LIFE IN A TENT. 11 



Grouped picturesquely around the house, how- 

 ever, were some of the most unique abiding- 

 places in Colorado. On the outside they were 

 permanent tents with wooden foundations ; on 

 the inside they were models of comfort, with 

 regular beds and furniture, rugs on the floor, 

 gauzy window curtains, drapery wardrobes, and 

 even tiny stoves for cool mornings and evenings. 

 They combined the comforts of a house with 

 the open air and delightful freshness of a tent, 

 where one might hear every bird twitter, and see 

 the dancing leaf shadows in the moonlight. 

 Over the front platform the canvas cover ex- 

 tended to form an awning, and a wire-gauze 

 door, in addition to one of wood, made them 

 airy or snug as the weather demanded. 



The restfulness craved by the weary worker 

 was there to be had for both soul and body, if 

 one chose to take it. One might swing in a 

 hammock all day, and be happy watching " the 

 clouds that cruise the sultry sky" a sky so 

 blue one never tires of it ; or beside the brook 

 he might " lie upon its banks, and dream him- 

 self away to some enchanted ground." Or he 

 might study the ever -changing aspect of the 

 mountains, their dreamy, veiled appearance, 

 with the morning sun full upon them; their 

 deep violet blueness in the evening, with the 

 sun behind them, and the mystery of the moon- 



