Page:Bob Chester's Grit.djvu/92

78 "Not exactly. I'm going to call on some friends, and then go on to Oklahoma."

The mention of Oklahoma roused the stranger to immediate interest.

"You don't say! To what part?"

"I don't know exactly."

"Going to Oklahoma, and you don't know to what part?" repeated the man in surprise.

"I'm going on a ranch somewhere. I was thinking I'd get a map when I got to Chicago, and decide just where."

"Well, if that don't beat anything I ever heard!"

The intonation which the man gave to his words was such that Bob felt that he must give some explanation of his indecision, and he returned:

"You see, I'm going to be a cowboy first, and then a ranch owner, and I didn't want to decide where to go until I could find out where I would have the best chance."

"Well, it certainly is fortunate that fate led me to get into this car of all on the train. I can tell you just the place for you to go."

"Have you ever been to Oklahoma?" inquired Bob.

"Have I ever been there? Well, son, I was there off and on for about ten years, when the government first opened up the land, and you