en obliged to leave before finishing the meal;
but not a living creature was in sight and, from the general appearance
of the scene, we judged it must have been deserted for weeks. It was a
sad sight: such a picture of desolation, as I care never again to
witness.

Who the owners were, from whence they came, whither they were bound, or
what was their fate,--must stand one of the secrets of the desert, until
revealed at the final day.

After three days of terrible suffering, we reached the banks of Carrizo
Creek. It would be impossible to describe the eagerness with which all,
men and animals, plunged down its steep banks, or how we laughed and
shouted as the murmur of its sparkling waters fell upon our ears, or with
what pleasure we laved our burning flesh in its coolness.

This oasis in the desert is deserving a more extended description than I
can give here; for it probably has not its equal in the world. The stream
rises in sand, flows through sand, and disappears in sand; having worn
for itself a channel about a mile in length, fifteen or twenty feet deep,
and nearly thirty in width. The water is clear, and deliciously cool and
sweet.

Here, under the benign influence exerted by this spring, we all for a
time forgot our troubles: even Patsey so far forgave Hal for the "thricks
he had put upon him," that I saw them sitting together, waist-deep in the
water; the Irish boy utterly oblivious of the fact that he had neglected,
before taking his bath, to remove the "buckskin suit," which had already
become considerably shrunken and curtailed, of its fair proportions, by
reason of its previous wettings.

During the night we encamped here, I suddenly awoke from a very sound
sleep, and saw the form of old Jerry, standing in bold relief in the
moonlight upon the top of the bank, and Apparantly gazing far out into
the desert.

He stood so long motionless, that I thought him asleep; but, upon
speaking, to my surprise he came and seated himself by my side, and said,
"Look here, judge, I want to tell yer a story. Will yer hear it?"

I told him I would, with pleasure; and he began as follows:--

"It was nine year ago this spring, and the first trip I ever made across
this desert. We hed been six days from Yuma to this place: the sun all
the time like a ball of fire, and the sand so hot it burnt one's naked
feet to a blister. Not a drop of water hed we hed for our animals for
three days, and only a teaspoonful for ourselve