they were at length finished, and we found
ourselves in a dimly-lighted parlor, long, nar-
row, and low, with a parlor carpet of otter
color and muddy green, woven into frightful
contortions of diamonds and squares:—a midnight-looking apartment, where company was
not expected nor prepared for.
Chairs were brought, enough for all; the gas was turned up more brilliantly; a pitcher of water and one tumbler were procured; the hands of the timepiece pointed to twelve. 0, how tired we were ! would the clerk never show us our beds ? He came in very pleas- antly, and remarked, with as much composure as though he was speaking of the weather: "Every bed in the house is full,—you must make yourselves comfortable till breakfast time!"
Twenty-five of us in one room, after riding from Boston! My first twinge of homesickness was at Springfield when the sun went down. I now felt another spasm. The children were cross, the mothers in despair, the little woman with the big baby looked as though she would faint.
My first thought was of personal injustice;
