Was Tom Frothingham, a neighbor,
Who had lived near Billy's claim.


14

Bit by bit he told the story--
How he'd wandered all around
Since he left his Kansas homestead
And the folks near North Pole mound;
How he'd traveled all through Texas
With the roving fever on,
Camping oft in strange new places,
Where no other soul had gone.
So the news, now half forgotten
In his absence from the place,
Came in broken recollections--
Careful efforts to retrace
All the incidents of interest
To the sick one listening there,
Who, with pale and careworn features,
Heard the story with despair.


15

"Three weeks after you left Kansas
I hitched up and came away.
Still, I reckoned you intended
To improve your claim and stay;