First Expedition to Kansas Chalk 33 



I put my soul into the letter I wrote him, for this 

 was my last chance. I told him of my love for 

 science, and of my earnest longing to enter the 

 chalk of western Kansas and make a collection of 

 its wonderful fossils, no matter what it might cost 

 me in discomfort and danger. I said, however, 

 that I was too poor to go at my own expense, and 

 asked him to send me three hundred dollars to buy 

 a team of ponies, a wagon, and a camp outfit, and 

 to hire a cook and driver. I sent no recommenda- 

 tions from well-known men as to my honesty or 

 executive ability, mentioning only my work in the 

 Dakota Group. 



I was in a terrible state of suspense when I had 

 despatched the letter, but, fortunately, the Profes- 

 sor responded promptly, and when I opened the 

 envelope, a draft for three hundred dollars fell at 

 my feet. The note which accompanied it said : " I 

 like the style of your letter. Enclose draft. Go to 

 work/' or words to the same effect. 



That letter bound me to Cope for four long years, 

 and enabled me to endure immeasurable hardships 

 and privations in the barren fossil fields of the West; 

 and it has always been one of the joys of my life 

 to have known intimately in field and shop the great- 

 est naturalist America has produced. 



As soon as the frost was out of the ground, hav- 

 ing secured a team of ponies and a boy to drive 



