CHAPTER XX 



WE MAKE A HIT 



We got out early the next morning and began 

 to "mix" a bit with the natives. We learned that 

 this little one-horse town was the supply center 

 for an immense territory surrounding it, and that 

 the farmers in the region were prosperous, owned 

 much stock and had good crops year after year 

 as a result of intelligent application of dry- 

 farming methods. A few had installed private 

 irrigating systems. We also learned that there 

 was a quack living in a town about twenty-five 

 miles away who made regular trips through this 

 region, and from all reports he was "coining 

 money." 



The result of this state of affairs was that we 

 stayed in that little town for ten straight weeks, 

 during which we did around six hundred dollars 

 worth of work. Besides this, we enjoyed every 

 minute of our stay ; the climate there at that time 

 of the year is one of the most healthful and invig- 

 orating in the United States. When you wake 

 up in the morning, you feel like challenging the 

 winner of the last Marathon for the world's 

 championship. 



My brother and I soon felt as though we 

 "belonged;" we joined the local commercial 

 club, and were active members in the community. 



The little burg could boast of a regular base- 

 ball team, and when they discovered that my 



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