The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-09-17

aM 7nsHn-s.ass tE, SSSaza1Ayzdt -Ssa
- j
DO YOU REMEMBER THE TIME LICKED
YOU?"
work silk stocking and sandal-slipper,
and at the other end a dark, youthful,
oval face, with glorious ewes and dull.
black hair. a voice of music asked:
What is lacustrine, papa?"
Miriam 20
II haven't been asleep. What is lacus-
trine?"
ASK the professor"
"Lacus, you know, my DEAR" said the
latter, means fresh water indications as
against salt"
Then how does Great Salt Lake,
"Oh, Tor that matter, the whole ocean
wes fresh originally. Moisture, evapora-
ton, precipitation. Water is a great
solvent; earthquakes break the crust,
and there you are.''
Then, before the earthquakes, the
salt Lakes were fresh?" rejoined the
hammock.
There was fresh water west of the
ROCK les and south of-why," cried the
Professor, interrupting himself, when L
was IN Wyoming and around there, this
spring, in what they call the Bad Lands
cliffs and buttes of indurated vel
low clay and sandstone, worn and
carved out by floods long before
the Aztecs started to move out of
Canada saw fossil bones sticking out
of the cliffs, the least Of which would
make the fortune of museum. That
was between the Rockies and the Wah-
satch."
Peoples bones ?' asked the hammock.
aUltatlnp itself 2D.jn and oh q
glimpse Of smooth throat and slender
ankle.
''Bless my soul! IF there were people
IN those days they must have had an
anxious time of itv' returned the sage.
NO, no, my dear. There was bronto-
saurus, and atlantosaurus, and hydro
saurus, and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, you
know, not like these little black fellows
that run about in the pulverized feIdspar
here, but chaps eighty or hundred feet
long, and twenty or thirty high; and
turtles as big as house."
How did they get there?"
Got mired while they were feeding,
perhaps; or the water drained off and
left them high and dry"
But where did the water go to?''
The General chuckled at this juncture,
and lit another cigar. ''She knows more
questions than you do the answers to
them," quoth he. "But 1 wouldn't mind
hearing where the water went to, myself.
l should like to see some of it come back
again"
ASK the earthquakes and the sun.
There's 100 degrees of heat in some of
these valleys-abySses, rather, 800 or 400
feet below sea level. The earth is very
thin-skinned in this region, too, and
whatever wasn't evaporated from above
would be likely to come to grief under
MEATH"
''But, Professor" said the musical
voice, ST thought there was law that
water always seeks its own level. So
how can there be empty places below sea-
level ?"
Its the fault of theanerofd barometer.
my dear. We were very comfortable and
commonplace until that came along and
revealed anomalies. The secret lies, [
suppose, in the trend of the strata. which
is generally north and south. You see
the ridges cropping out all through the
desert; and there's good deal
of lava oozing over them, too.
They probably act as walls, to prevent
the sea from getting in from the west, or
the Colorado leaking in from the east"
in that case" remarked the General,
ga little seismic disturbance might pro-
duce change"
ut would have to be more than little,
I suspect" returned Meschines.
'Kamaiakan told me that the Indians
have prophecy that a great lake will
come back and make the desert fruitful,
and that there are some who know the
very place where the water will begin to
fow." And there the hammock, with
final CONFUSION, gave birth to beauti-
ful young woman, in diaphanous silk
dress and white lace mantilla. She
crossed the veranda, and seated herself
on the broad arm OF her fathers chair.
"Why, that's importantly said the Gen
eral, arching his brows. 81 wonder if
Kamaiakan is one OF those who know the
place? If so, 1t might be worth his while
to let me into the secret.''
'tOh. you couldn't go there! It's en-
chanted, and people who go near it die.
There are bones all about there nowu
'"This Kamaiakan appears to be a re-
markable parsonage; where did you pick
him up?' inquired the Professor.
1T was rather the other day." Tired
noke replied, taking one of his daugh-
ter's hands in his, and caressing it. I'VE
are appendages to kan1aiakan. You look
so natural sitting there. Meschines, that 1
forgot it's thirty years since we met,
and that all the significant events of my
life have happened in that time-the
Mexican war, my marriage and the
rest of it! l have been widower ten
years"
And I've been bachelor for over
sixtyi" said Meschines, with queer eX-
preston. ''Your wife was Spanish, was
she not?''
Her father was Mexican of Andalu-
sian descent. But her mother was de-
scended from the race of AZatlan; there
are records and relics indicating that her
ancestors were princes in Tenochtitlan
before Cortez made trouble there"
And Pve been losing my heart to a
princess, and never realized my audaci-
tyi" exclaimed the Professor, laying his
hand on his waistcoat and making an
obeisance to Miriam.
She tossed her free foot and plaved with
the fringe of her rebosa.
II viii tell my maid to look for it,n she
said; "but l think you must have left il
in papa's curiosity-room"
mo: Pm an Aztec sacrificed, cried tbe
Professor, and they all laughed. zone
would have hardly anticipated" he re-
sumed after pause, addressing Tired
noke, shat you would have made