CHAPTER XIII

It was October, 1854, before John Brown's three sons, Owen, Frederickand Salmon¹, left Ohio for their long journey to Kansas. In April, 1855,they crossed the Missouri river and entered the Territory.
John Brown decided² to move his family once more to North Elba beforegoing West. It was June before his people reached this negro settlementin Northern New York. He placed his wife and children in an unplastered,four-roomed house. Through its rough weatherboarding the winds and snowsof winter would howl. It had been hurriedly thrown together by hisson-in-law, Henry Thompson. Brown had never stayed on one of his littlefarms long enough to bring order out of chaos³.
His restless spirit left him no peace. He was now in Boston, now inSpringfield, Massachusetts, now in New York, again in Ohio, or Illinois.
He was giving up the work in Ohio to follow his sons into Kansas. He hadplanned to move there two years before and abandoned the idea. He had atlast fully⁴ determined⁵ to go.
On October the sixth, his party reached the family settlement atOsawatomie. With characteristic queerness the old man did not enter withhis sons, Oliver, Jason and John, Jr., and their caravan⁶. He stoppedalone on the roadside two miles away until next day.
The party on arrival had plenty of guns, swords and ammunition⁷ but theirtreasury held but sixty cents.
The family settlement were living in tents around which the chillautumn winds were howling. The poor crops they had raised had not beenharvested. The men were ill and discouraged. There was little meat,except game and that was difficult to kill. Their only bread was madefrom corn meal ground at a hand-turned mill two miles away.
Brown's sons, who had preceded him, had lost all vigor⁸. The old man wasnot slow to see the way out.
The situation called for Action. He determined to get it. He immediatelyplunged into Free Soil Politics without pausing to build his firstshanty against the coming rains and snows of a terrible winter.

1 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

7 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

8 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。