PIGEONS AND BEAR 61 



was responsible for unusually poor forage from 

 Cedar Creek onward. Not a blade of grass re- 

 lieved the sage brush here, and to our regret we 

 were compelled to tie the horses up unfed while 

 we cooked our own luncheon and rested for two 

 hours in the shade of the cottonwood. 



We were scarcely through eating when black 

 clouds loomed up in the western sky and in an 

 incredibly short time a terrific thunder storm 

 was upon us. The lightning was sharp, the 

 thunder jarred the earth, and for an hour rain 

 fell in torrents. As suddenly as the storm came 

 it passed, every vestige of cloud dissolved, and 

 though the sun shone again with unabated 

 brilliancy, the atmosphere was cooled and the 

 afternoon balmy and delightful. 



No water was to be had between Cedar Creek 

 and the Carrizo Canon, twelve miles beyond, 

 but here we found a murky, ill-smelling stream 

 coursing down between the canon walls. The 

 canon was bare of forage, and when the animals 

 and ourselves had slaked our thirst at the brook 

 we climbed to the farther rim, hobbled and 

 turned the horses loose to feed in sparse-grow- 

 ing grass, while we made our bivouac under 

 a scraggy cedar tree. 



When we arose at daybreak all the horses save 

 Button were feeding quietly not far away, but 



