nt with which to get the money.
He is on a lecture tour now, I hear, and has got the Boards of Trade of
New York, Cincinnati, Louisville, and some others to favor his plan. As
usual, like all other things, the rivalry between the North and the
South will affect the route. The Mexican annexations make it necessary
to run the road farther south. There is to be a convention in St. Louis
soon about the matter, and I intend to go to it."

"What do you think about gold being discovered in California? Now I
wonder if Webster does not want to give California back to Mexico. A
good joke on us if the Whigs win the next election. How can they play
with things in this way?"

We heard some one at the door. Douglas stood up, poured himself another
drink, and said: "To the University of Chicago."

Then Dorothy and Mrs. Douglas entered. Mrs. Douglas pointed to the
nearly empty bottle and said: "You have had a good time I see." She sat
on the arm of Douglas' chair and began to smooth out his unruly locks.
"You missed a good play," she said. "We had a very good drama here,"
said Douglas. Dorothy was pulling at me to go home.

When we arrived we found Mother Clayton laughing and scolding over
Dickens' _American Notes_.

CHAPTER XXXIX

Our stay in Washington had come to an end and the campaign was on.

I was building a business block in Chicago, which had come to a tangle
owing to labor conditions. Throughout the country there was a movement
for the ten-hour day, and there were many strikes, particularly in the
East.

We decided to return to Chicago by way of New York. Dorothy was in great
anxiety about Mammy and Jenny lest they be kidnapped along the way.
Desperate characters were about who picked up negroes in the North and
sold them in the South. It was as common a matter as robbing a bank or
picking a pocket. We kept a close watch on Mammy and Jenny. In New York
we rode together in a carriage. But this was also made necessary by the
fact that negroes were not permitted to use the street cars.

The city now had half a million people; but I found the old places, like
Niblo's Garden, and again walked to Washington Square whither I had
taken my lonely way so many years before. Leaving our boy, Reverdy, with
Mammy and Jenny at the Astor House, Dorothy and I spent much time in
sightseeing.

Broadway was our particular delight. Though it was poorly paved, and
dimly lighted at night, it was a scene of great fascination. It