The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-07-01

Annie, Paul and Nell had ,one to tn" foothills of the mountains to spend day picnIckng on the desert. At home. In the East when they went out to enjoy the day there were so many lovely shady places to choose from that 1t was often question of which spot should be se- lected for the days outing. But away out here In New Mexico 1t was quite diff ferent, for there were no groves nor streams clear and cool. with shady. grassy banks. Dull-colored sandwich afford ed life to no vegetation save the gray sage brush and cacti-stretched every where and served as a reflector for the sun, whose burning rays beat relentlessly down. baking everything they touched.
 The children carried with them baskets of luncheon, or rather their pack burro carried them. for the distance to the foot hills was too great to allow of their walking, and each child made the way across the trackless waste of sand on the back of a lazy burro. the pack animal following with his eyes shut, possibly dreaming of the things that had happened In his uneyentful life of toll.
 About 10 o'clock found them at the place of destination. place which at ulSluHCe uuu upPcuicu hhSh hho'S 'H'i' ing than 1t really was. From where they were living for the summer this particu- lar spot at the base of the foothills looked purple. shady and cool. But dls' tance had lent its entertainment, as Annie Paul and Nell discovered on close ap- proach, and the deep, shady canyon they had hoped to find slowly faded away, and In It's place yawned n smooth hollow 4kat lxAtx fxnA hollow bare of anything save shifting. col orless sands
 Well, there's no use feeling dlSap- pontcd,' declared Paul. We were told down at camp by those who knew that we'd better stay there and eat our pic nic dinrcr in the de of the dobe ho- tel, or go out to tent town and visit with the campers. But for one, I'm not sorry, for it's been sport coming across the sand on these solemn donkeys. It put me In mind of the camels that carry people across the Saraha. They say they are the most solemn and intelligent of beasts.'
 Well, ln the matter of intelligence these burros are surely quite unlike the camel" said Nell. dismounting and turn ing her burro loose to wander where 1t wished You see the thing Is too stupid to budge from it's tracks, Here 1t would stand till doomsday unless someone should guide it away
 That Is all the better for us.' de- clared Annie. also springing from her burros back to the soft sand. We can let them stand here while we go up inc T ountain to see what Is to be seen.'
 Suppose we rest here tlll eating time," said Paul. lifting the luncheon baskets from the pack burro. Its no use to hunt for shady spot. for we wouldn't find 1t this side the Missouri River Val ley. And as cur time Is bit limited we'll not be able to so there today
 "0h, l think picnic on the desert Is just the thing!" exclaimed Nell. Tt will be so unusual. and we'll tell the folks all about 1t Then we return tsast."
 Sure, half the pleasure comes h tell Ing of it to others,' assented Annie. Where would be the fun in anything unless you could talk about 1t to your friends 2'
 Then the three children, whose pa rents had indulgently allowed them to come off by themEelves for days outing. decided