aft, Dr. Stringfellow was absent as
a member of the Territorial Legislature.

The crowd had now to be pacified and won over to an arrangement that
should give me a chance for my life. A Mr. Peebles, a dentist from
Lexington, Mo., who was working at the business of dentistry in
Atchison, and himself a slave-holder, was put forward to do this work.
He said: "My friends, we must not hang this man; he is not an
Abolitionist, he is what they call a Free-soiler. The Abolitionists
steal our niggers, but the Free-soilers do not do this. They intend to
make Kansas a free State by legal methods. But in the outcome of the
business, there is not the value of a picayune of difference between a
Free-soiler and an Abolitionist; for if the Free-soilers succeed in
making Kansas a free State, and thus surround Missouri with a cordon of
free States, our slaves in Missouri will not be worth a dime apiece.
Still we must not hang this man; and I propose that we make a raft and
send him down the river as an example."

And so to him they all agreed. Then the question came up, What kind of
a raft shall it be? [1] Some said, "One log"; but the crowd decided it
should be two logs fastened together. When the raft was completed I
was ordered to take my place on it, after they had painted the letter
R. on my forehead with black paint. This letter stood for _Rogue_. I
had in my pocket a purse of gold, which I proffered to a merchant of
the place, an upright business man, with the request that he would
send it to my wife; but he declined to take it. He afterwards
explained to me that he himself was afraid of the mob. They took a
skiff and towed the raft out into the middle of the Missouri River. As
we swung away from the bank, I rose up and said: "Gentlemen, if I am
drowned I forgive you; but I have this to say to you: If you are not
ashamed of your part in this transaction, I am not ashamed of mine.
Good-by."

Floating down the river, alone and helpless, I had opportunity to look
about me. I had noticed that they had put up a flag on my raft, but
had paid no attention to it; now I looked at it and it charged me with
stealing negroes; and it was thought by many to be no sin to shoot a
"nigger thief." Down that flag must come; and then I remembered that
they had said they would follow me down the river and shoot me if I
did pull it down. The picture on the flag was that of a white man
riding at full gallop, on horseback, with a negro behind him. The