All these things, and many others, Senor Johnson now saw for the first time, although he had lived among them for twenty years. It struck him with the freshness of a surprise. Also it reacted chemically on his mental processes to generate a new power within him. The new power, being as yet unapplied, made him uneasy and restless and a little irritable.
He tried to show some of his wonders to Parker.
"Jed," said he, one day, "this is a great country."
"You KNOW it," replied the foreman.
"Those tourists in their nickel-plated Pullmans call this a desert. Desert, hell! Look at them flowers!"
The foreman cast an eye on a glorious silken mantle of purple, a hundred yards broad.
"Sure," he agreed; "shows what we could do if we only had a little water."
And again: "Jed," began the Senor, "did you ever notice them mountains?"
"Sure," agreed Jed.
"Ain't that a pretty colour?"