His gaze became centered upon the buildings and the level surrounding
them.
The buildings were ordinary, but the country was rugged and picturesque.
Some foothills--which Sanderson had seen from the far side of the basin
that morning--rose from the level toward the south, their pine-clad
slopes sweeping sharply upward--a series of gigantic land waves that
seemed to leap upward and upward toward the higher peaks of some
mountains behind them.
Northward, fringing the edge of the plain that began at the foothills
and stretched many miles, were other mountains; eastward the butte
extended far, receding, irregular, its jagged walls forming a barrier;
southwestward stretched the basin, in a gentle slope that was more
noticeable to Sanderson now than it had been while he had been riding
during the morning.
The land around the buildings was fertile, for here was water which
could be utilized. The land over which Sanderson had been riding all
morning, though, was not so fertile; it needed the water that the
stream splashing out of the gorge could give it, with proper human
manipulation.
Pages:
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43