. Highways and byways of the South. sassistance from the South. He would take advantageof the natural strongholds of the mountains and evadesuch attacks as he could not overcome; he would raidthe adjacent plantations for supplies. A struggle ofthis sort, he argued, could be indefinitely prolonged,and its success would result in the wiping out of slav-ery by law. If, at the worst, the project failed, hewould retreat with his followers through the free statesto Canada. He proposed to put rifles and revolversinto the hands of all his adherents who were capableof using such weapons, while those un
. Highways and byways of the South. sassistance from the South. He would take advantageof the natural strongholds of the mountains and evadesuch attacks as he could not overcome; he would raidthe adjacent plantations for supplies. A struggle ofthis sort, he argued, could be indefinitely prolonged,and its success would result in the wiping out of slav-ery by law. If, at the worst, the project failed, hewould retreat with his followers through the free statesto Canada. He proposed to put rifles and revolversinto the hands of all his adherents who were capableof using such weapons, while those unused to firearmswould be furnished with pikes. Brown made his plansknown to a little company of New England abolition-ists, and while they considered the scheme both unwiseand doomed to failure, they felt they could not desertBrown who plainly would not be turned from thecourse on which he had determined. They thereforefurnished him money ; he bought guns and ammuni-tion, and had a thousand pikes manufactured. John Brown*s Town 257. Some Fun in a Boat Now he concluded to start operations by captunngthe United States armory and arsenal at HarpersFerry. This would be a great help in equipping thenumerous sympathizers he expected would promptly 258 Highways and Byways of the South come to his aid. In order to study the situation atclose range and thus gain knowledge to enable himto operate with precision when the proper time came,he rented the Kennedy farm five miles from HarpersFerry, on the Maryland side of the Potomac, andmade that his headquarters. Here he and his littleband lived for several months, secretly getting togetherarms and ammunition, blankets, tents, and other neces- ,r., >,S^.,i ^1 ^????v ii~ Al* r4ii *? -mrt: »<f- •*<-~^«*ft:^i* The Church Brown attended saries for a campaign. Their rather eccentric actionsseem to have aroused no suspicion among the neigh-bors. They made some pretence of innocent occupa-tion, and occasionally went poking about
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