Percival Lowell
MARS' HILL
Just back from my excursion to Kingman—The Judge says it was a great success. And I suppose a judgei should know. Certainly I made some friends; even among the Socialist miners which was my aim. One of them whose views were quite subversive, now loves me—to my immense surprise. He is a mighty hunter before daybreak and after.—You thought I was going to say "before the Lord" but I avoid commonplaces as all hunters should do.—I read ancient history but I shot quail—all I could, which was not many. Quail we all learned, even the mighty hunter, are dishearteningly scarce this year. I hunted men with more success. You should have had a bird's-eye view of both. First the spacious desert trod by a man and a gun all day past cacti and palochristi trees and then the same man minus the gun treading the boards of the Elks Hall by night. One of the miners afterward came up and expressed his interest in the astronomical part of the lecture and then added with gusto, "And I like your politics too!" I had shown how the solidarity of the Martian canal system points to an efficient government in which the best men are at the front and then I went on to show its applicability to us.
94
