or had he been too credulous?

Kendall had told him that he and his father were wealthy. That besides
their large fruit farm, they were interested in a general store and
commission business. He had promised Checkers that if he would but
consent to see him to his home in Clarksville, he should be given a
good position in the store, and that if after they arrived there he
found that he did not care to remain, he should have transportation to
any place in the country he cared to go. And to Checkers, disheartened
and penniless, out of conceit with gambling, and satiated with the
excitement and uncertainty of the life he had been leading, the
opportunity seemed a very godsend. Thoughts of the country, green and
cool, appealed to him with a grateful sense of restfulness and quiet;
and the idea of going to work again at something legitimate brought
with it the feeling of conscious approval, which always accompanies
virtuous resolves.

But since Kendall had become himself again, he seemed to have grown
less dependent and thankful. And again the glimpse that Checkers had
caught of the place had greatly dampened his ardor.

An hour dragged slowly by, and still he lay restlessly tossing about.
The roosters began to crow and answer each other from point to point in
the distance; and a hound near by with a mournful howl bayed dismally
at intervals.

'Twas the strangeness of it all that kept him wakeful, but at last the
tension was relieved by a knocking at the door of the room beyond which
aroused a couple of drummers, who were called to catch an early train.
He heard them through the thin partition, dressing and grumbling at
their luck. Here at least was something natural, and gradually the
humorous side of the situation appealed to him. He smiled, as with a
long-drawn sigh he murmured, "I think I 'll get fat here, nit," and
when he awoke it was broad daylight, and Kendall was standing over him,
dressed.

"Hello, old man, awake at last," laughed Kendall. "Well, you better
get up and dress, or we 're apt to miss our breakfast. How did you
sleep? All right, I hope; you look as fresh as a mountain daisy."

Checkers crawled slowly out of bed. "Well, then my looks are a
horrible bluff," he said, with the slight, sardonic smile which was
usual to him at nearly all times. "I feel like the last end of a
misspent life," and he fished a sock out from under the bed. "Do you
know," he continued, as he held his shirt aloft,