test. My husband was away from home, prostrated by sickness; I
was helpless from illness; in one week three of my little ones
died of dysentery--this but three months before the birth of
another child. Three years after this sad time another little
one, eighteen months old, was burned to death. Yet even in these
trials God upheld me.'

Such was the wife who, while John Brown fought for liberty,
grudged him not to such a cause, and patiently trained others who
should bear his name worthily in days to come.



CHAPTER V

BIBLE AND SWORD

John Brown was now at his work; no longer the mere fingers, but
the soul of him had found a task. He set before himself this
object, to free Kansas from the slave-holders' grip.

The Free-State men had met and agreed to pay no taxes to a
Legislature illegally elected. They organized a rival
government, and brought themselves into violent antagonism to the
Federal Authorities at Washington--for President Pierce and his
Cabinet, which included the renowned Jefferson Davis, backed the
pro-slavery Legislature and its following of ruffians. The town
of Lawrence, which the Free Staters held, was taken and pillaged
by a wild mob under the leadership of the United States Marshal,
and we find the Browns in a company marching to its relief.