The spires and chimneys of rock, ugly and distorted in form, assumed strange shapes in the grey dusk.

It was all grey wherever the eyes turned; grey of all shades, grey sand, grey rocks, grey over-arching sky, relieved only by the soft purple of the sage--a picture of utter loneliness, of intense desolation, which was a horror.

The eye found nothing to rest upon--no landmark, no distant tree, no gleam of water, no flash of colour--only that dull monotony of drab, motionless, and with no apparent end.
Stella stared about at it, and closed her eyes, unable to bear the sight; her head drooped wearily, every nerve giving away before the depressing scene outspread in every direction.

Sikes, watching her slightest movement, seemed to sense the meaning of the action.
"Hell, ain't it ?" he said expressively.

"You know whar we are ?" "No; but I never before dreamed any spot could be so terrible." "This is the Shoshone desert; thar ain't nobody ever comes in yere 'cept wunst in a while a prospector, maybe, er a band o' cattle rustlers.