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 — April4—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 
