Casey earned a good deal of money, but there are men who are very good at finding original ways of losing money, too.

Casey was one.

(You should hear Casey unburden himself sometime upon the subject of garages and the tourist trade!) He saved money enough in Patmos to buy two burros and a mule, and what grub and tools the burros could carry.

There were no poker games in Patmos, and a discouraged prospector happened along at the right moment, which accounts for it.
In this speed-hungry age Casey had not escaped the warped viewpoint which others assume toward travel.

Casey always had craved the sensation of swift moving through space.