they were without the slightest warning of the danger which burst
upon them. They rallied, however, and made an heroic defense, but
when with the dawning of day the warriors withdrew, they left more
than half the hearthstones darkened with sorrow and woe, because of
one or more of its defenders who had fallen in the strife.

Among those that had perished was Abram Carleton, shot down on his
own threshold while fighting for his wife and his boy Jack, who
themselves were doing their utmost to beat back their merciless
enemies.

The youth, as he grew older, gradually recovered from his grief, but
the blow was so terrible to the stricken widow that its effect
remained with her through all the years that followed. The
vivacious, bright-hearted wife became the sad, thoughtful woman, who
rarely smiled, and who walked forever in the shadow of her
desolation. She had only her boy Jack, and to him she gave the
whole wealth of her attention; but she could never forget the brave
one that had yielded his life for her and her child.

Some years later a portion of the settlers became dissatisfied with
their home, peculiarly exposed as it was to attacks from marauding
red men, and determined to cross the Mississippi into that portion
of Louisiana which to-day forms the great State of Missouri.

To many it seemed a strange refuge, for the change, it may be said,
took them still further from civilization; but the reader well
knows that the settlement of no portion of the Union was marked by
such deeds of ferocity as that of the Dark and Bloody Ground, and
the pioneers had good grounds to hope for better things in the