HE WAS LEFT. 



Hon. Hershel Whitaker. 



In the summer of 1878, a business en- 

 gagement called me to the small town 

 of Bayville, in the northern part of 

 Michigan, where I was to attend a meet- 

 ing called for ten o'clock in the morn- 

 ing of the day following. The distance by 

 rail, from my starting place to Bayville, 

 was something like three hundred miles, 

 and I set out on Sunday evening intend- 

 ing to stop at Monckton, a small hamlet 

 about midway between my home and 

 the place of destination, for a day's 

 sport on a favorite trout stream, and on 

 the following Monday evening to take 

 the train for the north. 



On my return in the evening, from my 

 trouting expedition to the house where 

 I was stopping, I found that the trains 

 going north were so arranged, that the 

 one I had intended to take to Bayville, 

 would pass the station, where I was 

 spending the day, at 2:15 in the morn- 

 ing, reaching Bayville between four and 

 and five. There was no hotel at 

 Monckton, and I found that if I took 

 the train at the hour named the family 

 would be kept up the better part of the 

 night ; as they would undoubtedly insist 

 on remaining up if I stayed. If they 

 retired, I must spend the greater part 

 of the night alone, waiting for the train, 

 which would be a dull and tedious task. 

 I found that a local train would pass 

 through Monckton early in the evening, 

 and that by a two or three hours ride I 

 could reach Carrolton, at about nine 

 o'clock. This would give me an oppor- 

 tunity to sleep there, from nine o'clock 

 in the evening until near two o'clock in 

 the morning. Carrolton is on the east 

 side of Flat lake, which is about five or 

 six miles long. The railroad follows the 

 shore of the lake for more than half its 

 length through alternating stretches of 

 improved farms and woodland. 



I reached Carrolton about nine 

 o'clock in the evening, and at once went 

 to the hotel, which was within about a 

 square of the station, registered and 

 asked to be shown to a room. From the 

 bustle and stir in the town it was evident 

 that something unusual had attracted a 



large number of people during the day. 

 On inquiry I found that a circus had 

 held forth there, to the great pleasure 

 of the town and surrounding country. 

 The hotel clerk was a dapper youth, 

 and was the unquestioned oracle and 

 autocrat of the place. He was talking 

 of the day, and it was with extreme re- 

 luctance that he left them for a moment. 

 In response to my request for a room, 

 he said " yes," and turned his attention 

 again to his companions. 



Persisting, I said " If you can give me 

 a room I will retire at once, as I desire 

 to take the train going north which 

 passes through here I believe, about 

 three o'clock in the morning, does it 

 not?" 



"Yes," said he, "the train passes 

 through here at 3:27." 



I then asked if there was a night 

 clerk to call guests desiring to leave on 

 night trains. 



" Oh, yes," said he, " we always see 

 that people are called for all trains, as 

 there is almost always some one leav- 

 ing." 



" Now," said I, "I want no mistake 

 made about being called in time, for it 

 is absolutely necessary that I should be 

 in Bayville at ten o'clock to-morrow 

 morning, and there is no other way for 

 me to reach there except by taking the 

 train north at 3:27. Will you be sure 

 to call me ? " 



''Oh, yes," he replied, "you will be 

 called," and his manner, which was 

 preoccupied and patronizing to a de- 

 gree, indicated that he considered him- 

 self bored by my importunity, and felt 

 that I was unnecessarily interfering with 

 his conversazione with his friends in the 

 back room. I finally retired and was soon 

 sleeping the sleep of the just. 



Some hours must have passed when I 

 awakened with a sudden start. 



My ears, so long accustomed to the 

 multitude of night sounds of the city, 

 were charmed with the absolute stillness 

 of a night in a country village. 



For some moments I lay there en- 

 deavoring, by a mental effort to recall 



