Far out in the heart of this great gray wilderness lay the track-end of this railroad pushing across the continent.

When Franklin descended from the rude train he needed no one to tell him he had come to Ellisville.

He was at the limit, the edge, the boundary! "Well, friend," said the fireman, who was oiling the engine as he passed, and who grinned amiably as he spoke, "you're sure at the front now." Franklin had not advised his friend Battersleigh of his intended arrival, but as he looked about him he saw that he had little need for any guide.
Ellisville as an actual town did not yet exist.

A rude shanty or two and a line of tents indicated the course of a coming street.

The two hotels mentioned by Battersleigh were easily recognised, and indeed not to be evaded.