I would make all this up to her if I could. I went into Madison, much as
a man goes to his wedding; only the woman of my dreams was my mother.
But I felt as I did that night when I returned to Tempe after my first
summer on the canal--full of hope and anticipation, and yet with a
feeling in my heart that again something would stand in my way.
CHAPTER V
THE END OF A LONG QUEST
I went to seek my mother in my best clothes. I had bought some new
things in Milwaukee, and was sure that my appearance would comfort her
greatly. Instead of being ragged, poverty-stricken, and
neglected-looking, I was a picture of a clean, well-clothed working boy.
I had on a good corduroy suit, and because the weather was cold, I wore
a new Cardigan jacket. My shirt was of red flannel, very warm and thick;
and about my neck I tied a flowered silk handkerchief which had been
given me by a lady who was very kind to me once during a voyage by
canal, and was called "my girl" by the men on the boat. I wore good kip
boots with high tops, with shields of red leather at the knees, each
ornamented with a gilt moon and star--the nicest boots I ever had; and I
wore my pants tucked into my boot-tops so as to keep them out of the
snow and also to show these glories in leather. With clouded woolen
mittens on my hands, given me as a Christmas present by Mrs. Fogg,
Captain Sproule's sister, that winter I worked for her near Herkimer,
and a wool cap, trimmed about with a broad band of mink fur, and a long
crocheted woolen comforter about my neck, I was as well-dressed a boy
for a winter's day as a body need look for.
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