Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1879-07-23

were not yet ended The river was
filed with huge cakes of broken ice
which the swollen current rapidly car
ried down the steam. For this
reason the ferrymaI refused to take
young Allen across. All his entreaties
were in vain; the man refused to
risk his loaf among tae crushing blocks
of ice. There was he help for it. The
boy saw that ne must wait. AS the day
wore ON, however, tn, ice-cskes in the
river became thinner and less danger
Gus, and At lust a negro, who owned a
rickety old boat, agieed ior a piece of
silver 10 take Allen 10 the other side
With mucn difficulty they drew the
boat up stream for several hundred
yards. and then, enbarklng, iloated
down with the blocks of ice, rowing to-
ward the opposite shme whenever they
could slip through and avoid n collision
with cakes of "A PARTICULARLY dangerous
appearance, and 50 NJ last they reached
Gallipolis.
Young Allen hasened at once TO
Gates Tavern, near the river, and, while
he was taking the hearty meal which
had been prepared for him after the
landlord heard of tle extent Of his
journey. he saw ti,e looking man in
an adjoining room blacklng his own
boots. Shortly afteIward he was in
formed that the gentleman so engaged
was the Hon. Samuel +. Ninton, who
had recently been elected to congress,
and who was regarded as the great man
of that part of the state. The boy
looked at him with mingled { cling of
curiosity and awe, neer for moment
imagining that he would live to serve
with Mr.. Ninton in congress, and to be
his rival at the bar of Ohio. Such, how
ever, was the fortune which fate had in
store for him.
Leaving Gallipolis, thoroughly rested
and refreshed, the young traveller con-
unued on his journey through Jackson
county. All went well with him for sew
eral days, but on what proved to be the
last night of his wanda'ings he became
very lame from over exertion. His feet,
too,were badly cut and blistered, and he
was scarcely able To drag himself along,
when suddenly a young man, two or
three years older than himself, came
out of q wood into the road in front Of
him, and said, with ratE er startling alb
ruptness:
" Hello, stranger, where be you
goin'?'
:" Pm trying to get to ChilIicothe,"
replied the young traveller, "but pve
fallen lame and am not getting on very
fast"
of that is So" said the other, with
the rough and ready hospitality of the
time and country, you had better go
home aud stay the night out with our
folks. They don't often see strangers
and they'll like to hear you talk"
The invitation so readily given was
as readily accepted-the people Of
Ohio were not so suspicious of each
other in those days as they have be-
come since-and in few minutes the
toot-sore wanderer was safely housed
in rude but wel-warmed log cabin,
containing two rooms, and giving
shelter to man and mis- wife, two
daughters and four sous. All the boys
subsequently became Aliens warm
political supporters. That night they
gave him the best supper they could
command, and in the outer room
shared their heap of straw with him
In the inside apartment the father and
mother and their two daughters also
spent the night upon heaps OF straw
1t will be remembered this was before
Ohio claimed to be "the political center
of the republic"
In the morning after breakfast, the
good people who had tefriended Allen
still further aided him by the loan Of
horse, upon which, without farther ad-
venture he rode into CHilicothe.