dollars, were taken from 
him. 
The next forenoon they were ordered to appear in the august 
presence of Dr. Stringfellow, who, however, gave no reason for the 
detention, but stated that he w r as acting wholly under the command 
of the United States Marshal. Sometimes they had two meals a 
day, and sometimes were deprived of food for twenty-four hours. 
The consolation, that “ prisoners often fared worse, and they 
deserved to be hung,” was freely given. On the fifth day of 
their imprisonment, having fasted twenty-four hours, the ruffians 
ordered Mr. Mitchell to cook something for himself and Dr. Loot. 
On his declining to do so, never having been educated in the 
culinary department, he was commanded to appear immediately 
at Dr. Stringfel low’s tent. There he was pressed upon by officers 
and men, crying “ Kill the d—d rascal! ” “ Hang him, hang him ! ” 
At the same time a rope was thrown over his head, the men 
springing for the other end. Mr. Mitchell, being of a gil cl motions, 
avoided this new test of the mercy of the ruffians. Seven prison¬ 
ers were in camp at this time, whom Dr. Stringfellow insulted by 
asking the most disgusting questions, such as “ Would you steal a 
nigger?” “Would you sleep with a nigger?” etc. The prin 
cipal theme of conversation, in the camp was the proposed de 
struction of Lawrence. 
The night before the bombarding, the prisoners were marched 
about six miles, and within two miles of Lawrence, being guarded 
on all sides by United States muskets in the hands of Southerners 
22 
