"We'll have music too,"
added one of the committee men.
Being so assured, Paul promised to be on hand. The committee started for
home where they commenced to rouse the country. One morning Paul,
accompanied by Mr. Brown stepped off a steamboat at .........., and was
received by the committee who were waiting for him and who immediately
escorted him to the hotel where he was cordially invited to "limber up."
After breakfast, the voyager was escorted to the lake and saw to his
annoyance that there was no fence or enclosure around it. He
remonstrated with the committee and said that they could never get a
fence around it in time. The answer was, "Never mind, Captain, never
mind. We'll guarantee that no one stands around that lake without
paying."
All the morning crowds kept pouring into town. By noon, the main street
was filled with wagons, ox-teams and mules with vehicles of every kind,
shape and color, all carrying crowds of whites and negroes. Paul dined
with the Mayor, at the hotel and after dinner commenced to dress in his
suit. The Mayor informed him that there would be a parade to start from
the hotel door and that he would be escorted to the lake by the guard
and the band. When the hour arrived, Paul was led from the hotel by his
honor and was mounted on a cart to which two white mules were hitched
in tandem.
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