to accept the proposition of Mr. Ewing, and accordingly the firm of Sherman & Ewing was duly announced, and our services to the public offered as attorneys-at-law.  We had an office on Main Street, between Shawnee and Delaware, on the second floor, over the office of Hampton Denman, Esq., mayor of the city.  This building was a mere shell, and our office was reached by a stairway on the outside.  Although in the course of my military reading I had studied a few of the ordinary law-books, such as Blackstone, Kent, Starkie, etc., I did not presume to be a lawyer; but our agreement was that Thomas Ewing, Jr., a good and thorough lawyer, should manage all business in the courts, while I gave attention to collections, agencies for houses and lands, and such business as my experience in banking had qualified me for.  Yet, as my name was embraced in a law-firm, it seemed to me proper to take out a license.  Accordingly, one day when United States Judge Lecompte was in our office, I mentioned the matter to him; he told me to go down to the clerk of his court, and he would give me the license.  I inquired what examination I would have to submit to, and he replied, “None at all;” he would admit me on the ground of general intelligence.

During that summer we got our share of the business of the profession, then represented by several eminent law-firms, embracing names that have since flourished in the Senate, and in the higher courts of the country.  But the most lucrative single case was given me by my friend Major Van Vliet, who employed me to go to Fort Riley, one hundred and thirty-six miles west of Fort Leavenworth, to superintend the repairs to the military road.  For this purpose he supplied me with a four-mule ambulance and driver.  The country was then sparsely settled, and quite as many Indians were along the road as white people; still there were embryo towns all along the route, and a few farms sprinkled over the beautiful prairies.  On reaching Indianola, near Topeka, I found everybody down with the chills and fever.  My own driver became so shaky that I had to act as driver and cook.  But in due season I reconnoitred the road, and made contracts for repairing some bridges, and for cutting such parts of the road as needed it.  I then returned to Fort Leavenworth, and reported, receiving a fair compensation.  On my way up I met Colonel Sumner’s column, returning from their summer scout on the plains, and spent the night with the officers, among whom were Captains Sackett, Sturgis, etc.  Also at Fort Riley I was cordially received and entertained by some old army-friends, among them Major Sedgwick, Captains Totted, Eli Long, etc.