Girl Scouts in Arizona and New Mexico

by Lillian Elizabeth Roy

The entire party rode along the Rio Grande trail as far as Albuquerque, camping in the wayside woods, or stopping at the towns on the way, as best suited their inclinations.

Albuquerque proved to be just the opposite of Santa Fé. There the very air seemed filled with mysterious spirits of the ancients; here in Albuquerque, with its strictly up-to-date activities, the girls felt as though they were back east. The buildings of the University of New Mexico, where Sanderson had been graduated that year, situated upon a plateau more than two hundred feet above the city, was one of the places to be visited by the tourists. The view from that height is beautiful, and the impressions of the city when seen from here, is lasting.

The scouts stopped at the Alvarado Hotel, a luxurious place with every modern convenience, though its style of architecture is Old Spanish Mission. From its verandas the girls could see the peaks of New Mexico as they sent up their snowy tips to the azure sky.

Being the season when tourists crowded the city, the scouts found things very lively with dances and plays and drives day and night. They went to the Musee, to the fashionable restaurants, and forgot they were in the land of the pueblos.

“Lucky we each packed a decent gown for such an occasion,” remarked Julie, as they all sat in the brilliant dining-room of the Alvarado and watched the well-dressed guests, some of whom were dancing to the music of the palm-screened orchestra.

During the trailing from Santa Fé, Sandy had devoted so much time to the Pueblo matter and Burt’s articles that Julie believed him to have been merely flirting with her before this, so now she snubbed him. But the Ranger never thought of flirting. He was genuinely attracted by the pretty, intelligent scout. With him, however, duty came before pleasure, and he had considered it his duty to attend to the various missions upon which he had been sent in company with Burt. Hence he had not indulged his fancy as he would have liked. Now that he had accomplished most of the work of escorting the newspaper man to the pueblos and assisting him in getting facts first-hand from the Indian chiefs, he relaxed the tension as he pictured the pleasure before him. He never dreamed that a girl might become piqued at being left without a word or glance from him, while he was occupied with getting statistics. But he was to learn that feminine demands are not to be ignored if the admirer wishes to be popular.

To the three scouts who had recently arrived, everything was new and novel, and the Ranger, to them, seemed very handsome and agreeable. They therefore chided Julie for her manner towards him, because it was plainly to be seen that he cared nothing for any one in the party but her.

“Go entertain him yourself, why don’t you?” she would retort. “I’m busy getting points on journalism from Mr. Burt.”

But this was merely an excuse, as Mr. Burt had been engaged with Mr. Gilroy and Mr. Vernon, telling them of his hopes in securing justice for the Indians.

It was not until the party rode into Albuquerque that Sandy said with a sigh: “Well, my holiday ends here; I’ve got to go back to Panchuelo in a few days.”