THE DESERT AND THE ROSE 179 



He who can continue to give cheerfully and hope- 

 fully after a decade or so passed in such an environ- 

 ment is less human than divine, or perhaps merely 

 thickskinned. 



After repeated disappointments I decided to try 

 again. During an entire winter one healthseeker 

 after another was given a fair chance. They were 

 not Lungers or if so but slightly affected, and feed- 

 ing and watering four or five head of stock morning 

 and night (the stock was running on the ranch most 

 of the time) harnessing, saddling and currying a 

 horse or two and keeping a buggy clean is not very 

 laborious work, as I know, who at a pinch have done 

 it myself. Decent interest was manifested in their 

 health and concerns generally, and decent measures 

 taken to spare their strength, but evidently such 

 interest was a mistake ; for sooner or later, generally 

 sooner, each in his turn sat back, reduced his tri- 

 fling tasks to a minimum the moment he began to 

 "feel good," and either fired himself or was fired. 

 Incompetence, from charitable motives, can be en- 

 dured, but shirking and characteristic ingratitude 



soon grow wearisome. 



The insolence toward a lone woman typical of the 

 class to which I refer was checked, though not 

 wholly squelched, by the moral support of a visiting 

 kinsman. This type curbs its Citizen Genet tongue 

 when a man is back of a woman, otherwise her ut- 

 most courtesy and kindliness may be exhibited a 

 good deal worse than in vain. Here is where the 

 star of the plain peon is in the ascendant. 



Thus, if one is by training or temperament gener- 



