

■EICAGC TO DAVENPORT, ;^y( 



®ne <5w^^^r^^ tt^^^ (ill)trt}3-0utl) Dag. 



Farm House, 

 Near Hollowayville, Illinois.: 

 September Twenty-fourth. 



Upon leaving La Salle at three o'clock in the after- 

 noon, I was told that I would have no difficulty in se- 

 curing accommodations for myself and horse at Hoi- 

 lowayville, so, with the assurance of finding every- 

 tiiing lovely here, I jogged along over the intervening 

 twelve miles at mv leisure. 



My feelings can better be imagined than described 

 when, on my arrival at the little hamlet, I was looked 

 upon with suspicion. The simple-minded inhabitants 

 hinted that I might possibly be a " highwayman'^ or a 

 " horse thief,'' or, for aught they knew, one of the 

 James or Younger brothers. These desperadoes were 

 then exciting the people on both sides of the Missis- 

 sippi and my equipment, set off with high top boots 

 and gauntlets, with the peculiar trappings of ray 

 horse, only made matters worse. 



Finding it impossible to secure lodging in the vil- 

 lage, I rode on into the country, stopping at a farm 

 house which looked inviting. I entered the front yard 

 slowly and with dignity to dispel the horse thief sus- 

 picion. The farmer's daughter, a young girl of seven- 

 teen or eighteen years, and a few farm hands, stood 

 about, of whom I asked if the master of the place was 

 at home. The girl took me within, and Monsieur 

 and Madame Croisant received me. They were both 

 in bed, ill, but looking quite comfortable with their 

 heads pointing in different directions. They carried 



