The Washington times., 1925-07-14
CHAPTER xxx.

the sand with only the wierd.
faatastic,snared cactf TO break
The mohofony. 4 could still. hear
the discordant strains of the
dance.hall fiddTes. and decided to,
keep on going until I could mo
longer hear. them.
AT the same time 1 was care
fnl to look back occasionally to
make sure that the twinkling
lights OF the little place were still
In sight. I had read tales of men
lost on the desert and wandering
In circles until crazed with thirst
and heat before falling in a final
CULVER to have their bones picked
by coyotes and left to, bleach in
the merciless sun. Such an end.
ing didn't appeal to me.
The dance music grew :airter
and fainter. until at last I no
longer heard it. walked on and
on before deciding to turn back.
/ stretched out on the sand for
q brief rest. The stars. brilliant
and big, seemed to have come
half way. down to earth. The
stiffness was oppressive. There
was not a sound. / almost inn
agined I could hear the circula-
ton of my blood. The cacti locked
like black ghosts about me.
RattIesnakes.
1 grew nervous and jumped to.
my feet. AS. I did so I heard
the terrible warning of rattle
snake close by. The sound left
me bereft of volition, for the
fraction of a second only. ] had,
no idea from which direction the
rattle had come. but leaped back
wards eonyulsively. then ran. It
was some time before I broke
into a. walk. -
II was mighty thankful that
had not been drinking, / might
have ignored that rattle, think
ing it unreal. and I might have
jumped into a cruel cactus for
the same reason. Booze, booze,
boozei 1t was always on my
mind. There I was, four miles
out on the Arizona desert, and
yet alcohol and its horrors OBJ.
sessed me-. I shuddered and
hurried on.
Day was faint on the eastern I.
horizon, though it was still dark.
when another strange sound oh
truded At first it was distant
and faint, but it came steadily
nearer and louder, thud-thud-
thuEthud-thud -1thud' thudt =
: 1 stood still, trying to imagine
what it could be. Presently.
some distance from me, l de-
scribed a large animal trotting
steadily forward in a direct line.
It was followed by another, then
another and another, until thirty
or forty had hudded past. pay
ing absolutely no attention to me.
when i arrived back at the
Marfcopa station it was broad
daylight. 1 talked with a native
and learned that the rattlesnakes
lie on s the hot sand all night in
the desert lands. 1 also learned
that the animals had seen in
single file were half-wild horses
which made. regular early morn
ing excursions coolest period
In the twenty-four hours-to
their water hole and then re-
turned to their scant feeding
places for. the day.
Chance to Escape.
1t was a dreary, barren coun-
try through which the little train
passed during the first half hour
or SO after leaving Maricopa. But
gradually came Vegetation, green
and LUSCIOUS to look. upon.s and
before we reached Phoenix we
were travelling through a veri-
table paradise Of verdure. A TEL
low passenger informed me that
the Roosevelt dam, from which
the Salt River valley was irrigat-
ed. was responsible for the
change.
This all used to be barren des-
ert," he said Now it's fit for hu-
mans to live in and a gold mine
of productiveness. Some day his
whole country will be reclaimed,
and maybe there won't be so
many poor people starving to
death in the big cities"
At Phoenix l registered, at the
Adams, bathed, had breakfast and
then went out on the street 10
lopk. about. 1t. was not yet 0
: O'Clock. yet it was fearfuHy hot
All the men saw were in Palm
Beach trousers and coatless.
Some were wearing ventilated des-
-.