Replenishing our provision basket, as it was too expensive to take all our meals on board the train, our next run was to Chicago, which we reached on 10th September, and where we rested at a Hotel on the Sabbath Day. It was a day of tremendous storm and rain and no one of us ventured out even to Divine Service, especially as no Place of Worship was nigh at hand. Amongst our fellow-passengers from San Francisco had been a very kindly Christian man belonging to Chicago. He gave us every information, and on Monday showed us round the whole City by boat and car. We saw the Exhibition Buildings, lavishly expensive. The Horticultural Gardens were extensive and most interesting. In the Zoological Enclosure we saw a few remaining specimens of the Buffaloes, which once in myriads roamed the Prairies, but which Civilization has swept away. Leaving Chicago, we arrived at Buffalo on the evening of the 13th September, and returned next day to Niagara, whence by train and steamboat we were bound for Toronto. We had already had a glimpse of the Falls, where the train halted for a few minutes at a convenient spot, and the view was grand! When next I gazed on the spectacle, nigh at hand, I am afraid almost to admit that I was rather disappointed. Too transcendent expectations beforehand, I suppose! I left Mrs. Paton and our daughter at the Falls for a day, whilst I went on to Toronto to arrange for accommodation. What a blessing that I was guided to do so! A great Agricultural Show was being held there; and, on arriving in the evening, I found every Hotel and Lodging so crowded that I walked till midnight from one end of the City to the other, seeking in vain for a bed. At last one manager of a Hotel proposed to give me a “shake-down” in a Common Room, where twenty-two were to sleep that same night. But the Hotel-Keeper taking pity, and protesting that he could not allow me to “tumble into that crowded place,” gave me the address of a private family who took in lodgers, to whom he commended me. With much difficulty, at that late hour, I found the street and the number. The owner, on hearing my appeal, said he had already “turned away thirteen,” and that he had not a corner to receive me. I offered to pay him the highest charges, “merely to rest in the Hall all night,” rather than to tramp the streets. Calling his wife, he said: “I have not the heart to turn this old man away! May he not sleep on the floor of our new empty Room?” Her answer was: “I have neither bed, nor bedclothes, nor even a pillow to give him.” But I was glad of the shelter over my head. A chair was brought in and placed in the middle of the floor. Kneeling, I thanked the Lord, and my hosts. Then, utterly worn out, I placed my travelling handbag for a pillow, rolled my clothes tightly round me, lay down, and enjoyed a most refreshing sleep.