r crony
in Washington County, walking and riding in country wagons the
last hundred miles of the distance. No experience in my life ever
humiliated me as that one did, yet I have laughed about it since.
I may have previously heard of riches taking wings, but in this
instance, now mellowed by time, no injustice will be done by simply
recording it as the parting of a fool and his money.

CHAPTER VII

"THE ANGEL"

The winds of adversity were tempered by the welcome extended me by my
old comrade and his wife. There was no concealment as to my financial
condition, but when I explained the causes my former crony laughed at
me until the tears stood in his eyes. Nor did I protest, because I so
richly deserved it. Fortunately the circumstances of my friends had
bettered since my previous visit, and I was accordingly relieved from
any feeling of intrusion. In two short years the wheel had gone round,
and I was walking heavily on my uppers and continually felt like a
pauper or poor relation. To make matters more embarrassing, I could
appeal to no one, and, fortified by pride from birth, I ground my
teeth over resolutions that will last me till death. Any one of half
a dozen friends, had they known my true condition, would have gladly
come to my aid, but circumstances prevented me from making any appeal.
To my brother in Missouri I had previously written of my affluence; as
for friends in Palo Pinto County,--well, for the very best of reasons
my condition would remain a sealed book in that quarter; and to appeal
to Major Mabry might arouse his suspicions. I had handled a great deal
of money for him, accounting for every cent, but had he known of my
inability to take care of my own frugal earnings it might have aroused
his distrust. I was sure of a position with him again as trail
foreman, and not for the world would I have had him know that I could
be such a fool as to squander my savings thoughtlessly.

What little correspondence I conducted that winter was by roundabout
methods. I occasionally wrote my brother that I was wallowing
in wealth, always inclosing a letter to Gertrude Edwards with
instructions to remail, conveying the idea to her family that I was
spending the winter with relatives in Missouri. As yet there was no
tacit understanding between Miss Gertrude and me, but I conveyed that
impression to my brother, and as I knew he had run away with his wife,
I had confidence he would do my bidding. In writing my