The Washington times., 1938-10-06
IN MOJAVE
THE desert'll do things to

- you, give IL less than nalI q
chance. That was an article
lin the credo of Barnaby Gil,
logly, who ought to know.
It'll make you healthy If you're
sick and if you amt sick it knows
how to turn you into the miser'
ablest critter that ever bleacheo
his bones on a hunk Of porpnyry
rock. Yep. 1t can make you rich
if you're poor and vicy-versy. Son,
I've heered folks out on my desert
set around seriously and argufy
with one another trying to lind
ary good reason why the Good
Lord built the desert at all.
Il never let on that I knowed
all the time. But I did. And do.
The Good Lord set the desert
there jist fer to show us stumplin'
humans what a poor lot we are.
It's hell fer them that amt fitten
to live there and heaven fer them
that are"
HIS DESERT HAVEN
Yes, Barnaby Gillogly ought to
know. He sits these days on a
crag hard by the rocky ramparts
that form a border of Death Val
ley. He doesn't sport a milton
dollar castle like Death Valley
Scotty but his place certainly has
all the comforts of home. It's air
conditioned and down a piece
from the flower.bordered flag.
stones in front Of the house
there's a spring.
The spring is really where he
lives with his pets. The lizards
have special section off by
themselves where no one bothers
them. The black minnows live in
water along with a sprinkling of
bright-finned goldfish. The pack.
rats have special diggings Of heir
own.
And in a corral under the shade
of some giant cottonwoods the
four burros amble around all day
waiting for night to come so they
can sound off. Barnaby Gillosly
will tell you-and mean 1t:
'Bub, there aren't no music any
where that soothes the soul OF
man like a burro with a good, hot
tenor voice practicin' his high C's."
Not always was it thus with
3arnaby Gillogly. But the events
that brought about Barnabys S
present happiness and prosperity
are well known to the oldtimers
around.
It seems that in his early days
Barnaby had little use for women.
Give him his burro, Hank, enough
grub to last him three months and
he asked for no more. Out into the
fathomless reaches Of the MojaVe
he would trek on his everlasting
search for gold.
Sometimes he found a little,
and he'd wander back into the
settlements with a stake, hang
around a while, lose his money
playing solo, and outfit himself
for another lonely journey.
"oRDAINED LIFE"
It seemed as if this sort of thing
was ordained to be his life. That
after so or go years he'd fold
up and become a real desert
mummy instead Of only having the
of one.
He had a pile Of old, weather.
beaten boards with a leaky roof
over them that he called his home.
It sat and sizzled on a dirt road
near the struggling hamlet Of
Horned Toad which Barnaby al
ways meant when he said he was
"goin' to town"
There was a clump of joshua
trees in front Of the shack. One
night as Barnaby was arriving
home from a solo bingo he no
ticed by the light Of the full moon,
a string, or rope, hanging from the
biggest joshua tree. Idly he
reached out and took hold Of the
rope.
There seemed to be something |
on the other end Of it. So he kept |
a-pullin' and pullin' and presently
came to the end to which he saw
a piece Of paper attached. He
read:
Dear Mr.. Gillogly: I happened
to be passing and was tired so I
stopped to rest. Then I got hun
cry and used a can Of your beans.
A man like you ought to keep
plenty of tea handy. It's the
healthiest drink for desert people
Some time I'll show you how Z
keep my tea nice and cool with
out ice. Thank you so much.
Hattie Paynter."
"P. S. I am the school teacher
at Horned Toad. H. p"
Next day Barnaby tied a scraw!
to the joshua tree before departing
for town. Dear Lady, it read,