It was on a Sunday evening, during a specially diabolical dose of desert wind, when there were bush fires on nearly all the mountains round us, and the air seemed filled with smoke and the pungent smell of burning sage, that our men arrived, bringing with them two waggon loads of materials for putting up the various sheds and tents needed for their comfort, during the eighty days, which was the contracted time for building the house. They had had a breakdown on the way out from town, and what with this and the scorching heat of the day, had been much tried. However, they were very good tempered, and seemed to consider the whole business as a kind of picnic—a holiday in the country. The contractor, Mr. Scott, who was also the principal carpenter, was a huge man, very capable, as we soon found, and a splendid workman. He had brought his wife with him, to serve the two-fold purpose of a change of air for her, and a satisfactory cook for himself and his men! They had also their two little children with them and Mr. Scott’s dog. Four more carpenters arrived with them; the plumbers, plasterers, and painters, were to follow later, when their work would be wanted. The whole first day was spent in putting up the temporary houses needed for the little settlement. They were going to make themselves quite comfortable, though it was all done with extraordinary quickness. There was a “cookhouse” as they called it, which was the most ambitious building of all the settlement, and we thought it showed Mr. Scott’s good sense, and promised well for the undertaking, that he provided so royally for the men’s comfort in this particular. The cookhouse had one good-sized dining-room, with a long table down the middle, and a bench on each side; out of this was the kitchen, with two beautiful gasoline cooking stoves, containing large ovens and all the newest American contrivances. A nice cool cupboard or larder opened out of the kitchen, and was made with walls of wire gauze to let the air in freely and keep out the flies. The tent put up for Mr. Scott and his family was quite a work of art; nicely floored and with walls of wood about four feet high, to keep out draughts, the rest of the walls and roof being of canvas. They had it comfortably furnished, and seemed at once quite at home there. The tents for the men were simpler, but satisfactory. By evening all their preparations were made, and when the lights were lit all over the little settlement, we were strongly reminded of the “Buffalo Bill” shows we had been to at home.