Our stock of provisions being nearly exhausted, we were anxious to provide ourselves with a supper by means of our guns, but we could meet with neither deer nor turkey; however, in our utmost need, we shot three raccoons, an old one to be roasted for our dogs and the two young ones to be stewed up daintily for ourselves. We soon lighted a fire and cooked the old raccoon for the dogs; but famished as they were, they would not touch it, and their squeamishness so far abated our relish for the promised stew that we did not press our complaining landlady to prepare it; and thus our supper consisted of the residue of our “corn” bread and _no_ raccoon. However, we laid our bear skins on the filthy earth (floor there was none), which they assured us was “too damp for fleas,” and wrapped in our blankets slept soundly enough; though the collops [_slices_] of venison hanging in comely rows in the smoky fireplace and even the shoulders put by for the dogs and which were suspended over our heads would have been an acceptable prelude to our night’s rest, had we been invited to partake of them; but our hunter and our host were too deeply engaged in conversation to think of supper. In the morning the latter kindly invited us to cook some of the collops, which we did by toasting them on a stick, and he also divided some shoulders among the dogs; so we all fared sumptuously. The cabin, which may serve as a specimen of these rudiments of houses, was formed of round logs with apertures of three or four inches between. No chimney, but large intervals between the “clapboards” for the escape of the smoke. The roof was, however, a more effectual covering than we have generally experienced, as it protected us very tolerably from a drenching night. Two bedsteads of unhewn logs and cleft boards laid across; two chairs, one of them without a bottom, and a low stool were all the furniture required by this numerous family. A string of buffalo hide stretched across the hovel was a wardrobe for their rags; and their utensils, consisting of a large iron pot, some baskets, the effective rifle and two that were superannuated [_too old to use_], stood about in corners, and the fiddle, which was only silent when we were asleep, hung by them. Ominous Loomings: The Missouri Compromise, 1820 When the War of 1812 ended, the United States consisted of eighteen states—nine free and nine slave. Very soon Indiana was admitted as a free state, offset by Mississippi as a slave state. It was inevitable that this precarious balance between the North and the South would some day cause trouble, and the trouble came very soon. In 1818, Illinois entered as a free state, and the enabling legislation to admit Missouri was introduced in Congress in 1819.