DETROIT TO CHICAGO. 311 



and others. In the afternoon there was a street parade 

 of Howe's London Circus which was a very fantastic 

 affair, but which seemed to be hugely enjoyed by 

 everybody. Later in the day the great tent was upset 

 by a gust of wind, accompanied by a thunder-shower, 

 and a droll scene followed, which caused considerable 

 excitement. The people were left exposed with the 

 rain coming down upon them in torrents. So far I 

 have seen nothing more amusing than the country boys 

 and girls rushing up town drenched, and for once at 

 least indifferent to the charms of the " h\z show." 



The storm having passed, I ordered Paul after 

 supper, rode down to the office of the Patriot and 

 Citizerij and after a few minutes' conversation with 

 the editor, hurried on toward Parma, which was 

 reached late in the evening. The ride in the dark 

 was cool, but somewhat lonely. 



It was probably on such nights as this that young 

 Dean, the enterprising settler of years ago, played his 

 nocturnal tricks upon his neighbors. He came out to 

 Michigan w^hen it was a wilderness, to make his 

 fortune by clearing land at ten dollars an acre, and 

 while he was drudging he expected to have a little fun. 

 It was his habit to work away all day chopping trees 

 within an inch of the falling point, and then about ten 

 o'clock, when the settlers were well asleep, to go out 

 and give a blow to the end tree, so that it would fall 

 against the others and send them crashing like a row 

 of ninepins. How the old forests must have rung 

 with their thundering and how that plotter Dean must 

 have relished his mischief! 



As I approached Parma, in the darkness I could see 

 nothing about the village to suggest that other Parraa- 



