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But Leonard did conclude to go off to Alabama, and to start in three or four days only! Months rather than days are properly requisite for an Engineer to get out of his business and leave it in anothers hands, - but his connection with the road was such that he could not well be kept when he had determined to go. Somebody must take his place. It was certainly not a slight mark of confidence in an Engineer only a year old to put him into such a situation. But so it was: and a pretty place it was too, I assure you! This stepping into another man's shoes, when he is an Engineer, is a difficult business any time. In this case somewhat peculiarly so. Leonard is one of those strong headed men, without much education, or any system, keeping every thing in his own head without committing to paper, or any thing permanent. Some natural way of his won of doing things, but without rule or record of them, or any way hardly for another to understand what had been done, was doing, or was to be done. His Note Books were only pencilled, badly written & worse spelled, half illegible, & frequently all erased. He seems to keep it all in his mind, and somehow work along through his business. Such confusion & vexation I never got into. Why I could hardly even dream peaceably o'nights, would wake up every half hour with my brains all snarled up on some point or other. But I am now getting to feel very comfortable again; unclear diligence is beginning to bring order out of Chaos, and I have a fair prospect of succeeding admirably. My place however is not the most pleasant imaginable. It is "Grouts" about nine miles from Northfield, and one would think it must be at least as much as that from any other place!