t by actual
measurement. I had unwittingly taken my first lesson in plainscraft
and prudently refrained thereafter from making another sure guess.

The deception was due to the rarefied atmosphere, which is peculiar to
the arid region. It not only deceives the eye as to distance, but also
as to motion. If the eye is steadily fixed upon some distant inanimate
object, it seems to move in the tremulous light as if possessed of
life, and it is not always easy to be convinced to the contrary.
However, by putting the object under inspection in line with some
further object, it can readily be determined whether the object is
animate or still by its remaining on or moving off the line.

Another peculiarity of the country is that objects do not always seem
to stand square with the world. In approaching a mountain and moving
on an up grade the plane of incline is suddenly reversed and gives the
appearance and sensation of going downhill. In some inexplicable
manner sense and reason seem to conflict and the discovery of the
disturbed relation of things is startling. You know very well that the
mountain ahead is above you, but it has the appearance of standing
below you in a hollow; and the water in the brook at your feet, which
runs down the mountain into the valley, seems to be running uphill. By
turning squarely about and looking backwards, the misplaced objects
become righted, and produces much the same sensation that a man feels
who is lost and suddenly finds himself again.

We immediately prepared to drive out to the ranch, which was ten miles
distant and reached by a road that skirted the Dos Cabezas mountains.
The new wagon was set up and put in running order and lightly loaded
with supplies. All of the preliminaries being completed, the horses
were harnessed and hooked to the wagon. The driver mounted his seat,
drew rein and cracked his whip, but we didn't go. The horses were only
accustomed to the saddle and knew nothing about pulling in harness.
Sam was a condemned cavalry horse and Box was a native bronco, and
being hitched to a wagon was a new experience to both. The start was
unpropitious, but, acting on the old adage that "necessity is the
mother of invention," which truth is nowhere better exemplified than on
the frontier where conveniences are few and the most must be made of
everything, after some delay and considerable maneuvering we finally
got started.

The road for some distance out was level an