CHAPTER X.
I Shake Hands with Old Man King.
For the second time in my irresponsible career I stood on the station platform at Osage and watched the train slide off to the East.

It's a blamed fool who never learns anything by experience, and I never have accused myself of being a fool--except at odd times--so I didn't land broke.

I had money to pay for several meals, and I looked around for somebody I knew; Frosty, I hoped.
For the sodden land I had looked upon with such disgust when first I had seen it, the range lay dimpled in all the enticement of spring.

Where first I had seen dirty snow-banks, the green was bright as our lawn at home.

The hilltops were lighter in shade, and the jagged line of hills in the far distance was a soft, soft blue, just stopping short of reddish-purple.