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distance ahead I saw a grove of sotol, putting me in
mind of a squad of soldiers at attention. Beyond the grove was the fire.
“‘Standing
before the fire were two Indian maids, the elder about sixteen years of age and
the younger about thirteen. As they looked very much alike, I took them to be
sisters. Both wore bright blankets and buckskin leggings; their black hair was
bound in by beaded bands. They were eating the roasted heart of a sotoi, which
tastes a good bit like cabbage when roasted or steamed.
“‘When the
younger girl was through eating, she looked up and down the canyon as if to
make sure that no one was about. Then she picked up a lariat and a large olla
and started across the canyon. All at once two burros came in sight and trotted
up to her. She now seemed to be tapping the canyon wall with a rock. The next
minute my mouth fell open, for she seemed to walk right through the canyon
wall. Then I saw an opening in the wall I had not taken note of before. She
soon came back with the large olla full of water and gave it to a burro. She
went back several times to refill the olla.
“‘In my
excitement I kept on until I was near enough to see that the opening led into a
cave. An egg-shaped slab of rock about seven feet high formed the door and
fitted, top and bottom, into the hollowed edges of the wall like a ball into a
socket. When it had turned in its socket, this egg-shaped door made a narrow
opening on both sides of it about a foot above the ground, one edge of the door
putting into the cave and the other extending outward about two feet. I had
once seen a rock farther north in the Rockies, which stood in a stone basin
like a ball in a socket, turning just so far and then turning back again. The
Indians mush have made use of some such freak of nature to close the cave. When
she had done her chore the Indian girl gave the egg-shaped door a slight push
and it