Mr. Templestowe thought of us and something which might give
us pleasure; and Clarence only thought about himself. Poor Clarence! he
never had half a chance till he came here. It isn't all his fault."
The party in the director's car proved a merry one. Mrs. Wade, a jolly,
motherly woman, fond of the good things of life, and delighting in making
people comfortable, had spared no pains of preparation. There were
quantities of easy-chairs and fans and eau-de-cologne; the larder was
stocked with all imaginable dainties,--iced tea, lemonade, and champagne
cup flowed on the least provocation for all the hot moments, and each
table was a bank of flowers. Each lady had a superb bouquet; and on the
second day a great tin box of freshly-cut roses met them at Pueblo, so
that they came back as gayly furnished forth as they went. Having the
privilege of the road, the car was attached or detached to suit their
convenience, and this enabled them to command daylight for all the finest
points of the excursion.
First of these was the Royal Gorge, where the Arkansas River pours through
a magnificent canyon, between precipices so steep and with curves so sharp
that only engineering genius of the most daring order could, it would
seem, have devised a way through. Then, after a pause at the pretty town
of Salida, with the magnificent range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in
full sight, they began to mount the pass over long loops of rail, which
doubled and re-doubled on themselves again and again on their way to the
summit.
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