206 WALKS ABOUT TALLAHASSEE. 



other qualities, our merry greenbacker was 

 a reasonably competent hand at a bargain ; 

 so that I was not in the least surprised 

 when his seat-mate told me afterward, in a 

 tone of much respect, that the " Colonel " 

 owned a very comfortable property at St. 

 Augustine. But his best possession, I still 

 thought, was his humor and his own gener- 

 ous appreciation of it. To enjoy one's own 

 jokes is to have a pretty safe insurance 

 against inward adversity. 



Happily, I say, this good-humored talker 

 sat within hearing. Happily, too, it was 

 now April 4 the height of the season 

 for flowering dogwood, pink azalea, fringe- 

 bushes, Cherokee roses, and water lilies. 

 All these had blossomed abundantly, and 

 mile after mile the wilderness and the soli- 

 tary place were glad for them. Here and 

 there, also, I caught flying glimpses of 

 some unknown plant bearing a long upright 

 raceme of creamy-white flowers. It might 

 be a white lupine, I thought, till at one of 

 our stops between stations it happened to be 

 growing within reach. Then I guessed it to 

 be a Baptisia, which guess was afterward 

 confirmed to my regret ; for the flowers 



