It sounded well, but it
did not work well. Chicago had not yet got upon its feet after the
great fire; and its young men were too sharp for me. In six weeks
they had cleaned me out bodily, had run away with my irons and with
money they borrowed of me to start them in business. I returned
to Pittsburg as poor as ever, to find that the agents I had left
behind in my Pennsylvania territory had dealt with me after the same
fashion. The firm for which I worked had connived at the frauds.
My friends had left me. The one I spoke of was in the army. Ronne
had given up in discouragement, and was at work in a rolling-mill.
In the utter wreck of all my hopes I was alone again.
Angry and sore, I went up the Allegheny River, with no definite
purpose in mind except to get away from everybody I knew. At Franklin
I fell ill with a sneaking fever. It was while I lay helpless in a
lonely tavern by the riverside that the crushing blow fell. Letters
from home, sent on from Pittsburg, told me that Elizabeth was to be
married. A cavalry officer who was in charge of the border police,
a dashing fellow and a good soldier, had won her heart.
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