A delightful book with a somewhat corny plot but with memorable characters. The Civil War is going but Texan Johnny Hawkes takes no sides. Charged with delivering two camels to a farm in Bright Star, Indiana, Hawkes takes off with a young sidekick orphan, Ben Butterfield, and an Egyptian handler of the animals, Hadjee who speaks very little English. The story then follows the on the road adventures mainly through Missouri. Soon a young man joins them, but it is discovered this is really a young girl escaping from Billy Goodheart, a cruel usually drunk man who claims the group has stolen money from a bank in Marshfield. Queen Elizabeth Jones proves to be a resourceful, spunky, and devoted friend. As the group travels from town to town, they meet a colorful cast of characters. Dr. Pingee is a peddler in a colorful wagon who travels with them for some time. After Johnny is arrested in Rolla for supposedly stealing a Union horse, Ben, Queen Elizabeth Jones, and Hadjee travel on to St. Louis to await Johnny.

Their adventures take all kinds of turns. They are mistakenly taken for lost family survivors of a dead man and receive the inheritance which is one Mexican silver coin. Chances are the real survivors would receive much more but the Reverend and surviving housekeeper appear generous in their hospitality probably keeping the bigger inheritance for themselves. Ben comes across two Indian horse trainers and manages to break a striking horse which he gets to keep, only to lose it later.

Everywhere the group travels, the camels become a fascination to the people in the towns and farms, many who have never seen such animals - some believing they have recently come from a Crusade. They meet a man determined to go to Washington DC to tell Lincoln how to end the war, they meet up with a ragtag traveling circus; they have an adventurous escape in a hot air balloon.

Between chapters of the story are chapters told by Ben as an older man managing a hardware store in a small backwater town somewhere. His wife, Hilda, is insisting on installing a telephone which Ben sees no use for. He reminisces about his earlier adventures in contrast with the "modern" changes of the late century. The alternating chapters which at first I didn't appreciate become quite humorous.

This is just a charming book filled with fun, a bit of sadness, and told by an author that seems to be smiling all the way through. ( )