ncealing it in his bosom. What Napoleon said of Ney is also true of
Custer, "He was the bravest of the brave."

The recital of Custer's deeds nerved Alfonso to renewed efforts to win
Christine's hand. He declined with thanks to join the captain's excursion
party, and early next day rode south into the upper basin of the Park,
which contains over 400 springs and geysers; many of the springs in their
peculiar shapes, translucent waters, and variety and richness of color,
are of exquisite beauty. Alfonso visited emerald and sapphire springs,
where it is said nymphs, elfs, and fairies came to bathe, and don their
dainty dress of flowers and jewelled dew drops.

Many bronzed tourists had assembled, and their faces showed amazement as
they watched giant geysers in action. Suddenly the solid earth is
tremulous with rumbling vibrations, like those that herald earthquakes.
Frightful gurgling sounds are audible in the geyser's throat. Sputtering
steam is visible above the cone, the water below boils like a cauldron,
and scalding hot, the eruption becomes terribly violent, belching forth
clouds of smoke-like steam, and hurling rocks into the air as though
a mortar of some feudal stronghold had been discharged. The stupendous
column of hot water is veiled in spray as it mounts towards heaven.
Boiling water is flowing in brooks to the Firehole River, which is soon
swollen to a foaming torrent washing away the bridges below. The valley
is filled with dense vapors, and the air is laden with sulphurous fumes,
while the hoarse rumblings and subterranean tremors chill the heart.
Beneath your feet are positive evidences of eternal fires, and all about
you the might of God. Alfonso was glad to leave this region of the
supernatural.

He hastened across the Snake River, which winds through Idaho, and pushed
on towards the Teton Range, one of many that form the Rocky Mts. In sight
are snow-touched sentinel peaks kissed by earliest and latest sun. The
Rocky Mts. or Great Continental Divide is a continuation of the famous
Andes of South America, and jointly they form the longest and most
uniform chain of mountains on the globe. Amid the gorges of this system
of mountains, over 3000 miles in length, America's largest rivers have
their birth, and find their outlet into the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific
Oceans.

These mountains are vast vaults that will hold in trust for centuries to
come untold supplies of precious metal for the American natio