MOBBED IN ARIZONA 211 



granted, his long-tailed relative, the sage sparrow 

 (Amphispiza belli nevadensis), may have teased 

 me by his shyness. Both these birds are said to 

 be famous enliveners of the desert, though 

 neither of them in their present silent state quite 

 lives up to his reputation, and will doubtless 

 become prime favorites with me if I remain here 

 long enough really to know them. Where should 

 simple, hearty melodies find appreciation, if not 

 in the desert ? 



I am slow in coming to the point of my story ; 

 and with reason. It is not pleasant to be mobbed ; 

 there is nothing to boast of in such an adven- 

 ture ; nothing to flatter one's sense of personal 

 importance ; one is not apt to speak of it con 

 amore, as we say. Some things are best slipped 

 over in silence. So I have noticed that men who 

 have served their country in prison will always 

 contrive by one path or another to go round 

 the name of that unpopular institution. But I 

 have begun, and there is nothing for it but to 

 finish. 



"Well, then, I had walked perhaps a mile and 

 a half beyond the university buildings, which is 

 the same as to say beyond the limits of the town, 

 and found myself approaching a lonely ranch, 

 when a flock of ravens, white-necked ravens, 

 which abound hereabout "the multitudinous 



