Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-02-22

Richard followed to the back Of the
dust-swept, sttling car. The glare on
the platform was intense. lie stood
watching the newly made checkerboard
OF country slip past him. Receding
were the two lines of cleaning steel
rails which connected and separated
him from The world outside. He was
going in" Not In Mexico even had
he such feeling of ultimate remote
ness. The mountains. converging per-
spectively toward the throat Of the
valley, looked elusive and unreal in
their gnuze draperies of rose and vio-
let. The tender hour of day was cloth
ing them with mystery, softening their
sharp outlines. They curtained the
world beyond. Richard felt the sus-
pense Of the next act.
1t was a torpid Imagination, he
thought, which would not quicken over
this conqucs of the desert. East of
the tract mc1 and teams were prepar-
Ing the newly FUR we'd ground or The
seed. The curved land knigC5 WC-a
breaking up the rich mold into ridges
of soft soil rs uncohesiYe and feathery
as puverizel chocolate. It was the
dark color OF the chocolate Of COM
mercc, this silt which had been pil-
fered from the states through which
the vagrant river wandered. The smell
of the upturned earth, swectly damp,
struck against his nostrile Richard
indnlged a minute of whimsical fancy;
this was California territory over
which his train was passing, but the
soil, that dark earth those blades were
crulnbing, was it not the tribute OF
other states, of despoiing Wyoming,
of ravishing Colorado and Arizona?
To the west new squares were being
leyeled and outlined, Shrubby rec
tangles were being cleared Of their Gre
osote bush and tough mesquite. Com
pared with other countries, the prepa-
ration for planting was the simplest.
Horses were dragging over the ground
"A railroad rail bent into a V angle,
which pulled the bushes by the roots
and dragged them out of the way. Be
yond, farther west, could be seen the
untouched desert. The surface for
many miles was cracked by water
lines, broken and baked into irregular
sand cakes; the mark of sand which
has been imprisoned by water and
branded by swift heat
Close by men were putting in with
care the seed that was to quicken the
river silt. They were passing a square
where the green tips of the grain
were piercing the ground. Now they
were abreast of Il field of matured al
falfa over which the wind raced CRATE
fully. Desert and grain field; death
and life! The panorama embraced the
whole cycle.
They went back to their seats. After
few minutes the other leaned over
his shoulder, his hand waving toward
the passing mountains. Those are the
Superstition mountains you can see
over yonder. An unusually apt name."
"Yes?"
"Why is it good, you mean? That
pile of dark rock stands as a monu-
ment to an effete superstition. 1t is
the gravestone for a gigantic mistake.
Why, it was only the grossest igno-
rance that gave to the desert the label
of bad lands The desert is con-
dition, not a fact. Here you see the
passing of the condition, the burial of
the superstition. Are yousinterested in
irrigaton?"
Richard was not given to explain
the degree of interest his profession
involved, for the stranger drew pain
full breath, and went on.
"Of course you are, if you are q
western man. You are, Think"
The engineer said he was, by choice.
"Irrigation is the creed of the West.
Gold brought people to this country;
water. scientifically applied, will keep
them here. Look at Riverside. And
we are at the primer stage only. We
are way behind the ancients in infor-
nation on that subject. | learned al
schdal.- so did you, that some of the
most glorioys civilizations flourished
in spite of the desert which surround
ed them. That was only half truth
Tbav were preot bpcauSa of if Whv