and those conservatives soon became aware that they had among them an extremist in Old John Brown—as he began to be called for the sake of distinction, since his son John, who had been elected a member of the Free State legislature, was acquiring prominence, and was inclined to more moderate views than his father.
There were now two legislatures in the Territory, one Free State and the other Pro-slavery, each accusing the other of unlawful usurpation. Bands of armed men representing both sides had gone into camp. Brown himself took to ranging and bushwhacking, and acquired a reputation for cool, brave, and clever exploits. One of the neatest of these was his marching, with one or two of the youngest of his boys, in May, 1856, into the camp of a large body of armed Pro-slavery fighters fresh from the South. He carried a surveyor's tripod and chain. He "sighted a line" through the centre
