Luke put several pancakes on his own plate. “I’m sure the excitement of it all gave him restless sleep. I know it did me. I kept thinking about how everything would come together tonight. I’m not sure how to manage it all. The new house won’t be complete until July, maybe August. I’m content to live here with you until then, if that meets with your approval.”

Gloriana poured him a cup of coffee. “What else would we do?” She put the pot back on the stove and took her seat at the table beside Sally’s high chair. The baby was enjoying playing with a couple of wooden spoons.

“Do you need me to pick up anything in town?” Luke asked.

She considered his question a moment, then shook her head. “I can’t think of a thing. I figure I’ll have supper ready for us, and after we eat, we can go to the church.”

Luke nodded. “That sounds perfect, although I wonder if either of us will be able to eat a bite. I don’t know about you, but I already have butterflies in my stomach.”

“Butterflies?” JT asked. “How did you get butterflies in your stomach?”

“It’s just a saying, JT.” Gloriana reached for the syrup. “Would you like some more?” She held up the crock and offered to spoon it onto JT’s uneaten pancake.

“No. I think I got butterflies too.”

Luke laughed. “It is a momentous occasion. Still, I would be grateful for syrup.”

He was still thinking about butterflies later when he joined a meeting Roger Munger had arranged regarding the canal.

“As most of you know, the canal is something we’ve wanted for years. There have been numerous difficulties in getting it established, however. We all know that the Panic of ’57 put a stop to everything, and then, of course, the war was a difficulty for all, even though we had no battles in Duluth.

“Still, there have been attempts to further the cause of a canal. After the war, the Army Corps of Engineers built us a breakwater to protect the outer harbor. But as you gentlemen also remember, they advised against a canal due to an unreasonable fear that the flow of the St. Louis River might be altered and become more hazardous.”

Munger looked at his notes. “Others have said there would be no damage and that digging a deeper channel would resolve any issues with the river. The fact of the matter is that no one knows for sure what will happen once a canal is in place, except that our commerce will be greatly benefitted.”