Arizona republican., 1922-05-13

covery, to be anything but grateful
and cheerful.
And such a marvellous world around
him He could wander at will, eith-
er among the weird beauties OF the
raw desert, or in the fragrant lanes
of semi tropical garden. But the
desert fascinated him most. The
pages OF. Ione's book on photography
were responsible for this. In them he
learned about the nearby mountains,
standing proofs of the internal rev.
olutions which went on countless ages
ago, in the bowels of the earth Yield
ing to tn upward pressure OCCASION
ed by these commissions the stratified
crust had slowly but steadily gone up,
breaking here and there 1t would
finally have given way altogether
and now presented a volcanic aspect,
had not the disturbances shifted west
ward where to this day numerous
lava mountains are found. AS this
huge portion of the continent rose
the sea receded. exposing a vast tract
of land, giving birth to what was
destined to finally become a goodly
portion of the state of Arizona. Dur
ing the centuries which followed, ma
ture. using her slow but effective
tools--water. wind, gravity--carved
these protruding humps into fan
tastic mountains. Using the sedi-
nlent to fill the broken spaces and
hollows, there were created broad
valleys which joined each other In
forming an immense, almost even
floor from which the lofty peaks rise
like so many islands. In these wall
leys. peculiar plants, drawing on ma
lures unlimited Etock--time--adapt
ed themselves to the long periods of
drought which became their lot in
the new state OF things, by Develop
ing thick water retaining skins For
protection against animal attack they
armed themselves with strong and
numerous thistles Some OF these
plants, pushing water economy to
further limits, enclosed their branch
es within the thick and thorny bark
OF their trunks and limbs, thus defy
ing the scorching summer SUM- their
whole silhouettfng fanciful shapes
against backgrounds, ever assuming
different shades Of blue. Others less
crude in their methods. boldly rami-
fled In the warm air; but manufac-
turing within themselves a thick oil
or gum which they send to all their
parts, thus preventing the evapora-
ton of the precious moisture. as well
as making themselves anything but
palatAble All these now thrive to
such an extent as to cause one to
wonder why this was ever called a
desert And in season they all send
forth buds and flowers OF unsur-
passed beauty, choosing the gayest
colors and the most exquisite forms.
Old Camel Back
Nature seems to have layished her
art on one of the mountains, the
Camel Back. Well was it bap-
tized, for it looks like a huge
sQuatted camel peacefully sIumber-
ing on the placid desert. What q
splendid view one must have from
the very top of it, George had often
thought. The idea became YER
liable obsession with him. And he
told Miss Norton.
For now they were having daily
chats together. He would be on the
road to meet her on her return from
school He would lead her pony and
they would walk a little way to-
gether. engaging often In the nom
consequential talk OF young couples,
but sometimes in poetical admiration
Of this interesting country, consid-
cred desolate by so many. She en-
joyed his company exceedingly and
she felt that she grew fond of him.
He did not come into her life as a
better or different man than those
she was acquainted with, for the
western MAI Is not wanting in moral
pulchritude. But she had been at
tracted to him from the very first. in
spite OF her Unborn prejudice toward
those unfortunates who had fallen
victim to the white plague. So there
grew a beautiful young love, born on
an enchanted desert, self-contained
as the big cactus, as warm and pure
as the atmosphere that surrounded
it, as beautiful a blossom as that Of
the ocatilla. Sometimes they would
walk hand in hand, uttering not a
single word unconscious of every
thing around them The gaunt jack
rabbit would stop abruptly and in
tently look at them, in its peculiar
way. as though overtaken with sur
prise. The cottontail rabbit would
dart out of the greasewood bushes,
under their very feet. The chip
munks, with their rock worn tails,
would stand on the alert, near their
holes. The flat horned toad would
swiftly get out of their way, dis
turbed in its feast on the big red
ants. An occasional gila monster,
with its warning colors, would slug
gishly crawl on in search of its prey.
Rarely, a blue racer snake would
streak by leaving but swish in it's