y.
They sent Langham up the gangway first, and waited until he had made
his greetings to his family alone.

"We have had a terrible trip, Mr. Clay," Miss Langham said to him,
beginning, as people will, with the last few days, as though they were
of the greatest importance; "and we could see nothing of you at the
mines at all as we passed--only a wet flag, and a lot of very friendly
workmen, who cheered and fired off pans of dynamite."

"They did, did they?" said Clay, with a satisfied nod. "That's all
right, then. That was a royal salute in your honor. Kirkland had that
to do. He's the foreman of A opening. I am awfully sorry about this
rain--it spoils everything."

"I hope it hasn't spoiled our breakfast," said Mr. Langham. "We haven't
eaten anything this morning, because we wanted a change of diet, and
the captain told us we should be on shore before now."

"We have some carriages for you at the wharf, and we will drive you
right out to the Palms," said young Langham. "It's shorter by water,
but there's a hill that the girls couldn't climb today. That's the
house we built for you, Governor, with the flag-pole, up there on the
hill; and there's your ugly old pier; and that's where we live, in the
little shack above it, with the tin roof; and that opening to the right
is the terminus of the railroad MacWilliams built. Where's
MacWilliams? Here, Mac, I want you to know my father. This is
MacWilliams, sir, of whom I wrote you."

There was some delay about the baggage, and in getting the party
together in the boats that Langham and the Consul had brought; and
after they had stood for some time on the wet dock, hungry and damp, it
was rather aggravating to find that the carriages which Langham had
ordered to be at one pier had gone to another. So the new arrivals sat
rather silently under the shed of the levee on a row of cotton-bales,
while Clay and MacWilliams raced off after the carriages.

"I wish we didn't have to keep the hood down," young Langham said,
anxiously, as they at last proceeded heavily up the muddy streets; "it
makes it so hot, and you can't see anything. Not that it's worth
seeing in all this mud and muck, but it's great when the sun shines.
We had planned it all so differently."

He was alone with his family now in one carriage, and the other men and
the servants were before them in two others. It seemed an interminable
ride to them all--to the strangers, and to the men who were anxious