The owl escaped that time in consequence of being at the wrong end of the musket. It was subsequently killed by Mr. Joe, and peace reigned once more among the chickens. Madam Joe subsequently became an expert with both the shot-gun and rifle, and if reports are reliable, her unerring aim has caused more than one red-skin to make a hasty exit to the "happy hunting-grounds." She can also ride a horse astride or otherwise--seldom otherwise--like a Camanche. Becoming disgusted with their frail palmetto hut, Madam and Mr. Joe felled the trees and commenced the erection of a log-pen house, consisting of two rooms, with a wide passage running between them. As there were no saw-mills in the country, boards could not be had at any price. The roof of the house was covered with split cedar planks, and the interstices between the logs filled with moss and clay. A chimney was improvised of sticks plastered with mud. Subsequently, glazed sash for the windows were imported from New Orleans. Meanwhile the axe had not been idle. The stately live oaks and graceful palms around the house had been felled and burned, the land grubbed, and a good-sized vegetable garden was in successful cultivation. Fort Brooke, some thirty miles distant, offering a good market for their surplus produce, they hired a man with a boat to transport and sell their vegetables. Although bountiful crops rewarded their labor, they were not entirely happy. Madam Joe was anxious that her only sister, residing in New York, should emigrate with her family to Florida. But how was the matter to be accomplished without money? Where there is a will, there is always a way to accomplish things which at first sight seem to be impossibilities. The matter was laid before Col. W. G. Belknap, the commander of Fort Brooke, who cheerfully advanced the required funds, and Mr. Joe left immediately in a schooner for New York, _via_ Key West. The voyage was long and tedious, but it was accomplished, and in due course of time, Mr. Joe returned safely with his brother-in-law, wife and child.