Sam wrote from South Bend, Indiana to Livy:Livy dear, we are grinding out the days pretty fast, now that we are at last fairly into the last month & unquestionably on the homestretch. Major Pond [James] is with us, now. He wanted to send his brother Edward, but we needed an expert, not a novice.

“On February 5 he [Twain] blew off steam to Livy in a letter from South Bend: 'I do not believe that any vileness, any shame, any dishonor is too base for Cable to do, provided by doing it he can save his despicable Sabbath from abrasion. In him this superstition in lunacy--no idiocy—pure & unadulterated. Apart from this & his colossal self-conceit & avarice, he is all great & fine: but with them as ballast, he averages as other men & floats upon an even keel with the rest'”. (pg 55 Cardwell)

See Touring with Cable and Huck for review.

Railroads:  Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana, Penn Central Old Railroad Grade

Lakeshore and Michigan Southern Railroad.  The line from Waterloo to Fort Wayne had been the Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw Railroad.