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.
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1
salmon
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n.鲑,大马哈鱼,橙红色的 | |
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2
decided
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adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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3
chaos
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n.混乱,无秩序 | |
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4
fully
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adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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5
determined
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adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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6
caravan
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n.大蓬车;活动房屋 | |
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7
ammunition
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n.军火,弹药 | |
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8
vigor
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n.活力,精力,元气 | |
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