We Brushed The Dust Of The Gila Valley From Our Clothes, I
Unearthed A Hat From Somewhere, And Some Wraps Which Had Not Seen
The Light For Nearly Two Years, And Prepared To Board The Train.
I cried out in my mind, the prayer of the woman in one of
Fisher's Ehrenberg stories, to which I used to listen with
unmitigated delight, when I lived there.
The story was this:
"Mrs. Blank used to live here in Ehrenberg; she hated the place
just as you do, but she was obliged to stay. Finally, after a
period of two years, she and her sister, who had lived with her,
were able to get away. I crossed over the river with them to
Lower California, on the old rope ferry-boat which they used to
have near Ehrenberg, and as soon as the boat touched the bank,
they jumped ashore, and down they both went upon their knees,
clasped their hands, raised their eyes to Heaven, and Mrs. Blank
said: 'I thank Thee, oh Lord! Thou hast at last delivered us from
the wilderness, and brought us back to God's country. Receive my
thanks, oh Lord!'"
And then Fisher used to add: "And the tears rolled down their
faces, and I knew they felt every word they spoke; and I guess
you'll feel about the same way when you get out of Arizona, even
if you don't quite drop on your knees," he said.
The soldiers did not look half so picturesque, climbing into the
cars, as they did when loading onto a barge; and when the train
went across the bridge, and we looked down upon the swirling red
waters of the Great Colorado from the windows of a luxurious
Pullman, I sighed; and, with the strange contradictoriness of the
human mind, I felt sorry that the old days had come to an end.
For, somehow, the hardships and deprivations which we have
endured, lose their bitterness when they have become only a
memory.
CHAPTER XXVIII
CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
A portion of our regiment was ordered to Oregon, to join General
Howard, who was conducting the Bannock Campaign, so I remained
that summer in San Francisco, to await my husband's return.
I could not break away from my Arizona habits. I wore only white
dresses, partly because I had no others which were in fashion,
partly because I had become imbued with a profound indifference
to dress.
"They'll think you're a Mexican," said my New England aunt (who
regarded all foreigners with contempt). "Let them think," said I;
"I almost wish I were; for, after all, they are the only people
who understand the philosophy of living. Look at the tired faces
of the women in your streets," I added, "one never sees that sort
of expression down below, and I have made up my mind not to be
caught by the whirlpool of advanced civilization again."
Added to the white dresses, I smoked cigarettes, and slept all
the afternoons.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 104 of 142
Words from 53010 to 53509
of 72945
