I
Asked The Captain If He Were Not In The Habit Of "Sitting Upon The Safety-
Valve," But He Stoutly Denied The Charge.
The vernacular of this
neighbourhood was rather startling to an English ear.
"Who's the alligator
to hum?" asked a broad-shouldered Kentuckian of his neighbour, pointing to
a frame shanty on the shore, which did not look to me like the abode of
that amphibious and carnivorous creature. "Well, old alligator, what's the
time o' day?" asked another man, bringing down a brawny paw, with a
resounding thump, upon the Herculean shoulders of the first querist,
thereby giving me the information that in the West alligator is a
designation of the genus homo; in fact, that it is customary for a man
to address his fellow-man as "old alligator," instead of "old fellow." At
eight we left Rock Island, and, turning my unwilling steps eastward from
the land of adventure and romance, we entered the cars for Chicago.
They were extremely crowded, and my friends, securing me the only
comfortable seat in one of them, were obliged to go into the next, much to
their indignation; but protestations were of no use. The engine-bell rang,
a fearful rush followed, which resulted in the passage down the centre
being filled with standing men; the conductor shouted "Go a-head," and we
were off for Lake Michigan in the "Lightning Express," warranted to go
sixty-seven miles an hour! I had found it necessary to study physiognomy
since leaving England, and was horrified by the appearance of my next
neighbour.
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