The Last of the Plainsmen 



beauty, it was beauty that appalled. So riveted was 

 my gaze that I could hardly turn it across the river, 

 where Emmett proudly pointed out his lonely home 

 an oasis set down amidst beetling red cliffs. How 

 grateful to the eye was the green of alfalfa and 

 cottonwood ! Going round the bluff trail, the wheels 

 had only a foot of room to spare; and the sheer 

 descent into the red, turbid, congested river was 

 terrifying. 



I saw the constricted rapids, where the Colorado 

 took its plunge into the box-like head of the Grand 

 Canon of Arizona ; and the deep, reverberating boom 

 of the river, at flood height, was a fearful thing to 

 hear. I could not repress a shudder at the thought 

 of crossing above that rapid. 



The bronze walls widened as we proceeded, and 

 we got down presently to a level, where a long wire 

 cable stretched across the river. Under the cable 

 ran a rope. On the other side was an old scow 

 moored to the bank. 



&quot; Are we going across in that? &quot; I asked Emmett, 

 pointing to the boat. 



&quot; We ll all be on the other side before dark,&quot; he 

 replied cheerily. 



I felt that I would rather start back alone over the 

 desert than trust myself in such a craft, on such a 

 river. And it was all because I had had experience 



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