of Lawrence he was to disappear from public view, as absolutely as that Free State hotel which was burned by his orders; yet he did not die—­he was simply buried alive out of the public sight.  He was done with the nation, and the nation was done with him.  He went back and lived on his plantation in Western Missouri, where he was forgotten.  It is said he loved his slaves so well, and petted them so much, that they became masters on the plantation, and not himself.  He lived to see Kansas a free State, with almost a million of inhabitants, and fairly taking the lead of Missouri in the elements of education, enterprise, and the highest civilization.

We have seen the crawling servility with which Gov.  Shannon served the “Law and Order” party; yet in less than three months he was to see his office as Governor go up in smoke, as these burning buildings had gone up in smoke.  Mr. S. became frantic when he saw the carnival of bloodshed and murder, of riot and robbery, that had been brought about by his means.  Dr. Gihon, the incoming Gov.  Geary’s private secretary, reported that Mr. Shannon fled the Territory in fear of his life.  When the troubles were over he came to Kansas and sought the pity and forgiveness of that city he had turned over to the tender mercies of a mob of ruffians.  It need not be said that he could have done no better, for his successor, Gov.  Geary, had only to speak a word and this tumult of disorder was instantly hushed.

As the years went by the people could not believe that a man that displayed so many good and amiable qualities could have been a party to such outrages as characterized his administration.  He died in Lawrence very much respected.

Sheriff Samuel J. Jones strutted his brief hour on this stage in which the play had been both a bloodcurdling tragedy and a comedy; and now he was to step down and out.  In the last act he had said, “I have done it!” And he had done it!  He and his fellow conspirators, whether of high or low degree, had set in operation a train of causes that should issue in abolishing throughout the United States that institution of slavery they had so frantically sought to establish in Kansas.

Joseph said to his brethren, “You meant it for evil, but the Lord meant it for good.” Sheriff Jones and his fellow conspirators were in the Lord’s hands, but they did not know it.

CHAPTER XVI.

When the news came of the sacking of Lawrence, the great mass of the squatters had not yet lost faith in the nation, nor had they lost hope that justice would be done, tardy though it might be; but the utmost limits of human endurance were fast being reached.  There were, however, many that had already gone beyond this point, and they returned an answer that made the hearts of the people stand still with horror.  It was the answer of a wild beast that had been hunted to its lair, and that turns with savage ferocity on