MOBBED IN ARIZONA 211 



granted, his long-tailed relative, the sage sparrow 

 (^AmpMspiza belli nevadensis'), may have teased 

 me by his shyness. Both these birds are said to 

 be famous enliveners of the desert, — though 

 neither of them in their present silent state quite 

 lives up to his reputation, — and will doubtless 

 become prime favorites with me if I remain here 

 long enough really to know them. Where should 

 simple, hearty melodies find appreciation, if not 

 in the desert ? 



I am slow in coming to the point of my story ; 

 and with reason. It is not pleasant to be mobbed ; 

 there is nothing to boast of in such an adven- 

 ture ; nothing to flatter one's sense of personal 

 importance ; one is not apt to speak of it con 

 amove, as we say. Some things are best slipped 

 over in silence. So I have noticed that men who 

 have served their country in prison will always 

 contrive by one path or another to go round 

 the name of that unpopular institution. But I 

 have begun, and there is nothing for it but to 

 finish. 



WeU, then, I had walked perhaps a mile and 

 a half beyond the university buildings, which is 

 the same as to say beyond the limits of the town, 

 and found myself approaching a lonely ranch, 

 when a flock of ravens, white-necked ravens, 

 which abound hereabout — "the multitudinous 



