108 Ten Years of my Life. 



On that day I went to the White House, accompanied by 

 Madame von Corvin. We had an audience, and were received 

 very courteously ; but, as many people were waiting to see him, 

 and I had no time to speak of things to which I wanted to 

 draw his attention, he invited me to call on him in the evening 

 after business hours the same day. I followed this invitation 

 accompanied by Mr. Field, the Assistant-Secretary of the 

 Treasury, whose acquaintance I had made recently. I presented 

 the President with a bouquet, which he received very graciously. 



On April 30 I said good-bye to Georgetown, and started for 

 New York, where I had still to attend to some business for 

 Felix, which detained me over a week. 



In Cincinnati I was again detained, but at last left, on May 

 13, for Louisville, where I found two despatches from my 

 husband, who had meanwhile removed to Dalton, in Georgia. 

 Telegrams which I found in Nashville made me stop in that 

 city another day, and I did not arrive in Chattanooga before 

 May 17, where I found Captain von Groeben to escort me to 

 Dalton, 



The railroad was all torn up and no regular trains running, 

 but being impatient to reach Felix, I managed to get an extra 

 train — that is, only a locomotive — though everybody advised 

 me not to run the risk. I had my way however, and poor 

 Groeben had to risk his limbs with me. I was in such good 

 spirits that I played all kinds of tricks only to have a laugh at 

 Groeben, who was horrified when I insisted on riding on the 

 cow-catcher, which I did. It was glorious fun, but more like 

 riding on a high trotting-horse than on a locomotive, for our 

 whole journey, which lasted three hours, was more like a jump- 

 ing procession. 



Dalton is a small town in Georgia, and in consequence of 

 General Sherman's war policy had been destroyed almost en- 

 tirely ; only half a dozen houses had been spared, and it was 

 extremely difficult to procure quarters for us. At last we 

 succeeded in securing a small cottage overgrown with ivy and 

 wild vine which pleased me much. 



My sister Delia was with her husband in Cleveland, Tenn. 

 She expected her confinement, and I felt very envious, fori had 

 no child which made me quite unhappy. Seeing this, my sister 

 promised to let me have the expected one, if it should be a boy, 

 and I awaited the news with great impatience. When I at la^c 



