CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT, 383 



moment later he made his appearance unaccom- 

 panied in front of the Rohraer House. This being an 

 undoubted sign of his anxiety to be off, I mounted at 

 once and we were soon lessening the distance to Joliet, 

 our evening destination, twenty-one miles away. 



Was all day again on Grand Prairie, which may 

 give some idea of this the greatest and truly the grand- 

 est prairie yet passed on my route. Its proximity to 

 Chicacro is doubtless one of the chief causes of the 

 high winds for which the "Windy City" is noted; 

 and if Chicago could, she would gladly change her in- 

 convenient environment. 



At Lenox I halted for dinner, reaching Joliet at 

 four p. M. In riding through Jefferson street, I was 

 met by Babcock who seemed much surprised at my 

 early arrival. Notwithstanding the fact that " Rip 

 Van Winkle '^ was being played at the opera house, 

 Robert McWade, a young actor of some prominence, 

 taking the leading rdhj I found a fair audience await- 

 ing me at Werner Hall in the evening, which proved 

 that interest was still felt in the Custer Monument 

 movement. 



Hopkins House, 

 MoRKis, Illinois, 

 September Nineteenth. 



On calling for my bill at the Robertson House, Jo- 

 liet, in the morning, Mr. Conklin the proprietor, de- 

 clined to accept any pay for my accommodations, and 

 when I insisted, said he wished the pleasure of making 



