“We came here to be near a church, and to enjoy religious privileges. For years after we went on the prairie our house was the home of the preachers, and meetings were always held there. As the country became more settled the services were transferred to a church, four miles from us, and we at length concluded to give up our home to our son, and come to spend the evening of our lives in a place where we could constantly enjoy the services of God’s house. We have tried to make religion the chief business of our life, and God has prospered us.” “And you enjoy this new country?” inquired Mrs. Lester. [Illustration: No. 666. WESTERN SETTLER’S FIRST HOME.] “It seems to me,” she replied, “the oldest country God has made; such riches as these are in the soil all ready and prepared for the seed of the sower, only waiting for man’s coming to yield of its abundance.” The sun was tinging town and prairie with his parting beams, and the garden was already in deep shadow when Norman and his mother, loaded with bright and fragrant flowers, returned home. CHAPTER XVI. ON THE RAIL. “All the while the swaying cars Kept rumbling o’er the rail, And the frequent whistle sent Shrieks of anguish to the gale; And the cinders pattered down On the grimy floor like hail.” Early, very early the next morning, the fifth of July, Mrs. Lester was aroused by the firing of cannon, to celebrate our national independence. Norman and Willie had kept the third, by firing off crackers all day, and winding up with wheels, Roman candles, and blue lights, exhibited to an appreciating audience on the portico in the evening. After breakfast Norman, his Aunt Clara, and his mother bade good-by, and got in the carriage which was to convey them to Batavia, the spires of which were visible from Mr. Clayton’s. It was a pleasant drive of two miles in the Fox River valley. The man drove very fast, and they were sorry to arrive so soon at the place of their destination, especially when they were told that they were to wait two hours for the arrival of the train. The hackman, who had come for them before the time, had many demands for the carriage, for which he charged an extra price in honor of the holiday. A number of passengers were waiting for the train; many of them going to the celebration at Aurora, a pretty town, all astir with gaily dressed people, and a procession marching to the grove where already a crowd was gathered. It was a most lovely country, soft rolling prairie, with its wealth of golden wheat, of waving corn, of graceful barley, bordered by rich groves of timber, and dotted here and there with towns and villages.