Mdme. Nordica received orders to join us at Indianapolis, where she was to appear in _La Traviata_, which she duly did the following Friday; whilst Mdlle. Alma Fohström, now recovered, was brought on from San Francisco to Cincinnati, a distance of some 2,500 miles, to perform in _Lucia di Lammermoor_. She also arrived punctually, and sang the same night. I mention this small fact to show what can be accomplished with a little discipline. The reason why Mdme. Minnie Hauk was sent on to Omaha beforehand was in order that, by announcing her arrival in that city, I might give confidence to the public, it having been reported that my Company was broken up. Hence there was no booking; though had we arrived punctually for the opera on the promised date, my receipts, which I had already pledged to the Railway Company to get out of San Francisco, would certainly have been not less than £500 or £600. Mdme. Minnie Hauk, moreover, would have been saved a détour of some 2,400 miles. Altogether I lost about £2,000, as I missed Omaha on the Friday, Burlington on the Saturday, Chicago on the Sunday, and my first performance in Louisville on the Monday. Notwithstanding my all but insurmountable difficulties the performances never stopped, an announced opera was never altered, and the whole of the promised representations actually took place in each city; the press notices, which I still preserve, being unanimous as to the excellence of the representations. I may mention that the travelling on these lines averages some 25 miles an hour only, there being several very steep gradients on the road. In some instances the train goes up over 3,000 feet in 57 miles, and down again; whilst the height of several mountains traversed by the train reaches from 7,000 to 8,000 feet. CHAPTER XIII. DEL PUENTE IN THE KITCHEN--SCALDING COFFEE--CALIFORNIAN WINE--THE SERGEANT TAKES A HEADER--THE RUSSIAN MOTHER--I BECOME A SHERIFF--A DUMB CHORUS--DYNAMITE BOMBS. When the Company started for the steamer which was to ferry us across to the railway station, further trouble arose in consequence of the increased sums demanded (now that the rates had been got up) for the Pullman cars which I had ordered for the principal artists; amounting to a considerable sum. But this difficulty was ultimately surmounted, and we left early on Wednesday evening for Omaha, where we were due on the Friday following. My private car, moreover, had been let, and I was forced to engage an ordinary Pullman, with no facilities whatever for cooking or even heating water. Hasty purchases had now to be made of wine, coffee, etc., and a few tins of preserved meats; and a start was made for Omaha.