Hilton Bridge spans the Cape Fear River near this point, and all trains are required by the law to slow up before crossing.
For this information the man received a buttonless khaki suit.
The next morning was Sunday, and after paying my lodging I had but $1.35.
Hardship was certainly beginning to stare me in the face at an early stage of the trip.
Oh! how I wished now I had stayed at home, where my every wish had been gratified by tender, loving hands, but it was too late! My pride was up in arms, and I would see the game through to the bitter end.
On this day I ate neither breakfast nor dinner, and early in the afternoon I repaired to the bridge to wait.
The man who runs a small "pop shop" on the Wilmington side of the bridge amused me with stories of the many young men he had seen beat their way from this point, and I got him to tell me just how the others had done, and was becoming quite brave, till he began describing how he had seen one man miss his footing, and showed me the spot where the cars had run over both legs.
The train was coming! And the supreme test of the trip was at hand.
I took up a position at the curve, which is about two hundred yards from the bridge.