The kind invitation was accepted, and we remained there over night. As
father had predicted, we found plenty of white bread at this house, and
it proved quite a luxurious treat.

My curiosity was considerably aroused by the many negroes which I saw
about the premises, as I had scarcely ever seen any colored people,
the few, being on the steamboats as they passed up and down the
Mississippi river.

The next day my father and mother drove over to Weston in a carriage,
and returned with my Uncle Elijah. We then all proceeded to his house,
and as Kansas was not yet open for settlement as a territory, we remained
there a few days, while father crossed over into Kansas on a prospecting
tour. He visited the Kickapoo agency--five miles above Weston--on the
Kansas side of the Missouri river. He became acquainted with the agent,
and made arrangements to establish himself there as an Indian trader. He
then returned to Weston and located the family on one of Elijah Cody's
farms, three miles from town, where we were to remain until Kansas should
be thrown open for settlement. After completing these arrangements, he
established a trading post at Salt Creek Valley, in Kansas, four miles
from the Kickapoo agency.

One day, after he had been absent some little time, he came home and said
that he had bought two ponies for me, and that next morning he would take
me over into Kansas. This was pleasant news, as I had been very anxious
to go there with him, and the fact that I was now the owner of two ponies
made me feel very proud. That night I could not sleep a wink. In the
morning I was up long before the sun, and after an early breakfast,
father and I started out on our trip. Crossing the Missouri river at the