“Mamma brings the candle very near to the closed eyes, waving it to and fro, rapidly.”—[page 309].


DANGEROUS GROUND.


PROLOGUE.

Time: The month of May. The year, 1859; when the West was new, and the life of the Pioneer difficult and dangerous.

Scene: A tiny belt of timber, not far from the spot where not long before, the Marais des Cygnes massacre awoke the people of south-eastern Kansas, and kindled among them the flames of civil war.