WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:04.240 This is section sixteen of The Gilded Age. This LibriVox 2 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.759 recording is in the public domain. The Gilded Age, A 3 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:09.519 Tale of to Day by Mark Twain and Seedy Warner, 4 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:14.640 Chapter sixteen. While Ruth was thus absorbed in her new 5 00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:18.719 occupation and the spring was wearing away, Philip and his 6 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:22.640 friends were still detained at the Southern Hotel. The great 7 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:26.280 contractors had concluded their business with the state and railroad 8 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:30.960 officials and with the lesser contractors, and departed for the East, 9 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:34.640 but the serious illness of one of the engineers kept 10 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:38.640 Philip and Henry in the city and occupied in alternate watchings. 11 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:42.600 Philip wrote to Ruth of the new acquaintance they had made, 12 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:47.640 Colonel Sellers, an enthusiastic and hospitable man, very much interested 13 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.560 in the development of the country and in their success. 14 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:53.679 They had not had an opportunity to visit at his 15 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:57.520 place up in the country yet, but the Colonel often 16 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.759 dined with them, and in confidence con divided to them 17 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.000 his projects, and seemed to take a great liking to them, 18 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:07.560 especially to his friend Harry. It was true that he 19 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:10.959 never seemed to have ready money, but he was engaged 20 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:15.959 in very large operations. The correspondence was not very brisk 21 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:20.480 between these two young persons so differently occupied. For though 22 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:23.879 Philip wrote long letters, he got brief ones in reply, 23 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:28.439 full of sharp little observations, however, such as one concerning 24 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:32.560 Colonel Sellers, namely that such men died at their house 25 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:38.439 every week. Ruth's proposed occupation astonished Philip immensely, but while 26 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.480 he argued it and discussed it, he did not dare 27 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:44.319 hint to her his fear that it would interfere with 28 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:49.400 his most cherished plans. He too sincerely respected Ruth's judgment 29 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:52.560 to make any protest, however, and he would have defended 30 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:56.400 her course against the world. This enforced waiting at Saint 31 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:00.359 Louis was very irksome to Philip. His money was running away, 32 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:02.920 for one thing, and he longed to get into the 33 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:06.120 field and see for himself what chance there was for 34 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:10.280 a fortune or even an occupation. The contractors had given 35 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.199 the young men leave to join the Engineer Corps as 36 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:16.960 soon as they could, but otherwise had made no provision 37 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.599 for them, and in fact had left them with only 38 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:23.199 the most indefinite expectations of something large in the future. 39 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:28.319 Harry was entirely happy in his circumstances. He very soon 40 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:31.159 knew everybody, from the governor of the state down to 41 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:34.479 the waiters at the hotel. He had the Wall Street 42 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:38.039 slang at his tongue's end. He always talked like a 43 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:41.879 capitalist and entered with enthusiasm into all the land and 44 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:46.599 railway schemes with which the air was thick. Colonel Sellers 45 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.560 and Harry talked together by the hour and by the day. 46 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:53.120 Harry informed his new friend that he was going out 47 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:56.280 with the Engineer Corps of the Salt Lick Pacific Extension, 48 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:00.599 but that wasn't his real business. I'm to have with 49 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:04.479 another party, said Harry, a big contract in the road 50 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:08.159 as soon as it is let and meantime I'm with 51 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:10.639 the engineers to spy out the best land and the 52 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:14.879 depot sites. It's everything, suggested the colonel in knowing where 53 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:18.560 to invest. I've known people throw away their money because 54 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:22.479 they were too consequential to take sellers advice. Others again 55 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:25.840 have made their pile on taking it. I've looked over 56 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:29.240 the ground. I've been studying it for twenty years. You 57 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:31.280 can't put your finger on a spot in the map 58 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:34.199 of Missouri that I don't know as if I'd made it. 59 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:38.000 When you want to place anything, continued the colonel confidently, 60 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:42.400 just let Mariah Sellers know. That's all. Oh. I haven't 61 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.719 got much in ready money I can lay my hands 62 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:47.280 on now. But if a fellow could do anything with 63 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:50.919 fifteen or twenty thousand dollars as a beginning, I shall 64 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:54.000 draw for that. When I see the right opening. Well, 65 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.039 that's something that's something fifteen or twenty thousand dollars, say 66 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:01.840 twenty as an advance, said the colonel reflectively, as if 67 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:04.680 turning over his mind for a project that could be 68 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:08.319 entered on with such a trifling sum. I'll tell you 69 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:11.360 what it is, but only to you, mister Brierly, only 70 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:14.479 to you. Mind. I've got a little project that I've 71 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:18.399 been keeping. It looks small, looks small on paper, but 72 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:21.439 it's got a big future. What should you say, sir, 73 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:24.639 to a city built up like the Rod of Aladdin 74 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:27.680 had touched it built up in two years where now 75 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.279 you wouldn't expect it any more than you'd expect a 76 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:33.800 lighthouse on the top of Pilot Knob, and you could 77 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:36.639 own the land. It can be done, sir, It can 78 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:40.199 be done. The colonel hitched up his chair, close to Harry, 79 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:43.720 laid his hand on his knee and first looking about him, 80 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:48.319 said in a low voice, the Salt Lick Pacific Extension 81 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:53.240 is going to run through Stones Landing. The Almighty never 82 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:56.040 laid out a cleaner piece of level prairie for a city, 83 00:04:56.519 --> 00:04:59.480 and it's the natural center of all that region of 84 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:03.759 hemp tobacco. What makes you think the road will go there? 85 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:07.079 It's twenty miles on the map off the straight line 86 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:09.879 of the road. You can't tell what is the straight 87 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.879 line till the engineers have been over it between us. 88 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:17.199 I have talked with Jeff Thompson, the division engineer. He 89 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:20.680 understands the wants of Stone's Landing and the claims of 90 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:23.839 the inhabitants who are to be there. Jeff says that 91 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:27.199 a railroad is for the accommodation of the people and 92 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:30.639 not for the benefit of gophers. And if he don't 93 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:33.879 run this to Stone's Landing, he'll be damned. You ought 94 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:37.839 to know Jeff. He's one of the most enthusiastic engineers 95 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.759 in this western country and one of the best fellows 96 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:43.639 that ever looked through the bottom of a glass. The 97 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:48.160 recommendation was not undeserved. There was nothing that Jeff wouldn't 98 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:51.480 do to accommodate a friend, from sharing his last dollar 99 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:54.560 with him to winging him in a duel. When he 100 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:58.560 understood from Colonel Sellers how the land lay at Stone's Landing, 101 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.399 he cordially shook hands with that gentleman, asked him to drink, 102 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:07.519 and fairly roared out, why God bless my soul, Colonel. 103 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.720 A word from one Virginia gentleman to another's nuff said 104 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:14.920 there stones Landing been waiting for a railroad more than 105 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:17.399 four thousand years, and damned if she shan't have it. 106 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:22.079 Philip had not so much faith as Harry in Stone's 107 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:25.160 Landing when the latter opened the project to him, But 108 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:27.959 Harry talked about it as if he already owned that 109 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:33.199 incipient city. Harry thoroughly believed in all his projects and inventions, 110 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:37.639 and lived day by day in their golden atmosphere. Everybody 111 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:40.560 liked the young fellow, for how could they help liking 112 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:44.639 one of such engaging manners and large fortune. The waiters 113 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:46.839 at the hotel would do more for him than for 114 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.959 any other guest, and he made a great many acquaintances 115 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:52.959 among the people of Saint Louis, who liked his sensible 116 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.240 and liberal views about the development of the western country 117 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:58.920 and about Saint Louis. He said it ought to be 118 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:03.399 the National Captain. Harry made partial arrangements with several of 119 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:07.079 the merchants for furnishing supplies for his contract on the 120 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:11.240 Salt Lick Pacific Extension, consulted the maps with the engineers, 121 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:15.240 and went over the profiles with the contractors, figuring out 122 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:19.199 estimates for bids. He was exceedingly busy with those things 123 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:21.279 when he was not at the bedside of his sick 124 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:27.279 acquaintance or arranging the details of his speculation with Colonel Sellers. Meantime, 125 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.319 the days went along and the weeks, and the money 126 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.600 in Harry's pocket got lower and lower. He was just 127 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:36.680 as liberal with what he had as before. Indeed, it 128 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.279 was his nature to be free with his money or 129 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:42.040 with that of others, and he could lend or spend 130 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:44.160 a dollar with an air that made it seem like 131 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:47.199 ten at length. At the end of one week, when 132 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:50.680 his hotel bill was presented, Harry found not a cent 133 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:53.839 in his pocket to meet it. He carelessly remarked to 134 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:56.600 the landlord that he was not that day in funds, 135 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:59.079 but he would draw on new York, and he sat 136 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:02.079 down and rode to the contractors in that city a 137 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:05.240 glowing letter about the prospects of the road, and asked 138 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:07.759 them to advance a hundred or two until he got 139 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:12.399 at work. No reply came. He wrote again, in an 140 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:16.639 unoffended business like tone, suggesting that he had better draw it. 141 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:20.319 Three days A short answer came to this, simply saying 142 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:23.319 that money was very tight in Wall Street just then, 143 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:26.279 and that he had better join the engineer Corps as 144 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:29.120 soon as he could. But the bill had to be paid, 145 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.799 and Harry took it to Philip and asked him if 146 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:36.320 he thought he hadn't better draw on his uncle. Philip 147 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:39.399 had not much faith in Harry's power of drawing, and 148 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:42.799 told him that he would pay the bill himself. Whereupon 149 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:46.200 Harry dismissed the matter then and thereafter from his thoughts, 150 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:49.159 and like a light hearted good fellow as he was, 151 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:53.320 gave himself no more trouble about his board bills. Philip 152 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:56.320 paid them, swollen as they were, with a monstrous list 153 00:08:56.360 --> 00:09:00.159 of extras. But he seriously counted the diminishing bulk of 154 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:02.720 his own hoard, which was all the money he had 155 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:06.080 in the world. Had he not tacitly agreed to share 156 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:08.679 with Harry to the last in this adventure, and would 157 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:11.759 not the generous fellow divide with him if he Philip 158 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:15.879 were in want and Harry had anything. The fever at 159 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:19.279 length got tired of tormenting the stout young engineer who 160 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:22.679 lay sick at the hotel, and left him very thin, 161 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:27.759 a little sallow, but an acclimated man. Everybody said he 162 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:31.639 was acclimated now, and said it cheerfully what it is 163 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:37.440 to be acclimated to Western fevers. No two persons exactly agree. 164 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:40.799 Some say it is a sort of vaccination that renders 165 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:44.639 death by some malignant type of fever less probable. Some 166 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:47.879 regard it as a sort of initiation, like that into 167 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:52.200 the oddfellows, which renders one liable to his regular dues thereafter. 168 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.919 Others consider it merely the acquisition of a habit of 169 00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:59.919 taking every morning before breakfast a dose of bitters composed 170 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:04.679 of whiskey and asephetida out of the acclamation drug. Jeff 171 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:08.960 Thompson afterwards told Philip that he once asked Senator Atchinson, 172 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:12.440 then acting Vice President of the United States, about the 173 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:16.600 possibility of acclamation. He thought the opinion of the second 174 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:20.080 officer of our great government would be valuable on this point. 175 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:23.639 They were sitting together on a bench before a country tavern, 176 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:29.600 in the free converse permitted by our democratic habits. I suppose, Senator, 177 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:34.519 that you have become acclimated to this country, well, said 178 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.200 the Vice President, crossing his legs, pulling his wide awake 179 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:42.120 down over his forehead, causing a passing chicken to hop 180 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:45.840 quickly one side. By the accuracy of his aim, and 181 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:51.519 speaking with senatorial deliberation, I think I have I've been 182 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:56.200 here twenty five years, and dash, dash, my dash to dash. 183 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:00.000 If I haven't entertained twenty five separate and distinct earthquakes 184 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.279 one a year, the Negro is the only person who 185 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:05.720 can stand the fever and ag you of this region. 186 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:09.759 The convalescence of the engineer was the signal for breaking 187 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:12.919 up quarters at Saint Louis, and the young fortune hunters 188 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:15.879 started up the river in good spirits. It was only 189 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:18.200 the second time either of them had been upon a 190 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:22.080 Mississippi steamboat, and nearly everything they saw had the charm 191 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:25.399 of novelty. Colonel Sellars was at the landing to bid 192 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:29.000 them good bye. I shall send you up that basket 193 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:33.679 of champagne by the next boat. No, no, no thanks, 194 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:36.679 you'll find it not bad in camp, he cried out 195 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:39.759 as the plank was hauled. In my respects to Thompson, 196 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:43.480 tell him to sight for stones. Let me know, mister Brierly, 197 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:46.879 when you are ready to locate. I'll come over from Hawkeye. 198 00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:50.279 Good Bye, And the last the young fellow saw of 199 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:53.960 the colonel. He was waving his hat and beaming prosperity 200 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:57.720 and good luck. The voyage was delightful and was not 201 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:02.240 long enough to become monotonous. The travelers scarcely had time, indeed, 202 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:04.759 to get accustomed to the splendors of the great saloon, 203 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:08.039 where the tables were spread for meals, a marvel of 204 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:12.120 paint and gilding. Its ceiling hung with fancifully cut tissue 205 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:16.519 paper of many colors, festooned and arranged in endless patterns. 206 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:20.320 The whole was more beautiful than a barber's shop. The 207 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:23.559 printed bill of fare at dinner was longer and more 208 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:27.799 varied the proprietors justly boasted, than that of any hotel 209 00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:30.159 in New York. It must have been the work of 210 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:33.600 an author of talent and imagination, and it surely was 211 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:36.279 not his fault if the dinner itself was, to a 212 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:40.120 certain extent a delusion, and if the guests got something 213 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:43.399 that tasted pretty much the same whatever dish they ordered, 214 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:46.360 Nor was it his fault if a general flavor of 215 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:49.720 rose in all the dessert dishes suggested that they had 216 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:53.240 passed through the barber's saloon. On their way from the kitchen, 217 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:57.000 the travelers landed at a little settlement on their left bank, 218 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.399 and at once took horses for the camp in the interior, 219 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:04.960 carrying their clothes and blankets strapped behind the saddles. Harry 220 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:08.000 was dressed as he was seen once before, and his 221 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:11.919 long and shining boots attracted not a little the attention 222 00:13:12.039 --> 00:13:14.360 of the few persons they met on the road, and 223 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:18.120 especially of the bright faced wenches who lightly stepped along 224 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:23.080 the highway, picturesque in their colored kerchiefs, carrying light baskets, 225 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:26.720 or riding upon mules and balancing before them a heavier load. 226 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:31.639 Harry sang fragments of operas and talked about their fortune. 227 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:35.320 Philip even was excited by the sense of freedom and adventure, 228 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.919 and the beauty of the landscape, the prairie, with its 229 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:43.240 new grass and unending acres of brilliant flowers. Chiefly, the 230 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:47.840 innumerable varieties of flocks bore the look of years of cultivation, 231 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:51.559 and the occasional open groves of white oaks gave it 232 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:55.480 a park like appearance. It was hardly unreasonable to expect 233 00:13:55.559 --> 00:13:58.840 to see at any moment the gables and square windows 234 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:02.519 of an Elizabethan mansion in one of the well kept groves. 235 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:06.080 Towards sunset of the third day, when the young gentlemen 236 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:08.559 thought they ought to be near the town of Magnolia, 237 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:12.159 near which they had been directed to find the engineer's camp, 238 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:16.000 they decried a log house and drew up before it 239 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:19.399 to inquire the way. Half the building was store and 240 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:22.240 half was dwelling house. At the door of the latter 241 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:25.039 stood a negress with a bright turban on her head, 242 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:28.759 to whom Philip called, Can you tell me, Auntie, how 243 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:32.919 far it is to the town of Magnolia? Why bress you, chin, 244 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:37.480 laughed the woman you's dere Now it was true. This 245 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:41.720 log house was the compactly built town, and all creation 246 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:45.360 was its suburbs. The engineer's camp was only two or 247 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:49.039 three miles distant. He's bound to find it, directed Auntie. 248 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:51.600 If you don't care nothin about the road and go 249 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:55.080 for the sundown. A brisk gallop brought the riders in 250 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:57.360 sight of the twinkling light of the camp, just as 251 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:00.000 the stars came out. It lay in a little hollow 252 00:15:00.279 --> 00:15:03.120 where a small stream ran through a sparse grove of 253 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:06.679 young white oaks. A half dozen tents were pitched under 254 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:10.399 the trees. Horses and oxen were corraled at a little distance, 255 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:13.320 and a group of men sat on camp stools or 256 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:16.480 lay on blankets about a bright fire. The twang of 257 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:19.919 a banjo became audible as they drew nearer, and they 258 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:24.120 saw a couple of Negroes from some neighboring plantation breaking 259 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.720 down a juba in approved style amid the high highs 260 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:32.519 of the spectators. Mister Jeff Thompson, for it was the 261 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:36.639 camp of this redoubtable engineer, gave the travelers a hearty welcome, 262 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.279 offered them ground room in his own tent, ordered supper, 263 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:43.360 and set out a small jug a drop from which 264 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.360 he declared necessary on account of the chill of the evening. 265 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:50.159 I never saw an Eastern man, said Jeff, who knew 266 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.679 how to drink from a jug with one hand. It's 267 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:56.440 as easy as lying, so he grasped the handle with 268 00:15:56.519 --> 00:15:59.799 the right hand, threw the jug back upon his arm, 269 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:02.799 and applied his lips to the nozzle. It was an 270 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:06.519 act as graceful as it was simple. Besides, said mister 271 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:09.519 Thompson setting it down, it puts every man on his 272 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:12.879 honor as to quantity. Early to turn in was the 273 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:15.480 rule of the camp. And by nine o'clock everybody was 274 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.879 under his blanket, except Jeff himself, who worked a while 275 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:21.639 at his table over his field book, and then arose, 276 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:25.559 stepped outside the tent door, and sang in a strong 277 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:29.679 and not unmelodious tenor the star spangled banner. From beginning 278 00:16:29.720 --> 00:16:32.960 to end, it proved to be his nightly practice to 279 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:37.000 let off the unexpended steam of his conversational powers. In 280 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:40.440 the words of this stirring song, it was a long 281 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.679 time before Philip got to sleep. He saw the firelight, 282 00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:47.159 he saw the clear stars through the tree tops. He 283 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:50.039 heard the gurgle of the stream, the stamp of the horses, 284 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.559 the occasional barking of the dog which followed the cook's wagon, 285 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:56.840 the hooting of an owl. And when these failed, he 286 00:16:56.919 --> 00:17:00.320 saw Jeff standing on a battlement mid the rockets, red 287 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:04.200 Glear and heard him sing, Oh say can you see? 288 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:07.359 It was the first time he had ever slept on 289 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:10.039 the ground. End of Chapter sixteen.