away, I had to return to New York after a few days and look after
my business interests, which required constant personal attention.

The days of my visit flew speedily, and back in New York I settled
down to business with increased ambition and the greatest possible
incentive to achieve success.




CHAPTER V

WEDDING BELLS



The year in which the days had been as weeks, the weeks as months,
had finally come to an end, and at six o'clock on the evening of
Saturday, October 19th, 1872, I started on my thirty-six hours'
journey to Chicago.

There was no "Twentieth Century Limited," making the trip in twenty
hours, in those days, and my two nights and a day on the road gave
me ample time for contemplation, which I was in a mood to avail
myself of. I felt all the eagerness of youth, the power of a love
that stirred my whole being, and was impressed with the solemnity
of the obligation I was about to incur.

The life of a lovely woman was to be intrusted to me, to make or
to mar according as I did my duty.