Mr. Williams and I had formed a real estate and brokerage partnership,
and we were making money at a phenomenal rate. The air was vibrating
with the ring of the trowel and the hammer. Gardens and roadhouses had
appeared in the pleasanter places out of town. Everywhere in the central
part of the city were livery stables, restaurants, saloons. The harbor
was full of sailing craft. Every day saw the tides of emigration pour
upon this hospitable shore. I felt the stir of the new life, the growing
city. I was fascinated with the money making. I had found new friends.
My change of life had brought me happiness.
Abigail and I saw much of each other and we talked of many things, and
much of Douglas. I saw him as the symbol of this intense life, this
miraculous development. He seemed to me the man of the hour, the man
even of the age.
No sooner was he sworn in as a Congressman than he proceeded to make his
presence felt. He did precisely what he had done in Illinois when he
came to Winchester, penniless and unknown: he seized an opportunity. He
admired Andrew Jackson with an almost unqualified heart, and he rose to
Jackson's defense in Congress.
I have said that I was reading Niles' _Register_. Through it I was able
to follow Douglas' career in Congress from the beginning.
Abigail had made friends with a certain Robert Aldington, who had also
come west to teach school.
Pages:
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210