heard this, I was immediately overcome by an irresistible impulse to
throw my feet. No "blowed-in-the-glass profesh" could possibly pass up
such a promising burg. I crossed the river to Quincy in a small
dug-out; but I came back in a large riverboat, down to the gunwales
with the results of my thrown feet. Of course I kept all the money I
had collected, though I paid the boat-hire; also I took my pick of the
underwear, socks, cast-off clothes, shirts, "kicks," and "sky-pieces";
and when Company M had taken all it wanted there was still a
respectable heap that was turned over to Company L. Alas, I was young
and prodigal in those days! I told a thousand "stories" to the good
people of Quincy, and every story was "good"; but since I have come to
write for the magazines I have often regretted the wealth of story,
the fecundity of fiction, I lavished that day in Quincy, Illinois.

It was at Hannibal, Missouri, that the ten invincibles went to pieces.
It was not planned. We just naturally flew apart. The Boiler-Maker and
I deserted secretly. On the same day Scotty and Davy made a swift
sneak for the Illinois shore; also McAvoy and Fish achieved their
get-away. This accounts for six of the ten; what became of the
remaining four I do not know. As a sample of life on The Road, I make
the following quotation from my diary of the several days following my
desertion.

"Friday, May 25th. Boiler-Maker and I left the camp on the island. We
went ashore on the Illinois side in a skiff and walked six miles on
the C.B. & Q. to Fell Creek. We had gone six miles out of our way, but
we got on a hand-car and rode six miles to Hull's, on the Wabash.
While there, we met McAvoy, Fish, Scotty, and Davy, who had also
pulled out from the Army.

"Saturday, May 26th. At 2.11 A.M. we caught the Cannonball as she
slowed up at the crossing. Scotty and Davy were ditched. The four of
us were ditched at the Bluffs, forty miles farther on. In the
afternoon Fish and McAvoy caught a freight while Boiler-Maker and I
were away getting something to eat.

"Sunday, May 27th. At 3.21 A.M. we caught the Cannonball and found
Scotty and Davy on the blind. We were all ditched at daylight at
Jacksonville. The C. & A. runs through here, and we're going to take
that. Boiler-Maker went off, but didn't return. Guess he caught a
freight.

"Monday, May 28th. Boiler-Maker didn't show up. Scotty and Davy went
off to sleep somewhere, and didn't get back in time to catch