A Real Battle

Within five minutes after the first shot, we of the settlement were engaged in a bloody fight, and although I was as frightened as a boy well could be, I was very careful to make every bullet tell.

Now and then I could hear Mr. Middleton shout out, not only to me but to the men, that we must make every missile count, now that we were certain that these lawless men had no other thought than that of shedding blood wantonly.

Strange as it may seem, I cannot set down of my own knowledge very much concerning that battle, which lasted nearly three hours. I was like a person in a dreadful nightmare, not realizing what I did and having always before me the terrible fear that in another moment I would be sent into the Beyond, or be crippled for life by a Missouri bullet.

Everything before my eyes was the color of blood. The smell of gunpowder must have mounted to my brain, for I did not grasp anything clearly save that the barrel of my musket was growing hot from having been discharged so rapidly, and that my store of ammunition was nearly exhausted.