Page:The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz (Volume Two).djvu/190

 at the school-house, and found a few wooden benches in it which, together with the standing room, would accommodate some forty or fifty persons. A member of the county committee arrived, who apologetically told us that the assemblage would not be very large, as the population of the district was still sparse, but, the land being of first-rate quality, they expected it to be thickly settled before long. Presently some farm wagons arrived with men, women, and children, also a few young citizens on horseback. Soon the school-room was filled, the men mostly standing, and the women, some with babies in their arms, sitting on the benches. Mr. Grow and I contemplated the situation with much amusement. Finally we concluded to make our very best speeches, just as if we had thousands before us, and to put in some extra flights of oratory in honor of the rare occasion. And so we did. We discussed the slavery question with all possible earnestness and fire. By and by the audience became quite enthusiastic. The men stamped and yelled, some of the boys whistled, and the babies shrieked. When the meeting had adjourned there was much vigorous hand-shaking and many urgent invitations to “take a drink” at the tavern bar, which it required no little strategy on our part to evade without giving offense. At last the honest farmers with their wives and children departed, and the City of Lexington relapsed into stillness.

Having been instructed by the State Committee to stay there over night and rest from our fatigues, Mr. Grow and I thought with some dismay of the supper in store for us. We asked the landlord whether we could not have some boiled eggs. There were no eggs in the house; in fact, he did not keep chickens. Or some potatoes? There were none. Then a bright idea struck us. We had noticed a pretty little lake near the tavern. Might we not catch some fish? The landlord thought