178 THE DESERT AND THE ROSE 



type of invalid who was of the opinion that the 

 country, and most particularly the wild and wooly 

 West, owed him a living. Such individuals were 

 more or less dependent on the established residents, 

 as they looked to the latter to provide them with oc- 

 cupation which should at once support them in com- 

 fort and yet not be beyond their strength to per- 

 form. It is not too much to say that the residents 

 after many long years began to find these visitors 

 somewhat of a tax ; not because our people are less 

 kindhearted than others but because the health- 

 seekers may with justice be accused of having worn 

 out their welcome. Sad it is to have to confess that 

 the sight of the usual advertisement beginning 

 "Healthseeker desires a position, etc.," or the sound 

 of the words "I am here for my health and would 

 like to get work for my board," sent a shudder down 

 the spine of the sorely tried and seasoned benefac- 

 tor of the invalid-who-is-willing-to-work. "No 

 healthseeker need apply," were words only too often 

 heard, but the fault generally lay with the health- 

 seeker. 



These men were not invariably Lungers ; some- 

 times they were merely taking a vacation — clerks 

 in big city stores and so forth, who needed a dry, 

 bracing winter climate. Our people, though far 

 from poverty stricken, are or were seldom or never 

 rich ; therefore in course of time the residents wax- 

 ed restive and the meritorious healthseekers suf- 

 fered. Neither were schemes for living on "these 

 Westerners" confined altogether to the poor and 

 needy. 



