customed to climates, and had learned to endure
discomfort. The salt beef and the Chinaman's peach pies were no longer
offensive to me. Indeed, I had a good appetite for them, though they
were not exactly the sort of food prescribed by the modern doctor, for
a young mother. Of course, milk, eggs, and all fresh food were not to be
had on the river boats. Ice was still a thing unknown on the Colorado.

When, after a week, the "Gila" pushed her nose up to the bank at
Ehrenberg, there stood the Quartermaster. He jumped aboard, and did not
seem in the least surprised to see me. "I knew you'd come back," said
he. I laughed, of course, and we both laughed.

"I hadn't the courage to go on," I replied

"Oh, well, we can make things comfortable here and get through the
summer some way," he said. "I'll build some rooms on, and a kitchen,
and we can surely get along. It's the healthiest place in the world for
children, they tell me."

So after a hearty handshake with Captain Mellon, who had taken such
good care of me on my week's voyage up river, I being almost the only
passenger, I put my foot once more on the shores of old Ehrenberg, and
we wended our way towards the blank white walls of the Government house.
I was glad to be back, and content to wait.

So work was begun immediately on the kitchen. My first stipulation was,
that the new rooms were to have wooden floors; for, although the Cocopah
Charley kept the adobe floors in perfect condition, by sprinkling them
down and sweeping them out every morning, they were quite impossible,
especially where it concerned white dresses and children, and the little
sharp rocks in them seemed to be so tiring to the feet.

Life as we Americans live it was difficult in Ehrenberg. I often said:
"Oh! if we could only live as the Mexicans live, how easy it would be!"
For they had their fire built between some stones piled up in
their yard, a piece of sheet iron laid over the top: this was the
cooking-stove. A pot of coffee was made in the morning early, and the
family sat on the low porch and drank it, and ate a biscuit. Then a
kettle of frijoles [*] was put over to boil. These were boiled slowly
for some hours, then lard and salt were added, and they simmered down
until they were deliciously fit to eat, and had a thick red gravy.

*Mexican brown bean.

Then the young matron, or daughter of the house, would mix the
peculiar paste of flour and salt and water, for tortillas, a species