Ground was already being cleared along the lake where
alfalfa and hay were to be raised. Carley saw the blue and yellow smoke
from burning brush, and the fragrant odor thrilled her. Mexicans were
chopping the cleared cedars into firewood for winter use.
The day was spent before she realized it. At sunset the carpenters and
mechanics left in two old Ford cars for town. The Mexicans had a camp in
the cedars, and the Hoyles had theirs at the spring under the knoll where
Carley had camped with Glenn and the Hutters. Carley watched the golden
rosy sunset, and as the day ended she breathed deeply as if in unutterable
relief. Supper found her with appetite she had long since lost. Twilight
brought cold wind, the staccato bark of coyotes, the flicker of camp fires
through the cedars. She tried to embrace all her sensations, but they were
so rapid and many that she failed.
The cold, clear, silent night brought back the charm of the desert. How
flaming white the stars! The great spire-pointed peaks lifted cold
pale-gray outlines up into the deep star-studded sky. Carley walked a
little to and fro, loath to go to her tent, though tired. She wanted calm.
But instead of achieving calmness she grew more and more towards a strange
state of exultation.
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