a natural death. We learned afterward that Joseph Pardee was the man he
had intended to kill. He said, "Pardee had cut a bee-tree that belonged
to Indian."

According to his previous calculation, on our arrival, father bought, in
mother's name, eighty acres more, constituting the south-west quarter of
section thirty-four, town two, south of range ten, east; bounded on the
south by the south line of the town of Dearbon. A creek, we called the
north branch of the River Ecorse, ran through it, going east. It was
nearly parallel with, and forty-two rods from, the town line. When he
entered it he took a duplicate; later his deed came, and it was signed
by Andrew Jackson, a man whom father admired very much. Mother's deed
came still later, signed by Martin Van Buren.

This land was very flat, and I thought, very beautiful. No waste land on
it, all clay bottom, except about two acres, a sand ridge, resembling the
side of a sugar loaf. This was near the centre of the place, and on it we
finally built, as we found it very unpleasant living on clayey land in
wet weather. This land was all heavy timbered--beech, hard maple,
basswood, oak, hickory and some white-wood--on both sides of the creek;
farther back, it was, mostly, ash and elm.




CHAPTER III.

HOW WE GOT OUR SWEET, AND THE HISTORY OF MY FIRST PIG.