On the evening of Friday, May 10, while these measures were being fought over, the Governor entered the House with a dispatch which he handed to Representative Vest, afterwards United States Senator from Missouri, who sprang upon a chair and thrilled all his hearers by reading that "Frank Blair, Capt. Lyon and the Dutch" had captured Camp Jackson, seized all the property there, and marched the State troops prisoners to the Arsenal. The wild scene that followed is simply indescribable. For many months there had been much talk about "firing the Southern heart," and here was something of immediate and furnace heat. As soon as the members recovered from the stun of the blow, they went into paroxysms of passion. In a few minutes the Military Bill was rushed through, followed by the others, and a new one to appropriate $10,000 for the purpose of securing an alliance with the Indians on the borders of the State. This done, the members bolted out in search of weapons with which to arm themselves, as there was a rumor that the awful Blair and Lyon with their "mercenaries" were on the march to subject the Legislature to the same treatment that they had Frost's Militia. 90 Muskets, shotguns, rifles, pistols and pikes were brought out, cleaned up, bullets molded and cartridges made, and the Governor ordered the members of his staff to seize a locomotive and press on as fast as possible towards St. Louis to reconnoiter the advance of the enemy; if necessary, to destroy the bridges over the Gasconade and Osage Rivers to obstruct the march. No enemy was found, but the zealous Basil Duke, in order not to be guilty of any sin of omission, burnt a part of the Osage bridge. The meeting of the Legislature in the evening was grotesque, as every member came with a more or less liberal supply of arms, usually including a couple of revolvers and a bowie-knife in belt. During the exciting session which followed, rifles stood by the desks or were laid across them, with other arms, and it was good luck more than anything else that no casualty resulted from accidental discharge of fire-arms. The excitement grew over the stirring events in St. Louis of Saturday and Sunday, and the Governor immediately proceeded to the exercise of the extraordinary powers conferred upon him by the Military Bill. 91 As the star of Gen. D. M. Frost sank ingloriously below the horizon of Camp Jackson, that of Sterling Price rose above it to remain for four years the principal luminary in the Confederate firmament west of the Mississippi. [Illustration: 038-General Sterling Price]