The woman followed Adam outside and gazed earnestly up at him, unconscious of herself, with her face closer than it had ever been to him and full in the sunlight. It struck Adam that the difference between desert flowers and the faces of beautiful women was one of emotion. How much better to have the brief hour of an unconscious flower, wasting its fragrance on the desert air! “He’s ill, don’t you think?” queried the woman. “No. But he recovers slowly. A man must have a perfect heart and powerful lungs to battle against the many perils in this country. But Virey will get over this all right.” “You never give up, do you?” she inquired. “Come to think of that, I guess I never do,” replied Adam. “Such spirit is worthy of a better cause. You are doomed here to failure.” “Well, I’m not infallible, that’s certain. But you can never tell. The fact of my standing here is proof of the overcoming of almost impossible things. I can’t make Death Valley habitable for you, but I can lessen the hardships. How long have you been here?” “Several months. But it’s years to me.” “Who brought you down? How did you get here?” “We’ve had different guides. The last were Shoshone Indians, who accompanied us across a range of mountains, then a valley, and last over the Panamints. They left us here. I rode a horse. Virey walked the last stages of this journey to Death Valley--from which there will be no return. We turned horse and burros loose. I have not seen them since.” “Are these Shoshones supposed to visit you occasionally?” “Yes. Virey made a deal with them to come every full moon. We’ve had more supplies than we need. The trouble is that Virey has the inclination to eat, but I have not the skill to prepare food wholesomely under these rough conditions. So we almost starved.” “Well, let me take charge of camp duties. You nurse your husband and don’t neglect yourself. It’s the least you can do. You’ll have hardship and suffering enough, even at best. You’ve suffered, I can see, but not physically. And you never knew what hardship meant until you got into the desert. If you _live_, these things will cure you of any trouble. They’ll hardly cure Virey, for he has retrograded. Most men in the desert follow the line of least resistance. They sink. But _you_ will not.... And let me tell you. There are elemental pangs of hunger, of thirst, of pain that are blessings in disguise. You’ll learn what rest is and sleep and loneliness. People who live as you have lived are lopsided. What do they know of life close to the earth? Any other life is false. Cities, swarms of men and women, riches, luxury, poverty--these were not in nature’s scheme of life.... Mrs. Virey, if anything _can_ change your soul it will be the desert.”