A Trip to Tucuman 267 



the girl sat her saddle. I leaned out of the window to 

 watch the exciting scene, and when I caught the last 

 glimpse of her she was evidently getting the mastery 

 of her unwilling mount. Her skill and pluck were 

 equal to those of any guacho. 



The sunset came with a glory too rich for words or 

 palette to depict. Huge clouds hung in the eastern 

 sky above the dark emerald green of the horizon. As 

 the sun went down all the colors of the spectrum were 

 revealed in the heavens. The clouds which had been 

 white became yellow, then pink, then orange, then 

 crimson; between their soaring masses the sky ranged 

 from apple-green near the horizon to the deepest cobalt 

 in the vault above. The glory of the sky was reflected 

 upon the land. The green of the leagues of growing 

 grain was reddened and transformed into a rich olive 

 tint, the plowed fields became russet touched with 

 gold. The dull uniformity of the landscape seemed to 

 be lost in the weltering splendor of the dying day, and 

 when the sun had set, and the world below grew dark, 

 the glory still lingered among the pinnacles of the 

 clouds high overhead. When at last deep night had 

 fallen, from the damp herbage rose the fire-flies. In 

 places they fairly swarmed, and appeared to be larger 

 and to emit a stronger light than the species we know 

 in the United States. From their flight I judged them 

 to be true Lampyrids, belonging to the same group of 

 insects which we know in the United States, not the 

 Elater noctilucus of the tropics, the "mooney' of the 

 Jamaican negroes, which I subsequently saw on my 

 journey, and which gives forth a different glow. 



Having been reminded that the dinner hour had come, 

 I repaired to the dining-car and found myself placed 

 opposite to a young lady, beside whom a stout gentle- 



