bought for children of her acquaintance. I got a good little
picture book for him in Chicago, and a set of Authors, and Aronette
gin him two little linen handkerchiefs, hemstitched by herself, and
his name, "Tommy," worked in the corners. He wuz real tickled with 'em
all. I told Miss Meechim that I had hoped to spend Christmas in Salt
Lake City. Knowin' that it wuz a warm climate, I thought I could have
a Christmas tree out doors; I thought I could take one of them big
pine trees I had read on, and invite Brigham Young's wives, the hull
on 'em, to my party, bein' out doors I thought there would be room for
'em all, poor creeters!

But Miss Meechim is very cautious, and she said that she wuz afraid
that such a party given by folks in my high position might have a
tendency to encourage polygamy.

And I said, "I would rather give a dollar bill than do that, and mebbe
I had better give it up, for we shan't git there in time, anyway."

And so I did, and spent the Christmas holidays on the cars, and tried
to keep my heart and mind in a Christmas mood, but don't spoze I did,
so many fond recollections and sad forebodin's hanted me as the cars
swep' us on, on through the valley of the Platte river on to Denver.
Miss Meechim, who is a power on dates, said that Denver wuz five
thousand two hundred feet above the sea.

And Tommy wonnered, wonnered who measured it, and if they did it with
a yard stick as his ma measured cloth, and then he wonnered if his ma
missed her little boy, and then he laid up aginst me and kinder cried
a little, evanescent grief soon soothed.

We stayed in Denver two days, sallyin' out to different points of
interest about it, and here I see irrigation carried on, water carried
into the channels around the crops and trees some as I've dug little
holes round my house-plants to hold water; only of course Denver wuz
carryin' it on, on a bigger scale. It is a handsome city with the
water of the Platte river brung in and running along in little streams
by the curbstones. We rode out to Idaho Springs on a narrer railroad
but easy goin', through Clear Creek Canon. I liked the looks of the
Springs first-rate (they made me think of Josiah).

All the way we see Chinamen workin' hard and patient, as is their
wont, and their long frocks they had on made me think of him I mourned
for, and their hair hangin' in long braids down their back. So would
_his_ hair look if he had any, and let it grow.

We had to go a l