"
He said rather proudly, "We did not work for you for pay. We did it to
oblige you."
But I insisted. I said, "You did me a real kindness, and I want to do
you a kindness in return. I want you to take it." Then they bade me
good night and went into the saloon.
The wind had been rising, and the snow was drifting; and it was
evident that in many places the road would be obliterated, and I had a
long stretch of prairie to travel over on which there was not a human
habitation. It was dangerous to undertake it, and I had to stay in
Atchison. I found an empty corral, where my teams would be decently
sheltered, and went to the only hotel in town. The sleeping room they
assigned me was separated from the bar-room only by a thin board
partition, and I could hear every word that was said. This hotel was
the boarding-place of the South Carolinians, and they soon began to
drop in from about town, and word was passed among them that Butler
was in the house. Then one fellow, who was decidedly drunk, got
turbulent, and protested, with terrible oaths, that such a man should
not stay in the house, but that he would go in and drag him out of
bed.
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