With this I retired at once to my room, and was soon sleeping soundly.
I knew that I should be watched so closely the next day as to make it impossible for me to escape without detection; and accordingly I got up an hour or two before daylight; and, having laid upon the table in my room an amount of money which I supposed would be considered a fair compensation for my supper and lodging, I tied the sheets together, and lowered myself down into the then silent and deserted street. It was not long before I found myself once more in the open country; and looking carefully for the twisted twigs that I had tied together the afternoon before, I soon discovered the chasm through which I had made my remarkable trip to the eastern hemisphere. Taking the precaution to tie a handkerchief over my mouth in order that I might economize my breath, I summoned all my courage, and leaped into the hole. My experiences were precisely the same as they had been in the previous journey; and in course of a few hours, I found myself standing once more in the familiar outskirts of Roxbury, and gazing tenderly upon the solemn dome of Boston State House. As fast as my legs would take me, I rushed to my poor mother's humble abode, longing to relieve the bitter agony to which I knew she and my brother and sister must have been subjected during my absence. It is not worth while for me to describe at length the scene that ensued when I stood once more in the family circle, with my mother's arms around my neck, and the young folks bellowing with joy. To the frantic inquiries that were showered upon me as to what had happened,—where I had been,—had I had any thing to eat? I coolly replied that I had not had much to eat; and, if they would give me a good, substantial supper, I would endeavor to relieve their minds.
"Supper, indeed!" cried my good mother; "why, it's just after sunrise! You haven't lost your senses, I hope."
"I beg your pardon; but it was about sunrise hours and hours ago, when I—when I"—and here I faltered, not caring just then to let the whole family into my secret.
"When you what?" said my mother, looking very anxious.
"Why, when I left Canton," I now answered, very promptly.
"You don't say that you have been to Canton?" she replied, but without any such show of astonishment as might have been expected.
"Yes, I have, mother. It occurred to me that I could sell my papers to better advantage there than I could about here; and, indeed, I did, as you may see." Whereupon I laid in her good old hand such a sum of money as she had not clasped for many a day.
"Did you get all this money by selling papers in Canton?"
"I did, and a great deal more; which I am going to deposit by and by in the Savings Bank to your credit."