6 OBSERVATIONS OF A RANCHWOMAN 



a huge wall of sand, without end or begin- 

 ning, roared steadily along the Valley, 

 embracing, as it would appear, the entire 

 real estate of Colorado or Arizona, and 

 therewith wiping out our sky and mountains. 

 Across the street men, invisible to one 

 another, shouted vaguely, like hailing and 

 separated ships in storm or fog ; the sand 

 sifted into every crevice of one's dwelling, 

 of one's whole entity, in fact. All that could 

 be done was to stuff door and window cracks 

 with paper, and, taking a seat beside the 

 stove, possess what soul seemed to be left 

 in patience. At intervals it was found desir- 

 able to inquire as to the safety of the adobe 

 walls, but the answers obtained were not 

 sufficiently satisfactory to compensate us for 

 being blown down the outside stairway of 

 our abode. Already we began to under- 

 stand why the native almost never builds 

 him a two-story house ; and after having 

 watched, only on the day previous to the 

 storm, a gang of Mexicans dig a house down 

 with ordinary spades, our fears for our high 

 house were not unfounded. 



But winds pass like other things, and one 



