FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127  
128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   >>   >|  
od deal of white, while it seemed as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his heart, so horrible were his thoughts. But he could see no sign of rattlesnakes, and the heavy throbbing in his breast calmed down, to give place to a sensation of pleasure, as he breathed in the fresh elastic air and let his eyes rest upon a great blue mountain which towered up above a clump of a dozen or so on one side and as many more spreading away in a row, their tops looking like the teeth of a gigantic saw. In fact, it was one of the ranges to which the old Spanish settlers gave the name of Sierras. "It is not what I dreamed about," said Chris to himself. "Let me see-- yes, that was of looking down into a glorious green valley with a sparkling river running through and beautiful park-like prairies on each side for the mules and ponies to graze in while we hunted and shot the buffaloes. Of course; I remember it all quite clearly, and about our going to bathe and drink, and--oh, how thirsty I am!" "Why, there must be water here, or the animals wouldn't be so contented. Get enough juice out of what they're eating, I suppose," he added, after a few minutes' more thought. "Well, this is a hundred times better than the salt desert, and there must be water in the valleys over yonder. How blue it all looks! That doesn't seem as if there were trees, because they'd look green. But there must be valleys because there are mountains, and--Here, I say, Ned, don't snore like that," he said aloud. "Wake up, lazy! It's ever so late." His words having no effect, he reached out one foot and gave the boy such a vigorous push that Ned sat up, staring. "Who--Here, you, Chris, why did you kick me like that?" he cried. "I didn't kick, only pushed. To wake you up. You can't sleep all day. Oh, I say, what a face you've got!" Ned, who had roused up at once, clapped his hands to the part of his person alluded to, and retaliated. "So have you got a face," he cried. "Why, it looks as if it had got a crust of salt and sand all over it." "So it has, I suppose," said Chris, rather gruffly, as he began to pat his cheeks softly, rub his eyes, and then deal very tenderly with his cracked lips. "Oh dear, shouldn't I like a swim, even if it was only in a water-hole that was half mud!" "But I say, Chris, look here. What about the rattlesnakes? Have we left them all behind?" "I hope so. There seems to be no sign of any here." "And
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127  
128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
valleys
 

suppose

 

rattlesnakes

 

staring

 

vigorous

 
desert
 
yonder
 

mountains

 
effect
 

reached


shouldn

 

cracked

 
tenderly
 

softly

 
cheeks
 

roused

 
pushed
 
clapped
 

gruffly

 

retaliated


person

 

alluded

 

thirsty

 

spreading

 

mountain

 

towered

 

gigantic

 

settlers

 

Sierras

 

dreamed


Spanish

 
ranges
 

horrible

 

thoughts

 

rushed

 
throbbing
 

breast

 
elastic
 

breathed

 
pleasure

calmed
 

sensation

 
animals
 
wouldn
 

contented

 

thought

 
hundred
 

minutes

 
eating
 

running