All this land is fertile when it can be brought under irrigating ditches
and watered, but here it lies out almost like a desert. It is sparsely
inhabited along the little streams by a straggling off-shoot of the
Mexican race; yet once in a while a fine place is to be seen, like an
oasis in the Sahara, the home of some old Spanish Don, with thousands of
cattle or sheep ranging on the plains, or perhaps the headquarters of
some enterprising cattle company. But these places were few and far
between at the time of which I write; the stations were mere passing
places, long side-tracks, with perhaps a stock-yard and section house
once in a while, but generally without buildings or even switch lights.
Noting the approach of the storm, I let the heavy engine drop the
faster, hoping to reach a certain sidetrack, over twenty miles away,
where there was a telegraph operator, and learn from him the condition
of the road. But the storm was faster than any consolidator that
Baldwins ever built, and as the lightning suddenly ceased and the air
became heavy, hot, and absolutely motionless, I realized that we would
have the storm full upon us in a few moments.
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