The night was very dark and stormy and the rain came down
in torrents. Just before I put the final question I sent
a page for my coat and hat, and, as soon as I declared the
Senate adjourned, started for the outer door. There were
very few carriages in waiting. I secured one of them and
then invited Davis and his secretary and another Senator,
when they came along, to get in with me. When we stopped
to leave Judge Davis at the National Hotel, where he lived,
it was found impossible to get the door of the hack open.
His great weight pressed it down, so that the door was held
tight as in a vise. The hackman and the porters pulled on
the outside, and the passengers pushed and struggled from
within; but in vain. After fifteen or twenty minutes, it
occurred to some one that we within should all squeeze ourselves
over to one side of the carriage, and those outside use their
whole strength on the opposite door. This was successful.
We escaped from our prison. As Davis marched into the hotel
the hackman exclaimed, as he stared after him: "By God, I
should think you was eight men.
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