Lieutenant would jump up and seize his shotgun, which always
stood near by, and together they would roam through the house. But the
thieving Indians could jump out of the windows as easily as they jumped
in, and the excitement would soon be over. The violent sand-storms
which prevail in those deserts, sometimes came up in the night, without
warning; then we rushed half suffocated and blinded into the house, and
as soon as we had closed the windows it had passed on, leaving a deep
layer of sand on everything in the room, and on our perspiring bodies.

Then came the work, next day, for the Indian had to carry everything out
of doors; and one storm was so bad that he had to use a shovel to remove
the sand from the floors. The desert literally blew into the house.

And now we saw a singular phenomenon. In the late afternoon of each day,
a hot steam would collect over the face of the river, then slowly rise,
and floating over the length and breadth of this wretched hamlet of
Ehrenberg, descend upon and envelop us. Thus we wilted and perspired,
and had one part of the vapor bath without its bracing concomitant
of the cool shower. In a half hour it was gone, but always left me
prostrate; then Jack gave me milk punch, if milk was at hand, or sherry
and egg, or something to bring me up to normal again. We got to dread
the steam so; it was the climax of the long hot day and was peculiar
to that part of the river. The paraphernalia by the side of our cots
at night consisted of a pitcher of cold tea, a lantern, matches, a
revolver, and a shotgun. Enormous yellow cats, which lived in and around
the freight-house, darted to and fro inside and outside the house, along
the ceiling-beams, emitting loud cries, and that alone was enough to
prevent sleep. In the old part of the house, some of the partitions did
not run up to the roof, but were left open (for ventilation, I suppose),
thus making a fine play-ground for cats and rats, which darted along,
squeaking, meowing and clattering all the night through. An uncanny
feeling of insecurity was ever with me. What with the accumulated effect
of the day's heat, what with the thieving Indians, the sand-storms and
the cats, our nights by no means gave us the refreshment needed by our
worn-out systems. By the latter part of the summer, I was so exhausted
by the heat and the various difficulties of living, that I had become a
mere shadow of my former self.

Men and children seem to thrive in th