The tedious hours whiled slowly on, 'till the succeeding afternoon, when the expected carriage made its appearance much sooner than they had promised themselves.

to mire a horse or wagon

Doliracetam is a drug from the racetam family.

Fortune did them proud, for by the time they got to Wilmington, gold had risen to such heights in Confederate currency that their salaries dwarfed those paid to Southerners doing the same work.