Two of the gold pieces were shoved under the glass, and Rupert received
his ticket and his change.
In the car, he secured a seat near the window that he might see the
country. It was the same familiar mountains and streams all that day,
but the next morning when he awoke and looked out of the car windows, a
strange sight met his gaze. In every direction, as far as he could see,
stretched the level prairie, over which the train sped in straight lines
for miles and miles. "We must be in Kansas," he thought. "What a sight,
to see so much level land."
But what was he going to do in Chicago? To see the world, to mingle in
the crowd, to jostle with his fellow-beings--what else, he did not know.
Chicago! What a sight to the man of the mountains! Streets, houses,
people and the continuous din and traffic of the city nearly turned his
head for a time. What an ideal place in which to lose one's self. Rupert
had a bundle no longer, but in his pocket just fifteen dollars and ten
cents. He kept well out of the clutches of the sharpers in the city,
and lived quite comfortably for a week, seeing the sights of the
wonderful city. Then, when his money was getting low, he tried to get
work, as he wished to remain longer. But Rupert was a farmer, and they
were not in demand within the city limits. Outside the city, Rupert fell
in with a body of travelers who were going West--walking, and riding on
the trains when they had a chance. He joined them. Somehow, he had
ceased to consider what his doings might lead to, and as for misgivings
as to the company he was keeping, that did not trouble him. For many
days there was more walking than riding. Rupert was not expert at
swinging himself under the cars and hanging to the brakebeams, so he
traveled with the more easy-going element, who slept in the haylofts at
night and got what food they could from farmhouses, though Rupert
hoarded his little store of money and usually paid for what he got. Then
he lost all track of time. It must have been far into the summer when
Rupert separated from his companions, and found himself at the base of
the mountains. Here he spent his last cent for a loaf of bread.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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