He stood on the deck looking at massed cumuli moving sedately before the trade wind, with the far-off vision of an eagle.
Come below, Cap. Chow's ready!
Supper over and pipes alight, the vein of reminiscence wandered from Iceland to Rangoon:
Yes, I've been a sailor — been 'most everything and everywhere. Just can't settle in one place so I'm building that little houseboat for the end of the cruise. Can't roam far in a bucket like that. . . . Ever been west?
Yes, had the gold hunter fever bad back in the eighties and one trip down Arizona-way nearly slipped my mooring. Was just about ready to curl up when we staggered into a bunch of gray little birds with black circles all over 'em. They were COTTONTAILS and I knew water wasn't far away. We found it all right!
Altho these birds prefer hot deserts, the temperature seems to increase their vitality for they are as swift afoot and lively as any of the family. Pursuit by hunters is so arduous that they seldom are molested.
Central Arizona to Central Texas. North to southern Colorado and Panhandle desert of Texas.