III
“I do believe there shall be a winter yet in heaven—and in hell.”
—Paradise and the Periscope.
“Realism, n. The art of depicting nature as it is seen by toads.”
—The Devil’s Dictionary.
“They sit brooding on a garbage scow and tell us how bad the world smells.”
—Berton Braley.
“Just round the block” is a phrase familiar to you. To get the same effect in the open country you would say “thirty miles” or sixty; and in those miles it is likely there would be no water and no house—perhaps not any tree. Consider now: Within the borders of New Mexico might be poured New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware. Then drop in another small state and all of Chesapeake Bay, and still New Mexico would not be brimful—though it would have to be carried carefully to avoid slopping over. Scattered across this country is a population less than that of Buffalo—half of it clustered in six-mile ribbons along the Rio Grande and the Pecos. Those figures are for to-day. Divide them by three, and then excuse the story if it steps round the block. It was long ago; Plancus was consul then.