32 WILD TLOWERS OF COLORADO. 



the farmer touched his belt from which hung a sheath that con- 

 tained a dangerous weapon. 



Lookinii^ from mv window the next morninii^ I saw an enijine 

 comin«>; in from the west. The cowcatcher was a blaze of HHit. 

 It was the most brilHant thin^" I had ever seen. As it came 

 near I (hscovercd it was the cactus ; some artistic hand had 

 placed them upon die engine. It stopped in front of the house 

 and we all went down to see them. I asked the engineer if 

 he would "give one a stop-over check; I would like to paint its 

 portrait." lie selected one and ga\'e me. I disliked to see 

 even one disturbed, they looked so bright and happy. I could 

 almost hear them say: "We are on a little trip, and we have 

 a pass for the whole party." 



I have given you only three varieties of cactus, but there 

 are many more. They blossom on tl mountains from July to 

 the last of September. Hundreds of plants are taken away 

 every summer by tourists to be transplanted to a foreign soil. 



On the second day we drove o\-er to Poncha Sprinrs, a little 

 town five miles west of vSalida. During the drive we passed many 

 fine ranches. One especially attracted our attention. Tlic house 

 was built after the I^nglish st3'le, and was reacucd from the main 

 road by little l^ridges that crossed the south fork of the Arkansas 

 river. The soft-eyed Jersey antl her six-monihs' old daughter 

 stood near the lane as we passed, and seemed disappointed that 

 we did not enter. 



On reaching the village we drove at once u\) the mountain 



