As Jo Ann drove the car slowly through the narrow streets of the quaint old village, the girls gazed interestedly at the adobe and stone houses and the picturesque church with its bell tower. From behind half-closed doors they caught glimpses of dark, eager faces peering at them. A moment later the road sloped down an abrupt hill, and there was nothing to be seen but the bleak expanse of desert.
“There’s a weird beauty about the desert,” Peggy commented thoughtfully to Florence as she gazed at the vast stretch of silvery grays and tawny browns which were rolled out before them and silhouetted against the deep blue of the sky.
“I’ve decided there’s no spot on earth where there isn’t beauty of some description. I agree with you that the desert has its share of loveliness.”
“And it has its share of washes and gullies too,” spoke up Miss Prudence as the car suddenly dipped into a deep cut which jolted them vigorously from side to side.
About an hour later, Carlitos suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, look—the mountains! See, over there!”
The other four stared in the southwesterly direction in which he was pointing, and soon all were able to distinguish the low irregular purple line of mountains.
“The sight of those mountains thrills me,” declared Florence with a joyous exultation that the other girls and Carlitos shared. “Just think! Back of that line there’s another higher range, then another.”
From then on they watched the mountains become more and more distinct, the deep purple changing into a soft, mauve-tinted gray, while the distant ranges gradually came into view, their lofty majestic peaks cloud-wreathed.
When at last they reached the main paved highway, Miss Prudence’s expression brightened. “Thank my stars we’re on a good road at last!”
“Oh boy! What a road!” cried Jo Ann as she turned into the smooth-paved highway.