The agent strove to convince them of the disgraceful and impolitic course which they were pursuing, and endeavored to persuade them to retract, and let the land go back into Mr. Smith's hands again. For some time they said but little, except in a sneering and taunting way, about as follows:--"We've got the land, sir, and we've got the deed, so just let Smith help himself. Oh, no matter about Smith, he has gold plates, gold Bibles, he is rich--he don't want anything." But finally, they agreed, if Hyrum could raise them one thousand dollars, by Saturday at ten o'clock in the evening, they would give up the deed. It was now Thursday about noon, and Hyrum was at Canandaigua, which was nine miles distant from home, and hither he must ride before he could make the first move towards raising the required amount. He came home with a heavy heart. When he arrived, he found his father, who had returned a short time before him. His father had fortunately found, within fifty miles of home, one of those letters which Hyrum had written. The following day, by the request of my husband, I went to see an old Quaker, a gentleman with whom we had been quite intimate since our commencement on the farm, and who had always seemed to admire the neat arrangement of the same. We hoped that he would be both able and willing to purchase the place, that we might at least have the benefit of the crops that were upon the ground, as he was a friend and would be disposed to show us favor. But we were disappointed, not in his will or disposition, but in his ability. He had just paid out to the land agent all the money he could spare, to redeem a piece of land belonging to a friend in his immediate neighborhood. If I had arrived at his house thirty minutes sooner, I would have found him with fifteen hundred dollars in his pocket. When I rehearsed to him what had taken place, he was much distressed for us, and very much regretted his inability to relieve our necessity. He said, however, "If I have no money, I will try to do something for you, and you may say to your husband, that I will see him as soon as I can, and let him know what the prospect is." It was nearly night--the country was new, and my road lay through a dense forest. The distance that I had to travel was ten miles, and that alone, yet I hastened to inform my husband of the disappointment that I had met with. The old gentleman, as soon as I left, started in search of some one that could afford us assistance, and hearing of a Mr. Durfee, who lived four miles distant, he came the same night, and directed us to go and see what he could devise for our benefit.