"I wrote to my sister what I had done, and I found that she also felt
as I did about it. Every summer I come here and see that the
hollyhocks grow and flourish as we wish them to; and, at her request, I
gather and send to her some of the blooms. These in my lap are for
that purpose, and two weeks from now she will be weeping over them in
her London home. If we could only have known--then--how we should feel
about it now!"




THE RISE, FALL, AND REDEMPTION OF JOHNSON SIDES

The day was hot, and the wind was high, and the alkali dust from the
sagebrush plains sifted into the car, and whitened the stuffy
upholstering, and burrowed into the nerves of the passengers.
Everybody longed for the coming of night, and the relief of the climb
up the cool heights of the Sierras.

I looked out on the sun-flooded platform at Winnemucca and wondered,
with a feeling of irritation against all things earthly, what I should
do with myself during all the long, hot, and uncomfortable hours that
were still to be endured. And then I saw the big, broad-shouldered
figure and the round, good-natured face of the Nevadan enter the car
and come straight toward my section. At once I forgot the heat and the
alkali dust, and my heart sang with joy, for I knew the Nevadan of old,
and knew him for the prince of story tellers. So there was content in
my soul and foreknowledge of delightful entertainment with tales new
and old. For the Nevadan's old stories are just as interesting as his