202 TEXAS AND ARIZONA 



But his generalization was hasty, as generali- 

 zations are apt to be. They were Brewer's black- 

 birds the handsomest of grackles ; birds that I 

 had seen for the first time, at Del Rio, only the 

 week before. I did not stay to admire their iri- 

 descence, but declining an invitation to ride (it 

 was too cold for that, though the man was just 

 going to harness up, he said), I buttoned another 

 button and hastened on. The two or three per- 

 sons I met each had something to say about the 

 weather, but nobody stopped for prolonged com- 

 ment. Short speeches and quick steps, or another 

 crack at the mule, were the order of the day. 

 Even at the South a man will generally hurry a 

 little rather than freeze to death. 



Well, the experience was more amusing than 

 uncomfortable, after all, and I reached the hotel 

 door just as ram began falling. Before night 

 snow was mingled with the rain, and the next 

 morning I saw a small boy, his eyes dancing with 

 brightness, making a tiny snow image to stand 

 upon the front-yard fence, while the mountains 

 that fairly surround the city, as they do the 

 Holy City in the Hebrew psalm were dazzling 

 white. The mud was beyond belief, the walking 

 laborious; but as I paused now and then for 

 breath or to recover my footing, and saw all that 

 glory about me, I thanked my stars that I was 



