ten
o'clock at night before
Politics were discussed -LRB- our host was a Union man -RRB- , the prospects of the turpentine crop talked over , the recent news canvassed , the usual neighborly topics touched upon , and -- I hesitate to confess it -- a considerable quantity of corn whiskey disposed of , before the Colonel discovered , all at once , that it was six o'clock , and we were still seventeen miles from the railway station . Arraying ourselves again in our dried garments , we bade a hasty but regretful `` good-bye '' to our hospitable entertainers , and once more took to the road . The storm had cleared away , but the ground was heavy with the recent rain , and our horses were sadly jaded with the ride of the morning . We gave them the reins , and , jogging on at their leisure , it was ten o'clock at night before they landed us at the little hamlet of W -- Station , in the state of North Carolina . A large hotel , or station-house , and about a dozen log shanties made up the village . Two of these structures were negro-cabins ; two were small groceries , in which the vilest alcoholic compounds were sold at a bit -LRB- ten cents -RRB- a glass ; one was a lawyer 's office , in which was the post-office , and a justice 's court , where , once a month , the small offenders of the vicinity `` settled up their accounts ; '' one was a tailoring and clothing establishment , where breeches were patched at a dime a stitch , and payment taken in tar and turpentine ; and the rest were private dwellings of one apartment , occupied by the grocers , the tailor , the switch-tenders , the postmaster , and the negro _ attachés _ of the railroad . The church and the school-house -- the first buildings to go up in a Northern village -- I have omitted to enumerate , because -- they were not there .