Pushing on through Newton and some smaller towns and villages I pulled up in front of the South Framingham House a few minutes after five o'clock in the evening. My clothing was thoroughly soaked and my cavalry boots filled to overflowing. Having secured accommodations for the night, _Paul_ was fed and groomed; clothing and equipments hung up to dry and the first day of my long ride from sea to sea was off the calendar. [Illustration: RIDING THROUGH CAMBRIDGE.] Second Day. _Bay State House_, WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, _May Tenth_. I slept soundly at the South Framingham House and was up and out to the hotel stable at an early hour in the morning. I found _Paul Revere_, my equine companion, in good spirits and fancied that the significant look he gave me was an assurance that he would be ready for the road when called for. After a hearty breakfast and a few questions concerning the beautiful little city in which I had spent the first night of my journey, I mounted _Paul_ and rode out towards the Boston and Albany Turnpike. Being impressed with the appearance and enterprise of the place, while passing through some of its streets especial inquiry was made concerning its population, schools and industries. I learned that South Framingham is twenty-one miles from Boston, at the junction of the Boston and Albany and Old Colony Railways. Its population at that time was about 10,000. Its graded schools are among the first in the State. It supports several banks and newspapers and is engaged in the manufacture of woollens, rubber goods, boots and shoes, harness and machinery. The ride from South Framingham to Worcester was uneventful if I except the pelting rain which from drizzle to down-pour followed me from start to finish. Indeed, it really seemed as though the first days of my journey were to be baptismal days and I regret exceedingly that these early stages of the trip were not more propitious; for, had the weather been less disagreeable, I should have seen Eastern Massachusetts under much more favorable circumstances. The city limits of Worcester were reached at four o'clock in the afternoon and a half hour later I was registered at the Bay State House. Many relatives called upon me here, most of whom were residents of the city and vicinity. Lectured at the Opera House in the evening, being introduced to my audience by Colonel Finley of Charlestown, to whom previous reference has been made, and with whom I had arranged to accompany me as far as Syracuse, New York, and further if my advance agents should think it advisable for him to do so.